Agenda item

Report of the Chief Officer (Governance). 

Members considered the Work Programme. A Task Group scoping document on the Night Time Economy was circulated to the Committee and it was agreed that an informal task group would be set up, with the scoping document amended as follows:-

·         Amend the review topic name to ‘Late Night Economy in the Lancaster District’.

·         Amend rationale to include Lancashire Constabulary.

·         Inclusion of transportation and hotels in the witness/expert section.

·         Group Administrators to be requested to nominate one further Member from their group, based on interest, to form part of the informal Task Group.

Members requested a briefing note on Health and Housing functions and policies and agreed that Councillor Karen Leytham, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Housing and Environmental Health, be invited to a future meeting of the Committee.

The Committee discussed cuts to rural bus services and agreed to invite the bus user group to the January 2016 meeting of the Committee.

In view of the recent unprecedented flooding issues and resulting electricity failures in the District Members discussed the flooding and emergency procedures and agreed to hold an additional Meeting of the Committee, if appropriate, in March 2016, to consider a report, and the policies and procedures in place for dealing with this and other major flooding incidents. Members also requested that the relevant officer(s), Cabinet Member(s), and other relevant representatives including the emergency services, Lancashire County Council, NW Electricity and the Environment Agency be invited to the meeting to provide evidence and answer questions to ensure that all organisations learn from this incident. In order to gather evidence it was agreed that all Councillors would be emailed to obtain their feedback from the various Wards within the District.

The Committee agreed that Dementia Friends training would be undertaken by Members and included in the Work Programme, to be undertaken either prior to or at a future meeting and that all Members of the Council be invited to attend.

Members also discussed the Older Peoples meeting and agreed that the Agenda for this meeting should not be restricted to Older Peoples issues and that other business be dealt with at the meeting.

It was noted that the Licensing Scheme for Private Sector Rented Properties was contained on the Committee’s Work Programme and it was requested that an update be provided.

Members agreed that the update from the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay and Royal Lancaster Infirmary would be removed from the Work Programme as the Trust was now out of Special Measures.

It was noted that Cabinet, at its meeting held on 1^st December 2015, had considered the Peer Challenge Action Plan. Contained within the Plan was consideration of how to make best use of Overview and Scrutiny. Members agreed to include this issue in the Work Programme for consideration in April 2016.

The Committee agreed that the previously proposed Task Group on Litter had been superseded by the Task Group on the Night Time Economy, but that a briefing note on whether fly tipping had increased since the introduction of charges at the Recycling Centre be requested.

Resolved:

That the actions, as set out above, be agreed.