Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, the Committee noted the termination of Councillor S Evans and the appointment of Councillor J Finch for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups.

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Legal and Democratic Services Manager in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.)

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rule 16, Members must declare the existence of any Party Whip, and the nature of it, when considering any matter in the following categories:

-       The review of any decision of the Cabinet or

-       The performance of any Member of the Cabinet

N.B. The Secretary of State believes whipping is incompatible with Overview and Scrutiny.

There were no declarations of Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 June 2020.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 June 2020 be received as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Residents of West Lancashire on giving notice, may address the meeting to make representations on any item on the agenda except where the public and press are to be excluded during consideration of the item.  The deadline for submissions is 10.00am on Friday 18 September 2020.  A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

There were no items under this heading.

There are no items under this heading.

There were no items under this heading.

To scrutinise the following Minutes of Cabinet:

22 July 2020 (Extraordinary)

8 September 2020

Consideration was given to the Minutes of Extraordinary Cabinet held on 22 July 2020 and Cabinet held on 8 September 2020 as contained on pages 93 to 104 of the Book of Reports.

Consideration was given to the minutes of Extraordinary Cabinet held on 22 July 2020 as contained on pages 93 to 98 of the Book of Reports.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of Extraordinary Cabinet held on 22 July 2020 be noted.

Consideration was given to the minutes of Cabinet held on 8 September 2020 as contained on pages 99 to 104 of the Book of Reports.

A question was raised in respect of Minute 24 – Use of S106 Funds on the Edge Hill Cycle Link, in respect of the cost and location of the Cycle Link.

The Strategic Planning, Regeneration and Implementation Manager responded in relation to this, and also explained that a detailed plan can be found at Appendix A of the Cabinet report.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of Cabinet held on 8 September 2020 be noted.

To review and approve the revised membership of the Member Development Commission to reflect the inclusion of a representative from Our West Lancashire:-

            (7 Members)

            Labour:                                   (Chairman) Councillor C Dereli

                                                            (Vice Chairman) Councillor G Dowling

                                                            Councillor Y Gagen and I Moran

            Conservative:                        Councillors Mrs J Marshall and D O’Toole

            Our West Lancashire:         Councillor A Owens

Members were asked to review and approve the revised Membership of the Member Development Commission to reflect the inclusion of a representative from Our West Lancashire.

RESOLVED: That Councillor A Owens, Our West Lancashire representative be appointed to the Member Development Commission.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director Transformation and Resources.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources as contained on pages 105 to 136 of the Book of Reports, which reported the results of the draft Council Plan consultation undertaken and to agree amendments to the draft Council Plan.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the consultation process/model and the Council's aspiration to "Develop homes to rent/buy/for shared ownership through Tawd Valley Development Company".

RESOLVED: That the document attached at Appendix A to the report, the draft Council Plan 2020/21 – 2022/23 be endorsed.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Place and Community.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Place & Community, as contained on pages 137 – 192 of the Book of Reports, which presented and sought comments on the draft Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCS&AP) 2030, intended to assist in the delivery of the Councils aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2030 and progress towards a low carbon West Lancashire.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following:

·         Carbon Neutrality target – earlier (2026)

·         Emissions from current Fleet and renewal of the fleet contract in 2026 – potential emissions savings

·         Carbon off- setting and energy demand

·         Potential introduction of a competitive renewal energy tariff

RESOLVED:     A.      That the CCS&AP 2030 be approved for presentation to Cabinet.

B.      That the Committee noted the Council's policy to aspire to Carbon Neutrality by 2030 at the latest but wished to stress to Cabinet, its desire to achieve that target as soon as practical, prior to that date.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director Place and Community as contained on pages 193 to 212 of the Book of Reports which set out details on the Key Risks facing the Council and how they are being managed.

Mark Orford, Director BTLS attended the meeting to brief the Committee in relation to the 'Effective Management of Cyber Security'.  He outlined the technical ICT aspects of the Council's Cyber Security operations and measures in place to ensure security of buildings and policies around usage of ICT.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following:-

·         Cyber security attack / anti threat detection

·         Cyber Security Policy - WLBC ownership

·         Accreditation Schemes - Vulnerabilities/Risks assessed

·         Security Operations Centre (SOC)

·         National Cyber Security

·         Filtering solutions

·         Cyber Security Essentials - Human error / Education

·         Partnership - Benefits with larger Organisation

The Risk and Insurance Officer explained that this and future reports will be presented to Executive Overview & Scrutiny Committee for consideration, she further explained that Risk Management training is offered to Members every 2 years and that the last training was offered in November 2019.  She further advised Members that training could be facilitated sooner if there was substantial request for this.

The Chairman thanked Mark Orford, Director BTLS and Risk and Insurance Officer for their presentation and attendance.

RESOLVED:

A.        That it be noted future Risk Management reports be referred to the Executive Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

B.        That the progress made in relation to the management of the risks shown in the Key Risks Register (Appendix A) be noted and endorsed.

Note 1. The Chairman varied the order of business to allow for Agenda Item13 Risk Management to follow Agenda Item 8 in order to accommodate the attendance of Mark Orford, Director BTLS.

Note 2. Mark Orford, Director BTLS and Risk Management Officer left the meeting at the conclusion of this item.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Place and Community.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Place and Community as contained on pages 213 to 242 of the Book of Reports, which was to consider the proposed Council response to MHCLG's consultation on both the Planning for the Future white paper and the technical changes to the planning system.

The Strategic Planning, Regeneration & Implementation Manager outlined the report, he explained that there were two separate consultations taking place, the Planning for the Future white Paper as well as the related technical consultation on changes to the planning system, the suggested draft Council responses to the consultations were detailed at Appendix A & B of the report.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following:-

·         New zonal style local plan required

·         Focus on design /quality/style in zones

·         'Binding' housing requirement would be introduced

·         Nationally set infrastructure levy–replace s106's to fund new infrastructure and affordable housing from same pot

·         Planning process increasingly digitised

·         More community consultation on specific zones

·         Local plan preparation more intense

·         Resources - likely reduced planning fee income but greater workload overall

·         Propose change to standard method for calculating housing requirements for strategic plans (Local Plans)

·         Delivering 'First Homes' concept

·         Support small/medium size developers

·         Proposal to extend 'permission in principle' consent regime

RESOLVED:     A.      That the proposed Council response to the Planning for the Future white paper at Appendix A be endorsed and further consideration by Cabinet on 13 October 2020 and Planning Committee on 15 October 2020 be noted.

B.        That the proposed Council response to the technical consultation changes to the planning system at Appendix B be noted and the following agreed comments of the Committee be forwarded to the Corporate Director of Place and Community for consideration prior to a final response on technical consultation being agreed in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and submitted before the deadline of 1 October 2020: "To reconsider the technical responses, particularly the answers to questions 1 and 2 of Appendix B.  To review the basis of whether housing stock calculations includes student properties and, if it does, then put argument to Government that student housing should be excluded from those calculations, as student housing is not likely to increase and that the revised calculations should then be reflected in the answer to question 2."