Agenda and minutes

            Resolved

            That Councillor Bastiman, Scarborough Borough Council be elected as          Chairman of the committee for the ensuing year.

            Resolved

            That Councillor Mackman, Selby District Council be appointed Vice    Chairman of the Partnership Board for the ensuing year.

Apologies were received from Councillor Raper, David Archer and David Simpson.

The minutes of the meeting of the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership held on the 13 April 2011 (previously circulated) were presented.

            Resolved

            That the minutes of the meeting of the North Yorkshire Building Control            Partnership held on the 13 April 2011 be approved, subject to an additional note of thanks to the Officers Paul Cresswell, Mandy             Burchell and Audrey Adnitt from the Host Council Ryedale District        Council, for their work on behalf of the Partnership.

To receive notice of any urgent business which the Chairman considers should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business.

Members to indicate whether they will be declaring any interests under the Code of Conduct.

Members making a declaration of interest at a meeting of a Committee or Council are required to disclose the existence and nature of that interest.  This requirement is not discharged by merely declaring a personal interest without further explanation.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to present the accounts of North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership for the financial year ending 31 March 2011.

The income and expenditure account showed an operating surplus of £8,514 which was above the requirement of a minimum level of reserves of £10,000.  A further agreed rationalisation and recovery programme for the Partnership was planned to establish the Partnership in a better financial position for 2011/12.

The Chairman thanked the Corporate Director (s151) and his team for all their hard work providing the accountancy services.

            Resolved

            That the Accounts for the Partnership for the financial year 2010/11 be            approved.

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) to provide an update on the Partnership’s operational performance from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011.

Appended to the report was the Covalent performance report for the period which indicated that the Partnership had, in the majority of cases, achieved its performance targets, the exceptions being the following:

·        BC3 Plans over statutory time period

·        BC11 Percentage of market share within Schedule 1 (Housing)

·        BC12 Percentage of the market share within Schedule 2/3 in the domestic and commercial sectors.

·        BC13 CPD Training

·        BC15 Income gained through LABC Partnerships.

It was considered essential that the Board continued to monitor the Partnership’s performance against the Business Plan to ensure each partner authority received an efficient and effective building control service.

The report included the following information on training undertaken by building control staff:

·        Michelle Lanaghan & Daniel Page were awaiting the results of the Diploma in Management Studies.

·        Michelle Lanaghan has commenced her professional examination and diary for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

·        Simon Nichol had completed year 3 of a five year BSC Honours degree in Building Surveying at Northumbria University.

·        Julie Chapman had completed a part time HNC in Construction at York College.

            Resolved

a.    That the report be noted.

b.    That the Board’s congratulations, together with appropriate gifts be forwarded to the members of staff who had successfully completed their courses.

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to present the revisions to the Building Regulation Charges Scheme for the Building Control Partnership from 1 September 2011.

Members were reminded that the new scheme of charges had been introduced last year following the publication in March 2010 of new charging regulations and CIPFA guidance.

The scheme of charges (Annex 1) had been established using the hourly rate times the number of inspections and hours taken plan checking. Should an applicant agree to pay the inspection charge at the same time as paying the deposit charge on a full plans application a 5% discount had been introduced as the costs associated with the application were reduced.  By passing these savings onto the applicant it was envisaged that applicants would be encouraged to submit full plans applications.

The overall increase of charges was based on 4% increase on the hourly charge rounded up to the nearest full £

Members were of the opinion that it was essential that charges were set at an appropriate level and within the guidelines of the LGA Model Scheme of Charges to deliver locally accountable building control services, whilst remaining competitive against charges set by Approved Inspectors. In addition, Members felt it would be appropriate to round up the fees for Building Notices to whole pounds.

            Resolved

a.    That the scale of charges set out in Annex 1 be adopted with effect from 1 September 2011.

b.    The fee for full plan submission also be rounded up to the next whole pound.

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to review a recent decision by Street Naming and Numbering to rename eight flats at Fulford Road, Scarborough, following a letter of appeal from residents of the flats.

The original property had been constructed in the 1930’s and was registered at the time with the Land Registry as 3 Fulford Road, Scarborough.  Following conversion to eight flats in the 1970’s, they were renamed Flats 1-8, St Helens 3 Fulford Road, Scarborough.  The original entrance to the building was off Fulford Road, however following conversion the original front entrance was only accessible by two of the flats and the remaining flats were entered by a communal entrance at the side of the property fronting Princess Royal Terrace. 

Earlier this year the occupant of Flat 2 found that the property was missing from the official register of addresses at the Post Office and contacted Scarborough Borough Council to have the omission rectified.

Following a site visit, it became clear that two flats had access from Fulford Road, and as the remaining flats were accessed via Princess Royal Terrace, they were to be renamed.

Renaming these properties has caused the occupants significant inconvenience, and two of the flat owners have been in protracted correspondence with the Council and the Partnership and have asked for the decision to be reviewed.

Annex 1 set out the Owner’s request to revert back to the original address of Fulford Road for all the properties and the installation of clearer signage on the property re access, post etc as confirmed by the management company at annex 2.

The appeal was discussed.

            Resolved

            That the flats revert back to the original address of Fulford Road for all             properties with the installation of clearer signage on the property.

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) to inform Members of a new area of work which the Partnership was undertaking on behalf of Ryedale District Council, following the recent announcement by the Environment Agency of provision of grant assistance for flood defence work in Kirkby Mills and Keldhome.

The Partnership was currently administering on behalf of Ryedale District Council a grant scheme for properties within known flood areas.  This entailed undertaking a survey of the property and advising the applicant on measures required to reduce the risk of the property flooding.  The maximum grant allocation per dwelling was £2,500 or 50% of the cost whichever was lower.  The scheme was approved by Council in February and became operational from 1 April 2011.

In addition, several proposals for flood defence schemes had been submitted to the environment agency by a number of District Councils.  Of these, the only scheme which had received the go ahead was Kirkby Mills/Keldholme, which had received grant funding of £127,500 and became operational at the beginning of June 2011.

At present the Partnership was overseeing flood defence work on seven dwellings in the Pickering area, and advising on several properties in Kirkbymoorside, Sinnington, and Kirkby Mill.

            Resolved

            That the report be received.

To consider a resolution to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following item:

13 (Financial Appraisals Option) as provided by paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The public interest test has been considered and, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption is considered to outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information.

            Resolved

            That under Section 100(4) (A) of the Local Government Act 1972 the   public be excluded from the meeting for the following items as there will           be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as the information relates to           the financial or business affairs of any particular person (other than the authority).

Verbal presentation to be given.

The Corporate Director (S151) gave a presentation on the options for future service delivery, which included continuing with the current membership, enlargement, dissolving the partnership and outsourcing.

In addition, a discussion was held in relation to the reporting of financial information to Board Members, and a request was received for more frequent reports on income and expenditure.  The Corporate Director (s151) outlined the present reporting arrangements of monthly income figures and quarterly full monitoring statement.  Any increase on these requirements would attract an additional cost.  In order to make a decision, a report on the current position and options for increased financial reporting with the cost implications was to be brought to the next meeting.

            Resolved

a.    That the presentation be received and no further action be taken before April 2012.

b.    That a report on the options for financial reporting, with costs be brought to a future meeting.

The meeting closed at 4.30pm.