Council

Title of Report: Report from District Council Representatives on Outside Bodies Report No: COU/FH/16/022

Report to and date: Council 28 September 2016

Portfolio holder: Councillor Carol Lynch Chairman of the Council Tel: 01638 751888 Email: [email protected]

Lead officer: Steven Boyle Service Manager (Legal & Democratic Services) Tel: 01284 757165 Email: [email protected]

Purpose of report: The Chairman requested that those Members who represented the District Council on external bodies provide Council with a short summary of the work they had undertaken in this capacity.

Recommendations: It is recommended that the report be NOTED.

Key Decision: Is this a Key Decision and, if so, under which definition? No, it is not a Key Decision - ☒

Consultation:  None Alternative option(s):  N/A – report is for information only

Implications: Are there any financial implications? Yes ☐ No ☒ If yes, please give details Are there any staffing implications? Yes ☐ No ☒ If yes, please give details Are there any ICT implications? If Yes ☐ No ☒ yes, please give details

Are there any legal and/or policy Yes ☒ No ☒ implications? If yes, please give details Are there any equality implications? Yes ☐ No ☒ If yes, please give details Wards affected: All Wards Background papers: None (all background papers are to be published on the website and a link included) Documents attached: None

1. Key issues and reasons for recommendation(s)

Background

1.1 Councillor Carol Lynch, Chairman of the Council, requested at the last meeting of Council on 29 June 2016 that those Members who represented the District Council on external bodies provide Council with a short summary of the work they had undertaken in this capacity.

1.2 The following Council representatives on Outside Bodies were appointed in 2015 for a four-year period expiring in 2019: (*non elected member)

Outside Body Representative

Aspal Close Working Group David Bowman

Association for Museums John Bloodworth Management Committee Barley Homes (Group) Ltd (Wholly-owned Brian Harvey commercial company) Shareholder Lance Stanbury Advisory Group

Brandon Heritage Centre Christine Mason

Brandon Remembrance Playing Fields Christine Mason Management Committee ‘Breaking New Ground’ - HLF Management Reg Silvester Committee

Citizens’ Advice Bureau —Newmarket Michael Anderson

District Councils’ Network James Waters

East of England Local Government James Waters Association—(EELGA)

Greater Cambridge/ Greater Peterborough James Waters Local Enterprise Partnership

Andy Drummond –observer Home of Horseracing Trust (supported by Chris Barker)

Internal Drainage Board—Burnt Fen Louise Marston

Internal Drainage Board— Colin Noble Louise Marston Robin Rolph* Internal Drainage Board—Mildenhall David Bowman John Bloodworth C J Butcher* G H Taylor-Balls* Local Government Association (LGA) Robin Millar General Assembly Mildenhall Community Association Nigel Roman

Mildenhall Dome Joint Management Andy Drummond Committee Mildenhall Museum—Trustees Nigel Roman

National Horseracing Museum Andy Drummond—observer (supported by Chris Barker)

Our Greenest County Board (Suffolk County David Bowman Council)

Rural Services Network (SPARSE) Colin Noble

Suffolk County Council—Health and (1 full member and 1 Wellbeing Board substitute— alternate each year) Representation to September 2016 Robin Millar (FHDC Member), Robert Everitt (SEBC Substitute)

Representation from September 2016 onwards Robert Everitt (SEBC Member), Robin Millar (FHDC Substitute) —Suffolk Flood Risk Christine Mason Joint Scrutiny Sub-Committee Andy Drummond (Substitute)

Suffolk County Council—Health Scrutiny Christine Mason Committee John Bloodworth (Substitute) Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Policy Robin Millar Panel Suffolk Police and Crime Panel Brian Harvey Lance Stanbury (Substitute)

Suffolk Waste Partnership David Bowman

Suffolk West Citizens Advice Bureau John Bloodworth (Brandon and Mildenhall)

Verse Facilities Management Ltd (Wholly- Arrangements for representation owned commercial company) on a Shareholder Advisory Group are still to be confirmed.

Western Suffolk Community Safety Robin Millar Partnership (supported by Brian Harvey)

2. Reports from Representatives

2.1 All District Councillors who represented the Council on Outside Bodies were contacted and the following responses were received:

2.2 Councillor John Bloodworth

Provided the following update:

Association for Suffolk Museums Management Committee Attended a meeting on Tuesday 15 March 2016 at Newmarket. It was Councillor Bloodworth’s first meeting as the District Council’s representative. He took interest in the discussions and was not asked for any enquiries or feedback from Forest Heath.

Internal Drainage Board - Mildenhall Attended meetings on both Wednesday 10 February and Thursday 5 May 2016 in Prickwillow. Various items were discussed and he was not asked for any feedback or information by Forest Heath.

Suffolk West Citizens Advice Bureau (Brandon and Mildenhall) No formal meetings have taken place but Councillor Bloodworth has taken it upon himself to call into the offices in Mildenhall to introduce himself to the staff based there.

2.3 Councillors Brian Harvey and Lance Stanbury

Jointly produced the following report:

Suffolk Police and Crime Panel This a county-wide Panel made up of District and County Councillors plus two Independent Members. Its aim is to hold the Police & Crime Commissioner to account and to review and scrutinise his proposals and achievements during the year. Annually the PC&C presents his financial plan and revised precept level requirements; these are reviewed in depth by the Panel and voted upon accordingly. Of particular note this year are the changes being undertaken throughout Suffolk to reflect budget changes whilst still maintaining full compliance with Government requirements and targets particularly with regard to domestic abuse, hate crime, people trafficking and internet related crime. In order to achieve these requirements the Panel meets on a regular three monthly basis and holds additional workshops throughout the year.

Barley Homes (Group) Ltd: Shareholder Advisory Group Is a limited company set up by St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Forest Health District Council and Suffolk County Council with shares each of 25%, 25% and 50% respectively. The primary function of the company will be to generate capital and revenue income through the development of new housing for rent and sale initially in on a commercial basis. The Shareholder Advisory Group will ensure a consistent strategic view is taken across Barley Homes (Group) Ltd via regular reviews of the business plan, scrutinise and monitor the delivery of the business plan on the shareholders behalf. The Shareholder Advisory Group will review and monitor the performance of Barley Homes (Group) Ltd on a regular basis.

Indicative topics are listed below;  Annual review of business plans  Annual financial review, half yearly review  EAHG Quarterly update on performance  Financial  Strategic  Operational  Proposals for potential development sites  Progress on sites in development

2.4 Councillor Robin Millar

Produced the following report:

Local Government Association (LGA) General Assembly Local Government Association is a politically-led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong credible voice with national government. The LGA aims to influence and set the political agenda on issues that matter to councils so they are able to deliver local solutions to national problems. The LGA’s focus is on achieving four outcomes: 1. Funding for local government 2. Devolution 3. Promoting health and wellbeing 4. Economic growth , jobs and housing 5. Sector-led improvement Councillor Millar attended the LGA Annual Conference in July where devolution and health were high on the agenda. This is a good platform to make links with other public organisations and learn more about what authorities elsewhere are taking forward. He also ran a session in the innovation zone showcasing our new approaches to working through the families and communities agenda.

Suffolk County Council Health and Wellbeing Board This is a statutory Board and is made up of a wide range of public and voluntary sector partners with the aim of encouraging integrated working to improve wellbeing outcomes for Suffolk. Councillor Millar is the West Suffolk Councils’ representative and attends the Board meetings on behalf of both Councils. The Board meets regularly throughout the year and ensures that there is a joint approach to the delivery of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and that efforts are focussed where they make the most difference. Importantly these efforts do not just relate to the clinical response to improving health, important as that is, but also to influencing the wider determinants of health, such as good education, employment, quality environment and encouraging personal responsibility to make healthy choices relating to diet, alcohol, smoking and exercise. The activities and approaches taken by district councils can therefore have a significant influence on the health and wellbeing of the area. West Suffolk councils are leading on the co-ordination and delivery of part of the Suffolk- wide Prevention Strategy (the only non-clinical organisation to do so).

The pressures of NHS and Clinical Commissioning Group budgets obviously influence much of the Board’s discussions and it has regular updates relating to the development of a Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). NHS England requires that by mid- September each area has an STP which sets out how local services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years. It is important that the Board have oversight of this Plan so that it can understand its potential impact on the rest of the Suffolk public and voluntary sector and also because each organisation will have a role to play in terms of helping to deliver its outcomes. The STP for Suffolk excludes the Waveney area but does include North-East Essex and it is essential that as West Suffolk representative, the Deputy Leader monitors the impact that this wider geographical coverage might have on services in West Suffolk.

Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Policy Panel This Panel meets on requests to allow discussion on common emergency preparedness policy issues across all Suffolk local authorities. The next meeting will be taking place on 24 November 2016 to discuss a future Community Emergency Planning Strategy.

Western Suffolk Community Safety Partnership As Portfolio Holder, Councillor Millar represented Forest Heath DC at the WSCSP since January 2012 to date and chaired the group from October 2014 - April 2016. CSPs have undergone a number of changes during that time, not least the withdrawal of direct funding from the Home Office. The Police and Crime Commissioner now holds all the funding for community safety and appointed Suffolk community foundation to administer this on his behalf. Applications are invited from third sector organisations wanting to support community safety projects in areas of the community. In his role as Chair, he was part of the county wide decision making panel, deciding the successful grant applications. Councillor Millar has worked to ensure that the communities’ issues are represented and can access guidance and expertise from other CSP partner agencies to assist with accessing funding and information to inform suitable projects in areas of need. In addition, one of statutory responsibilities of the CSP is to carry out domestic homicide reviews (DHR). The aim of a DHR is to determine if any lessons could be learned around joined up working, communication and access to services for the victims. It does not replace a serious case review nor is its function to apportion any blame. During Councillor Millar’s chairmanship there was a domestic homicide in Babergh area (which is part of WSCSP), and he chaired a meeting of a group of professionals to determine the initial situation. Once it was confirmed that the incident did meet the criteria for a review, the Home Office was informed that a full review would be carried out. An independent report writer/chair was appointed, who proceeded to work with all parties to bring together a full report, which has been approved by the Home Office and will be published in Autumn 2016. As there were children involved in this tragedy, Councillor Millar was very careful to keep the family, and particularly the children, fully informed of the process and the sensitivity in this matter was commended in the report. Councillor Millar remains a member of WSCSP but handed the Chair over to Councillor Robert Everitt (Portfolio Holder in St Edmundsbury) in April 2016.

2.5 Councillor Nigel Roman

Provided the following update:

Mildenhall Museum - Trustees Trustee for the voluntary organisation. The Trust relies on local financial support to operate. The Trust holds 4-5 meetings per annum which Councillor Roman attends. At these meetings they discuss the following: - General running of Mildenhall Museum - New artefacts - Existing displays - General outlook of display areas - Events and fundraising - Reports from museum volunteers - Any other special items.

Mildenhall Community Association They discuss various items relating to Mildenhall and the local villages and aim to provide as much general support as they can to these communities. They also try to provide support to many local organisations in the community. The Association is the main financial supporter for the new playground in the Jubilee Centre and are also responsible for maintaining the Mildenhall Messenger (Parish magazine) and Mildenhall in Bloom. Current projects being discussed: - Looking at placing plaques on local historic buildings; and - Aiming to do the same in West Row but waiting on feedback as to what famous buildings they would like them on. The Association has enough financial support to carry on this year, but unless they receive any more funding or support they will not be able to continue next year.

2.6 Councillor James Waters

Produced the following report:

District Councils’ Network The District Councils’ Network (DCN) is a special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association. The network’s purpose is to ‘act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other national bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for ‘local’ people.’ The DCN’s priorities for 2016-2020 are: 1. Driving national growth and prosperity 2. Improving the health and wellbeing for our communities 3. Devolution and public sector reform 4. Resourcing new local government sector Forest Heath regularly receives useful briefing notes and invitations to conferences/seminars. Most recently the DCN have involved us in lobbying around the business rates retention changes and fairer funding review.

East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) East of England LGA is a politically-led, cross party organisation which works on behalf of the 52 councils in the East of England to harness their collective strength to shape and serve their communities and localities. The organisation has a small core of highly experienced and committed Officers to support member authorities. As well as benefitting from its advocacy role nationally and regionally, Forest Heath receives consultation documents and regular policy updates and has access to the expertise of the specialist local staff (for instance in terms of the One Public Estate programme). Officers are also invited to attend conferences on finance and HR and make use of the East of England Forecasting model for predicting housing and economic growth.

Greater Cambridgeshire Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership The Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership is focused on helping to drive forward sustainable economic growth in our area – with local business, education providers, the third sector and the public sector working together to achieve this. Councillor Waters attends monthly Board meetings which comprise 14 leaders of industry, education and the public sector. Through working with GCGP, support has been obtained for development at Fiveways junction, studies to understand the economic impact of USAFE leaving RAF Mildenhall and the Business Festival. The Board has also been heavily involved in the recent devolution discussions taking place across Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire and is currently campaigning to acquire funding for the A11/A14 link road.