RESOLVED: That all items on the agenda be webcast.

It was noted that an apology for absence was received from Councillor Mrs Mannering.

RESOLVED: That the report on the Part-Night Streetlights Consultation be taken as an urgent item as the consultation deadline was 23 August 2013.

There were no Substitute Members.

Councillor J A Wilson attended as a witness in relation to agenda items 9, 10 and 11.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

RESOLVED: That the Items on the Agenda be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 July 2013 be approved as a correct record and signed.

Interviews with Councillor John A Wilson, Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services, John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services and Sarah Robson, Community Partnerships Manager.

John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services, presented the CCTV Operational Protocol report to the Committee. 

In response to questions by Members, the Head of Housing and Community Services explained that:

·  Some Parish Councils chose to retain their own CCTV cameras and those Parishes that did not, the protocol gives them the format and process to follow to request mobile CCTV;

·  The Council has a range of cameras of different ages and abilities, static means on a fixed pole – some can rotate 360 degrees and others have a more limited scope;

·  There are operational meetings that involve stakeholders and other partners.  In addition liaison takes place when incidents occur;

·  There is a rolling programme with a set yearly budget for the replacement of cameras;

·  The Council responded to the government consultation that lead to the latest code of guidance; and

·  The cameras at Maidstone Hospital are owned by the hospital but we monitor them on their behalf.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure be recommended to agree the Maidstone Borough Council Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Protocol 2013 – 2017 for immediate use.

Interviews with Councillor John A Wilson, Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services, John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services and Neil Coles, Housing Services Manager.

Neil Coles, Housing Services Manager, presented the ECO Pilot report to the Committee.

In response to questions by Members, the Housing Services Manager explained that:-

·  A full marketing and communications plan will be prepared, the Council will endorse the scheme through letters and the website.  All Members will receive a briefing note about the scheme.  There will be some cost borne by the Council, mainly for officer time;

·  Enterprise, the proposed company to deliver the pilot, has an enormous amount of data about the type of residents and the types of properties in the Wards and it is in their interest to target those most in need;

·  The scheme will run across the borough and if people qualify they will be entitled wherever they live in Maidstone;

·  With regard to concerns raised about how residents/properties are prioritised, the provider needs to do the pilot as quickly and as cost effectively as possible and caution was advised to proposing too many changes to the criteria as the provider could decide not to go ahead in Maidstone; and

·  The pilot would be expected to start in October 2013.

Members were concerned that the rural areas would miss out on this opportunity as the four Ward areas for the pilot were in and around the town centre and it was proposed by the Housing Services Officer to amend the recommendation slightly to include the words “borough wide”.  It was therefore

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services be recommended to agree that the Council implements a Borough wide Warm Homes ECO pilot, initially targeting the wards of High Street, Park Wood, Shepway North and Shepway South.

(b)  That the Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services be recommended to agree that the Council should enter into a contract with Enterprise Utility Services to deliver the Warm Homes ECO pilot.

Interviews with Councillor John A Wilson, Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services, John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services and Neil Coles, Housing Services Manager.

Neil Coles, Housing Services Manager, presented the Collective Switching of Energy Supplier Scheme for Householders report to the Committee.

In response to questions from Members, the Housing Services Manager explained that:

·  There will be performance targets set regarding the number of expressions of interest and the actual take up;

·  Collective switching will help de-mystify the problems with tariffs and those who take up the offer will go on a 12 month fixed contract so the rate cannot go up during that time; and

·  Key meters remain a problem, but energy suppliers are catching up and it is an area we will be looking at to target.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services be recommended to agree the Council enters into an agreement with a collective switching provider and promotes collective switching to households in all tenures across the borough.

Interviews with Councillor John A Wilson, Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services, John Littlemore, Head of Housing, Sarah Robson, Community Partnerships Manager and Katie Latchford, Community Development Team Leader.

John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services, presented an update on the Health Inequalities Action Plan for Maidstone to the committee.

Members of the Committee had attended the stakeholder workshop and were pleased to note that the outcomes from that workshop will be presented to this committee.

In response to questions from Members, the Head of Housing and Community Services explained that:-

·  The impact of food has been considered but around fast food and take-aways, rather than supermarkets;

·  Liaison is taking place with Children’s Centres to look at the issue of teaching children/families to cook healthy meals from scratch and this will form part of the action plan;

RESOLVED: That the approach taken for the Health Inequalities Action Plan for Maidstone be endorsed and the proposed Action Plan be brought to the next meeting for consideration.

Kent Highways (Kent County Council) are seeking feedback on proposals to turn off some street lights for a number of hours over night, possibly between midnight and 5:30am.  The consultation has county-wide relevance. The deadline for responses is Friday 23 August 2013. Full details of the consultation proposals are attached.  Members are asked to consider forming a task and finish panel to meet week commencing 19^th August to evaluate the ramifications of the proposals on Maidstone borough and formulate a response on behalf of the Committee.

The Chairman proposed that the Committee set up a Task and Finish Panel to consider the Part-night Streetlights Consultation response.  The consultation ended on 23 August and the Training Room on Floor 4 of Maidstone House had been provisionally booked on 21 August.

The Chairman also proposed that the Leader, Cabinet Members and all other Members be invited to attend and take part in formulating the response to the consultation, including sending a link to the Consultation on the KCC Website so that Members may respond if they are unable to attend the meeting.  A start time of 10 am was proposed.

RESOLVED: That a Task and Finish Panel be arranged for Wednesday 21 August 2013 at 10 am and that the Leader, Cabinet Members and all other Members be invited to attend or submit their own response to the consultation via the KCC Website link.

The Committee considered its future work programme.  It was noted that the Health Inequalities Action Plan, following the report considered earlier on the Agenda, should be added to the meeting on 10 September 2013.

It was also noted that the meeting scheduled for 8 October 2013 was to be moved to 28 October 2013 to enable Ann Barnes, the Police and Crime Commissioner, to attend.  It was raised as to whether proposed questions were required to be sent before the meeting. 

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Health Inequalities Action Plan be added to the work programme for 10 September 2013.

(b)  That the Overview and Scrutiny Officer investigate whether pre-meeting questions are required by Ann Barnes’ office.

6.32 p.m. to 8.15 p.m.