Agenda item

The Portfolio Holder for Residents and Corporate Services said he felt the performance and the set of figures were really positive.

M Brookes highlighted that in Q1 they held the Police and Crime Commissioner Election and shortly afterwards held the EU Referendum. He said it required a massive effort from all the team and he felt it was a big achievement.

Councillor Birnie felt that the Count didn’t go well at all considering all the extra staff that was put into place. He said it took far too long to get a result. M Brookes explained there was a very high turnout and despite some delays which were simply human error, he said we achieved an accurate result which was the most important thing. He added that they were looking at ways to speed up the process.

Councillor Adeleke disagreed with Councillor Birnie and felt that the count went well considering the high turnout and commended the team for their hard work. He then asked how prepared we would be if there was a second referendum. J Doyle said he hoped that wouldn’t happen, however we would be given enough notice to plan everything and felt we would be as prepared as we possibly could be. M Brookes said he felt we would be in a good position if that were to happen.

Councillor Douris congratulated them on the successful court cases. He asked if we published when people are taken to court and were successful to show others that it isn’t wise to try to play the system. M Brookes advised they do work with the Communications team to promote court activity but he didn’t think they published every court case.

Councillor Douris referred to S106 elements and said he hoped DBC would ensure they held on to time scales as developers can be slow at making payments and that can lead to difficulties.

Councillor Douris referred to the potential second referendum on Grovehill Neighbourhood plan and queried if there was any other method of voting. J Doyle advised that voting is set in stone unless you get agreement from the Home Office or from the Electoral Commission.

The Chairman asked if any of the cases they had taken to court were unsuccessful. M Brookes said all cases were reviewed before being taken to court and he wasn’t aware of any cases that DBC had lost.

The Chairman noted the change in vehicle MOT testing and queried if officers had made the arrangements prior to this change. M Brookes advised that we charged an admin fee for the MOT’s which is passed on to the testing stations but now drivers can go direct to the station for testing and provide us with a copy of the certificate.

The Chairman asked if there was a limit on the number of taxis we could have in the Borough. M Brookes advised there were no proposals to restrict the numbers.

Councillor Taylor asked if the court cases were still ongoing with regards to hand arm vibration. M Brookes confirmed it was still ongoing.

Outcome:

The committee noted the report.