Agenda and minutes

To declare any personal/prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81(3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

No Member declarations of interest were made.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors R Procter and Dunn.

To receive and approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 18^th March 2008.

With regard to Councillor Ewens’ request for clarification on Minute No. 103, third bullet point, the Chief Planning Officer confirmed that fewer officer recommendations were being overturned by Plans Panels and he agreed to provide Councillor Ewens with further information on this.

Regarding Councillor Ewens’ second query relating to Minute No. 103, sixth bullet point, and the setting up of a Community Planning Officer in the North East Outer area of Leeds, the Chief Planning Officer advised that the department did not have the capacity within its existing budget to provide match funding for similar posts in other areas of the city.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th March 2008 be confirmed as a correct record.

To note the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11^th March 2008.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11^th March 2008 be received and noted.

To receive the Executive Board minutes of the meeting held on 12^th March 2008.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Executive Board meeting held on 12^th March 2008 be received and noted.

To consider a report of the Chief Planning Officer requested by the Board following concerns expressed by Members regarding the management and capacity of the enforcement section of Planning and Development Services.

The Chief Planning Officer submitted a report as a result of Members expressing their concern at the meeting of the Board on 19^th February 2008 on the quarter 3 performance report regarding the management and capacity of the Compliance Service of the City Development Department.  The report set out background information relating to the present performance levels of the compliance service, the composition of the team and the enforcement tools available for use.  The report also drew attention to the national context and the Department of Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) report on the national Review of Planning Enforcement, which indicated areas of focus which were relevant to the development of the compliance service in Leeds.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Phil Crabtree, Chief Planning Officer, Sue Wraith, Head of Planning Services, and Jim Wigginton, Planning Compliance Manager, all from City Development.  The Chief Planning Officer outlined the key issues in the report and requested that Members consider and comment on the report and endorse the course of actions set out which had already been taken towards improving the compliance service.

In brief summary, the following issues were discussed:

·  Training for Members – It was suggested that officers reconsider the timing of the seminar training sessions in order to try and improve attendance.

·  Workload of compliance officers – Officers advised that this was an issue and currently amplified by two vacancies in the section.

·  Improving the customer experience – With regard to members of the public, officers advised that the service endeavoured to keep people informed of progress on individual cases.  With regard to keeping Elected Members informed, officers advised that lists of key cases were provided and they would review whether it was possible to provide more frequent updates on cases than at present.  Members stated that they would like the Compliance Service to be much more proactive in informing Members as to what action was being taken on particular cases, what advice they could give to their constituents and the likely timescales involved for any action to be taken by the Compliance Service.  Members stressed that they should be made aware as soon as a case was registered, including tree preservation orders.  Members suggested that they should receive progress reports on all compliance cases rather than on just the key cases, however officers advised that this was not practicable within the current resources available.

·  Training and Development of Staff – Members were advised that the service had found difficulty over a number of years in recruiting to more senior and specialised positions.  The service was reviewing its career graded progression arrangements and training opportunities in order to help develop and promote junior staff to more senior posts.  It was reported that work was already underway to develop a more integrated compliance and planning service.  This would help develop planners and compliance officer skills to become more generic, build capacity and provide greater flexibility in the service.  A review of officers’ job descriptions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 111.

To receive a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development attaching the draft final report of the Board’s inquiry to review consultation processes for Members’ consideration, along with a summary of the evidence considered during the inquiry.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report for Members’ consideration, attaching the draft final report of the Board’s inquiry to review consultation processes.  The report recounted the Board’s findings and its conclusions and recommendations resulting from the evidence gathered, along with a summary of the evidence considered during the inquiry.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Paul Brook, Chief Asset Management Officer, City Development Department, and Hannah Rees, Area Management Officer, East North East Area Management.  The Chief Asset Manager confirmed the appropriateness of the recommendations and that he would be taking the Board’s final report and recommendations to the Council’s Asset Management Group if the Board agreed it today.

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser advised the Board that, in accordance with Scrutiny Board Procedure Rules, the Directors of City Development and Environment and Neighbourhoods and the Chief Executive of Education Leeds, had each been invited to consult with their respective Executive Member on the specific recommendations and provide any advice they wished before Board Members finalised the report  The Principle Scrutiny Adviser reported that no comments or advice had been received.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the Board’s final report and recommendations be agreed.

(b)  That the relevant Directors and the Chief Executive of Education Leeds be requested to formally respond to the Scrutiny Board’s recommendations within two months of receipt of the Board’s report.

(c)  That an update report, advising Members of the Asset Management Group’s comments and recommendations, be submitted to the Scrutiny Board (City Development)’s successor Board.

To consider the attached report of the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods providing Members with an update of the progress of the Council’s Town and District Centre Regeneration Scheme following the December 2007 report to the Board.

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods submitted a report providing Members with an update on the progress of the Council’s Town and District Centre Regeneration Scheme following the December 2007 report to the Board, focussing on the Town and District Centres component of the scheme.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Stephen Boyle, Chief Regeneration Officer and Tara Muthoora, Programme Manager, both from Environment and Neighbourhoods Department, to present the report and respond to queries and comments from the Board.

In brief summary, the main issues discussed were:

·  Whether the budget had been increased – Officers confirmed that the budget for the Town & District Centre component of the regeneration scheme had not been increased from £11.75m.  Allowing for a contingency of £776k, there remained £245.8k for projects.

·  Lack of long-term strategic thinking in the scheme – Members were advised that this was due to some extent to the evolution of the scheme but a strategic approach to investment in the future was now on the agenda.  The Chief Regeneration Officer offered to return to a future meeting of the Board with the Civic Architect to discuss the citywide long-term programme of investment.

·  The criteria by which Centres were judged to be in need of regeneration – Members were advised that a scoring matrix was used to assess need.  However sufficient resources were not available to allow for a comprehensive approach.  Members were of the opinion that future reports to the Board should include more detail, in particular on how specific Town & District Centres were selected for regeneration.

·  The definition of a Town & District Centre – Officers advised the Board that the selection of centres was based on those centres as identified in the Unitary Development Plan.  There were currently 22 schemes being worked on. 

·  Sustainability of Centres – Members were of the view that one important aspect of the regeneration schemes was that they contributed to the long-term sustainability of centres.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider the attached report from the Assistant Chief Executive (Planning, Policy and Improvement) updating Members on the development of the Council Business Plan 2008-11 and setting out the revised business plan outcomes and improvement priorities.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Planning, Policy and Improvement) submitted a report providing Members with an update on the development of the Council Business Plan 2008-11 and setting out the revised business plan outcomes and improvement priorities, along with the first draft of the performance indicators which would be used to measure progress in achieving this plan.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Heather Pinches, Performance Manager, Chief Executive’s Department to present the report and respond to queries and comments from the Board.

The Performance Manager advised the Board that Appendix 1 – the Corporate Balanced Scorecard - was very much work in progress and as such the colour coding did not at this stage have any significance.  Members’ views on the draft scorecard, in particular if there were any gaps, would be welcomed.

Members sought clarification on specific matters with regard to particular individual performance indicators, however the major issues raised with regard to the overall usefulness of the draft Corporate Balanced Scorecard were in brief summary:

·  The need to breakdown the figures in the scorecard by geographical area – Members expressed concern that the data did not show how effective measures were in the geographical areas that needed to benefit from them most.  The Performance Manager pointed out that the scorecard was an overview but that consideration was being given to producing a subset of balanced scorecards for individual departments and in some instances by geographical area.

·  Accountability – Members were advised that if there was an issue of accountability that could be narrowed down to one particular service area, this would be advised to the Director and Chief Officers concerned and addressed through the accountability and intervention frameworks.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider the attached report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting the draft of the Board’s contribution to the Scrutiny Board Annual Report.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report presenting, for Members’ consideration, the draft of the Board’s contribution to the Scrutiny Board Annual Report.

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser advised the Board that Members’ comments had been included in the draft and following the meeting today, also incorporated into the report would be the Board’s recommendations on its inquiry into consultation processes and information on the Chief Planning Officer’s paper on the Planning Compliance Service.

RESOLVED – That the Board’s contribution to the composite Annual Report be approved subject to the additions as above, as a result of today’s meeting.

To consider the attached report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development providing Members with a copy of outstanding issues from the Board’s current Work Programme and attaching the Forward Plan of Key Decisions pertaining to this Board’s Terms of Reference for the period 1 April to 31 July 2008.

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report outlining at Appendix 1 outstanding issues from the Board’s current Work Programme that the successor Board might like to consider and at Appendix 2 the Forward Plan for the period 1 April to 31 July 2008.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the outstanding issues to be passed to the successor Board for consideration be noted.

(b)  That the Forward Plan for the period 1 April to 31 July 2008 be noted.

The Chair thanked Members and officers for attending throughout the year and the meeting concluded at 11.45am.