Minutes Template

Should you wish to refer any decisions contained in these minutes to Policy and Resources Committee, please submit a Decision Referral Form, signed by three Councillors, to the Head of Policy and Communications by: 29 June 2018

 
 


MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

Communities, Housing and Environment Committee

 

Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 19 June 2018

 

Present:

Councillors Cuming, Harvey, D Mortimer (Chairman), Powell (Vice Chairman), Purle, Mrs Robertson, Rose, Springett and Webb

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6.           Apologies for Absence

 

Apologies for absence were received by Councillors Ring, M Burton and Joy.

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7.           Notification of Substitute Members

 

The following Members were present as Substitute Members:

 

·         Councillor Springett for Councillor Ring

·         Councillor Cuming for Councillor M Burton

·         Councillor Harvey for Councillor Joy

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8.           Urgent Items

 

The Chairman informed the Committee that he had accepted an urgent update to item 13. Key Performance Indicator Update Quarter 4 2017/18. The reason for urgency was that the data within the urgent update was not available from Kent County Council at the time of publication.</AI3>

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9.           Notification of Visiting Members

 

There were no visiting members.

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10.        Disclosures by Members and Officers

 

There were no disclosures by Members and Officers.

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11.        Disclosures of Lobbying

 

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

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12.        To consider whether any items should be taken in private because of the possible disclosure of exempt information.

 

RESOLVED: That all items be taken in public as proposed.

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13.        Minutes of the meeting held on 17 April 2018

 

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 April 2018 are agreed as a correct record and signed.

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14.        Minutes of the meeting held on 22 May 2018

 

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 May 2018 are agreed as a correct record and signed.

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15.        Presentation of Petitions (if any)

 

There were no petitions.

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16.        Question and answer session for members of the public (if any)

 

There were no questions from the public.

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17.        Committee Work Programme

 

Mr Mark Green, the Director of Finance and Business Improvement, updated the Committee on its Work Programme. It was noted that the update on CCTV was scheduled for the July Committee meeting.

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18.        Key Performance Indicator Update Quarter 4 2017/18

 

Ms Anna Collier, Policy and Information Manager, presented the Committee’s Key Performance Indicator Update for Quarter 4 of 2017/18.

 

Ms Collier highlighted the following from the report:

 

·         Fly-tips cleared within 2 working days, and percentage of fly tips resulting in enforcement action had both performed particularly strongly. This was due to dedicated resources being assigned to these areas to address the issue of fly tipping in the borough.

·         The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting during quarter 4 had been below target. This was due to the poor weather in March which meant that extra refuse collections were made and recycling questions were missed. This meant there was a lower tonnage of recyclable waste collected and a higher tonnage of refuse collected.

·         The target for affordable homes completed had been exceeded for the year, and the number of homeless preventions made in quarter 4 had also been above target.

 

The Committee requested that the figures for tonnage figures of the different types of household waste collected be made available.

 

RESOLVED: That the summary of performance for Quarter 4 of 2017/18 for Key Performance Indicators be noted.

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19.        Fourth Quarter Budget Monitoring 2017/18

 

Mr Green introduced his report which gave the Committee an overview of budgets that the Committee was responsible for during the fourth quarter of 2017/18.

 

The Committee noted that:

 

·         Overall, the budgets for this service had an underspend of £270,000.

·         However this overall figure was made up of various over and underspends.

·         Expenditure on homelessness was within budget, which was a great achievement given the pressures on Council services in this area.

·         Street Cleansing had overspent due to overtime and contractor costs increasing to cover staff sickness.

·         CCTV had overspent due to an income budget that was not met, a savings budget that was not met and unexpected expenditure during the year.

·         A number of carry forwards had been identified, where resources had not been utilised during the financial year but were required to fund expenditure in future years.

·         The significant items of spending within the Committee’s capital budget were spend related to purchasing properties for use as temporary accommodation and housing developments at Union Street and Brunswick Street.

 

The Committee highlighted that there had been an overall underspend on homelessness, despite some areas within the service being underspent. Mr William Cornall, Director of Regeneration & Place, confirmed that the Service Managers and Head of Service managed budgets within the service to ensure that resources were directed to the areas that had the greatest need.

 

In response to a question from the Committee about commercial income from the Commercial Waste Service and the Commercial Grounds Maintenance Service, Mr Cornall confirmed that the financial performance of both of these services continued to be monitored by officers.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.   That the financial performance of the services within its remit for 2017/18 is noted.

2.   That the revenue resources to be carried forward into the current financial year are noted.

3.   The slippage within the capital programme in 2018/19 is noted.

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20.        Heather House Community Centre

 

Mr Matt Roberts, Community Partnerships and Resilience Manager, presented a report regarding the Heather House Community Centre in Park Wood to the Committee. Mr Roberts recommended to the Committee that Heather House should remain open, but that if the building deteriorated significantly then this decision would need to be reviewed.

 

Mr Cornall updated the Committee on the progress on securing a replacement facility on the site. It was noted that the Royal British Legion, who were tenants on the site, had not demonstrated interest in redeveloping the site and the Clinical Commissioning Group had also not shown interest in becoming partners to any redevelopment. Mr Cornall requested that the ward members assisted officers with attempting to bring key stakeholders - most notably the Royal British Legion and the Clinical Commissioning Group - to the table to secure their participation in the desired redevelopment project.

 

Mr Green explained that as the building was coming to the end of its life, there was a risk of significant deterioration of the building. If significant deterioration occurred then it may not be cost effective to carry out repairs.

 

The Committee raised concerns that a full structural survey had not yet been carried out, and requested this took place to ensure that the safety of the users of the building could be guaranteed.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.   That Heather House remains open. Should there be a significant deterioration to the fabric of the building then a report be brought back to this Committee for consideration.

 

Voting: Unanimous

 

2.   That officers, in conjunction with ward members, continue to work together to bring other partners to the table to work towards a replacement facility.

Voting: Unanimous

 

3.   That a report be brought back to the Committee on the progress of alternative options in October.

Voting: Unanimous

4.   That a full structural survey be undertaken of Heather House.

 

Voting:        For - 8         Against - 0            Abstentions - 1

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21.        Nominations to Outside Bodies - CHE

 

Mr Sam Bailey, Democratic and Administration Services Manager, outlined the nominations that had been made to the Outside Bodies which were the Committee’s responsibility.

 

It was noted that the Council did not necessarily have to nominate a Councillor to the Cutbush and Corrall charity, and that Cutbush and Corrall had requested that Debbie Smith be appointed to their board.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1)   That Cllr Clive English is nominated as the Council’s representative on Maidstone Mediation.

2)   That Debbie Smith be appointed as the Council’s representative on the Cutbush and Corrall charity.

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22.        Duration of Meeting

 

6.33 pm to 8.03 pm

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