Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bliss (and his Substitute Member Councillor Jones), Pullin and Weavers.

Members are requested to give notice of any disclosable pecuniary interest, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the Members Code of Conduct, before leaving the meeting room during the discussion on that particular item.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were received.

Minutes of the meeting held 19 September 2017

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills) held on 19 September 2017 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Locality Services - Commissioned

Further to Minute No. 26 of 8 November 2016 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Locality Services – Commissioned seeking, in accordance with the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (the Act), a review and scrutiny of the exercise by the Council as a Lead Local Flood Risk Authority of its flood risk management functions and coastal erosion risk management; and the submission of comments to the Cabinet Member - Locality Services.

The report indicated that Sefton’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Strategy (the Strategy) was a requirement under section 9 of the Act; that the Strategy was adopted by Cabinet on the 1 October 2015; that the Strategy set out how Sefton would deliver flood and coastal erosion risk management, what investment would be needed to deliver this and the manner in which this service would be delivered and defined the outcomes, outputs and actions for this service area; and that the Strategy was due to be updated in 2018 and work was currently underway to review the risk, update actions and review  outcomes to see if they were still relevant for the next strategy period.

The report also detailed flooding incidents that occurred in the Southport and Formby areas on 5 September 2017; work that had been developed to help deliver Sefton Council’s priorities to create resilient communities and outlined that projects aimed to support communities to become more resilient during flood events and to have an input in the decisions made about flood risk management; work undertaken with the Formby Flood Group, Maghull Flood Committee and Thornton Parish Council on flooding issues; staffing issues within the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Team; the work undertaken as a statutory consultee for major planning applications and the provision of technical support and advice to the planning authority throughout the Local Plan inquiry; grant in aid has been secured from the Environment Agency to undertake investigations and studies into two watercourses that serve Southport and Birkdale (Nile and Pool Investigations); that £30k funding had been secured from Environment Agency to undertake the Merseyside Natural Flood Risk Management project; and regarding coastal risk management there had been no significant incidents of flooding or erosion along the coast.

The report also detailed partnership working with Merseyside Tactical and Strategic Flood Risk Partnership, North West and North Wales Coastal Group, Liverpool Bay Coastal Sub Group, Northern Coastal Sub Group, the Environment Agency and United Utilities.

The report concluded by setting out the priorities for 2018 relating to Supporting the Local Planning Authority, Community Engagement/SUDS Hubs, Crosby Coastal Schemes, Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Strategy Review, Securing Capital Funding, Natural Flood Risk Management, Performance management and the Green Infrastructure Service.

Members of the Committee asked questions/raised matters on the following issues:-

·       Planning conditions relating to flood risk/drainage attached to the approved residential development application at Damfield Lane

·       Concerns about the degradation of the River Alt Training bank at the northern end of Crosby beach and the potential increased risk of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Report of the Head of Locality Services - Commissioned

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Locality Services – Commissioned on the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment Review.

The report indicated that the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 (FRR 2009) required each Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) to complete a Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA) and identify Flood Risk Areas (FRA) for local flood risk, primarily surface water runoff, groundwater and ordinary watercourses; that in Sefton this was completed in 2011; that FRR 2009 required a review of the PFRA on a 6 year cycle to be coordinated by the Environment Agency; that LLFAs must therefore submit their draft reviews to the Environment Agency by 22 June 2017 to enable the Environment Agency to undertake an internal review and request any changes; and that Sefton Council’s draft review was submitted to the Environment Agency in April 2017.

The report also identified that the Environment Agency provided a self- assessment template to be completed by each LLFA and Sefton’s completed template was attached to the report as Appendix 1; that the September 2012 significant flood event report, investigated as required by the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, was contained in annex 1 of the review attached to the report as Appendix 2; and that overall there had been little change to the 2011 PFRA (attached to the report as Appendix 3) following the review with much of the understanding remaining unchanged or with minor amendments. There had, however, been improvements or confirmation of understanding particularly in respect of Sefton’s future flood information and the following pieces of work have contributed to our understanding:-

·                 Sefton Council PFRA desktop study 2013 to improved understanding of initial PFRA assessment and flood risks.

·                 Modelling of catchments in Formby, Maghull and Seaforth/Litherland.

·                 Groundwater monitoring locations across Sefton.

·                 Sefton Council Local Plan. The plan identified flood risks on development sites.

The report concluded by detailing future developments that the PFRA review would feed into the update of Sefton’s Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy 2015-2018, which was currently underway; that the PFRA review would feed into the review of the Environment Agency’s Flood Risk Management Plans that operated at a catchment wide scale; that Sefton would continue to seek funding to improve the situation for residents and communities at risk of flooding or coastal erosion; and that Sefton would continue to review and update its understanding of flood risk.

Members of the Committee asked questions/raised matters on the following issues:-

• The use of information technology in the review of how the Council, Environment Agency and United Utilities share intelligence and co-ordinate responsibilities
• The use of the planning process to ensure flooding risks are mitigated in residential developments 

RESOLVED:

That the report advising of Sefton’s Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment Review be approved.

Report of the Head of Regeneration and Housing

Further to Minute No. 27 of 8 November 2016 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Regeneration and Housing indicating that on 26 February 2015, Cabinet resolved to accept the Final Report of the Town Centres Working Group Final Report; and that one recommendation within the Final Report was that all recommendations contained within it be monitored and progress reported to This Committee every six months.

The report indicated that the Head of Investment and Employment provided a comprehensive update to this Committee on 8 November 2016 that detailed completed actions or highlighting actions that were now redundant as a result of other actions; and that significant progress had now been made in relation to town centres and that high level visions for future investment and a direction of travel had been prepared and published for each of the following Town Centres:

·       Bootle Town Centre Investment Framework, published October 2016

·       Crosby Development Strategy, published November 2015

·       Southport Development Framework published Novemeber 2016

The report continued that Action Plans had been drawn up for Bootle, Crosby and Southport, illustrating the work streams and themes that would be progressed for each Town Centre; that each Action Plan was a long-term living document and would evolve as new opportunities and developments emerged; and that the work streams identified for each Town Centre were being actively progressed.

The report concluded by recommending that no further formal update reports be submitted to the Committee but that instead, updates be provided via the  Cabinet Member - Regeneration and Skills report to each Committee.

RESOLVED:

That in future, updates on Town Centres be reported to the Committee via the Cabinet Member - Regeneration and Skills report. 

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

Further to Minute No. 12 (3) of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills) held on 7 September 2017 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance on the proposed procedure to be adopted by the Overview and Scrutiny Committees when considering a decision that had been called in.

The report indicated that following consideration of a called-in item the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Skills) resolved to refer the Procedure Note for “call-in” to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board for consideration; that the Management Board considered the current Procedure Note, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, on 26 September 2017; and resolved that the amended Procedure Note, attached as Appendix 2 to the report,  be referred to all four Overview and Scrutiny Committee with a recommendation to adopt the amended Procedure Note.

RESOLVED:

That the amended “call-in” Procedure Note, as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report, be adopted as the procedure to be followed by Overview and Scrutiny Committees when considering a decision that has been called-in.

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance that updated on the draft Work Programme for 2017/18; and seeking the identification of any items for pre-scrutiny from the Key Decision Forward Plan.

The Head of Regulation and Compliance advised the Committee that further to Minute No. 20 (4) of the meeting held on 19 September 2017 (which established a Working Group to review the topic of Sefton’s Housing Development Company) the Head of Regeneration and Housing now considers that at this stage, because the Housing Development Company hadn’t formally been set up, there was a significant amount of work to do to get the company to the go live stage; and it was not envisaged that this stage would be reached until early 2018 at the earliest. Furthermore, It would then be some time before the company commenced its operations, and longer still until the Council would be able to judge whether this venture was producing tangible benefits. Accordingly, the view was that due to the infancy of the Housing Development Company, this was not a suitable topic for a Scrutiny and Review Working Group. 

However, the Head of Regeneration and Housing did consider there was merit in establishing a Working Group to review the proposed performance framework associated with the Private Rented Sector Housing Selective Licensing and additional Houses in Multi-Occupation Licensing Schemes; and a scoping document had been produced. 

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance that included the most recent report from the Cabinet Members for Communities and Housing; Locality Services; Planning and Building  Control; and Regeneration and Skills.  

RESOLVED:  That