Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman welcomed representatives to the meeting and appropriate introductions were made.

The Chairman to inform Members of the Public of the emergency evacuation procedure.

The Chairman informed Members of the Public of the emergency evacuation procedure.

The minutes of the last Parish Liaison Meeting held on 29 May 2013 were presented.

Resolved

That the minutes of the last Parish Liaison Meeting held on 29 May 2013 be approved and signed by the Chairman as an accurate record.

The Chairman informed Parishes that the Register of Interests for parishes were being put on the Council’s website and encouraged Parishes that have not already done so to complete the Register of Interests and return them to RDC.

In response to a query from the representative from Rillington Parish Council, Gary Housden, Head of Planning and Housing reported that the Planning department were moving towards sending planning documents by email in the near future.

A parish representative asked for an update to the closed churchyards? Paul Cresswell replied that this matter would not be re-visited this year.

A presentation from Stephen Trotter Y&NY Probation Trust.

Stephen Trotter and Carl Parking from York and North Yorkshire Probation Trust gave a presentation on the Community Payback Teams.

This included background information to the project and how the process works when serving offenders with the orders of work. The presentation also included information on partnership working, individual placement, supervised work parties and risk assessments. 

The representatives from Y&NY Probation Trust expressed their wish to increase the level of joint working with RDC and Parish Councils and create a more formal partnership. Parishes were asked to contact them directly or through John Brown at RDC Streetscene Services with possible work for the teams to complete.

There were a number of questions from the floor.

Q. A parish representative asked if the parish council provided the materials to complete the work?

A. Yes, labour and some equipment would be provided by the team but the parish would need to provide materials, for example wood, paint, petrol etc.

Q. A parish representative asked if there was enough work for them to do?

A. There is in Scarborough but not in Ryedale, however the number of offenders is lower in Ryedale.

Q. A parish representative enquired if the team only did work for public bodies?

A. No, as long as the work benefits the community and does not take work away from paid employees.

Q. A parish representative asked if the parish council had to carry out a risk assessment?

A. No the risk assessment is done by us.

Q. A parish representative asked if the offenders receive anything when they have completed the order?

A. Yes, in Scarborough the offender receives a civic pride certificate stamped by the Mayor.

Q. A parish representative asked what the success rate for the scheme was?

A. 80% which is better then the national average and the scheme has proved more effective then a short prison sentence.

Q. A parish representative asked what training do supervisors receive?

A. Continuous training and specific training to the project.

An update from Simon Copley, Democratic Services Manager.

Simon Copley, Democratic Services Manager gave the following update on the polling review and canvass.

The annual canvass of electors commenced earlier this month and all households will now have received their canvass forms.  It is helpful to us if residents respond as promptly as possible, as the follow up actions that we have to take, in other words the issue of reminder forms and personal visits, can then be minimised.  Additionally use of the telephone, web and text automated response service for confirmation of existing details also saves time processing forms.

The timing of this year's canvass has been put back by the government, which means the door knocking stage will be taking place in December.  Given the potential difficulties of visiting households in rural areas in severe winter weather conditions, telephone canvassing is also being trialled to boost the response rate and minimise the number of visits.

A review of polling districts and polling stations is currently being undertaken.  Parish and Town Councils will have received the initial information about this review and have until the end of November to submit any comments.  A set of recommendations from the Returning Officer will then be drafted and made available for comment, with a final decision taken by Full Council in March.  

There were the following questions from the floor.

Q. A parish representative asked how much notice is given to venues when booking the polling stations?

A. As much as possible to minimise inconvenience to other users and ensure the necessary premises are available.

Q. A District Councillor asked if anything could be done to solve the issue of some Norton residents having to use a polling station that was some distance from their houses, rather than one that was closer by?

A. The polling district boundaries in Norton are the same as the ward boundaries RDC do not have the power to change ward boundaries and polling districts cannot straddle these boundaries.  The way to take this issue forward is to raise it the next time a review of ward boundaries is conducted by the Local Government Boundary Commission.

A presentation from Neil Irving NYCC.

Richard Owens from North Yorkshire County Council gave a presentation on the consultation on proposed cuts to public transport subsidy.

This included background information to the bus services, where the funding comes from, the Councils role, strategy, buying services, bus subsidy reductions and an overview of the concessionary pass usage for the area. All Parishes had been sent information regarding the consultation and packs are available to view on-line.

There were a number of questions from the floor.

Q. A parish representative asked if interested parties could not get together to discuss joint working?

A. Discussions will take place after the consultation period. Within the consultation there are ideas to retain services on a commercial basis with other operators, people will have an alternative.

Q. A parish representative reported that elderly people visiting the Pickering surgery had completed a consultation which showed a high percentage of them had used the town bus service to attend the appointment but also for social purposes. The medical practise is keen to promote good health, will this be taken into account?

A. We are working with health and wellbeing on the proposals. Our aim is for people to be able to use public transport. There is no easy way to save 1.1 million.

Q. A parish representative expressed concern that the local primary school children would have to walk up to 1.9 miles along the busy A64 to school, should the suggested changes to the school bus take effect. No consideration to health and safety. What can we do to protest?

A. We have to think about value for money. Parents and schools must respond to the consultation. Road safety will be looked at.

Q. A parish representative asked what the % of bus users the 1000 responses related to?

A. A small percentage. Parishes must reply to the consultation.

A presentation from Neil Irving NYCC.

Claire Lowery from North Yorkshire County Council gave a presentation on STREAM (Statistics, research mapping for North Yorkshire).

This included an introduction to STREAM, uses, user guides, examples, profiles, maps, themes, data set lists and reports. STREAM includes all the information from the census and crime statistics from the Police. Information can be saved or emailed.

Paul Cresswell, Corporate Director (s151) gave an update on the Parish Grant and Council Tax for 2014/15.

Following the consultation with Parishes and comments received back regarding the Parish Grant 2014/15, a report was submitted to the Policy and Resources Committee in September 2013 for consideration. The final decision on the Parish Grant for 2014/15 and future years, will be made by Members at the Council meeting on the 31 October 2013. Following this decision, draft Council Tax Base (CTB) figures will be calculated based on the recommended Council Tax figure for 2014/15 and circulated to all Parishes as soon as possible. The final figure will then only change from the draft if the Council makes changes to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme in January 2014.

Q. A parish representative asked if the draft CTB figures could be circulated in November rather than December, as due to snow and bad weather conditions, December meetings were unpredictable.

A. I will endeavour to meet this request following your comments this evening, however, I want to give you a figure that I am confident with. There will be a draft figure for each Parish in a list that will be circulated to all Parishes by email where possible.

Gary Housden, Head of Planning and Housing gave an update on the latest stage of the Local Development Framework, with a focus on the Local Plan Strategy.

The adopted Local Plan Strategy is now in use and Inspectors are using the Local Plan in a positive manner.

Following the adoption period we have received a legal challenge relating to the housing figure in the Local Plan. RDC will be working with our Barrister to respond to the challenge in the forthcoming weeks.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a local tariff that can be charged on all types of development in a local authority area to deliver infrastructure to support the growth of the District.The Council is currently consulting on a Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule (PDCS). The consultation is available on the Councils website and finishes on 15 November 2013. So far the comments received, have been positive. Comments received will be taken into account and hopefully result in a recommendation to Council in January.

There were a number of questions from the floor.

Q. A parish representative asked if the plan could be kept up to date.

A. It is a 15 year plan, there is a requirement for review which is set out within the document.

Q. A parish representative asked if, as the way CIL is used will be a political decision, does this mean Parishes are not going to be consulted?

A. No, we are required to consider what CIL might be spent on and to keep an up to date list of projects which forms part of the current consultation. Final decisions on the list of projects (Regulation 123 list) are yet to be decided and will be the subject of independent examination in 2014. .

Parishes present were given a leaflet containing information regarding changes on waste collection. The information will be available on the Council website.

Q. A parish representative asked how could you get hold of the information if you did not have access to a computer?

A. The changes will be publicised in the local news papers and residents are also able to phone the Council if they require a paper copy.

Q. A parish representative asked what to do with Christmas trees?

A. Trees can be recycled at your nearest recycling centres or chopped up and put in the brown bin to be collected at your next collection.

Q. A parish representative asked if there is going to be a charge for brown bin collections?

A. It was an item for consideration at Council on the 31 October 2013. If approved any changes will be publicised and communicated to residents.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.00 pm.

The Parish Liaison Committee Meetings are now included in the Timetable of Meetings for the Council. This has yet to be finalised and the date of the next meeting will be notified as soon as the new timetable has been agreed.

The Parish Liaison Committee Meetings are now included in the Timetable of Meetings for the Council. This has yet to be finalised and the date of the next meeting will be notified as soon as the new timetable has been agreed at Full Council on 9 January 2014.