Minutes Town Council Policy and Resources Committee - Monday 18 January 2010
Committee Members Present:
Councillor C Hodgson (Chair)
Councillor M Morse (Vice Chair)
Councillor Mrs K Bickley
Councillor Ms T Edwards
Councillor C Letchford
Councillor P Vachon
Councillor D Weekes (Mayor)
Councillor A Raymond (Chair)
Councillor Mrs M McDonald (Chair, Planning)
Councillor A Leech (Chair, Property)
Other Members Present:
Councillor Dr M Ireland
Councillor Mrs D Smith
In Attendance:
D Bent (Town Clerk)
467. Apologies for Absence - An apology for absence was presented on behalf of Councillor Mrs Marsh.
468. Deferment of Business (for comment by the public) - There were no members of the public present.
469. Members’ Questions - Councillor Letchford requested item 8 relating to inclement weather policy implementation be taken in part 2; agreed.
Councillor Ireland asked that investigations be carried out into the purchase of a laptop computer with projector for Powerpoint presentations, report to the next P & R meeting.
470. Minutes - The minutes of the Policy and Resources Committee meeting held on 21 December 2009 and the special meeting held on 7 December 2009 were approved and signed on the proposition of Councillor Raymond, seconded by Councillor Leech.
471. Matters Arising -
471.1 Policy on Waste Management, Street Cleaning and Public Toilets - N Payne (Corporate Director, WDBC) attended the meeting to explain the consultation and rationale of this new service. He said he wished to inform of a decision of a contract, which decision had been delayed, but a new contractor would be appointed to operate with effect from 1 April 2010.He referred to the public consultation exercise and this Council’s belief that it was not extensive and the results were distorted. He advised the consultation had attended 15 community events including the Okehampton Show and outreach surgeries, a large number of verbal responses to questionnaires had been received plus 1,200 written responses which the Borough deemed sufficient, that authority could not afford a sophisticated system and the results were drawn from a cross section of the community. He further acknowledged comment from this Council that the questions were designed to achieve the right response, Mr Payne commented the Borough was addressing a large spectrum of work for the service of waste management, street cleaning, public toilets with a variety of options in this complex operation. He explained they had not used a sealed bid process, but a competitive dialogue process discussing the type of service required as the bid process continued. He explained this operation reduced the price whilst exploring all amendments to the bid process with bidders. One of the principal points was to increase the recycling rate in the Borough to avoid financial penalties.
He explained the following agreed service:
1. weekly food waste in a caddy;
2. weekly recycling box collection including plastic bottles;
3. alternate week bulky card, garden waste;
4. alternate week residual waste, collection in sacks;
5. waste food weekly collection with bulk from this stream going to biogas waste;
6. reduced vehicle movements and saving on carbon footprint.
Mr Payne concluded the service would be delivered at a significant saving over the current contract and would be operational for 7 years from April. Members asked a series of questions relating to food in caddy, green recycling box, bulky and garden waste, residual waste, to which Mr Payne explained fine details. In responses to questions on the survey, he explained that a scaled-down operation had been used due to lack of resources, however questions used were relative to the service and requirements, further that answers correlated at 60% for villages against urban communities. He also explained that one set of results had been submitted to the Council’s Environment Committee as a basis for this exercise. Members were happy to note that wheeled bins, although an option, had been concluded as inappropriate for West Devon. Questions were raised on educating the public over residual waste and other waste and recycling, Mr Payne acknowledged retraining of the public, offered apologies for delays in collection due to snow and ice experienced recently and continued that a public information campaign would be held shortly to build confidence in the system and achieve government targets. With regard to public conveniences, this was part of the new policy and Mr Payne acknowledged community requirements on opening hours of the facility and further concluded all works undertaken within this huge contract would be monitored closely with any complaints forwarded to him.
Mr Payne was thanked for his attendance and information.
471.2 Internal Audit Report - Interim Report 2009/10 VAT Receipts and Payments - It was agreed this item be taken in part 2 at the end of the agenda.
471.3 PETROC Work Experience - The Clerk advised of no response to date from this organisation; to be submitted to the next agenda.
472. Finances - The Clerk advised a financial report of the Council’s position as at 31 December 2009 was not available due to Christmas holiday, inclement weather and other factors. It was agreed that a report be submitted to the next P & R Committee. Councillor Letchford questioned the position relating to an outstanding debt of £200 for the financial year 2008/9 for DCC school playing field and the current position relating to 2009/10 for this facility and the putting club. The Clerk advised that the outstanding accounts for 2009/10 had recently been invoiced and he would research the position relating to the 2008/9 account. Councillor Letchford also questioned the position on an outstanding electricity bill from R Oughton; a report to be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee.
473. Review of Independent Internal Audit 2009/10 - The Clerk submitted a paper which assessed the adequacy and effectiveness of internal audit as part of the process of review of internal control, a copy of which was circulated to Members. Members examined the document, noted the role of Mr Abraham, accepted two reports per annum and thorough investigation of the Council’s responsibilities. On the proposition of the Chairman it was resolved that the report be endorsed.
474. Grant Aid - No applications were received for grant aid.
475. St James Chapel Clock - The Committee was asked to endorse the release of £500 grant for maintenance to this clock; on the proposition of Councillor Leech, seconded by Councillor Weekes resolved accordingly.
476. Training - DAPC New Councillor Short Course - It was noted the following Councillors would attend this course due to be held at Bridestowe on 3 February: Councillors Ms T Edwards, Mrs D Smith and P Vachon at a cost of £25 per person.
477. Staff Meetings - Members noted the content of the staff meeting held on 6 October 2009 without comment.
478. Members’ Reports -
(i) Northern Parishes Link Committee - The Chairman advised of the availability of the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November in the Clerk’s office.
(ii) Okehampton Museum - Councillor Leech advised that Dartmoor National Park was reducing its grant payment to the museum, however would pay for advertisements only at a cost of £1,000. He advised that the museum was experiencing difficulties in securing revenue grants, but would continue to pursue project grants eg tri-party arrangements with the museum, castle and railway. He concluded that the continuation of the museum was unsure due to finances.
PART TWO
ITEMS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC ON THE GROUND THAT EXEMPT INFORMATION MAY BE DISCLOSED (if any).
The Committee is recommended to pass the following resolution:-
“On the proposition of Councillor Leech, seconded by Councillor Weekes, it was resolved that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the Meeting for the undermentioned item of business on the grounds that exempt information may be disclosed as defined in the paragraph given below from Part I of Schedule 12(A) to the Act”
Paragraph 1 - Information relating to employees of the authority.
479. Internal Audit Report - Interim Report 2009/10 VAT Receipts and Payments
480. Inclement Weather Policy Implementation
It was resolved to come out of part 2, move back into part 1 and ratify all decisions taken in part 2, proposed by Councillor Letchford, seconded by Councillor Mrs Bickley.
Meeting closed 9.00 pm.