Agenda and minutes

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any known interests in any matters to be considered at the meeting. No such declarations were made. 

There were no public questions 

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th November 2017.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th November 2017, be confirmed and signed.

61.      2017-18 Budget Update and Budget Strategy 2018-2020

Councillor David Renard, Leader of the Council, Councillor Fionuala Foley, Cabinet Member for Children's Services and School Attainment, and Councillor Oliver Donachie, Cabinet Member for the Economy and Skills responded to questions put by Councillors Des Moffatt and the Chair on the following matters:

·        Additional cost pressures under Adult Social Care

·        The main reasons why children are currently placed in care

·        The potential funding pressures of meeting the demand for increased school places in future years

Resolved – That Minute 61 of the Cabinet be noted.

62. Capital Monitoring Quarter 2 2017-18

Councillor David Renard, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Cathy Martyn, Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Safety responded to questions put by Councillors Des Moffatt and Jane Milner-Barry on the following matters:

·        The distribution of the non-parished CIL Neighbourhood Proportion to the new parishes as if they had existed at the date of receipt.

·        The A419 Sound Barrier being removed from the 2017/18 Capital Programme.

Resolved – That Minute 62 of the Cabinet be noted.

63. Mid-Year Treasury Performance 2017/18

Resolved – That Minute 63 of the Cabinet be noted.

64. Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Capital Investment Strategy

Resolved – That Minute 64 of the Cabinet be noted.

65. Town Centre Car Parking Strategy

Councillor Oliver Donachie, Cabinet Member for the Economy and Skills and Councillor Garry Perkins, Cabinet Member for Regeneration responded to questions put by Councillors Des Moffatt, James Robbins, Jane Milner-Barry, Emma Faramarzi, Gary Sumner, Dale Heenan and the Chair on the following matters:

·        Charging for car parking on Bristol and Sheppard Streets

·        Changes to the pricing for car parking charges

·        The impact of proposed car parking charge increases on town centre workers

·        Consultation with town centre businesses on proposed car parking charges increases

·        Feedback from businesses on the level of support they receive from InSwindon

·        Improving digital signage

·        Inviting representatives from InSwindon to the Growing the Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee to discuss town centre issues

Resolved – That Minute 65 of the Cabinet be noted.

66. Reference from the Health and Wellbeing Board – Adoption of the Swindon Affordable Warmth Strategy

Councillor David Renard, Leader of the Council, responded to questions put by the Chair on the following matters:

·        The adoption of the strategy halfway through the strategy period

·        The demand for affordable warmth from the residents of the DMJ Tower

Resolved – That Minute 66 of the Cabinet be noted.

67. Delivery of Town Centre Regeneration

Councillor Garry Perkins, Cabinet Member for Regeneration responded to questions from Councillors James Robbins and Jane Milner-Barry on the following matters:

·        The (a) cost of the independent review of the Swindon Town Centre Regeneration Delivery Model, (b) cross-party consultation undertaken as part of that review, and (c) the anticipated risks and rewards of the new Regeneration Delivery Model.

·        The timescales for the future governance arrangements of Forward Swindon

Resolved – That Minute 67 of the Cabinet be noted.

68. Kimmerfields: Delivery Options

Councillor Garry  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Further to Minute 5/2017 and in accordance with the Council’s Constitution,Councillor David Renard, the Leader of the Council attended the meeting to report to the Committee on the Authority’s performance in the first half of the 2017/18 Municipal Year in progressing the Council’s priorities and targets, as outlined in his Annual presentation to the Committee at its June meeting. As in previous years, as previously requested by the Committee, the report outlined particular examples of where the Council had performed well and also advised on the challenges facing the Council in the year ahead.

In view of time constraints, the Chair advised that there would be no formal introduction of the report and, instead, invited members to put questions to the Leader on the various performance issues raised in his report. The Leader responded to questions put by the Chair and Councillors Emma Faramarzi, Dale Heenan, Gary Sumner, Des Moffatt, and Tim Swinyard on the following matters:

·        The Council’s policy with regard to town centre residential development and the provision of associated car parking.

·        The continuing lack of affordable housing in the town centre and the possibility of developers being asked to provide affordable housing within new developments as an alternative to making a commitment to provide associated car parking

·        The possibility that, as an alternative to providing associated car parking, town centre developers might make a contribution to facilitate residents’ parking in municipal car parks

·        The possible introduction of a special permit rate for town centre residents wishing to use Municipal car parks.

·        The adoption of land and the suggestion that provision be made in the emerging Structure Plan to prevent parcels of undeveloped land remaining unadopted after a development is completed.

·        The Swindon Programme and opportunities for engagement with members, particularly with regard to “spend to save schemes” and potential community schemes in furtherance of Council objectives

·        Child Sexual Exploitation and the importance that all Councillors should completing the online corporate parent training module.

·        The Council’s policy for external organisations utilising Council owned display hoardings.

·        The role of Switch onto Swindon (SOS) in promoting Swindon as a business and leisure destination and, in particular, the promotion of the “SOS” brand beyond Borough boundaries.

·        The effects of busses on the Railway Village Conservation Area

·        The amount of money needed to update the DMJ Tower.

Resolved – That Councillor Renard, the Leader of the Council, be thanked for his informative presentation of his half-year update report and for his full and open responses to members’ questions on the issues raised.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Law and Democratic Services setting out the topics for inclusion in the 2017/18 Scrutiny Work Programme, as agreed by the Committee at its meetings on 19^th June and 17^th July 2017.

Resolved – That the work programme 2017/18 be noted

The Committee received an updated report advising on the status of outstanding issues and member requests for information.

Resolved – (1) That the report on the status of outstanding issues and member requests for information be noted.

(2) That the information provided in response to questions previously put by Councillor Claire Ellis at the previous meeting be circulated to all members of this Committee for information.