Venue: Council Chamber, Pathfinder House, St Mary's Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3TN
Contact: A Roberts, Democratic Services Officer, Tel No 01480 388009/e-mail: Anthony.Roberts@huntsdc.gov.uk
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 16th May 2007.
2 Minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 16th May 2007 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. |
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MEMBERS' INTERESTS To receive from Members declarations as to personal and/or prejudicial interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any Agenda Item. Please see Notes 1 and 2 below.
2 Minutes. Minutes: Councillors K J Churchill, S J Criswell and D Harty declared personal interests in Minute Nos. 9 and 11(b) by virtue of being Members of Cambridgeshire County Council. |
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000 - FORWARD PLAN A copy of the current Forward Plan, which was published on18th May 2007, is attached. Members are invited to note the Plan and to comment as appropriate on any items contained therein.
10 Minutes. Contact: R Reeves 388003 Minutes: Having been reminded of the procedure that had previously been adopted for dealing with the Forward Plan, the Panel considered the current Plan (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) which had been prepared by the Leader for the period 1st June to 30th September 2007.
In response to an enquiry by the Chairman, the Central Services Manager informed the Panel of the purpose of an item on Decent Homes for Vulnerable People in the Private Sector. Following further discussion it was agreed that items on the Consultation and Engagement Strategy and on the Culture and Leisure Strategy should be submitted to future meetings. |
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STUDY - DISABILITY ACCESS Derek Biggs, Area Manager for Disability Services, and Gerald Reilly, Access Officer, of Cambridgeshire County Council will be in attendance to discuss the Panel’s study on disability access.
A report summarising the Panel’s deliberations on the study is attached to assist the discussions.
30 Minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: (Councillor R W J Eaton was in attendance for consideration of this item)
The Panel received a presentation by Gerald Riley, Access Officer for Cambridgeshire County Council, on the County Council’s responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) and his role in ensuring the County Council complied with them. The County Council had three duties through its policies and practices as an employer, through the design and delivery of services and through the discharge of its public functions. In each of these areas the County Council had to demonstrate that they had been informed by the Act. With regard to accessibility in the built environment, the County Council had to ensure that those with a disability had been consulted as part of the design process.
In response to a question by the Chairman, Mr Riley reported that every Head of Service had individual arrangements for involving disabled users in the development and monitoring of service plans.
Councillor R W J Eaton acquainted Members with the findings of consultations he had carried out within his ward on disability access. He urged the County Council to liaise with disabled groups to identify problems with the hardscape and to carry out measures to alleviate them. Mr Riley confirmed that maintenance standards were informed by the DDA and went on to suggest that disabled groups might be consulted on the location of dropped curbs. In that context Members reiterated their intention to consult on this within their own Wards.
Following a question by Councillor D A Giles, Mr Riley informed Members that dropped curbs were designed to accommodate wheelchairs of a certain size but that problems now arose as larger chairs were being manufactured. Problem areas could be reported either to the County Council or to the Environment and Transport Area Joint Committee.
Councillor Mrs M Banerjee acquainted the Panel with issues that arose during her attendance at a recent meeting of the Cambridgeshire Parliament. These included the provision of high dependency toilets and public transport. With regard to the latter, Mr Riley reported that the Department for Work and Pensions reimbursed the disabled for travel to work costs.
The Panel went on to discuss the remit of the study. In particular Members considered ways of providing high dependency toilets. It was agreed that the Cabinet should be requested to investigate this.
RESOLVED
that the Cabinet be requested to consider providing high dependency toilets. |
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CORPORATE PLAN - GROWING SUCCESS To review the Corporate Plan – Growing Success, which is enclosed with the Agenda, and to make comments for submission to the Cabinet.
20 Minutes. Contact: I Leatherbarrow 388005 H Thackray 388035 Minutes: In reviewing the Corporate Plan – Growing Success (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Panel noted that vacancy had arisen on the Corporate Plan Working Group. As a result Councillor P G Mitchell was appointed as a replacement.
The Head of Policy and Strategic Services, Mr I Leatherbarrow, reminded Members of the background to the Plan and outlined the Council’s performance in 2006/07 and targets for 2007/08 against national and local indicators. Members discussed various indicators. In particular, they expressed concern at the time taken to complete Disabled Facility Grant adaptations. As this was attributed to delays in completing Occupational Therapy assessments, the Panel decided to refer this matter to the Executive Councillor for Housing and Public Health.
In response to a question by Councillor E R Butler, Mr Leatherbarrow reported that national indicators and their wording were prescribed by the Audit Commission and changes had resulted from the previous year. Following further questions, Mr Leatherbarrow confirmed that the Plan was separate from the Sustainable Community Plan and he undertook to provide further information on partnership working. |
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STUDIES |
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OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY - REMIT, ROLE AND STUDIES To consider a report by the Head of Administration on the Panel’s remit and role and to determine the Panel’s study programme for the forthcoming year.
20 Minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Additional documents:
Minutes: (Councillor P J Downes was in attendance for this item)
Consideration was given to a report by the Head of Administration (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) on the Panel’s remit and role and reviewing the programme of studies.
In considering two matters that had been referred to the Panel following the recent review of the Constitution, Councillor P J Downes addressed Members on a proposal to introduce a District Youth Forum. Its purpose was to encourage Town and Parish Councils to establish their own youth forums to assist young people in becoming involved in civic life. The District Youth Forum would be attended by representatives of town and parish forums who would share information and best practice. It also could act as a consultative mechanism on scrutiny issues. Councillor Downes went on to outline his proposal to introduce a State of the District conference. Reference was made to a suggested format.
In discussing the proposals the Panel agreed to discuss the State of the District conference at the next meeting and, for this purpose, requested information on how other authorities engaged with their communities. With regard to the District Youth Forum, the Panel appointed Councillors E R Butler, Mrs K E Cooper, P J Downes, Mrs P A Jordan and J S Watt to a working group to investigate the proposal in detail.
Having endorsed the principal that the membership of time limited working groups should continue until their work was complete, the Panel discussed their study programme. It was agreed to hold a meeting of the Town Centre Cleaning Working Group to discuss progress and to discuss markets information at a future meeting of the Panel. It also was agreed to add the work of the Huntingdonshire Strategic Partnership to the programme and to request the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Service Support) to investigate heavy goods vehicle parking throughout the District. |
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ADOPTION OF ROADS AND SEWERS To consider a report by the Head of Administration containing background information and, as a result, to determine the remit of the study on the adoption of roads and sewers.
20 Minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: It was agreed to defer this item to the next meeting. |
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SCRUTINY To scrutinise decisions taken since the last meeting as set out in the Decision Digest (TO FOLLOW) and to raise any other matters for scrutiny that fall within the remit of the Panel.
10 Minutes. Contact: A Roberts 388009 Minutes: The Panel received and noted a 73rd edition of the Decision Digest. |