Agenda, decisions and minutes

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Contact: Patrick Adams  01954 713408

Items
No. Item

22.

Declarations of Interest

Please note that the Constitution requires that when considering any decision in respect of which a member of the Committee is subject to a party whip, the member must declare the existence of the whip. Under the Code of Conduct, any Councillor who has a personal or prejudicial interest should declare this at the meeting.

Minutes:

Councillor Mason declared a prejudicial interest in item 6: Orchard Park Action Plan Review, as a former member of the Interim Council at Orchard Park. He gave evidence on this item, but did not participate in the discussion as a member of the Committee.

23.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 66 KB

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2009 as a correct record. The Minutes are attached to the electronic version of this agenda on the Council’s website.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2009 were agreed as a correct record.

24.

Public Questions

Minutes:

The Chairman announced that the Committee had received four questions from Denis Payne, Chairman of Impington Parish Council. Two of these questions had been received on the day of the meeting and would receive written responses. Joseph Whelan, Head of New Communities for the County Council gave the following answers to the other two questions.

 

Are the changes being made to Stagecoach’s schedule being factored into the whole process?

Stagecoach would be reviewing their service at the end of the month. They were liaising with the County Council, the Community Council and the developer Gallagher on the location of the bus stops, whilst the actual bus routes had been agreed.

 

Mr Whelan stated that since the publication of the North Corridor Area Transport Plan, Stagecoach had concluded that the services named in the Plan were not practical to serve Orchard Park, although the Citi 4 service would still be funded and continued to serve Orchard Park directly.

 

What has happened to the subsidy provided by the North Corridor Area Transport Plan (NCATP) of the two Citi services bus routes?

Mr Whelan explained that there were three elements to the subsidy provided by the Section 106 Agreement:

  • The Cambridgeshire Guided Bus
  • North Corridor Area Transport Plan
  • Rural Interchange Scheme

 

He stated that:

  • The £2,000,000 pledged for the Cambridgeshire Guided Bus had been received
  • The £2,000,000 pledged to improve transport in the north corridor had been received

 

It was noted that the funding was indexed linked and so over £4,000,000 had been received and a final payment of £2,000,000, which was also indexed linked, would be paid after the 300th market housing dwelling was occupied. It was understood that £3,580,365 of this money had been spent, leaving a balance of £561,409, which would be spent on the Real Time Bus Information Scheme.

 

The Chairman thanked Denis Payne for his questions and Mr Joseph Whelan for his informative answers.

25.

ORCHARD PARK Action Plan: Review pdf icon PDF 176 KB

Representatives from Cambridgeshire County Council will be in attendance. 

 

To access the Scrutiny review relating to Orchard Park dated October 2008, please click onto the following link:

 

http://scambs.moderngov.co.uk/Published/C00000417/M00004037/AI00027340/AgendaItem05ReportofArburyParkTaskandFinishGroupAppendix1.pdf

 

There are 2 reports and appendices included in the agenda papers relating to this item. The first one is entitled `Progress since the Task & Finish Group Review’ and the second one is a Local Member Update. Some of the appendices to the reports are in colour; these, together with the black and white ones, will be projected at the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor David Bard presented a report on the progress made both on the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group in October 2008 and the progress made at Orchard Park since the last update in April 2009.

 

Orchard Park Community Primary School

Concern was expressed at the failure of the solar panels and wind turbines at the school to reduce energy costs. Hazel Belchamber agreed to ascertain whether any action had been taken against those who advised on the design of these renewable energy features. It was understood that although the design of the school was not the most energy efficient, it complied with national guidelines.

 

City and Parish Councillor Clare Blair, Chair of Governors for Orchard Park Community Primary School, explained that the school was a success and had been assessed as “good” by a recent Ofsted report. She explained that there were 78 pupils at the school and this was expected to increase and she asked the Committee to support the proposal to increase the additional number of pupils allowed for next year to 30. The Admissions Forum would make the final decision. It was noted that legally the school could not refuse applications from outside the catchment area if it had places available.

 

It was understood that the Primary Care Trust (PCT) was unable to honour its pledge to move into the school and whilst it was agreed that Partners needed to work together to deliver the facilities required in new developments it was noted that the decision taken by the PCT allowed the school to accommodate the increased number of school children. It was suggested that the experience at Cambourne indicated that birth rates were far higher than the national average in new settlements and so the new schools should be built large enough to accommodate this trend. However, when the new community became more established the birth rate would be expected to drop back down to the national average and the school design needed to be flexible enough to accommodate this.

 

Venue to host community events

There was some discussion on whether a school building was a suitable venue to host community events. It was understood that child protection issues meant that certain areas of a school could not be used during term time, but it was noted that schools could host community events during the evening, as had been the case at Bar Hill. At new developments such as Orchard Park community rooms were adjoined to the school but part of a separate wing, linked by a controlled door to the school and so could be used at all times of the day by the public. It was suggested that the existing buildings at the site that would become Northstowe could be used by its first residents for community purposes as it was imperative that the Community Residents’ Association had a place to meet from the outset.

 

Delivering targets

It was suggested that an extra column should be inserted in the table at Appendix  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

26.

Review of Medium Term Financial Strategy

Cllr Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Finance and Staffing Porfolio Holder and Alex Colyer, Executive Director (Corporate Services) will be in attendance at the Committee to present and answer questions on the report that was considered by the Council’s Cabinet on 8 October 2009. The report and appendix can be accessed on the Council’s website via the following link:

 

http://213.210.33.5/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=293&MId=4415&Ver=4

Minutes:

Councillor Simon Edwards, the Finance and Staffing portfolio holder, introduced this item on the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). He asserted that printed copies of the MTFS report, which had been agreed by Cabinet on Thursday 8 October 2009, should have been included in the agenda for this Committee meeting, instead of the link to the website, which had been provided. The report on the MTFS going to Cabinet’s meeting on Thursday 12 November was circulated at the meeting.

 

Savings

Councillor Edwards praised staff for indentifying year on year savings of £582,000, which would rise to £599,000 next year. This was far in excess of the £325,000 target. However, due to the economic downturn further savings had to be made. The target was to achieve an additional saving of £1,600,000 in the next financial year.

 

It was noted that the Council had cut its budget four years ago after the authority was capped and the reduction of £1,600,000 next year would mean a net reduction of approximately 30-35% in the Council’s budget since 2004.

 

Pensions

In response to questioning Councillor Edwards explained that the Local Government Pension Scheme was statutory and the Council was legally required to make the contribution set by the actuary. He asserted that the forthcoming increase in the employers’ contribution to 29% was unsustainable and unless national changes were made the Council could be forced to make further redundancies to fund the scheme. The Executive Director for Corporate Services explained that whilst the next review of contributions made by the actuary would take place in 2010, mid-term reviews in the three-year cycle could also be made.

 

Redundancies

Councillor Edwards explained that whilst the Council expected to make 30 posts, funded by the General Fund, redundant, 10 of these were currently vacant and two were new posts and so only 18 job losses were planned. In response to concerns about inaccurate press reports Councillor Edwards assured the Committee that the Chief Executive was keeping staff fully informed of the process and the Communications Team always informed the press of any inaccuracies in their reports.

 

Gershon savings

Councillor Edwards explained that the last official Gershon savings were made in 2008/09 but due its financial situation, the Council had continued to identify savings after it had ceased to be a Government requirement, although it continued to be Government guidance.

 

Communication

The Committee asked whether communication to residents could include details of the proportion of the Council’s income that was returned to the Government. Councillor Edwards said that he would investigate whether this could be done.

 

The Chairman thanked Councillor Simon Edwards and the Executive Director for Corporate Services for their attendance.

27.

New Communities Portfolio Holder Presentation

Minutes:

Councillor David Bard, New Communities Portfolio Holder, circulated a report updating the Committee on the achievements and challenges facing his portfolio.

 

The Committee noted that:

  • The New Communities section was undergoing a significant restructuring.
  • The Northstowe Design Brief was a work in progress.

 

Individual Members of the Committee expressed concern that:

  • The funding from the Section 106 Agreement might not be sufficient to provide services for the 40% of the population in affordable housing at Orchard Park.
  • Due to the budget cuts arts development targets would not be met.

 

The Committee NOTED the report.

28.

Monitoring the Executive

Monitors are invited to inform the Committee of any issues that may warrant further investigation, which occurred at one of the following Portfolio Holder meetings:

 

Portfolio

Date of meeting

Monitor

Finance & Staffing

6 October 2009

Cllr Roger Hall

Cllr Mervyn Loynes

Housing

21 October 2009

Cllr Janice Guest

Cllr Liz Heazell

Planning and New Communities

5 November 2009

Cllr Val Barrett

Cllr Roger Hall

 

There will also be an update by Councillor Roger Hall in respect of the County Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Committee meeting held on 2 November 2009.

 

Decision:

The Committee

 

AGREED            to appoint

 

A)                 Councillor Bridget Smith to the County Council’s task and finish group, which is reviewing services for children and young people in the county’s new communities;

 

B)                 Councillor Liz Heazell to the County Council’s task and finish group on Options for Expanding Affordable Housing Provision in Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire.

Minutes:

Councillor Roger Hall gave a brief update on the meeting of the County Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Committee held on 2 November 2009, where it had become apparent that the budget for Adult Social Care would be significantly overspent this year.

 

The Committee

 

AGREED            to appoint

 

A)                 Councillor Bridget Smith to the County Council’s task and finish group, which is reviewing services for children and young people in the county’s new communities;

 

B)                 Councillor Liz Heazell to the County Council’s task and finish group on Options for Expanding Affordable Housing Provision in Cambridge City, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire.

 

The meeting became inquorate before the monitoring of portfolio meeting could be discussed.

29.

Future Work Programme pdf icon PDF 197 KB

Minutes:

This item was not discussed, as the meeting became inquorate during discussion of item 9, Monitoring of the Executive.

30.

To Note the Dates of Future Meetings

2009:   3 December

2010:   7 January, 4 February, 4 March and 1 April

All meetings will begin at 5.30pm.

 

The next meeting will take place at Wisbey’s Yard Sheltered Housing, Haslingfield

Minutes:

This item was not discussed, as the meeting became inquorate during discussion of item 9, Monitoring of the Executive.