Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Paul Goodale was appointed Chairman of the committee for the year 2019 / 2020

Councillor Colin Woodcock was appointed Vice Chairman of the committee for the year 2019 / 2020

To receive apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were tabled.

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting, held on 24^th April 2019.

The Chairman received the agreement of members who had been in attendance at the last meeting of the committee, to sign the minutes of that meeting on the 24^th April 2019.

To report progress on outstanding actions from the minutes of the last meeting, for information only.

No update on actions from the last meeting were noted.

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were tabled.

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday 7^th June 2019.

No public questions were tabled.

To allow members of the public to address the Committee.

Mr Darron Abbott thanked the Chairman for letting him address the first meeting of the new committee and stated that over the last 4 years the committee had worked hard and achieved a great deal.  One achievement had been the speed indicating device which continued to produce some very interesting data from around the town in respect of speeding.

Mr Abbott added that unfortunately over the last year the data had generally been ignored with very little having been done:  he asked if it would be possible for the new committee to have a full presentation on the data to then allow BTAC to then to put pressure on the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership and Lincolnshire Police to take some action. 

Concluding Mr Abbott asked that the committee work together representing all their constituents on all matters affecting the BTAC area.

(A report by Tim Sampson, Accountancy Manager - Revenues & Systems)

Members were advised that the closing BTAC reserves at 31 March 2019 were £269.419.

A member questioned the £48k which was noted as ‘other expenditure’ and asked what it had been spent on.  The Head of Place confirmed that it had not been spent but remained unallocated. 

Some members questioned the varying degree of expenditure across the BTAC wards, noting some wards appeared to receive significantly greater funding than others.  One specific ward was Fenside where not only did members question the lack of funding, but also the loss of CCTV coverage.

The Chairman advised that both subjects were for discussion when scheduling the work programme

A number of members voiced concern at their own lack of understanding in respect of the financial reporting and asked if it would be possible to have a single meeting just to focus on the actual financial matters.  Some new members noted that they would like to fully understand all financial matters for future meetings. 

The Chairman noted the concerns and agreed that attendance of a finance officer would be requested at the next meeting to ensure that all members were fully conversant with the financial matters.

A further member voiced concern that a link identified under point 3) of appendix 1 on page 11 of the report on page 11, referred member’s to an agenda item on an earlier agenda.  The member stated a link should not have been provided and that the actual hard copy data itself should have been included within the report in full and members should not have to search on a link.

RESOLVED:  Members noted the report tabled but with the proviso that attendance by a finance officer be provided at the next meeting of the committee to provide information for members who sought greater clarity on the reporting.

(Information presented by Phil Perry, Head of Place and Space)

The Chairman questioned why areas outside of the BTAC area were subject to the services of the BTAC operatives and the Parish Council’s benefitted from BTAC’s funding.  The Head of Place advised that a proportion of the budget for the operatives was actually paid by the Council and therefore assistance within the parishes was a part of their work.   General comments included a request for a monthly update on the works undertaken and that the report provide breakdowns and specific detail on the actual work carried out instead of a few pictures which whilst demonstrating the results pictorially did not provide information on the volume of work.  A further member questioned the recording system currently used saying it felt ad-hoc and not sufficient for the reporting required. 

The Head of Place advised members that two of the operatives were solely employed for BTAC work with the third operative working across the borough and supporting BTAC when required, he also confirmed that a bi-monthly report could be produced identifying the actual works undertaken and that the recording data was specific and detailed. 

A returning member advised the new councillors that since the introduction of the operatives there had been a significant improvement around the town in littering and general maintenance.  He further stressed that the onus was for members to be vigilant within their own wards and to report any issue on the email link, which was monitored throughout the day with requests for help being relayed to the operatives as soon as possible.    

During this item a number of members voiced comments and concern about BTAC and its actual role within the Council, including questioning the lack of any autonomy BTAC had under the Cabinet and stating that the committee needed to tighten up its remit.

RESOLVED:   That all future reporting in respect of the BTAC Operatives would be more detailed. 

(A report presented by Phil Perry, Head of Place and Space)

The Head of Place tabled the report advising members it would be taken through to Full Council for publication.   No comments were made by members

RESOLVED:   That BTAC recommend to Full Council that the Annual Report by approved for publication.

(The Committee’s work programme for the current year for discussion and/or updating.)

The Head of Place referred members to the draft work programme and asked for their agreement to postpone the August meeting until the 21^st August to enable a tour of the BTAC area to take place on that day, ahead of the evening meeting.  A member asked if the tour could be videoed to allow working members the opportunity of viewing the area.

Returning members raised concern and questioned why the schedule of meetings had reduced from monthly meetings and there were requests for a need for reinstatement of monthly meetings due to the volume of work. 

A member stated that an additional meeting be scheduled for four weeks’ time on the 10^th July 2019 to include the improved BTAC operatives report along with a possible report on the speeding devices as requested by the member of the public.  A member further asked for a report at that meeting on the decline of Boston’s markets and BTAC responsibility for it.

The Chairman did question if it was possible for democratic to schedule another meeting at such short notice and for officers to pull the reports together and publish in time, but a member strongly disagreed expressing his opinion that it should not be a problem.

Addressing the various BTAC working groups, the Head of Place explained that they needed to be considered with a view to the continuation or not of each group.

A member asked committee to consider the working group for Grants which he stressed did need to continue to allow applicants to submit in line with the meetings and time deadlines.  He stated this was the only group which needed to be prioritised and the Chairman agreed the need for urgency and stated that he would sit on the group and sought a further volunteer to allow a meeting to take place to expedite applications awaiting determination.  Councillor Hastie agreed to sit on the group.

Further general comments were made in respect of play areas and play equipment, along with events and also the prospective Ingelow Avenue development.

RESOLVED:    That the new membership of the Grants Working Group be convened with Councillors Paul Goodale; Martin Griggs and Neill Hastie.

END.

It is noted that on conclusion of this meeting and in line with all the concerns tabled by members, that a BTAC Briefing would be scheduled on the 10^th July 2019 to allow the committee to have a full and open discussion on its way forward and for the following issues to be addressed:

1. A Finance Officer to be in attendance to address all the concerns raised by members in respect of the financial reporting to allow full clarity for all members for future meetings.

2. Members to agree / or not, the need for continuation of the outstanding working group and to convene memberships of any working group which continues.

3. Members to discuss the work programme in greater detail.