Agenda and minutes

Any apologies for absence will be noted at this point.

Apologies were received from Cllr Barrett.

To approve the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 15 November 2022.

To receive an update on progress against recommendations made to the Cabinet and the Council.

Minutes to follow.

RESOLVED

The mintues of the meeting held on 15 November 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

The Chairman will announce any urgent items that due to special circumstances are to be dealt with under the agenda item below relating to late items.

There were no urgent items.

Members and officers are reminded to make any declarations of disclosable pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests they may have in respect of matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The procedurefor submittingpublic questions in writingbyno later thannoon 2 workingdays before the meetingis availablehereorfromthe Democratic Services Officer (whose contactdetailsappear on thefrontpage of thisagenda).

Public questions were received from:

Mr B Garrett, Mr A Sargent, Mr L Searle, Cllr A Kerry-Bedell and Mr R Bailey.

These question responses are incorporated within the next item.

The following representatives have been invited to attend the meeting:

·         Mr Black, Chief Executive Officer of OFWAT

·         Ms Brooksbank, Marine Senior Advisor of Natural England

·         Mr Gosden, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Water

·         Mr Moody, Area Director, Solent & Downs of the Environment Agency

The members of the Committee will have the opportunity to discuss the following:

·         Recent flooding and the associated drain surcharging.

·         Sewage and the subsequent discharge into the harbour and water courses.

·         Chichester Harbour water quality.

·         Responses to planning applications including delays in connectivity.

The Chairman welcomed Dr Toby Willison, Director of Quality and the Environment at Southern Water; Mr Tom Scott-Heagerty from Natural England; and Michael Turner from the Environment Agency. 

The following questions were received from members of the Committee and the public. The answers provided by Southern Water follow:

Please note that the questions have been grouped together in topics for easier reference.

Planning

What can SW do to prevent housing developers connecting to their network where it is know that by adding new housing this will exceed capacity as defined in CDC 2020 Position Statements?

We have a duty to enable developments to connect to water and wastewater under the Water Industry Act 1991. Water companies do not have the right to refuse connections.

There is currently a proposal to implement Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act. This would enable us to refuse a connection where surface water has not been eliminated from reaching the sewer. We are closely monitoring progress of this proposal. However, this would not apply to foul water only connections which we would still have no right to refuse.

Under the previous regime at Southern Water the Chief Executive told a leading harbour stakeholder that: "The development plans within the Emerging Local Plan are madness for the harbour." Considering the current discharge into the harbour over recent weeks what is the current view of Southern Water?

Generally, it falls to the Local Planning Authority to determine what development they support in their area. If it is in their Local Plan and planning permission is given, we are then obliged under our statutory duties to provide the services for water and wastewater.

We are statutory consultees for Local Plans and provide detailed evidence in the Chichester area on our networks and participate in the Water Quality group, as well as attending a range of ad hoc meetings to support the Council as much as possible.

Since 2017 Southern Water have declined to make such comments on the Planning Applications so what has changed?

When we receive planning applications for consultation, then we will provide comments. However,unlike the process for Local Plans, we are not statutory consultees at this stage in the planning process. We need specific details on any cases which have not received a response. Please forward further details to southernwaterplanning@southernwater.co.uk and we will be happy to provide a response.

Of recent concern a Planning Application was presented to the Planning Committee regarding an application to increase the number of units on a development site from 1 single dwelling to 8 large apartment units. The site is served by the Apuldram WTW which has no further capacity, but Southern Water were not consulted on this application. If presented with this application what would Southern Water's response have been?

Water companies, including Southern Water, are not statutory consultees for planning applications. It is not unusual for the Council to decide not to consult with us.

For clarification, capacity at the WWTW is not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 107.

The Committee will receive an oral report on the review carried out.

The Chairman invited Cllr Purnell to present the verbal updated from the Budget Task and Finish Group.

Cllr Purnell informed the Committee that the group considered the Five-Year Financial Model and the Resources Statement as background context, which helped to inform the development of the Annual Budget to be debated by Council in February, ahead of the spending plans being agreed by Full Council in March.

She informed members that senior officers had given an update on the high-level significant variances, moving from the approved 2022-23 Budget requirements of £15.015 million up to the £15.696 million currently proposed for the 2023-24 budget, though this figure is still subject to change.

Members were reminded of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Council’s finances and that an efficiencies programme, aiming to save approximately £2 million, was implemented from 2020 with a phased programme over three years. £8 million was set aside from reserves to support the revenue budget. During 2022, £808,000 of this was required to balance the  budget.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Purnell and officers for the update.

The Committee is requested to consider the report and its appendix and make the following resolution:

That the Committee receives the annual report from the Great Sussex Way (TGSW) and assesses performance in line with the Service Level Agreement.

The Chairman invited Mrs Hotchkiss to introduce the item

Mrs Hotchkiss explained that The Great Sussex Way (TGSW) is the main destination management organisation for the district. The Council provide funding to TGSW, with the current agreement running to 2025. She informed members that the report sets out the results expected to be achieved as part of this contract.

Mrs Hotchkiss then introduced Danielle Dunfield, the CEO of TGSW.

Mrs Dunfield was pleased to report that the targets set had been met, and explained that the report provides a summary of the main achievements and activities. She noted that the central goal of the organisation is to improve footfall to the district, and to increase dwell time when visitors to come – promoting spending in local businesses. She identified a challenge associated with the widely dispersed nature of businesses within the District and how TGSW aims to mitigate this.

Mrs Dunfield spoke about developments to TGSW website, with the aim that this becomes a one shop stop for potential visitors to the area, which would be easier to navigate than visiting many different individual business sites. The information provided focuses on ‘what the visitor wants’ and aims to facilitate greater business collaboration and cross selling.

Members were informed of three key themes to promote the district:

Chichester as the wine destination city of England.

Outstanding culture in outstanding countryside.

The district as a green destination.

Mrs Dunfield noted that TGSW regularly engages with 670 different businesses.

The Chairman invited members to ask any questions.

Cllr Purnell discussed co-working with individual parishes and specific organisations such as Destination Sussex. Members also encouraged the promotion of the £2 single bus fare scheme rolled out by Stagecoach and the promotion of the Heritage Walks scheme.

Responding to members, Mrs Dunfield explained some of the techniques used to net smaller businesses within the District, including her and her team walking some routes themselves to identify every business along the way.

Members and the Chairman thanked Mrs Dunfield for her report and hard work.

The following recommendation was carried unanimously.

Resolved;

The committee received the annual report from the Great Sussex Way (TGSW) and assessed performance in line with the Service Level Agreement.

The Committee is requested to consider the report and its appendices and make the following resolution:

The Committee is requested to note the proposal that in the absence of any clarity regarding the Government’s requirements and funding, that the Council should not yet commence the implementation of a separate domestic food waste collection service, but instead keep a watching brief and update members as and when the Government progresses matters. 

Chairman introduced Kevin Carter.

Mr Carter explained that the report considers changes to food waste legislation; he noted however, that CDC, as other Local Authorities, are waiting for clarity from the government on new requirements and funding schemes.

There was some discussion amongst members as to when an update and further report might come to the Environment Panel and to this Committee to make recommendations on to Cabinet. Due to the variables in waiting for government legislation, on advice from the monitoring officer members agreed that the recommendation remain as it is, with Mr Carter to bring an update to the Committee using the Urgent Item provision as necessary.

Resolved;

The Committee noted that in the absence of any clarity regarding the Government’s requirements and funding, that the Council should not yet commence the implementation of a separate domestic food waste collection service, but instead keep a watching brief and update members as and when the Government progresses matters.

The Committee is requested to note the remaining items on the Committees Work Programme for this administration.

Mrs Rudziak talked members through the current Committee work programme.

The Committee were pleased to hear a holding date is in place with the Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, to attend a future meeting and respond to member questions.

Mrs Bushby informed the Committee that the Social Prescribing item scheduled for the meeting in March, would now come to the first meeting of the new Council in July 2024.

The Chairman thanked members, external partners, and officers for attending, and for their hard work – especially in facilitating the questions to Southern Water.

Consideration of any late items as follows:

a)    Items added to the agenda papers and made available for public inspection.

b)    Items which the Chairman has agreed should be taken as matters of urgency by reason of special circumstances reported at the meeting.

There were no late items.

There are no restricted items for consideration.