Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Sam Murrell, Email: s.murrell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk and Jess Kemmish, Email: j.kemmish@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence.
Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from councillors Danny Wedderkopp, Barrie Hall, Bennet Allen and Simon Coles. |
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Minutes of the previous Corporate Scrutiny Committee
To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 5th January 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: The committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 5th January 2022. |
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Declarations of Interest
To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.
(The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.)
Additional documents: Minutes: Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-
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Public Participation
The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.
For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.
Temporary measures during the Coronavirus pandemic Due to the temporary legislation (within the Coronavirus Act 2020, which allowed for use of virtual meetings) coming to an end on 6 May 2021, the council’s committee meetings will now take place in the office buildings at the John Meikle Room, Deane House, Belvedere Road, Taunton. Unfortunately due to capacity requirements the Chamber at West Somerset House is not able to be used at this current moment. Following the Government guidance on measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), the council meeting rooms will have very limited capacity. With this in mind, we will only be allowing those members of the public who have registered to speak to attend the meetings in person at the office buildings, if they wish. (We will still be offering to those members of the public that are not comfortable in attending, for their statements to be read out by a member of the Governance team). Please can we urge all members of the public who are only interested in listening to the debate to view our live webcasts from the safety of their own home to help prevent the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Additional documents: Minutes: There was no public participation. |
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Corporate Scrutiny Request/Recommendation Trackers
To update the Scrutiny Committee on the progress of resolutions and recommendations from previous meetings of the Committee. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair noted the request and recommendation trackers. |
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Corporate Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan
To receive items and review the Forward Plan.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair noted the forward plan. |
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Executive and Full Council Forward Plan
To review the Forward Plans. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair noted the forward plans. |
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To Consider Reports from Executive Councillors - Councillors M Kravis
To consider reports from Executive Councillors on their respective Portfolios;
i. Councillor Marcus Kravis – Economic Development & Asset Management
3.2 of the Scrutiny Terms of Reference state that the Scrutiny Committee may review and scrutinise and ask questions of the Leader, lead Councillors, the Executive in relation to their portfolios. Additional documents: Minutes: The Portfolio Holder for Economic Development & Asset Management provided an update on the status of the Coal Orchard Project. They updated the Committee that the company involved as the Council’s contractor in the Coal Orchard Project, Midas, were filing for administration. This has been in the press and the Portfolio Holder had been interviewed on television and radio about it. Yesterday the Portfolio Holder met with local business surrounding Coal Orchard along with the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning. Officers had been working hard and all options were being considered.
The Assistant Director for Major and Special Projects added that Midas would have ten days to appoint an administrator as of Friday 28th January. Their staff had been asked not to come into work, so the Council had taken over the site and had appointed security to secure the site. The Council had already served a default notice on Midas last week due to poor performance. Officers would continue to work with Midas and have discussions, however, officers were also exploring alternatives to ensure that should Midas go into administration or default on the contract then Coal Orchard would still be completed.
During the debate the following points were raised: · It was asked what could happen to Midas and the implications for the Coal Orchard Project. Officers responded that in terms of the project, if Midas went into administration then the Council would look at alternate options. These options included several contractual options such as employing another contractor, employing an independent project manager to manage the site whilst the Council employed sub-contractors directly or managing the site ourselves. All the options had different risks and benefits. · It was asked how long it would take to complete Coal Orchard. Officers responded there was approximately three months of work left to complete on site so it would take three months from the remobilisation of the site for work to be completed. · It was raised that the administration process could take a significant amount of time. · It was asked if the contract with Midas was a fixed price contract. It was responded by officers that this was the case. · It was asked if alternative options were being looked at before the administration process. Officers responded that they had begun to speak to sub-contractors who had been working on the site but that some of them had not been paid by Midas. Officers would continue to have conversations with sub-contractors to see if they would be willing to return to site. The contract with Midas would default at the end of this month due to poor performance. · It was asked when the Council knew Midas was likely to apply for administration. The Portfolio Holder responded that they believed it was from Friday 28th January that the Council knew. · It was raised that good progress had been made to secure the site and officers were thanked for this. · It was asked if due diligence was conducted on Midas before the contract was ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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To Consider Reports from Executive Councillors - Councillor M Rigby
To consider reports from Executive Councillors on their respective Portfolios;
i. Councillor Mike Rigby – Planning and Transport
3.2 of the Scrutiny Terms of Reference state that the Scrutiny Committee may review and scrutinise and ask questions of the Leader, lead Councillors, the Executive in relation to their portfolios.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transport. During the debate the following points were raised: · It was asked if there had been any progress on the car parking review and whether there was a possibility of buying more land for car parking in Watchet. It was responded by the portfolio holder that the review should be completed in a month’s time. The overall parking strategy was also being reviewed. · It was asked what the government was doing to resolve the phosphates issue. It was responded by the portfolio holder that the government had not done much to date but that the Council was lobbying the government. The Council had set aside £2m to help with phosphates solutions but that would only be sufficient to bring forward a fraction of the homes currently delayed by the phosphates issue. · It was asked what solutions had come forward for the phosphates issue and what mitigations were potentially achievable. It was asked whether the Council was still looking at fallowing land and creation of wetland. It was asked what the estimated costs of phosphates solutions were and what it would do for local food production. It was responded by the Portfolio Holder that wetland creation was being looked at but that it would not provide sufficient credits for all developments as there was not enough land and using too much would impact agriculture and food production. A central government plan was needed. The levels and moors in the district had slipped into a bad condition over a period of time, and it would take decades for their condition to be improved. As a Council and local planning authority we need to ensure we do not make the problem worse, but cannot resolve it alone. · It was asked if a charge could be levied per house to allow some development to go ahead. It was responded by the Portfolio Holder that this was being looked into but there were some legal matters being investigated to see if this was possible. · The Portfolio Holder was thanked for their support and work on the Lidl built in Wellington and the train station which would be built in Wellington. · It was asked if barriers could be removed from car parks. The Portfolio Holder acknowledged that the system had some flaws but added that changing the system ahead of the new unitary council being in placewhen the new council may look to make car parks uniform across Somerset, would not be worthwhile. · It was asked why a blanket increase in parking charges across all cars parks was implemented rather than targeted charges. Officers noted that some car parks were free and maintained from the money which was raised from other car parks so charging only based on maintenance costs of an individual car park would not allow for free car parks. · The poor condition of ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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Access to Information - Exclusion of the Press and Public
Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee resolved that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from part of Agenda Item 9, To Consider Reports from Executive Councillors - Councillor M Rigby, on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
The Chair proposed that the meeting be extended by 30 minutes which was duly seconded and carried.
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