Agenda and minutes

The Convener advised that The Kelso Town Centre Regeneration Project had received a Scottish Award for Quality in Planning in the “Development on the Ground” category at a ceremony in Edinburgh on 10 November 2015. The project had been delivered by the Council in partnership with the wider Kelso Community.  The Convener congratulated the staff involved who were Mark Douglas, Colin Gilmour, Catherine Andrews and Andy Millar, now retired, from the Planning Service; David Johnston, Dale Johnstone and Roy Thomson from Engineering Design Services; and Julie Hogg from Economic Development.

The Convener commented on the success of Professor Angus Deaton, who was currently Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, on winning the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare.  Professor Deaton was born in Edinburgh, received some of his education at Hawick High School and his father was a former Director with Borders Regional Council

DECISION

AGREED that congratulations be passed to those concerned.

The Convener varied the order of business as shown on the agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

Consider Minute of Scottish Borders Council held on 7 October 2015 for approval and signing by the Convener.  (Copy attached.)

The Minute of the Meeting held on 7 October 2015 was considered. 

DECISION

AGREED that the Minute be approved and signed by the Convener.

Consider Minutes of the following Committees:-

(a)     Local Review Body                                   21 September 2015

(b)     Scrutiny                                                     24 September 2015

(c)     Civic Government Licensing                    25 September 2015

(d)     Audit & Risk                                              28 September 2015

(e)     Executive                                                  29 September 2015

(f)      Lauder Common Good Fund                   30 September 2015

(g)     William Hill Trust                                       30 September 2015

(h)     Petitions and Deputations                         1 October 2015

(i)      Planning & Building Standards                 5 October 2015

(j)      Audit & Risk External Members

          Appointment                                              13, 22 & 23 October 2015

(k)     Local Review Body                                   19 October 2015

(l)      Executive (Education Theme)                  20 October 2015

(m)    Civic Government Licensing                    23 October 2015

(n)     Scrutiny                                                     29 October 2015

(o)     Planning & Building Standards                 2 November 2015

(p)     Executive (Economic Dev Theme)          3 November 2015

(Please see separate supplement containing Committee Minutes.)

The Minutes of the following Committees had been circulated:-

Local Review Body                                                      21 September 2015

Scrutiny                                                                        24 September 2015

Civic Government Licensing                                       25 September 2015

Audit & Risk                                                                 28 September 2015

Executive                                                                     29 September 2015

Lauder Common Good Fund                                      30 September 2015

William Hill Trust                                                          30 September 2015

Petitions and Deputations                                            1 October 2015

Planning & Building Standards                                    5 October 2015

Audit & Risk External Members Appointment             13, 22 & 23 October 2015

Local Review Body                                                      19 October 2015

Executive (Education Theme)                                     20 October 2015

Civic Government Licensing                                       23 October 2015

Scrutiny                                                                        29 October 2015

Planning & Building Standards                                    2 November 2015

Executive (Economic Dev Theme)                             3 November 2015

DECISION

APPROVED the Minutes listed above subject to paragraph 5 below.

Consider Committee recommendations.  (Copy attached.)

With reference to paragraph 3 of the Minute of the Executive Committee of 3 November 2015, it was recommended that Council agreethat Hobkirk Primary School be mothballed with immediate effect for a temporary period.  It was noted that the status of the school would be reviewed within the next 12 months.

DECISION

AGREED that Hobkirk Primary School be mothballed with immediate effect for a temporary period.

The questions submitted by Councillors McAteer, Mountford, Cockburn and Marshall were answered. 

DECISION

NOTED the replies as detailed in Appendix I to this Minute.

MEMBERS

Councillors Parker and Davidson joined the meeting during consideration of the above item.

Presentation on Multi-Member Ward Police Plansby Chief Inspector McLean, Local Area Commander.

The Convener welcomed Chief Inspector Andy Mclean, Local Area Commander to the meeting to give Members a presentation on the multi-member ward Police Plans.  Chief Inspector McLean advised that the 2012 Act required the Chief Constable to prepare an annual police plan setting out the proposed arrangements for the policing of Scotland; to seek to secure continuous improvement for that policing; and, via local commanders, to ensure that adequate arrangements were in place for the policing of each local authority area.   An extension of that requirement was that Police Scotland had to publish local policing plans identifying local priorities formed through a process of consultation and engagement with communities, including local scrutiny committees.  This resulted in a Plan being produced for each of the 11 wards within Scottish Borders.  Communities were consulted by way of a questionnaire. The questionnaires were then analysed by the Scottish Borders Council Partnership Analyst who identified the top 3-4 priorities in each Ward.  The individual Plans were created and they then fed into the Scottish Borders Local Policing Plan 2014 – 2017.  All Plans could be viewed on the Police Scotland Website.  Chief Inspector McLean, using Galashiels as the example, outlined the areas identified in the questionnaires and how these were then translated into the Plan priorities and how these then linked into the Force priorities.  He then commented on how performance against the Plans was monitored and advised that 6 monthly reviews were carried out to ascertain if a re-assessment of the Plan priorities was required.  Reports were given to the Local Area Forums and more in-depth scrutiny was carried out by the Police, Fire & Rescue and Safer Communities Board.  Chief Inspector McLean answered Members’ questions in relation to a number of matters including parking issues, liaison with the Licensing Board, the use of officers from other areas, partnership working and rural crime.  Members suggested that it would be helpful to issue the questionnaires to Community Councils and also try to get more input from those living in rural areas.  Chief Inspector McLean also undertook to try to expand the areas covered by the questionnaires and advised that he hoped questionnaires would eventually be available on-line.  The Convener thanked the Chief Inspector for his attendance.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.

Consider report by Chief Executive outlining the work that has been undertaken to develop a scheme for the resettlement of Syrian Refugee households into the Scottish Borders.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Chief Executive outlining the work that had been undertaken to develop a scheme for the resettlement of Syrian Refugee households into the Scottish Borders, and seeking approval to start a negotiation process with the Home Office to resettle Syrian refugee families.  The report explained the position of UK and Scottish Governments on the resettlement of Syrian refugees into the UK and Scotland. The UK Government’s Scheme aimed to resettle 20,000 refugees over the next four years and the Scottish Government had indicated that 2,000 refugees could be resettled in Scotland.  The Scheme prioritised those refugees who could not be supported effectively in their region of origin: women and children at risk, people in severe need of medical care, and survivors of torture and violence. Local authorities were recognised as the lead body in this resettlement process. Funding was provided by the Home Office to support local authorities taking part in the Scheme.   The proposed Scottish Borders refugee resettlement scheme would aim to resettle up to 10 refugee families in the next four years. This would be in line with the Scottish Borders share of the 2,000 refugees coming to Scotland based on the area’s proportion of the Scottish population.  It was proposed that the local scheme began with two families, and then gradually increase this number by building on the learning process from resettling the refugees. This conformed to the approach taken by other local authorities. The initial location for resettling the refugee families would be Galashiels because of its good transport connections, public and private services and support structures. It was intended that other locations would be considered as part of the ‘roll-out’ of the scheme.   Members welcomed the proposals and commended officers for the work in bringing all the relevant agencies together.  

DECISION

AGREEDthat officers progress the work to resettle refugee families into the Scottish Borders.

Consider report by Service Director Neighbourhood Services seeking approval of a Community Recycling Centre Trade Access policy for Scottish Borders Council.  (Copy attached.)

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Edgar declared an interest in the following item of business in terms of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and left the Chamber during the discussion.

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Neighbourhood Services seeking approval of a Community Recycling Centre Trade Access Policy for Scottish Borders Council.   The report explained that the aim of the Community Recycling Centre (CRCs) Trade Access Policy was to expand on the existing range of trade services by providing small, peripatetic traders with a cost effective and legislatively compliant means to dispose of the bulk of their waste and recycling. The proposal aimed to allow the Council to provide an improved and sustainable service that would contribute towards the current costs of trade waste disposal at CRCs.  CRCs were currently licenced to accept household waste only. However, it was suspected that some traders gained regular, unauthorised access to dispose of their waste. To resolve this, the options available were to either enforce a trade ban at CRCs or introduce the proposed permit system.  Both of these options would incur costs to manage and enforce. The option of introducing a permit system however, would result in an income stream which could cover the management and enforcement costs and might contribute towards some of the trade waste treatment and disposal costs.  A key aim was to ensure that any system was simple and sustainable.  Therefore, after extensive consultation and research, it was proposed that a two permit scheme be introduced to allow traders access to six of the Council’s Community Recycling Centres, the exception being Selkirk.   CRCs had been designed for household waste only and their current design, size, capacity and operational activities were such that the permit system should be introduced with the proposed material, vehicle, access and volume restrictions initially.  A review of the system would be undertaken after three months and, depending on the outcome of the review it may be possible to relax or remove some of the restrictions in place and for further improvements to be made to the new service.  Applications for either of the permits would be via an online form with legal checks and full payment included as part of the application process.  It was proposed to introduce the new service from 1 April 2016 which aligned with the timescales for renewing the existing trade waste service contracts.  The Service Director requested that an additional recommendation be added requiring a review after 3 months of operation.  Members discussed the proposals and concern was expressed regarding lack of trade access at weekends and the limit of 4 bags.  It was proposed that these should be included in the introductory period to ascertain if there were problems which could then be resolved as part of the three month review.  The Service Director undertook to consider these matters further prior to the introduction of the Policy.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     the introduction of a Trade Waste Access Policy for six  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Consider report by Service Director Neighbourhood Services proposing that Scottish Borders Council respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation entitled ‘Making things last’.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Neighbourhood Services proposing that Scottish Borders Council respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation entitled ‘Making things last’.  The report explained that the ‘Circular Economy’ and ‘Resource Efficiency’ was already playing an increasingly important role in the direction of European and National Waste Policy.  The European Commission had indicated that it was aiming to present an ambitious ‘Circular Economy Package’ in late 2015 with the aim of transforming Europe into a more competitive resource-efficient economy.  The Scottish Government’s consultation entitled ‘Making things last’, a copy of which was appended to the report, explored the priorities for building a more circular economy, where products and materials were kept in high value use for as long as possible.  A number of the proposals outlined within the consultation had the potential to have significant operational and financial implications for Local Authorities in relation to the waste services they provided.  It was therefore important that Scottish Borders Council outlined its position in relation the proposals and responded to the consultation, thus ensuring the Council had done all that it could to influence future national policy, particularly in relation to its statutory waste management duties.  The proposed consultation response suggested that Scottish Borders Council was, in principle, supportive of the Scottish Government’s aspirations for a circular economy in Scotland.  In response to a question the Service Director advised that there was currently a pilot at the Selkirk CRC to reuse items.  The main issue with extending this to other sites was the lack of space.

DECISION

AGREEDto approve the consultation response as outlined in Appendix 2 to the report for subsequent submission to the Scottish Government.

Consider appointments to the following Committees:-

(a)     Audit & Risk to replace Councillor Archibald (Admin Member required)

(b)     Petitions and Deputations to replace Councillor Greenwell (Opposition Member required)

It was reported that there were vacancies on both the Audit and Risk Committee and the Petitions and Deputations Committee to replace Councillors Archibald and Greenwell respectively.  Councillor Parker, seconded by Councillor Paterson, moved that Councillor Gillespie be appointed to the Audit and Risk Committee and this was unanimously approved.  There were no nominees for the Petitions and Deputations Committee so this was left unfilled

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     the appointment of Councillor Gillespie to the Audit & Risk Committee; and

(b)     that the position on the Petitions and Deputations Committee be left vacant at present.

Under Section 50B(4)(b) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the Convener was of the opinion that the item dealt with in the following paragraph should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency, in view of the need to make an early decision.

With reference to paragraph 15 of the Minute of 19 February 2015, Councillor Parker, seconded by Councillor Aitchison, moved that Councillor Edgar be appointed as the Wellbeing & Safety Champion.

DECISION

AGREED that Councillor Edgar be appointed as Wellbeing & Safety Champion.

Before proceeding with the private business, the following motion should be approved:-

“That under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the aforementioned Act.”

DECISION

AGREED under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the business detailed in  Appendix II to this Minute on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 6, 8 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 7A to the Act.

Consider private Section of Scottish Borders Council Meeting held on 7 October 2015.  (Copy attached.)

The private section of the Council Minute of 7 October 2015 was approved. 

Consider private sections of the Minutes of the following Committees:-

(a)     Executive                                                  29 September 2015

(b)     Lauder Common Good Fund                   30 September 2015

(c)     Planning & Building Standards                 5 October 2015

(d)     Audit & Risk External Members

          Appointment                                              13, 22 & 23 October 2015

(e)     Executive                                                  20 October 2015

(f)      Planning & Building Standards                 2 November 2015

 (Please see separate supplement containing the Private Committee Minutes.)

The private sections of the Committee Minutes as detailed in paragraph4 of this Minute were approved.

Consider private minute recommendation.  (Copy attached.)

It was agreed that the Scheme of Administration be amended to increase the number of external members on the Audit and Risk Committee to 3.