Resolved: That Cllr. Firth be appointed as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

Resolved: That Cllr. Pett be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2017, as a correct record.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Advisory Committee held on 24 January 2017 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Any interests not already registered.

No additional declarations of interest were made.

All actions from the previous meeting had been added to the work plan.

The Advisory Committee held a minute’s silence in memory of the Licensing Partnership Manager who had sadly passed away the previous month.

The Portfolio Holder, and Chairman, stated her appreciation and delight for the Election team, who had successfully organised the run-up to the Parliamentary general election, as well as the count, in just 6 weeks.

She tabled an update allowing Members reading time and the opportunity to ask questions.

There were none.

The Chief Finance Officer presented the annual update which provided a schedule of the current and previous shared services. The report showed that by having shared working arrangements, savings of over £600,000 were being made annually. He reported on the changes that had been made since the last report and confirmed that discussions with other Councils about other opportunities for services had also taken place. He also explained that there were opportunities to expand partnerships beyond neighbouring authorities and that the Council was not limited geographically due to the technology available to enable such partnerships.

Members raised concerns regarding the effect that the partnerships could have on staff. Members were concerned that the travel between different offices would have a financial impact on employees. The Chief Finance Officer stated that this had been thought of and that where appropriate employees were receiving travel allowances and also being fully integrated in to the offices.

          Resolved: That the report be noted.

The Head of Transformation and Strategy updated Members on the Equality Plan from April 2016 and asked Members to note paragraphs 11, 12 and 13 as set out in the report, which outlined the progress that had been made over the last year. Members advised of additional progress that could be documented including West Kingsdown’s achievement of Dementia Friendly Village status, new car parking in Sevenoaks Town and dementia training for taxi drivers.

The Head of Transformation and Strategy also reported on the actions that officers will be taking in 2017/18 and welcomed Members views on their priorities for the coming year.

Members discussed each of the equality objectives within the Councils Equality Policy Statement and put forward their ideas for actions to be taken in the coming year. Members advised officers that their priorities would be in relation to health walks and health services, leisure, apprenticeships and a Sevenoaks Trusted Friend Scheme.

Members also discussed what more the Council could do to communicate better with people with disabilities, the visually impaired and those who were illiterate.

          Resolved: That the report be noted.

The work plan was noted and the following additions agreed:

17 October 2017

·      SDC Affordable Housing Company (report must include definition of types of affordable housing contributions (AHC’s),  when and how much has been received , when and what the money has been spent on, rationale for setting up a housing company, different options, costs, timescales).  

·      Investing in Members Training programme.

·      advantages and disadvantages of appointing member “observers” for Board meetings.

23 January 2018

·      Electoral Registration and Elections

·      Licensing Update (moved from 17 October 2017 meeting).