Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Carol Chisholm.

Councillors Karen Walton and Michael Green both declared a personal interest in minute no. 24.

Call-in Request Form attached

Councillor Karen Walton declared a personal interest as she had a family connection with the Cabinet Member, but was able under the Code of Conduct for Elected Members, to remain in the meeting during the consideration of this item.

Councillor Michael Green declared a personal interest as this had been previously discussed within his political group prior to the decision being made at the recent Cabinet meeting, but was able under the Code of Conduct for Elected Members, to remain in the meeting during the consideration of this item.

At the commencement of the meeting, the Chair explained the role of the Scrutiny Committee and how it had powers to call-in a Cabinet decision before it was implemented. The Chair added that the Scrutiny Committee would look at whether the decision made complied with the Council’s decision making process. If the Scrutiny Committee believed that this had not been complied with it could then refer the matter back to Cabinet for reconsideration. The Chair reminded everyone that this was not a public meeting and was not to amend the Cabinet’s decision on Dog Control Orders/Public Space Protection Orders. However, he would allow the public to ask questions and contribute at the end of the meeting.

The Chair welcomed the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Streetscene, the Director of Neighbourhoods, Environmental Health and Assets and the Legal Services Manager (Monitoring Officer) and thanked them for their attendance.

Director of Neighbourhoods, Environmental Health and Assets addressed the committee and responded to comments and enquiries.

The Director explained the background and context for bringing the report forward to Cabinet. The Council had Dog Control Orders for a number of years and those orders enabled the Council to enforce issues around dogs. Those orders were due to expire in October 2017 and replaced by Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO). A consultation took place to obtain the views of the public on how they felt about these orders. The only main concern that the Council received from the public was that the restriction of dogs to individuals should not be considered. Following this consultation process the Director indicated that he had recommended to the Cabinet that the recommendations be supported except this (the maximum of dogs under the control of an individual) and that this be kept under review to build up an evidence based/complaints history around people with multiple dogs on the lead. This would be for 6/12 months before the matter was reconsidered on whether to introduce that Order. The Director felt at the time that if this Order was made, the Council may struggle to withstand an appeal against this decision.

The consultation strategy was to consult the general public (including statutory consultees) but did not target any specific group. The Director added that the Cabinet Member was fully aware of the consultation responses which subsequently formed the report to Cabinet. All recommendations were fully discussed with the Cabinet Member and he was aware of the risk that that recommendation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.