Agenda and minutes

DECIDED:    That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Panel held on the 18^th           March 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillor Holmes introduced himself as the Council’s representative on the Police, Crime and Fire Panel. He requested that any comments or concerns were emailed to him and he would raise these with the Commissioner  and report back to members accordingly.

In response to this, Councillor Swindlehurst requested an explanation of the extent of collaboration between the Fire and Rescue Service and Police, as outlined in the report dated 29th April 2019. She wished to establish what the common functions were and how the effectiveness of the changes would be monitored.

DECIDED:

1)    That the report of the Chairman of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel dated 29^th April 2019 be noted;

2)    That Councillor Swindlehurst would send an email to Councillor Holmes to outline the above query.

Councillor Elkin was a substitute member for Councillor Bentley.

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·         Other Interests

(At least two clear days notice required, in writing, to the Proper Officer in accordance with Procedure Rule 15).

Question from Councillor Taylor:

Q1.      Which company provides the energy supplied to the Staffordshire Moorlands offices and buildings?

Response:

The company that supplies the energy is Total Gas & Power. This procured in accordance with Council procedures via the ESPO Framework.

Question from Councillor Taylor:

Q2.      Where are the pollution monitors located in the Moorlands? What pollution levels do these monitors record and indicate? Where can this information be accessed?

Response:

The locations of the pollution tubes are listed below:-

The tubes monitor for Nitrogen Dioxide and indicate that pollution levels are generally good across the district but issues have been identified in Leek and Cellarhead, which require the declaration of an Air Quality Management Area and the development of an Air Quality Action Plan.  This will be the subject of a detailed report which will be presented to councillors shortly.  Information on Air Quality can currently be obtained by contacting the Service Area and will soon be available on the Council’s website.

By way of supplementary questions, Cllr Taylor asked who were Total Gas and Power and clarification of the ESPO Framework.

Mark Trillo – Executive Director (People), advised that ESPO was Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation which assisted many local authorities to achieve efficiencies through frameworks, services and expert procurement advice.

Further information on Total Gas and Power would be circulated to the Panel after the meeting.

Councillor Taylor asked if any other pollution elements should be monitored and requested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 149.

Mark Trillo – Executive Director (People), introduced a presentation which covered the following topics:-

·         Council’s Decision Making Process

·         Role of Scrutiny

·         Role and Remit of the Community Overview & Scrutiny Panel

·         Development of the Work Programme

·         Task and Finish Working Groups

·         Role of Officers

The Panel discussed combined scrutiny panel working groups which all members were invited to take part in.

The Panel gave its consideration to a report which provided an update on the use of the Councillors’ Community Initiative Fund (CCIF) in 2018/19.

The Councillors’ Community Initiative Fund provided every Member with the ability to use a grant allocation of £500 to address community issues in their wards.

An application form and guidance notes were published on the Council’s website together with a record of each year’s grant expenditure.

In 2018/19 £27,992 was spent which had supported a total of 108 projects/organisations.

A member of the Panel asked if it was possible to apply for the funding if the project was just outside of their ward boundary and it was confirmed that this would be considered and members could also make a combined application.

Members had differing views on the allocation of the grant funding. It was felt that some community groups received the funding each year and some less well known groups could be overlooked. Other members explained the limited opportunity for the allocation of funds in smaller single councillor wards and the importance of provision of funding in line with organisations’ calendars.

Members were reminded that there was a section on the CCIF application form to disclose any interests in connection to the group which they wished to support.

DECIDED: That the update report be noted.

Any additional items to be added to the Work Programme:

·         Chair’s Items

·         Members’ Items

The Panel considered its Work Programme and agreed the items listed, subject to, the following items being added:-

·        Rural Bus Service (Update from Councillor Ralphs);

·        Childrens Homes (Invite the County Council, a member of the Planning Team and the Police);

·        Sustainability and Climate Change (Invite a representative from Staffordshire Wildlife in relation to a recent report) ;

·        Flyposting, banners and advertisements.

In light of recent accessibility issues, a request was made for a review of polling stations. The Panel was advised that a review was due to take place, members would be consulted and the report would be considered by the Licencing and Regulatory Committee.

It was confirmed that a new system for CCTV had recently been agreed by Cabinet and Mark Trillo offered to provide details should members require any more information.

At this point in the meeting, detailed discussion took place around the withdrawal of free TV licences for over 75 year olds. Members were concerned that for some pensioners this could lead to issues around social isolation and requested that a letter be sent to request that this decision was reviewed. A vote was taken as members had different opinions on where the letter should be sent to and it was decided that the letter should be sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a copy of the letter sent to the BBC.

A vote was also taken on the start of the future meetings of the Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel and it was decided that the meetings continued to be held at 2pm.

DECIDED: That the Panel’s Work Programme for 2019/20 be agreed.