Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Rolfe was initially held up from the start of the meeting due to traffic.

Councillor Barker took the Chair at the request of those present, welcomed all and introductions were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2018 were agreed as a correct record.

Updates were given on the action points of the meeting of 9 July 2018, as follows:

•           Action: UDC to write to parish councils to request contact details for transport representatives.

•           Action: To circulate statistics relating to the locations of road accidents in the minutes of the meeting.

Ø  It was noted that the distribution of accidents in the district was skewed by the presence of the M11 and A120 carrying a large number of accident spots.

•           Action: To further investigate potential ways of mitigating Public Health profile issues.

•           Action: ECC to distil key information into a media release regarding the work going on to plan school places.

Ø  Councillor Gooding said that it was important to note that 98.4% of students got first choice at primary admission stage and 93.7% of students got first choice at secondary admission stage.                          

•           Action:  ECC/UDC to ensure Government recognises the issue of infrastructure funding, in light of the Planning Inspectorate examining the proposed Garden Communities in the future.

•           Action: Councillor Sheldon said he could arrange a Member workshop/presentation from Gigaclear to provide an update on the situation.

Ø  Councillor Sheldon asked that he be contacted directly for requests for information and he said that he would liaise with Gigaclear directly.  He said he would personally chase outstanding queries. 

•           Action: To clarify the areas in which ECC maintained roadside verges.

•           Action: David Hill said he would take this point back to ECC and check on the specifics, as well as look into any contractual issues that may arise.

Dawn French spoke about pursuing other authorities that weren’t spending their Disabled Funding Grant allocation and the need for these authorities to be approached to share it.  Uttlesford’s goal to support disabled people living in the home safely was discussed as a driving force. 

Councillor Barker said that Harlow’s allocation was underspent. Dawn French said that she would address the underspend with the Chief Executive of Harlow Council, as she understood it had been ringfenced.

Councillor Mohindra said the officer with responsibility for progressing the project had now returned from her absence and would provide an update in due course.

Councillor Rolfe said there was the assumption that 99.4% of the district was ‘available for connectivity’, Superfast Essex have currently 92.5% connectivity but that there were concerns that ‘County Broadband’ were holding this target up by holding areas back.

Mike Gogarty delivered a presentation on Public Health Uttlesford (appended to these minutes).

Discussions centred on the unexpected results and the reasons why some results might be skewed.  There were a number of indicators which were a concern.

The board noted that although reporting of crime was still below the average the figure was increasing, this could be attributed to the change in the method of recording that the police were using.

The employment rate in Uttlesford had decreased, however it was mentioned that there was very little unemployment in the district.

Fiona Gardiner spoke about Active Essex and Active Uttlesford. The need for local promotion and competition was raised by the members.

The rates of early cancer detection were discussed and the need to work with colleagues in the health service. Possible reasons attributed were the long waits for appointments and the longer waits for referrals to consultants.

The increase in road deaths was discussed, it was noted that Uttlesford has two particularly significant risk factors; the motorway and the rural areas.

The Board discussed the community speed watch initiative, which would be increasing with the addition of PCOS and new equipment.  This would enable higher rates of prosecution.  Members expressed frustration that compared to other areas it was difficult to get traffic calming measures installed.

Councillor Gooding spoke on the policy issues of average speed verses maximum speed.  He said the impact was significant and warranted further examination.

Action: To escalate speeding issues and Essex policy to Cabinet Member.

Excess winter deaths were discussed, and that the marker is linked to affluence so given the demographic of Uttlesford it was surprising.  This was a consistent trend and the results seem to indicate respiratory and heart diseases as the causes.

Fiona Gardiner said that this would be one of the health and wellbeing priorities and that the CAB would be looking at fuel poverty with people that had been flagged with building research establishment data.

It was noted that the drug related street crime statistics would be skewed by the presence of Stansted Airport.

Concerns were raised in relation to the diagnosis of diabetes and that the figure was disproportionately low. The group discussed the need for GPs, opticians and podiatrists to be watching for symptoms and making referrals.  The board discussed whether there was a need to research what areas with higher rates of detection doing.

Need verses expectation in the community was discussed, there were 8700 children with Special Education Health Plans in Essex and approximately 4% of children had some degree of special educational requirements. 

Ralph Holloway spoke about mainstream schools with special education class bases, which negate the need for a designated special school in some areas, like Magna Carta.  However there was discussion about what was available for those Children whom mainstream school was not an option, as there were no special schools in Uttlesford.  Ralph Holloway also advised that two new special schools (primary and secondary) were being built in Harlow.

Councillor Ryles asked who was responsible for holding schools to account to ensure that they were delivering the SEND offer.  Chris O’Niorns advised that there were to be changes to the system, and schools would be responsible for their own outcomes.   However if a school was not delivering what they were asked to then SEND would need to know so that they could intervene.

Councillor Gooding said that there were problems with schools not wanting children with additional education needs, and that all schools needed to ‘step-up’.

Councillor Rolfe said that this was another Garden Communities issue.  He said there was a need to get developers on board and consider the special education requirements for these new communities.

Councillor Sheldon said plans are always passed ‘subject to a section 106’ but only a certain amount of money could be sought through a section 106 agreement.

Councillor Redfern said that there is a need to be firmer with what is expected from developers.

Councillor Barker said that there was a requirement to raise contributions for healthcare and special schools.

Councillor Rolfe raised similarly the lack of nursing facilities (nursing homes) in Essex and the provision of which that could be contributed to by new developments and developers.

The responses to the last Locality Board questions from Roger Harborough are appended to these minutes.

Infrastructure was discussed, in relation to financing requirements, and support from MAG.

Councillor Rolfe asked how Essex interplays with other bodies and for clarity around Essex’s position.

Councillor Mohindra spoke about focussing on market failures, loss leaders if appropriate, ensuring that maximum returns were achieved from outlay. 

Councillor Barker spoke about the lack of smart roads.  

Councillor Mohindra spoke about the current character of the road infrastructure in Essex and that one accident will upset the whole network.

Action from item 6: Escalate Essex Policy Issue to Cabinet Member

Agenda for next meeting:

·         Councillor Barker asked that an item be added to the next agenda, the nature of which she could not disclose at present.

·         Broadband would be added as a standing item moving forward.

·         Local Plan update/DPD Update

·         Section 106/CIL – Negotiating through process.  Councillor Mohindra will have an update following his planning meeting in January.

·         Business Rates Retention Pilot Outcome

None

Date to be arranged late January

Democratic Services to liaise with executive support to arrange.

Meeting close 5:45pm