Agenda

Arising from the results of the Member Communication Needs Survey, many members highlighted the fact that residents found out about SCDC matters through the media.

The Council’s Communications Team will produce a weekly summary of recent news items to be published in the Bulletin to help keep members informed of recent coverage of SCDC.

Contact the Communications Team for further information. 

Cambridgeshire Children’s Trust Board meeting

28^th February 2011

Councillor Bridget Smith

1.         New Trust Arrangements

The CTB is no longer a statutory body.  It is being amalgamated with the Executive Board and will meet twice a year.  Its purpose is firstly, to set priorities and later, to review those priorities.  It will move towards a model-using task and finish group. The 3 Area Partnerships will be the functional arms of the trust.  These groups will include senior managers and elected members. They will be responsible for identifying and developing priorities and commissioning local services.  This should ensure better targeting of resources to local need.  There was discussion regarding the educational bias of these partnerships and the poor representation of health. The new structure of health will take some time to fit into the system.

The Trust Planning and Commissioning Group will also sit under the CTB.  There was concern voiced about the structure and relationships of all the groups involved and this will be further looked at though the feeling was that we need to get on with it now and review structure as we go along.

Three Participation Champions (of whom I am one) will sit on each Area Partnership to ensure that the voice of children is heard.

2.         The Children’s Trust Plan

The need to acknowledge inclusion of Gypsy and Traveller Children in any plan was noted in the minutes following strong representation from B Smith.

An initial presentation on the incidence of and consequences of Child Poverty preceded this item and set the scene for how the priorities were settled on.  (See below). At the previous meeting Child Poverty was the only priority but this was strongly objected to by myself and the health representatives. The new priorities far better represent what South Cambs views as key issues for children.

The over riding strategic priority now is:

To reduce inequality in outcomes for children and young people in Cambridgeshire.

There are 5 key priorities under this, which we as a key partner have agreed to work to.  Of particular relevance to us are:

·           Work in partnership to tackle child poverty and deprivation to reduce inequalities in outcomes.

·           Ensure the Healthy Child Programme is delivered effectively to all children.

·           Adopt a community assets approach to tackle inequalities with local communities and the voluntary sector.

3.            Placement Strategy for looked after Children

The CTB presented a new strategy for placing looked after children.  This is driven by a need to reduce costs and consequently a wish to reduce the number of children in care and to ensure that those in care are placed in the best possible situation.  £1million of extra money is being invested in preventative work to try to reduce the number of children being taken into care.  The average cost to the CCC of a child in care is £1074 per week.  The national average is £861.  The number of looked after children in Cambridgeshire has risen by 50% in past 3 years.  50% of our looked after children are cared for in external foster care rather than in-house foster care and it is this that accounts for the increased cost.  Most other authorities place 50% of their children in in-house care.  The strategy has a large number of aims but these include recruiting more local foster carers and reducing the number of children taken into care by early intervention work to support families and schools, (school exclusions is often a precursor for being taken into care).

 Of interest to South Cambs is the intention to create short-term accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year olds which will hopefully prevent them becoming homeless adults.

4.         Some information on Child Poverty in Cambridgeshire

15,060 children in Cambridgeshire (excluding Peterborough) are living in poverty (2.8 million nationally – 22% of children).

Living in poverty means poorer outcomes later in life – poorer health, higher mortality, lower educational attainment, lower aspirations.

The more children there are living in poverty the greater the numbers referred to social care.

Children in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) in Cambridgeshire do much worse educationally than the national average and their statistical neighbours from Pre School to age 19.

Poverty is having a greater effect in Cambridgeshire on educational attainment than in other authorities. When looking at the difference between FSM children and others, out of 152 authorities, our FSM children start off ranked 85th and end up ranked 148th.

Specific to Cambridgeshire, (and I suggest to South Cambridgeshire) in creating child poverty:

‘Access to transport is a key barrier to the economic participation rate in rural households’.

‘Lack of available part time work’.

See attached newsletter- issue 1 

Expense claims for the 2010/11-year have to be received by Democratic Services no later than Friday 29 April 2010. The Members' Allowances Scheme states that all claims "must be submitted by one month of the end of the relevant financial year to which the claim applies", so qualifying claims date from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011.

Members are requested to submit separate claims for each financial year if they are making a claim in April 2011, which includes dates from both the 2010/11 and 2011/12 financial years. Expense claim forms are in the Members' Lounge in the bottom right pigeonhole or can be downloaded off the Members’ section of the Council intranet. 

Environmental Services

Preliminary Framework for the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy

The Local Government Group has produced a Framework (attached) to assist Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) in developing their local strategies for managing local flood risk.

The local strategy is the key new duty for flood authorities with the commencement of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 this April. There is no formal government guidance for the local strategy, but this Framework document provides information on all the elements that will need to be included in a local strategy, as well as advice and case study examples to help all LLFAs in developing their local strategy.

The Framework was developed by the LGA’s Inland Flood Risk Management Group – the member Group which advises the Environment and Housing Programme Board on flood risk issues. The Officer Network which supports the Inland Group managed the project to develop the Framework. A list of those authorities and organisations that contributed to the project is included in the document.

The LG Group is pleased to recommend this preliminary Framework to member authorities. It is a living document and it will be reviewed and updated when necessary. 

Safer and stronger communities

Planning to Save: case studies of efficient emergency planning and response

Local authorities play a vital role in planning for and responding to a wide variety of emergencies and a lot of hard work has gone into developing professional, efficient and effective emergency planning services.  This booklet (attached) provides a selection of case studies that illustrate the action that local authorities and their partners have already taken to achieve efficiency savings in emergency planning while continuing to deliver high quality services to their communities.

Policy and Performance

Essential Localism

On 1 March 2011 the Local Government Group published its response to the Communities and Local Government’s essential guide to decentralisation and the localism bill (attached). The essay recognises where progress has been made to untangle unnecessary bureaucracy – and also to identify what more needs to be done to change the way our overcentralised state machine works. This is not simply about changing processes, but also about tackling long ingrained behaviours and cultures. Councils are at the front line of this - opening up public services to diverse and innovative provision, by providing a forum for local democratic debate and by stimulating entrepreneurial action locally.

The Rural Services Network is a group of over 250 service providers and local authorities working to establish best practice across the spectrum of rural service provision. The network has representation across the complete range of rural services.  For general comments or enquiries, email: editor@ruralcity.co.uk 

• Defra permanent secretary named http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Politics/Defra-permanent-secretary-named.html

• Rural leader rails against localism http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Business/Rural-leader-rails-against-localism.html

• ‘End of era’ for Post Offices http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Services/End-of-an-era-for-Post-Offices.html

• Councils to reduce bus services http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Services/Councils-to-reduce-bus-services.html

• High speed rail plan scrutinised http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/Environment/High-speed-rail-plan-scrutinised.html

To view the list of planning applications submitted in the past seven days, please visit the Council’s on-line Planning Application Search.  Once the page has loaded, select the Planning Weekly List option to see planning applications determined or registered each week for the past ten weeks, or use the Search option to set your own criteria.

The system will provide a range of information on current and decided applications since 1948, including a brief description of the development, reference number, decision and the date of decision.  More recent applications show the name and telephone number of the council officer who is dealing with the application.

Search results are presented in a collection of pages, the number of which depends on the number of results your search produces.  There are navigation tools to allow you to browse your results.

In accordance with the Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, any executive decision shall be published normally within five days of being made.  That record will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision will come into force, and may then be implemented, on the expiry of 5 working days after the publication of the decision, unless called in for review by the Chairman of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee or by any five other councillors.

A list of decisions currently within the call-in period is available on the Council’s website.

Any member considering calling in a decision is requested to contact the Democratic Services Section to determine whether any relevant amendments have been incorporated.

The call in procedure is set out in full in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, ‘Scrutiny and Overview Committee Procedure Rules’. 

The Planning Portfolio Holder:

(a)          supported the emerging Local Transport Plan 3.

(b)          endorsed the District Statement for inclusion within LTP3 (attached at Appendix 3). 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The Planning Portfolio Holder approved amendments to the Procurement Strategy to link to:

(a)          the Climate Change Action Plan 2010-13:

(i)            amend paragraph 4.8.6 of the Procurement Strategy (new wording shown in bold italics)

“As part of the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan 2010-13 the Council is committed to reducing its own carbon footprint and procurement can play a part in achieving this aim.  The Council will therefore place significant weight upon seeking to ensure that the level of life-cycle carbon emissions associated with the materials, products, services and utilities that it procures are in line with its carbon reduction commitments.”

(ii)           amend paragraph 4.8.9 of the Procurement Strategy (new wording shown in bold italics)

 “The strategy is concerned with adopting a consistent approach for assessing the environmental impact of procurement activity within all the Council’s service areas. To this end technical guidance, support documents and training sessions will be made available to staff. This includes the use of life cycle assessments, eco-labels (e.g. energy star) and sustainability criteria in tender documentation.”

(b)          the Safeguarding Children Policy 2009 and Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy 2010:

(i)            insert a new section in the Procurement Strategy:

10 Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults

10.1 The Council needs to safeguard the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Therefore Contract Regulations will ensure that where procurement involves contractors coming into contact with children or vulnerable adults, the service will include criteria in the specification relating to the conduct of employees, health & safety, Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adult terms and put suitable reporting processes in place to mirror the Council’s internal procedures.

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The Planning Portfolio Holder:

(a)          Noted the content of this report

(b)          Adopted the Economic Development Strategy, attached in Appendix 1.

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder considered the representations received on the draft Fen Drayton Former LSA Estate SPD and agreed provisionally the Council’s responses (as included in Appendix 2); and the adoption of the Fen Drayton Former LSA Estate SPD (as included in Appendix 3) subject to further consideration of footprint issues relating primarily (but not exclusively) to 54 Park Lane and 33 Cootes Lane. 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder agreed the adoption of the Health Impact Assessment SPD (the amended page of the consultation draft SPD is included in Appendix 3) and proceed in accordance with Regulations 18 and 19 (for ease of reference, Appendix 1 details the change made to the draft SPD following the consultation process).

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

That the New Communities Portfolio Holder resolves that the following balances be carried forward into 2011-12 financial year:

§         Community Facilities Grant, £32,922

§         Village Sports Facilities Grant, £29,069

§         Arts Capital Grants, £14,940

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder

1.                  Agreed provisionally the responses to the representations received to the Options Report on Foodstore Provision in North West Cambridge provided in Appendix A.

2.                  gave authority to the Corporate Manager (Planning and New Communities) to make minor amendments / changes to the ‘Informal Planning Policy Guidance on Foodstore Provision in North West Cambridge’ which may arise when the Cambridge City Council Members consider the informal retail guidance at the Environment Scrutiny Committee on 15th March 2011.  Any material changes to be brought back to the next Portfolio Holder meeting for consideration.

3.                  Adopted provisionally the ‘Informal Planning Policy Guidance on Foodstore Provision in North West Cambridge’, provided in Appendix B, as a material consideration in the determination of planning applications.

Subject to the views of Cambridge City Council. 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder:

(a)               Endorsed the Council’s responses (as included in Appendix 1);

(b)               adopted the Orchard Park Design Guidance SPD (as included in Appendix 2) 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The Planning Portfolio Holder resolved that the following uncommitted grant balances be carried forward into the 2011/12 financial year:

·           Heritage Initiatives Grants                   £29,061           

·           Historic Buildings Preservation Fund         £54,622

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder:

(a)               agreed that the draft Residential Travel Plan Guidance (Appendix 1) be issued for consultation.

(b)               noted the consultation plan in Appendix 2. 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder agreed

(a)               The methodology for the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (as included at Appendix 1)

(b)               Setting up of a Housing Market Partnership

(c)               Issuing of a ‘call for sites’ 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder noted, approved and adopted the New Communities aspects of the Planning and New Communities Service Plan. 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The Planning Portfolio Holder noted, approved and adopted the Planning aspects of the Planning and New Communities Service Plan. 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDS to the Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, the approval of the draft Licensing Policy as the recognised policy of South Cambridgeshire District Council in relation to Sex Establishments and Sex Entertainment Venues within the district, subject to the minor amendment to paragraph 15 agreed at the meeting.

Not for call-in: recommendation only.

1.                  The New Communities Portfolio Holder agreed that a single South Cambridgeshire Development Plan be prepared incorporating a review of the Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD), Site Specific Policies DPD and the Development Control Policies DPD as a single document to the timetable set out in Appendix 1, Tables 1 and 4 and that the Gypsies and Travellers DPD will continue to be prepared separately (Appendix 1, Table 3).

2.                  That authority be delegated to the Corporate Manager (Planning and New Communities) to complete a new Local Development Scheme on this basis.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder to sign off the Scheme at a future date. 

This decision was published on Wednesday 9 March. Democratic Services must be notified of any call-in by 5pm on Wednesday 16 March. If not called-in the decision may be implemented on Thursday 17 March.

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDS to the Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, the draft Licensing Policy, subject to the changes agreed at the meeting, as the formal statement of licensing policy for Street Trading Consents within the district of South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Not for call-in: recommendation only.

The Housing Portfolio Holder approved the spending of no more than £10,000 from the commuted sum pot to facilitate a temporary move.  The money is to be used to upgrade one unit in the retained block on the Windmill Estate, Fulbourn, and this resident has agreed to move in there.  The Council has not yet been able to find a suitable alternative for this resident and the resident has agreed to this temporary move to allow the Windmill redevelopment project to proceed as their property is strategically located in the demolition programme.  There are no other options at this present time: if this money is not committed to this, the resident will not move and phase 2a of the redevelopment project will fail.

This issue was not in a forward plan and was taken with permission of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee Chairman under special urgency provisions in Rule 16 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution.  The matter was considered as urgent in order to provide funding from the commuted sum pot to assist with some void works and decant costs to facilitate a temporary move for a resident on the Windmill Estate into the retained block on the estate until a suitable alternative property becomes available.

Decision taken on Monday 7 March 2011 and published on Wednesday 9 March 2011.  Call-in expires at 5 pm on Wednesday 16 March 2011 and decision can be implemented from Thursday 17 March 2011 if not called-in.

Agendas

·                      Agenda for Environmental Services Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 10 2011 2:00PM

·                      Agenda for Policy and Performance Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 15 2011 11:00AM

·                      Agenda for Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 15 2011 6:00PM

·                      Agenda for Policy and Performance Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 15 2011 11:00AM- supplement

·                      Agenda for Housing Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 16 2011 5:30PM

·                      Agenda for Planning Enforcement Sub-Committee on Mar 16 2011 2:00PM

Decisions

·                      Agenda for Licensing Committee on Mar 3 2011 10:00AM

·                      Agenda for Planning Committee on Mar 2 2011 2:00PM

Minutes

·                      Agenda for Housing Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Feb 16 2011 5:30PM

Issues

·                      Issue details - Health and Safety Enforcement Policy

·                      Issue details - Planning Portfolio: Carry forward of uncommitted grant balances to 2011-12

Meetings

·                      Agenda for Planning Committee on Mar 2 2011 2:00PM

·                      Agenda for Licensing Committee on Mar 3 2011 10:00AM

·                      Agenda for Planning Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 8 2011 10:00AM

·                      Agenda for New Communities Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 8 2011 11:15AM

·                      Agenda for Standards Committee on Mar 9 2011 10:00AM

·                      Agenda for Environmental Services Portfolio Holder's Meeting on Mar 10 2011 2:00PM

Please confirm your availability to attend training sessions by contacting Claire Dillon by email, or on extension 3026.