Shrewsbury & Atcham
Borough Council

2. MINUTES - 23^rd July 2003

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 23^rd July 2003 be confirmed as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

(a) To receive any declarations of members’ interests in any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.

(i) Personal (ii) Personal and Prejudicial

(When members are declaring a personal interest, or a personal and prejudicial interest in respect of which they have dispensation, they should specify the nature of such interest. Members should leave the room if they have a personal and prejudicial interest in respect of which they do not have a dispensation.)

(b) To receive any declarations from members of the existence of the party whip and the nature of it in respect of any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.

To consider a report setting out the decisions from the Cabinet held on 1st September 2003, in respect of the following item, which, in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer, is not in accordance with the Council’s Policy Framework or Budget.

The following parts of the decision have been called in by Councillors Mrs Chebsey and Evans.

That it be recommended to Council:

(a) That a special meeting of Cabinet be held as soon as possible following the informal seminar for all Members on the 10th September 2003 in order to discuss the valuation of the various sites, which will enable a meeting of the Scrutiny Committee to be held thereafter if deemed necessary, prior to the matter being considered by Full Council on 22nd September 2003.

(b)That Cabinet, subject to approval of Full Council, inform Dunedin that it wished them to progress the comprehensive redevelopment of the Smithfield Road site to include Car Parking, Bus Station, Retail and other appropriate town centre facilities, such a development to be subject to the normal permissions.

Reason:

(a) To respond to the need to enable all Members of Council to be involved fully in the decision making process on the issue.

(b) To respond to the recent public consultation exercise on Shrewsbury 2010 in developing a formal detailed consultation process on the three other major issues, ie:

• Music Hall
• Museum/TIC; and
• Visitor Economy (Team Tourism)
• and other related issues and their integration into a leisure/tourism package for Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council.

(c) To allow the concern expressed by many organisations and individuals regarding both the length and timing of the report to be addressed. To help address the same issue considered by the Communications, Consultation and Partnership Task Group at a recent meeting. This Group would be reporting to the Policy and Performance Overview Committee on 16th October 2003 with recommendations that Council adopted service standards for consultation.

"Examine further any valuations received for the Gay Meadow and any other site involved in this complex land deal. These should be considered to see if they reflect the value that the Council and the community place on these sites. Any ramifications to the Council and local tax payer (capital and revenue) of these proposals taking place should be known and their accuracy looked into and confirmed before any ‘deal’ is entered into. The reason why the cabinet consider any new theatre should be built on the Gay Meadow should be listed and is the financial package and proposed comprehensive redevelopment in the best interests of the Council and the taxpayers of Shrewsbury and Atcham."

To consider the decision from the Cabinet held on 1st September 2003, in respect of the following item called-in by members, which, in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer, is in accordance with the Council’s Policy Framework or Budget:

The following decision has been called in by Councillors Mrs Chebsey and Evans.

That the Review Reports be Noted.

Reason:

They were information reports aimed at informing Members on the performance of the service portfolios.

"There are 16 reports listed with many of them showing sections that give cause for concern in that there are a number flagged as red and amber using the traffic light notation. The reports were only noted with no actions placed by the Cabinet on any officers or its members to correct this situation. No debate took place when these were considered. Why was this and is the way this was carried out satisfactory."

The Chairman has requested that the Portfolio Holder for Policy & Resources, Councillor Nutting, attend the meeting to assist the Committee.

The following decision has been called-in by Councillors Mrs Chebsey and Evans.

That the Priorities paper for delivering the Council’s Corporate Plan for the period 2003 to 2005 be adopted.

Reason:

To set out the Council’s priorities for delivering it’s Corporate Plan for 2003 to 2005.

"Are all the council priorities listed and are the proposed resources adequate to deliver them? Are the baseline services provided sufficiently challenging and the standards set satisfactory? Are there any other priorities that have been considered and discarded as needing no action. It is noted that there are some areas down for action, these need further explanation to confirm if this continues to be best value for the council and community. Are there any other areas to be added to this list?"

The Chairman has requested that the Portfolio Holder for Policy and Resources Councillor Nutting attend the meeting to assist the Committee.

Copies of the attached reports are available in large print on request from the Committee Section at The Guildhall, Dogpole, Shrewsbury, SY1 1ER Tel. 01743 281032