Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Janet Tait.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on ####

Moved by Councillor David Downes and seconded by Councillor Rose Bowler

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a Healthy, Safe, Clean and Green Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 8^th September 2020 be approved as a correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List of Key Decisions for any further information.  NB: If Members wish to discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the meeting only).

Committee considered the List of Key Decisions and Items to be considered in private document.

Moved by Councillor Tom Munro and seconded by Councillor Natalie Hoy

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document be noted.

Committee considered a report presented as a slide presentation by the Leisure Operations Manager in relation to the impact of Covid19 on Leisure Services.

From 23rd March 2020, the majority of leisure services staff were instructed to remain at home due to the enforced lockdown restrictions.  Some Leisure staff were able to work from home but staff such as coaches and lifeguards were not.

A Community Support Team was established via the Partnerships Team and leisure services staff were utilised to assist with 353 food parcel and 567 pharmacy deliveries. 

From 8^th June 70 Leisure staff were furloughed.  Currently around 6 staff were still on the furlough scheme and these were staff who carried out work on behalf of Public Health.  These staff would eventually move on to the Government’s Job Support scheme.

Further to school closures, delivery of physical activity and sports development was halted.  However, for the current academic year, 13 schools had agreed to take up the physical activity & sports development programme (in comparison to 18 last year).  Leisure staff were working with schools to attract more on to the scheme and offer confidence around the Covid procedures Leisure had in place.

Leisure staff had kept in touch with local sports clubs offering advice and assistance where applicable and also assisted individual clubs with return to sport following government lifting of restrictions.  However, community provision had ceased both in community settings and within the Go Active facility.  Recently, and following guidance from the FA, community Premier League Kicks sessions had commenced in Carr Vale and there were plans for a return of the Sports SPLASH school holiday programme at the Go Active Leisure Centre in October half term.

A Member queried if outdoor activities for schools were solely being focused on and if the school holiday programme in October half term would now be impacted on due to the current surge in cases.  The Leisure Operations Manager advised that Leisure staff were working with schools individually to deliver schools’ own risk assessments as well as Leisure having their own risk assessments.  All October sessions were proposed to be outdoors and guidance was still awaited.  However, this would only be for members of the Go Active facility due to track and trace purposes.

Extreme Wheels had secured funding from 4 Community Safety Partnerships to work on an alternative delivery model assisting to disperse gatherings and to offer guidance and advice to young adults.  Pleasley Vale Outdoor Activity Centre has remained closed, however, the Centre Manager had recently returned to work under the flexible furlough scheme to test the market for customers to return safely to the Centre.

The Go Active facility re-opened on 25^th July with a strict booking policy in order to comply with track and trace.  Maximum occupancy levels had to be reduced in order to comply with social distancing.  However, another part of the gym had recently opened up and screens were also being looked at to further increase occupancy/usage to  ...  view the full minutes text for item HEA14-20/21

Committee considered a report which provided details of the Council’s draft Sex Establishment Policy. 

Members’ feedback was sought on the policy and any comments would besubmitted to the Council’s Licensing Committee for their consideration.

Although there was no legal requirement to do so, in 2019, Licensing Committee had recommended that Council resolve to adopt the relevant legislation and have a policy which would give the Council powers to control the number, type and location of sex establishments in its area and the manner in which such premises were run.  The key aspects regarding the contents of the policy were detailed in the report.  Members were asked to note that there were no sex establishments in the District at the current time. 

The Council must carry out a 12 week public consultation and it was agreed that this be done prior to formal adoption of the legislation.  It was also agreed to consult on the draft Policy at the same time.  The outcome of the consultation would be considered by the Licensing Committee and a final version of the Policy recommended to Council for approval. 

A Member queried how the consultation would be advertised and asked for this to be highlighted to Cllrs so that they could actively promote engagement with the consultation.  Officers clarified it would likely be via local press, Bolsover TV, the Council website and Twitter.  The consultation approach would be similar to that completed in relation to the recently reviewed Gambling Policy. 

In relation to a query over how we linked to neighbouring areas, it was noted that businesses in South Yorkshire would be consulted.  Officers noted that they were comparing our approach to neighbouring authorities to ensure it was a robust policy.

A Local Area Profile (LAP) would also be prepared which would map out the characteristics of the area and because the area profile could change so frequently, it was considered good practice to keep this document separate.  However, this would be published at the same time as the Policy to ensure that the document was as up to date as possible.

Moved by Councillor David Downes and seconded by Councillor Natalie Hoy

RESOLVED that the draft Sex Establishment Policy be noted.

Committee considered their Work Programme 2020-2021.

Moved by Councillor David Downes and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that the Work Programme be noted.

The formal part of the meeting concluded at 1045 hours and Members then met as a working party to continue their review work. The working party concluded at 11.56 hours.