Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Craig and Oxley.

To receive declarations of interest.

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 January 2023.

The Chair of the Committee will answer questions from members of the public submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

Public questions were submitted. They were answered by the Chair, Councillor Brine. Supplementary questions were also answered. Refer to the recording of the meeting and Agenda Item 4.

See Agenda Item 4 for deadlines for submission.

There were none.

To receive an update on Performance Monitoring Q3.

Councillor Tucker advised that the colouring and status on several of the indicators were confusing. He advised Committee whilst he understood the reason why the projects had slipped, the status on them being listed as ‘not started’ was incorrect and instead should be listed as ‘overdue’ to be transparent. The following indicator examples were provided:

·         CW1.2.2 listed as on target however had a completion date of 1 December 2022.

·         CW1.4 listed as on target however had a completion date at the end of December 2022.

·         CW1.4.1 listed as not started however had a completion date at the end of December 2022.

·         CW3.1 currently showing as overdue despite the deadline being at the end of the current month (March 2023).

The Head of Community Services advised that some of the examples were ongoing projects which required to be continually monitored after the completed date. She advised that the current performance management system did not always allow officers to change the dates listed within the system and hoped the new system would remove this issue and simplify the process.

Councillor Tucker acknowledged the completion date should not be amended but asked if the status colour were able to be changed and a comment added into the notes section when a date exceeded. The Head of Community Services advised it was not possible due to the colours being automated in the system.

To present the 2022/23 forecast outturn position against the revenue budgets and Capital Programme that the Committee is responsible for, in order to give an expectation of possible variances against budget.

The Accountant introduced the report and explained that the report presented the forecast outturn against the Revenue and Capital Budget as of 31 December 2022 and identified that there was a projected Net Revenue overspend. She advised that the Housing Benefit Subsidy had the biggest variance and that a briefing paper on this was sent to Committee Members last week which included the narrative detail.

Proposed by Councillor Aldam and seconded by Councillor Prenter. 

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

Consider a revised street trading policy and agree a draft for consultation. The main proposed change is a new decision making process for contentious applications, or cases where a consent may be revoked, to enable them to be considered by a licensing hearing panel.

The Licensing Manager introduced the report and reminded Committee that Street Trading consent was required for the selling, exposing, or offering of any article in the street however newspapers and periodicals were exempt in legislation. She advised Committee of the current processes and explained the purpose of the report was to review the current policy with a proposal to improve the Council’s processes for determining contentious applications and processes on revoking someone’s licence through the introduction of a hearing process (as outlined in appendix 1 to the report).

Where an objection on a case from the Police or Gloucestershire Highways on grounds of public safety was received or where a short term community consent had been applied  it was proposed that this should be retained as an officer decision to alleviate pressure on hearing panels. She also advised the report made minor changes which included clarification on DBS checks, reduction on traders public liability insurance from £10M to £5M and finally to clarify market consent conditions. The Licensing Manager concluded and advised that if Committee approved the report, the draft policy would go out for public consultation until May with a final policy for decision to come back to Committee in June.

Councillor Prenter asked whether the annual licensing hearing training would be sufficient to incorporate the new hearing process in the policy or if additional training would be required. The Licensing Manager advised she envisaged that street trading would be included within the annual training.

Councillor Crews advised she would like to see a code of conduct on street traders added to the policy. The Licensing Manger advised the policy is twofold, first being the suitability of site and second the suitability of applicant. She continued and advised all traders and lone workers on stands were required to be DBS checked however she would add something into the policy ahead of consultation. The Chair, Councillor Brine suggested a statement on expectation of traders behaviour as an alternative.

Councillor John Jones asked who was liable for market consent and public liability insurance. The Licensing Manager advised that the market organiser should either have their own public liability insurance or make sure that all traders have their own insurance. Councillor John Jones advised that he expected market organisers to show the Council they hold public liability insurance. The Licensing Manager confirmed this was already a requirement of the application and of any annual renewal.

Proposed by Councillor Robinson and seconded by Councillor Hall.

Councillor Hall welcomed the report and believed that everyone should have the right to appeal disciplinary decisions. 

Councillor Aldam echoed Councillor Hall’s comments and explained how valuable hearings were to allow people to object and appeal.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

Consider the recommendations of the Task and Finish Group and agree a final policy for adoption.

The Licensing Manager introduced the report and reminded Committee that in December 2022 Committee approved the draft policy developed by the Task and Finish (T&F) Group to go out to public consultation. The T&F Group met with trade representatives and also sought the views from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group who asked for reassurance that wheelchair accessible taxis available to the public would not be reduced. She continued and explained that the T&F Group concluded that due to electric vehicle (EV) costs and lack of infrastructure in the district, a mandatory EV policy was not appropriate and instead a policy based on Euro 6 compliance to reduce emissions, would be an appropriate interim measure.

Councillor Tucker asked for clarification on paragraph 2.3 of the report and asked if it was all vehicles registered after 1 September 2015 or 2025 which were Euro 6 compliant. The Licensing Manager confirmed it was 2015.

Proposed by Councillor Prenter and seconded by Councillor John Jones.

The Chair, Councillor Brine gave his thanks to the Officers and the T&F Group for their hard work.

Councillor Prenter believed the T&F Group struck a good balance between equality and environmental considerations within the Policy.

Councillor John Jones advised Committee that had there been better infrastructure for public electric charging points that the policy might have had a different Policy.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To receive a verbal update to Committee.

The Head of Community Services advised that she was due to present the Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) Business Case as the preferred option for the leisure management contract for Stratford Park, however due to a change in March from HMRC, it meant leisure facilities were now non-business VAT operated which had a direct impact on the financials within the Business Case for the LATC. This meant that the proposal needed to be reviewed. She advised that she was working on a new Business Case and would be bringing the preferred option back to Committee at a later date after viewing the VAT implications.

Councillor Robinson queried if there was still enough time within the timeframe for the contract renewal and having to review the options again. The Head of Community Services confirmed there was still enough time.

Councillor Prenter asked whether new preferred option would be taken back to the Task and Finish (T&F) Group before being submitted to Committee. The Head of Community Services advised an extraordinary board meeting had been arranged to discuss the next stages however they would consider taking back to the T&F group.

The Chair, Councillor Brine, informed Committee that he had hoped Committee that evening would be agreeing the Leisure Management Option for the next 25 years however with such significant financial implications due to the VAT, the correct decision was made to review the options again and to ensure the best possible option was brought to Committee regarding leisure provision in the district. He thanked the Head of Community Services and her team for their continued work.

To appoint the main representative for the Citizens Advice outside body.

No nominations were received and therefore the post would remain vacant until the annual appointments.

The Member report had been circulated prior to Committee. There were no questions raised.

The Member report had been circulated prior to Committee. There were no questions raised.

The Member report had been circulated prior to Committee. There were no questions raised.

To consider the work programme.

Councillor Crews asked for the Lido to be added to the work programme. The Chair, Councillor Brine, advised it was on the T&F group’s agenda for the next meeting.

Councillor Robinson advised the importance of receiving regular updates from the Gloucestershire Health Overview Scrutiny Committee (HOSC). Councillor John Jones also advised for the 111 service to be included within the next HOSC report.

Councillor Edmunds asked for an update from the Mental Health Champions. The Head of Community Services advised that the Mental Health Champions would be bringing their action plan to June Committee with a focus on staff and Members.

Councillor Crews advised that the Integrated Care Board had given Councils some funding for health provision. The Head of Community Services advised that £150k had been provided and her team were working on a brief for how and what the money can be spent on. Once the brief had been drafted, it could be brought back to Committee for consideration.

The Chair, Councillor Brine, gave thanks to the Committee and the Vice Chair for the work the Committee had conducted this civic year.