Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to

any business on the agenda. Declarations should also be made at any stage such

an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made

Councillor Ann Bridges declared her substitution for Councillor Kevin Boram

Councillor Debs Stainforth declared her substitution for Councillor Lavinia O’Connor

To approve the minutes of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of

held on 25 July 2019, copies of which have been previously circulated.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting of the 27 July 2019 be signed as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman 

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by 12.00pm Tuesday 30 August 2019

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

A Member of the Public asked the following question This committee on the 20th June requested the Leaders of Adur and Worthing Councils to write again to the Highways Agency and Department of Transport  expressing  concern at the lack of progress in them addressing the Councils concern about air pollution  on the A27.

At the Adur Council meeting  on the 18th July the Leader said he was in the process of co ordinating a letter with the Leader of Worthing. Timing was important and the secretary of state was due to be appointed. Has this letter been sent and a response received? If not why not and will the chair of the transport working group who made the recommendation follow it up? The Chairman of the Committee stated that JOSC was awaiting a response from the Joint Strategic Committee on our recommendations, including communicating the ongoing concerns about the A27. I understand the Joint Strategic Committee is considering their response at its November meeting.

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent

There were no urgent items

To note the procedure for the meeting, copy attached as item 5

Resolved: that the call-in procedure be noted

To consider a report by the Monitoring Officer, copy attached as item 6

The Committee had a report before it attached as item 5, a copy of which had been circulated to all members, a copy of which is attached to a signed copy of these minutes. The report before members detailed that A decision was made and published on 30th July 2019 by the Joint Executive Members for Customer Services, the decision concerned the release of affordable housing budget to secure additional affordable housing. On the 2nd August 2019 the Council’s Monitoring Officer received a request for a ‘call-in’ of the decision from three Members of the Councils. It was deemed to be in compliance with the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules. The matter had therefore been referred to  the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration and determination.

The Committee carried out the procedure as required

Those who made the call-in address the Committee

Cllr Alden made a statement which is summarised as follows:

·         The alteration to the provision of affordable housing was far removed from the original planning committee decision and should have been referred back to the Planning Committee for decision;

·         The Executive Member had failed to consider consultation responses from Councillor Alden and Councillor Cowen and was obligated to state why he had rejected their representations on the issue;

·         The Executive Member had been misdirected. The Council was receiving no equity in the properties. There would be a loss in book value and information in the report was not clear and did not allow the executive member to give due regard to all relevant matters;

·         Not all relevant matters had been considered land values had increased and there should have been more information about this in the report;

·         There would be a loss of four 4 bedroom houses for rent as a result and alternatives should have been sought, there was no evidence that alternatives had been considered;

·         Decisions should be legal and Councillor Alden doubted that right to buy receipts could be used in conjunction with funds from Homes England;

Cllr Cowen made a statement which is summarised as follows:

·         Cllr Cowen had sent a series of emails and was concerned that his consultation was not considered

·         The Head of Planning and Development had powers to make minor amendments and Cllr Alden asked the question whether the Exec Member had powers to make further amendments

Decision maker questions of those who made the call-in

There were no questions

Committee Members questions those who made the call-in

A Member asked about who had made the original planning decision and if they were informed of the change. Members were told by Cllr Alden that the Planning Committee had made the original decision prior to him being elected. It was proffered that the Committee had not been informed about the details of the change. Notification of the decision had been put on the forward plan in February 2019

Members asked about the predicted sales value and were told that information had been taken from the Land registry website

Decision  ...  view the full minutes text for item JOSC/1/1619-20