Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gooch, Hastie and Hinder.

Councillor Forecast was present as Substitute Member for Councillor Hinder.

There were no urgent items.

There were no Visiting Members.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED: That all items on the agenda be taken in public as proposed.

An incorrect draft of the minutes had been circulated in error with it agreed that the item be deferred to the next meeting to allow the correct minutes to be circulated.

RESOLVED: That consideration of the minutes be deferred to the next meeting.

There were no petitions.

There were no questions from Local Residents.

There were no questions from Members.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

Note: Councillor Cannon arrived at 6.35 p.m. and stated that he did not have any disclosures of interest or lobbying to declare.

The timelines of the Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) and Health Inequality reviews were discussed as follows: 

• ITS Review

Consideration was given to the Officer advice provided, which was that, as the Local Plan Review had not yet been adopted due to the Local Plan Inspector’s ongoing consultation, the review should be delayed. Some Members expressed disappointment at the delay, but it was felt that the review should take following the LPRs adoption.

To ensure the review was focused and to avoid delay in the next municipal year, it was agreed that the review be re-scoped at the next meeting; this would allow for other matters to be considered, such as the Local Bus Focus Group and Walking and Cycling Strategy, as part of the review scope. 

• Health Inequality

During the discussion, the changes to services being provided by Kent County Council (KCC) and the impact to Maidstone’s residents was highlighted, alongside including officers working within the private rental sector and for the housing element of the review to include the gypsy and traveller community. The review would also be re-scoped at the next meeting to prevent delay to it starting in the next municipal year.

RESOLVED: That

1. The Committee Work Programme be noted; and
   
   
2. Scoping reports for the Health Inequality and Integrated Transport Strategy reviews be brought to the next meeting.

The Chairman introduced the report and thanked the Principal Democratic Services Officer and Vice-Chairman for their work on it, commenting that the work conducted by the Committee this year had mainly focused on pre-decision scrutiny.

The Committee expressed support for the draft report attached at Appendix A. In discussing the work completed this year, reference was made to the usefulness of the Waste Crime Enforcement Review in raising awareness and knowledge of the topic and the importance of publicising successes frequently to discourage fly tipping, alongside disappointment that not all reviews had been started or completed.

It was acknowledged that a lack of external stakeholder engagement contributed to the pausing of the Water Management Cycle Review (second phase). In response, the Chairman reassured the Committee that, although complex topics like the Water Management Cycle could take a while to gather the relevant research, these had not been forgotten and would be addressed by next year’s administration.

The Committee thanked the Democratic Services team for their consistent support across the past year, particularly with their assistance in producing the draft annual report.

RESOLVED: That the report be agreed for submission to the Council.

6.30 p.m. to 7.09 p.m.