Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Day and Lane.  Councillor Saltmarsh was acting as substitute for Councillor Lane.

At this point Members must declare whether they have an interest, whether personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda. Members must also declare if they are subject to their party group whip in relation to any items under consideration.

No declarations of interest were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2010 were accepted as an accurate record.

The decision notice for each decision will bear the date on which it is published and will specify that the decision may then be implemented on the expiry of 3 working days after the publication of the decision (not including the date of publication), unless a request for call-in of the decision is received from any two Members of a Scrutiny Committee or Scrutiny Commission.  If a request for call-in of a decision is received, implementation of the decision remains suspended for consideration by the relevant Scrutiny Committee or Commission.

There were no requests for call-in to consider.

We welcomed the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Growth, Strategic Planning and Economic Development to the meeting to discuss the progress made in the delivery of his portfolio.

Councillor Cereste advised that a lot of work had happened around the areas of his portfolio, in particular he highlighted the following points:

·         The Council had a strategy to go for growth including bring jobs into the city

·         The city had a target to build 25,000 new homes by 2026 but this would probably not meet our needs

·         It was believed that councils would soon be able to keep all of the business rates collected and had been assured that legislation would be introduced by April 2011 to enable this to happen

·         There were currently 6500 people on the housing waiting list with approximately 400 in greatest need

·         Regional Development Agencies had been abolished and would be replaced with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP).  A proposal had been developed for an LEP with other authorities who had an economic stake in Peterborough

·         The Local Transport Plan was out for consultation, the key of which was infrastructure

·         Changes had been made in how we delivered growth, including Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV)

·         There was huge interest from developers to develop in the city

·         A developer was keen to build the North Westgate development and two other areas were also ready for SPV’s and had funding available

·         A new Skills Academy would be built as part of the Community Stadium

·         It was not clear if we would get the government grant to develop the Carbon Challenge site and it may be necessary to look for alternative funding

·         Following the change of government, the Station Quarter could now be one of the places where government departments could move to

·         The former Guild House building was being refurbished to become a new health campus

·         Changes to the senior management structure would happen as the budget was developed leading to savings

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

• Following the change in Government and the rescinding of a number of targets, when would a full review of the Peterborough Local Plan be undertaken?  Some aspects of the Local Plan were already out for consultation, including the provision for gypsies and travellers. When the regional structures were in place Peterborough had pitched for growth, but the planned growth was the minimum we would likely be able to cope with and the evidence was there that we still needed that growth.
• Would funding for growth along the Cambridge Growth Corridor continue?  That particular funding stream was not expected to continue but there may be other sources of funding made available.  The Leader believed that money would be available for those areas prepared to grow.
• What was being done about the imposed density of housing targets?  Those targets were being reviewed.  A paragraph had been added to the Core Strategy to enable large properties to be built on large plots of land.  It was important that we  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Executive Director of Operations gave a presentation on the preparations for the Census 2011.

Every 10 years the Office for National Statistics (ONS) carried out a census to find out more about the people who lived in England and Wales and about the make up of local neighbourhoods.  The Census asked about work, health, national identity, citizenship, ethnic background, education, second homes, language, religion, marital status etc.

The next Census would take place on Sunday 27 March 2011 and its aim would be to ensure an accurate count of the people who lived in the city. 

The following key points were made:

• Census forms would be sent out to households during mid/late February 2011 and the forms would also link into an online process
• Households would have a ten day window in which to complete the forms
• The forms had been translated into 58 different languages
• There would be 350-400 jobs available for working on the census in Peterborough
• Engagement Plans were being developed, including in Polish
• Each person identified through the Census meant £600 on the area based grant
• In 2001 there had been a 95% return rate and this was also the target for 2011
• It was important the Census was accurate
• Councillors were asked to support the process with their local knowledge

Observations and questions were raised around the following areas:

• How did we know that there had been a 95% return in 2001?  As it was based on the number of households we knew how many forms should have been returned.
• Given the importance of the Census, should we not be aiming for more than 95%?  We would be very pleased to get 95% as trials in the migrant areas of the city had proved low.  We would be looking at using innovative engagement methods.
• Was there a way of identifying what languages people needed their Census form to be in?  We would be doing a lot of work at grass roots level with local communities including myth busting to try and stop the distrust the Census may have in certain communities.  We got our data on languages from Language Line and we currently had over 100 languages spoken in the city.
• A number of councillors published ward newsletters which could be used as a way of getting the message out.  We would be happy to provide text for newsletters.  Mike Lennox in the Communications Team was leading on the communications and he would be using all of the opportunities available.
• How many people had been prosecuted for not completing their Census form?  The Executive Director would find out and report back to the Committee.
• Was the Census the most accurate way to measure the population?  The government would be looking at other possible ways of measuring but at the moment officers had not seen a better way.
• How did you ensure that the information completed was accurate?  It was believed that most forms would be accurate and a percentage would also be checked.

ACTION  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The latest version of the Forward Plan, showing details of the key decisions that the Leader of the Council believed the Cabinet or individual Cabinet Members would be making over the next four months, was received.

ACTION AGREED

To note the latest version of the Forward Plan.

We considered the Work Programme for 2010/11.

It was agreed to add the following to the work programme:

• Local Enterprise Partnership (date to be confirmed)
• Update on the Local Plan and Site Allocations Document (March 2011)
• Managed ICT Service (move to February 2011)

ACTION AGREED

To confirm the work programme for 2010/11.

Tuesday 9 November 2010 at 7pm

Tuesday 9 November 2010 at 7pm