Agenda

The Council is currently undertaking a survey to a number of properties throughout the area in order to update our stock condition database and to assist in the preparation of our 30-year business plan.

Hunters Ltd. from London is carrying out the survey.

Attached is a listing of the properties that will be included in the survey with approximate dates when the survey will be carried out, together with a copy of the letter that is being sent to the tenants. The letter contains a security code, and the surveyors will be carrying identification together with a letter of authority from the Council.

Should there be any queries regarding this, please contact David Purnell on ext 3045 or via email: david.purnell@scambs.gov.uk

Parish Councils have requested the District Council run a workshop on the subject of section 106 agreements. Officers from the Planning and New Communities team are happy to run such a workshop but need to understand the context and detail that is required. If you are interested in attending a workshop please contact section 106-Officer James Fisher james.fisher@scambs.gov.uk with feedback on the following questions:

What time of day would you prefer?

How many attendees do you feel the workshop should be limited to?

How long do you think the workshop should last?

What items would you like covered?

What is your current level of understanding on s106 agreements (poor, adequate, good)?

Potential items for discussion are:

History of section 106 agreements

Use of section 106 agreements

What contributions do /can Parish Councils benefit from and influence

District Council processes

Development viability

Future of section 106 agreements 

The agreed meetings calendar for 2011/12 is attached.  The only dates yet to be confirmed are those for the Corporate Governance Committee’s quarterly meetings.  Hard copies will be posted to Members this week to help Members plan their diaries for the coming municipal year.

The deadline for receipt of questions for the Council meeting on Thursday 14 April is Monday 4 April (one week from next Monday) at noon.

The deadline for receipt of notices of motion for the Council meeting on Thursday 14 April is Tuesday 5 April (one week from next Tuesday) at 11.59 pm.

These procedures are set out in full in sections 11 and 12 of Council Standing Orders, in Part 4 of the Council's Constitution.

Please bear in mind that we are now within the pre-election period and that this has implications for questions and notices of motion proposed for a Council meeting agenda.  Guidance is available on the intranet and has been e-mailed to all Councillors.  If in doubt, please seek advice from Fiona McMillan, Legal and Democratic Services Manager, 01954 713027 / fiona.mcmillan@scambs.gov.uk or other members of the Legal team, or speak to a member of Senior Management Team, who may be able to suggest an alternative resolution method which would still be timely but not affect the Council's legal position during this period.

Expense claims for the 2010/11-year have to be received by Democratic Services no later than Friday 29 April 2011. 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.

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. 

ENVIRONMENT

Flood and water management Act 2010

A substantial phase of implementation for the Flood and Water Management Act will take place in April 2011. The third Commencement Order of the Act will come into force commencing, amongst other things, most duties and powers for Lead Local Flood Authorities. See: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/694/made#text%3Dfloods#match-1

Three sets of Regulations have also been laid in Parliament concerning the creation of Regional Flood and Coastal Committees, Levies (section 17) and Scrutiny committees (Schedule 2 para 54). These regulations are expected to come into force in early April 2011 and are subject to negative resolution parliamentary procedure.  Further information is attached.

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

·                      Rural change is ‘inescapable’

·                      Budget: Divide over Planning

·                      Budget: Rural motorists still pay more

·                      Action on fuel tops Budget agenda

·                      Concern remains over public forests

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 AGREED the following amendments to the District Statement by South Cambridgeshire District Council for inclusion within the Cambridgeshire Local Transport Plan 3:

(a)               The first sentence of paragraph 1.3 to read: “In some parts of the district public transport is good, mostly along the main roads or ‘corridors’. However, there are many villages where access to a bus or train service is poor, absent or under threat of cancellation because of subsidy removal.

(b)               The end of paragraph 6.4 was amended to read: “… it is crucial for the Councils to continue to work with partners in order to manage change effectively, including consultation with voluntary transport providers, for example voluntary community car schemes.”

(c)               The last sentence in paragraph 7.3 was amended, so that the sentence reads: “Improvements to this junction will be delivered as part of the Cycle Cambridge programme.”

(d)               The first sentence of paragraph 7.4 was amended to read: “… now largely well developed.”

This decision was taken and published on Monday 28 March 2011.  It is not subject to call-in and can be implemented immediately.  The decision was taken at a Portfolio Holder meeting immediately following the meeting of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee to consider its call-in of the previous decision.

Agendas

·                      Corporate Governance Committee on 28 March 2011

·                      Leader's Portfolio Meeting 31 March 2011

·                      Cabinet 31 March 2011

·                      Planning Committee 6 April 2011

Reports

·                      Amendments to the Annual Governance Statement – received after agenda published for Corporate Governance Committee 28 March 2011

Decisions

·                      Scrutiny and Overview Committee 24 March 2011

·                      Scrutiny and Overview Committee 28 March 2011

·                      Planning Portfolio Holder's Meeting 28 March 2011

Minutes

·                      Council 24 February 2011

·                      Planning Committee 2 March 2011

·                      Constitution Review Working Party 24 March 2011 (intranet only)

·                      Climate Change Working Group 24 March 2011

Issues

·                      Scrutiny & Overview Committee Reporting to Council

·                      Reports from Member Champions

Library Items

·                      Copies of the presentations and documents from the 28 March 2011 Risk Management Briefing by Tilden Watson from Zurich Risk Engineering have been added to the Members’ Training and Development area (intranet only)

Parish Council Items

·                      Longstowe Parish Council – approved minutes 17 February 2011

·                      Skylark – April 2011 (Longstowe Village Newsletter)

New Meetings Added

·                      Constitution Review Working Party 2011/12 meetings:

·                     Thursday 7 July 2011, 10 am

·                     Thursday 8 September 2011, 2 pm

·                     Thursday 10 November 2011, 2 pm

·                     Thursday 29 March 2012, 10 am

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

Starter

Cheryl Barnard, Home-Link Administration Officer in Affordable Homes, started on 28 March 2011.

Leavers

Jeanette Holland, Sheltered Housing Officer, left on 17 March 2011.

Emma Lowther, Communications Manager, will be leaving on 8 April 2011.

Karen Seamark, BusinessUnit Administration Officer in Affordable Homes, will be leaving on 30 April 2011.