Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Partnership Panel held on 10 September 2015

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no items identified.

To include:

-         Financial Arrangements with Parish Councils

The Chairman provided an update on the Council’s Savings and Transformation Strategy which had been presented to the Cabinet meeting held on 17 November 2015.  He outlined the significant financial challenges facing the Borough Council with particular reference to the need to find a further £1.4 million savings in addition to the £2.8 million achieved over the last number of years.  He advised that details of the Savings and Transformation Strategy were available on the Council’s website.

The Vice-Chairman advised that the Borough Council hoped to identify new income opportunities by taking a more commercial approach to asset management, reviewing contracts when due for renewal, reviewing fees and charges, reducing or changing standards of service and reviewing the organisational structure to assess whether service delivery could be realigned, improved or changed.  He advised that partnership funding and funding provided to parish and town councils and voluntary organisations would also be reviewed.

To include:

-        Scrutiny review updates on Parish Partnership Panel, Area Planning Committees and the Holiday Activity Programme

-        Parish Charter

The report of the Chief Executive provided an update on the current Overview and Scrutiny Committee review into how the Borough Council engaged with parish and town councils and local community groups.  The Panel noted that the findings of the short questionnaire completed by the parish councils had been considered at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Review Group on 6 October 2015 and that the Review Group’s recommendations would be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 26 January 2016.  The Panel noted that the Parish Charter required revisiting as the last review had been undertaken in 2008.  The Chairman advised that a general review of the format and frequency of the Borough Council’s meetings was ongoing but indicated that Cabinet had resolved to defer a decision on the Area Planning Committee structure for further investigation.  He thanked the parish councils for their comments on this matter. 

The Chairman encouraged the parish and town councils to respond to the consultations on the Review of the Holiday Activity Programme and the Review of Fees and Charges.

(At the request of East Peckham Parish Council)

The Head of Technical Services provided guidance on the contribution expected from parish and town councils when an emergency, such as flooding, arose within the Borough.  He outlined the guidance, training and support provided by the Borough and County Councils to identify and promote community emergency plans which, in turn, would inform the wider emergency plans.  He advised that assistance with the development of Community Emergency Plans was available on the Council’s website and that he would ask the Kent Resilience Team to contact parish councils directly to encourage them to undertake a community emergency plan.  In addition, it was noted that a Community Emergency Plan template was available by emailing andy.edwards@tmbc.gov.uk 

Original question from Borough Green Parish Council and the email response (attached)

In response to a question raised by Borough Green Parish Council regarding the procedures required for Community Event Road Closures, the Head of Technical Services presented the response of the Licensing and Community Safety Manager which clarified the role of the Safety Advisory Group and the scope of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.  Borough Green Parish Council clarified that it was not concerned about the legal requirements but rather the ‘bureaucracy’ involved in producing an event plan and risk assessment for the various elements of each event.  The Head of Technical Services advised that the Event Plan had to be ‘current’ and suggested that it would be a simple task to copy and update a previous plan to ensure this if the event planning remained unchanged.  Any changes to the event would need to be reflected in revised documentation. 

The Kent County Council Community Engagement Manager (Anne Charman) reported on a number of County Council initiatives and consultations contained in the update report which had been circulated as a supplementary report in advance of the meeting. 

The Director of Finance and Transformation provided an update on key points relevant to Tonbridge and Malling.  The headline messages included:-

·         Christmas Refuse Collection Arrangements

·         Recycling arrangements over the Christmas period

·         Economic Development Activity in respect of upcoming Business Workshops and promotion of Local Retail Centres.

To focus on Community Safety and Crime Prevention:

-        Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2014

-        Crime Prevention Panel

-        Tonbridge and Malling Community Safety Unit

It was noted that, while the meeting scheduled to be held on 18 February 2016 would focus on Community Safety and Crime Prevention, parish councils were encouraged to submit details of any other items they wished to raise.