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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL
COMMUNITIES, HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 20 June 2017
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Present: |
Councillors Barned (Chairman), M Burton, Joy, D Mortimer, Perry, Mrs Ring, Mrs Robertson, Webb and Webster |
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6. Apologies for Absence
There were no apologies for absence.
7. Notification of Substitute Members
There were no Substitute Members.
8. Urgent Items
There were no urgent items.
9. Notification of Visiting Members
There were no Visiting Members.
10. Disclosures by Members and Officers
There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.
11. Disclosures of Lobbying
There were no disclosures of lobbying.
12. Exempt Items
RESOLVED: That all items on the agenda be taken in public.
13. Minutes of the Meeting held on 18 April 2017
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed.
14. Minutes of the Meeting Held on 23 May 2017
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed.
15. Presentation of Petitions (if any)
There were no petitions.
16. Questions and answer session for members of the public (if any)
There were no questions from members of the public.
17. Committee Work Programme
In response to questions from Members, it was agreed that:-
·
A report on enforcement action against litter thrown from cars
would be put on the work programme for later in the year once the new
legislation was in place.
·
Parish Services Scheme – this item would be taken off the work
programme as this was now dealt with by the Strategic Planning, Sustainability
and Transportation Committee.
RESOLVED: That the Committee Work Programme be noted.
Subsequent to the meeting the Director of Finance and
Business Improvement confirmed that the Parish Services Scheme had not been
transferred to Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation
Committee. The Scheme was being reviewed and a report would be presented to
the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee in September/October 2017.
18. Report of the Head of Policy, Communications and Governance - Strategic Plan Performance Update Quarter 4
The Head of Policy and Communications presented a report on
the Strategic Plan Performance Update Quarter 4 2016/17.
The Committee was informed that:-
·
7 out of the 8 targeted KPIs reported achieved their target for
this quarter.
·
The weight loss programme at the Leisure Centre had been a
success with 65 people having completed the course and had all lost weight.
In response to questions from Members, Officers advised that:-
·
To measure the amount of detritus on relevant land and highways,
some 300 roads were inspected and graded according to DEFRA regulations.
·
The Child Sexual Exploitation training was delivered to staff at
McDonalds as this was classed as a high risk area.
·
The safeguarding training for Members would be carried out over
the next two months and would be added to the Committee Work Programme to
ensure progress on this was monitored.
·
That Officers would be contacting the Police to check if the
figures quoted were correct.
·
The Housing Team were monitoring the backlog on the processing of
housing applications. It was noted that the length of time to process medical
assessments had reduced due to additional resources being directed to the
work. The Head of Housing and Community Services undertook to provide a
regular update to the Committee by email.
·
The increase in crime incidences could be raised as an issue by
the Committee to the Safer Maidstone Partnership when acting as the Crime and
Disorder Committee.
RESOLVED: That:
1.
The summary of performance for Quarter 4 of 2016/17 for Key Performance
Indictors (KPIs) and corporate strategies and plans be noted.
2.
Where complete data was not available this be noted.
3.
The progress of Strategic Action Plan updated at Appendix II to the
report of the Head of Policy and Communications be noted.
4.
No action needed to be taken or any amendments made to the Quarter 4
report.
19. Report of the Director of Finance and Business Improvement - Fourth Quarter Budget Monitoring
The Director of Finance and Business Improvement presented a report on the Fourth Quarter Budget Monitoring.
The Committee noted that at the end of the fourth quarter there was an overall underspend for services within the Committee’s remit of £380,390.
In response to a question from a Member the Head of Housing and Community Services advised that the adverse variance for CCTV related to loss of income and works that needed to be carried out but this did not form part of the current review of CCTV.
RESOLVED: That the financial position at the end of the fourth quarter for services within the Committee’s remit be noted.
20. Report of the Head of Housing and Community Services - Housing Strategy Annual Update
The Head of Housing and Community Services presented a report on the Maidstone Housing Strategy 2016-2020 Annual Update.
The Committee noted the work undertaken during the first year of the current Maidstone Housing Strategy and the three Key Priority Themes which formed the action plan.
In response to questions from Members, the Head of Housing and Community Services advised that:-
·
The Maidstone Health and Wellbeing Group was chaired by the
Council’s Chief Executive and there were various sub-groups that focussed on
specific areas to deliver the Health Inequalities Action Plan.
·
Following the recent tragic events at Grenfell Towers in London
the Chief Executive had been in contact with Kent Fire and Rescue and other
partners to ensure that necessary checks were being carried out on high rise
blocks of flats in the borough and fire safety plans were in place. Members
asked for the results of this to be reported back once it had reached a certain
stage.
· The Council had recently acquired 8 properties for the homeless and another 5 were nearing completion.
RESOLVED:
1.
That the work undertaken during the first year of the Maidstone Housing
Strategy 2016-2020 be acknowledged.
2. The progress made in achieving the stated aims of the three Key Priority Themes highlighted in the Maidstone Housing Strategy as detailed in Appendix A to the report of the Head of Housing and Community Services be noted.
21. Report of the Director of Regeneration and Place - Maidstone Community Lottery
The Director of Regeneration and Place presented a report on the Maidstone Community Lottery.
The Committee considered the proposal to set up a local lottery to benefit local community groups and charities.
Members raised a number of concerns, which included:-
·
The consultation undertaken with the voluntary sector was only
responded to by 10% of those targeted which did not give a true reflection of
support or otherwise for the lottery scheme.
·
There should have also been a public consultation to test the
views of the ‘man on the street’.
· The principle of gambling to raise funds for voluntary organisations felt uncomfortable.
·
Arising from the discussions it was proposed and seconded
and agreed that the recommendations as set out in the report be refused.
RESOLVED: That recommendations 1 to 3 be
refused.
Voting: For: 8 Against: 0 Abstentions: 1
22. Duration of Meeting
6.30 p.m. to 7.55 p.m.