To consider the committee’s work programme for the year and to allocate activities to task and finish groups, as deemed necessary.

A draft work programme was submitted for consideration.  The Chairman said that the committee needed to be mindful of the need for the work programme to be manageable, allowing space for urgent or call-in items.  The Chairman drew attention to the following matters:

1.       An item on Home to School Transport, identified in the draft work programme for 8 September 2015, would be rescheduled for 19 January 2016; this would enable the update to include data and analysis from the new academic year.

2.       An item on Community Safety, identified for 19 January 2016, would be rescheduled for the 8 March 2016.

3.       An additional meeting was proposed for 27 October 2015 to consider the Community Infrastructure Levy Draft Charging Schedule.

4.       Some scrutiny work might be undertaken on football provision and on Hereford racecourse but these issues would need further consideration at subsequent committee meetings.

5.       It was proposed that a task and finish group on the smallholdings estate be established.  The Chairman said that this would be a major task, to be undertaken within a relatively short time frame, and would need to consider the best outcomes for tenants and for the people of Herefordshire.

The Director of Resources drew attention to the contents of the draft scoping statement for the smallholdings estate review, Appendix 3 to the report, and comments were invited from committee members. 

The principal points of the discussion included:

a.       The Chairman commented on the smallholdings estate in the wider context of council assets and suggested that another key question to be included was ‘What are the benefits to agriculture in Herefordshire’.

b.       A committee member questioned whether the work of the group would be constrained by the scale of asset sales envisaged in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  In response, the Director of Economy, Communities and Corporate said that no assumptions had been made about the nature of asset sales.

c.       A committee member felt that clarity was needed about the ‘What will not be included’ section of the scoping statement before it was finalised.  The Chairman said that this could be reviewed in detail at the group’s first meeting. 

d.       A member in attendance commented on the absence of national or local policy on food security and this aspect could be considered by the group.  A committee member added that the review needed to align with relevant policies in the Core Strategy, particularly around land use and the environment.

e.       A committee member commented that tenants needed certainty about the options available and about timescales.

f.       The following were identified as members of the group, Councillors Bartlett, Bowen (Chairman), Cooper, Hardwick, Harlow, Harvey and Williams.  Consideration was given to the inclusion of non-committee members on the group but, on balance, it was felt that the identified membership should be sufficient but other members might be asked to contribute as witnesses.

g.       The Chairman said that a meeting would be convened as soon as possible to consider further the scoping statement, the arrangements and the timescales for the review.

A committee member noted that the Understanding Herefordshire report was due to be published shortly and suggested that this should inform future work programming.  The Chairman suggested that all councillors would benefit from a briefing on this important resource.

In response to a question, the Chairman acknowledged that work on digital strategy had not progressed during 2014/15 due to other work programme and call-in commitments and suggested that a briefing be arranged to apprise councillors of current provision and developments; this would subsequently enable consideration to be given to specific areas where any future scrutiny activity could be most effective.  A committee member commented that digital issues had been discussed by the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee the previous day and suggested that consideration be given to joint scrutiny activity going forward.

A committee member noted that a decision was due to be taken in July 2015 on the introduction of on-street parking charges for the Hereford Central area and sought assurance that a previous scrutiny committee report had been taken into account and that Hereford City Council would be consulted.  The Director for Economy, Communities and Corporate confirmed that these matters had featured in discussions between officers and the Cabinet Member, Transport and Roads.

In response to a question, the Chairman advised that he would represent the committee as part of a working group tasked with refreshing the council’s Constitution.

RESOLVED: That

(a)       the draft work programme, as amended, be noted;

(b)       a task and finish group on the smallholdings estate be established to undertake the work outlined in the draft scoping statement; and

(c)     scrutiny activity on football provision be considered at a future meeting.