Agenda and minutes

There were none. 

To approve the record of the meeting held on 12 June 2014. 

The record of the meeting held on 12 June 2014 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as correct. 

A member need only disclose at any meeting the existence of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in a matter to be considered at that meeting if that DPI has not been entered on the disclosable pecuniary interests register maintained by the Monitoring Officer.

A member disclosing a DPI at a meeting must thereafter notify the Monitoring Officer in writing of that interest within 28 days from the date of disclosure at the meeting.

A member may not participate in a discussion of or vote on any matter in which he or she has a DPI (both those already registered and those disclosed at the meeting) and must withdraw from the room during such discussion/vote.

Members may choose to voluntarily disclose a DPI at a meeting even if it is registered on the council’s register of disclosable pecuniary interests but there is no legal requirement to do so.

Members should also ensure they disclose any other interests which may give rise to a conflict under the council’s code of conduct.

Members will also need to consider bias and pre-determination in certain circumstances and whether they have a conflict of interest or should otherwise leave the room for Code reasons. 

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.  

There were none. 

The Chairman announced that the Partnership had been in existence for seven years and thanked the member organisations, the Director and staff for their contributions. 

This report seeks agreement to the draft South Thames Gateway Building Control Partnership’s Business Plan and Delivery Plan. 

Discussion:

The Director of the South Thames Gateway Building Control Partnership introduced the report which set out the draft Business Plan (dated 8 September 2014 Version 1) and Delivery Plan for 2015-2018 (dated 8 September 2014 Version 1). He advised the Joint Committee that following discussions between partner organisations and with staff, additional wording had been suggested and was included as a supplementary report, tabled at the meeting.

The Director set out the process for approval of the Partnership’s Business Plan and timing required to ensure that each Partner Authority is able to incorporate associated budget requirements into financial planning processes for the subsequent year.

The Joint Committee acknowledged that further work would be undertaken in relation to refining the detail of various elements within the draft plans in order to incorporate comments and suggestions from partner organisations, as appropriate.

Decisions:

The South Thames Gateway Building Control Joint Committee:

(a)               approved the draft Business Plan (dated 8 September 2014 Version 1) and Delivery Plan for 2015-2018 (dated 8 September 2014 Version 1) as set out at Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 of the report, subject to the inclusion of the additional words set out in Supplementary Report No 1;

(b)               agreed to send the revised draft Business Plan and Delivery Plan to each Partner Authority for comments.

Reasons for decisions:

The Joint Committee has a duty under the Memorandum of Agreement to formally consult with partner authorities on the draft Business Plan.

This report summarises the content of agenda items 7 and 8, which, in the opinion of the proper officer, contain exempt information within one of the categories in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. It is a matter for the Committee to determine whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of documents. 

Decision:

The Joint Committee agreed that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the exempt material relating to agenda item 7 (Development of the South Thames Gateway Building Control Partnership) and agenda item 8 (Monitoring Report: April to August 2014) because consideration of these matters in public would disclose information falling within Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 7 and agenda item 8, and the Joint Committee considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. 

This report sets out details of an appraisal undertaken to understand and identify the implications of expanding the Partnership and the benefits to both organisations and their customers. 

Discussion:

The Joint Committee discussed the report which set out details of an appraisal undertaken to understand and identify the implications of expanding the South Thames Gateway Building Control Partnership, if Canterbury City Council were to join the Partnership, and considered the potential benefits to both organisations and their customers.

Decision:

The South Thames Gateway Building Control Joint Committee noted the report and agreed that, following further discussions with Canterbury City Council and the work of the working groups, the Business Case be submitted to the next meeting of the South Thames Gateway Building Control Joint Committee for consideration and referral to the Partner Authorities.

Reasons for Decisions:

The suggested reasons for the decision as set out at paragraphs 9.1 and 9.2 of the exempt report were noted.

This report updates the Joint Committee on the current forecast for the 2014/2015 financial year and gives details against the progress of the objectives of the Business Plan 2012/2017. 

Discussion:

The Joint Committee discussed the report which set out the current forecast for the 2014/2015 financial year and gave details against the progress of the objectives of the Business Plan 2012/2017.

Decision:

Members noted the contents of the report.

Suggested Reason for Decision

The Constitution requires Joint Committee to maintain a monitoring role on the progress of the Partnership.