Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Yusra Hussain, Andrew Bird (Co-optee) and Chris Friend (Co-optee).

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 7 September 2021.

The Panel considered the minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 September 2021.

RESOLVED -

The Minutes of the meeting held on the 7 September 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

The Councillors will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have disclosable pecuniary interests, which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items, or any other interests.

Councillor Taylor declared an interest regarding his position as a member of the advisory board for Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing in relation to agenda item 7.

Most debates take place in public. This only changes when there is a need to consider certain issues, for instance, commercially sensitive information or details concerning an individual. You will be told at this point whether there are any items on the Agenda which are to be discussed in private.

All items were considered in the public session.

The Panel will receive any petitions and hear any deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also hand in a petition at the meeting but that petition should relate to something on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10 (2), Members of the Public should provide at least 24 hours’ notice of presenting a deputation by emailing executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk.

No deputation or petitions were received.

The Board will hear any questions from the general public. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, questions should be emailed to executive.governance@kirklees.gov.uk  no later than 10am on Monday 18^th October 2021.

No questions were received from the public.

Councillor Bolt advised he had been approached by residents of Leeds Road and Oak Road who had raised some concerns in relation to aspects of the A62 Cooper Bridge Corridor Improvement Scheme. Councillor Bolt queried the potential to call in the decision made by Cabinet on the 12^th October 2021 and  asked if members of the panel would consent to this.

Councillor Uppal advised that any signatories to a call in notice would need to demonstrate  that there had been a breach in the Councils decision making principals by filling out a proforma and returning this to the relevant parties no later than 5pm.  

Councillor Iredale noted the importance of giving the public every opportunity to have their say and agreed he would support this.

RESOLVED: It was agreed that Jodie Harris, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer provide Councillor Bolt and Councillor Iredale the Call-in Proforma.

To provide the Panel with an update on the transfer of the housing management and maintenance services (formally provided by KNH) back to the Council.

Contacts:

Naz Parker, Service Director for Homes and Neighbourhoods
Eric Hughes, Head of Business Assurance and Transformation

The Panel considered the report Kirklees Homes and Neighbourhoods and Estate Management Update presented byNaz Parkar, Service Director for Homes and Neighbourhoods, Eric Hughes - Head of Business and Assurance Transformation and Michelle Anderson–Dore - Head of Partnerships for Growth and Regeneration. Councillor Peter McBride the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Regeneration was also in attendance.

Naz Parkar gave an update on transferring Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing, to Council Management. Naz explained that the transfer was almost complete and had been largely successful. Naz highlighted that the key ambition was to continue to consolidate and embed services within the wider council, ensure the safety of high-rise residents and address compliance issues. Naz also noted that the strategic ambition was to work in a restorative / place-based way, engaging fully with stakeholders and tenants.

Eric Hughes gave a presentation and explained that:

·       A decision was taken in October 2020 to transfer Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing to Council Management.

·       This meant that the housing management and maintenance services previously provided by KNH were to be delivered directly by the Council under the Homes and Neighbourhood Service.

·       2021-22 was the ‘transition/alignment’ phase with a key focus on aligning and embedding the new service with the Council. 

·       The service was funded through the housing revenue account and was focused on the delivery of repairs, maintenance and housing management services to tenants and customers across Kirklees.

·       A Core part of the offer was hearing the tenants voice using a restorative place-based model, increasing environmental improvements, delivering capital programmes that included tenants wants and desires, as well as conferences, consultations, STAR feedback and a Challenge Panel.

·       Estate engagement had included action days, litter picks, weed removal, joint working with other services and consultation with residents to improve areas.

·       The Tenants Advisory and Grants Panel were involved in shaping policies and procedures regarding anti-social behaviour.

·       Compliance with the gas and electrical safety regime was good, and there was a view to extending this to include the big 6 .

·       The MCS (microgeneration certification scheme) accredited had been renewed  to install green technologies such as air source heat pumps.

·       There were objectives to support the local economy by using sub-contractors to carry out works and investing in apprenticeships.

·       There was a £152m investment to improve homes and neighbourhoods over the next 10 years.

·       The investment aimed to rectify inherent building defects, improve thermal efficiency, add kerb appeal and deliver environmental improvements.

·       £98m of investment was for new housing over the next 10 years with low Carbon Mixed tenure and modern methods of construction. 3 sites were currently underway: Fernside, Corfe Close and Howley.

·       On delivering affordable warmth and reducing the carbon footprint the target was for Council homes to be SAP rating of band C (minimum) by 2030.

·       A Housing Advisory Board had been developed to scrutinise housing activities.

·       The service excellence initiative was at the start of the next phase of continuous improvement and will be the springboard of activities in the services transformation journey from April 22  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Panel will consider a report setting out the approach taken in the draft Hot Food Takeaway SPD and the next steps for consultation and adoption of the SPD.

Contacts:

Steven Wright, Planning Policy and Strategy Group Leader.

The Panel considered a report setting out the approach taken in the emerging draft Hot Food Takeaway Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPD) presented by Hannah Morrison - Senior Planning Officer, Mathias Franklin – Head of Planning and Development and Johanna Scrutton – Planning Policy Team Leader, Planning and Development.

Lucy Wearmouth – Public Health Manager, Public Health, Beth Wallis – Project Officer, Public Health and Councillor Mussarat Khan Cabinet Portfolio holder for Health and Social Care were also in attendance.

Hannah Morrison gave a presentation which highlighted the following key points:

·       The SPD was jointly produced between planning, public health and environmental health.

·       It set out the framework on how planning applications for hot food takeaways would be assessed, and some of its principles would apply to existing takeaways who applied to vary their conditions.

·       The purpose of the SPD was to add clarity to exiting policies such as LP16 and LP47 relating to health , food and drink uses.

·       It was important to balance health and well-being issues and the needs of small business who were likely to be affected.

·       It was not a blanket ban on hot food takeaways, and public health intelligence data was used alongside other considerations to ensure that the approach was proportionate.

·       This was not the only solution to issues within the Authority relating to health and obesity and included signposts to all Council initiatives that were available to businesses and residents.

·       The SPD supports other council priorities such as improving health and its commitment to the healthy weight declaration.

·       The SPD set out 7 principles that any application for a hot food takeaway will need to have regard to including:

o   4 relating to Residential Amenities – noise, odours, waste disposal, takeaway design, community safety, highway safety.

o   Town Centre Vitality and Viability – impact on local towns and centres to avoid clustering of takeaways.

o   Proximity to School – restricting the opening hours of hot food takeaways that were within 400 metres of a school to help improve childhood obesity.

o   Public Health Toolkit – to support residents to live in and access healthy environments.

·       There was a relationship between deprivation and obesity. In the most deprived areas, there was likely to be more hot food takeaway clustering.

·       Public health intelligence was used to inform place-based decision making.

·       There were key indicators to show the impact obesity had within a specific area. If the indicators were significantly above the Kirklees average, the recommendation would be that the takeaway didn’t open.

·       Around 80% of postcodes would be accepted using this tool, but if they were rejected, mitigations were built into the process.

·       The next steps were public consultation on the 9^th November which would last for 6 weeks and be followed by a Cabinet decision to adopt the SPD mid-2022.

The Panel noted that 80% of postcodes would be accepted using the tool and asked in relation to public health if this meant there little problem in approving new takeaways. Lucy Wearmouth confirmed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Panel will consider its work programme and forthcoming items/activities for 2021/22.

Contact:

Jodie Harris, Principal Governance and Democratic Engagement Officer

Councillor Bolt noted the Transpennine route upgrade scheduled for April 2022 and asked if an update could be provided at each meeting.

Councillor Taylor shared an update on the Transpennine line, highlighting there had been discussions with legal advisors, network rail and other parties and that the Council was now in a much more comfortable position with what was being proposed. Councillor Taylor agreed it would be helpful to have an update.

RESOLVED: The Panel noted the work programme for 2021/22 and it was agreed that an update on the Transpennine line be provided to the Panel.