Agenda and minutes

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Venue: Committee Room 'B' - The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston. View directions

Contact: Gary Halsall  Tel: 01772 536989, Email  gary.halsall@lancashire.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

County Councillors Matthew Salter and Peter Steen replaced County Councillors Anne Cheetham and Jayne Rear respectively.

 

County Councillor Erica Lewis attended the meeting under Standing Order D13(1).

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

There were no apologies.

2.

Constitution: Membership; Chair and Deputy Chair; and Terms of Reference of the External Scrutiny Committee pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report presented set out the constitution, membership, Chair and Deputy Chair and Terms of Reference of the External Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year 2018/19.

 

 

Resolved: That;

 

  i.  The appointment of County Councillors Edward Nash psc and David Stansfield as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2018/19 be noted;

  ii.  The Membership of the Committee following the County Council's Annual Meeting on 24 May 2018 be noted; and

  iii.  The Terms of Reference of the Committee be noted.

3.

Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

Minutes:

None were disclosed.

4.

Minutes of the Meetings held on 6 March 2018 and 10 October 2017 pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved: That the minutes from the meetings held on 6 March 2018 and 10 October 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

 

5.

Flood Risk Management Partnership working pdf icon PDF 375 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Rachel Crompton, LCC Flood Risk Manager; Tony Griffiths, United Utilities plc; and Tim Armour, United Utilities plc; to the meeting. A copy of the presentation delivered at the meeting is set out in the minutes.

 

The report gave a particular focus to the partnership working with United Utilities plc, the water company providing services to the majority of Lancashire's residents. During consideration of the item, it was noted that local water companies were not statutory consultees in regard to planning applications. Members felt that water companies should be at the forefront in regard to planning applications. United Utilities were the only Risk Management Authority who were not a statutory consultee but did work closely with local planning authorities and the lead local flood authority to identify what their requirements were. United Utilities recognised the need to work much earlier with property developers. The committee was informed that LCC would assess the flood risk assessments that accompanied planning applications.

 

It was expected that all Flood Risk Management Authorities maintain their asset base to reduce flood risk and make sufficient provision for this to be achieved.

 

It was noted that United Utilities were proposing, subject to approval from Ofwat, to more than treble their current levels of spend on flooding. United Utilities was also one of the water companies leading the way in the adoption of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).

 

It was noted that United Utilities offered domestic support for people affected by floods. They also publicised information, advice and guidance on their website and mobile app to assist residents.

 

The committee was informed that when investigating a reported flood, the council applied a triage process. If the flooding had been caused by a river the council relied on the Environment Agency to respond. If it was in relation to sewers then the council relied on United Utilities to respond. If there was too much water in an area that was not designed to take it, the council would work with the community and where a flood action group would be beneficial in bridging the communication gap.

 

Members enquired about the efficiency of unblocking of culverts. It was reported that responsibility for cleaning the culverts depended on who owned the land where the culverts were. The Council's powers were limited by the Land Drainage Act and the responsibility was with the landowners for maintaining and repairing culverts. The council would need considerable evidence that there was a serious problem and flood was a real risk before it could intervene.

 

Members enquired how reliant United Utilities were on European funding and whether Brexit would affect existing projects. It was reported that there were some projects in place such as Natural Course (http://naturalcourse.co.uk/). A partnership project between Environment Agency, The Canal and Rivers Trust, Natural England and United Utilities building capacity to protect and improve the North West's water environment. This was a ten year project for which funding had already been agreed for this project.

 

On developing opportunities for natural  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

External Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report presented set out the External Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for the municipal year 2018/19.

 

Resolved: That;

  i.  The External Scrutiny Work Programme 2018/19 be noted;

  ii.  County Councillor Azhar Ali be appointed as a rapporteur on the issue of unlocking brownfield sites across Lancashire; and

  iii.  County Councillor Carl Crompton be appointed as a rapporteur on the impact of Brexit and advanced manufacturing.

 

7.

Urgent Business

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items of Urgent Business.

8.

Date of Next Meeting and Future Meetings

The next meeting of the External Scrutiny Committee is currently scheduled to be held on Tuesday 17 July 2018 at 10.30am at County Hall, Preston.

 

Future meetings of the Committee for 2018/19 municipal year are as follows:

 

·  16 October;

·  22 January 2019; and

·  16 April.

 

All meetings will commence at 10:30am.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the External Scrutiny Committee would take place on Tuesday 17 July 2018 at 10.30am in Cabinet Room B (The Diamond Jubilee Room) at the County Hall, Preston.

 

Future meetings of the Committee for 2018/19 municipal year were as follows:

 

·  16 October 2018

·  22 January 2019

·  16 April 2019

 

All meetings would commence at 10:30am