An apology for absence was received from Councillor Hernandez.

It was reported that, in accordance with the wishes of the Liberal Democrat group, the membership of the Board had been amended to include Councillor Pountney in place of Councillor Pentney.

The Board considered the items in Minutes 51 and 52, and not included on the agenda, the Chairman being of the opinion that they were urgent by reason of special circumstances i.e. the matter having arisen since the agenda was prepared and it was unreasonable to delay a decision until the next meeting.

The above decision was called-in by Councillors Darling, Cowell, Pountney, Pentney and Morey on 13 February 2015.

The reasons for the call-in are:

The Torbay Sports Facility and Playing Pitch Strategies is an important document for all residents of Torbay and in the opinion of the undersigned it has been given insufficient debating time to be fully considered by members.

In addition, a number of concerns have been raised by the general public, whose views have not been fully heard.

The following are the major areas of concern:

·        The strategy seems more like an audit plan than a plan for sport in the future of Torbay

·        There’s no sense of direction

·        There’s no route map, timescales or even expectations

·        It needs to be a working document, not a confusing 200+ page catalogue

·        It does not fully address the issues about how sport will be delivered in the Bay over the next 10 years

·        Important areas have been left out and then added back all adding to the confusion

·        There’s a complete lack of clarity

·        An Executive Summary is required

Supporting Document

Record of Decision

Members are asked to bring to the meeting their copy of the report that was considered by the Mayor (which was included in the agenda for the meeting of the Council held on 5 February 2015).  Please contact Kate Spencer if you require an additional copy.  Spare copies will be available at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

The Board considered the details of a call-in by five Members of the Council of the decision by the Mayor to approve the Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategies.

The Call-in Promoter (Councillor Darling) set out the reasons for calling-in the decision and three of the Call-in Supporters also addressed the Board about their concerns regarding the decision.

Representatives from Sport England and Torbay Sports Council attended the meeting, gave their views and answered the Board’s questions.

The Mayor and the Executive Lead for Safer Communities, Highways, Environment and Sport supported by the Executive Head – Residents and Visitors responded to the points raised by the Call-in Promoter and Supporters and the Members of the Board.

Resolved:  that the decision to approve the Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategies be referred back to the Mayor with a recommendation that:

·         An Executive Summary of the Strategies be prepared

·         The Strategy Implementation Group be established as a matter of urgency

·         The Options Appraisal be completed within the timescales required by Sport England

(Note:  Prior to consideration of the item in Minute 50 Councillor Darling declared a non-pecuniary interest as a Council appointed member of the Acorn Centre Management Committee and Councillor Pountney declared a non-pecuniary interest as Chairman of Torquay United Sports and Education Trust.  During consideration of the item, Councillor Morey also declared a non-pecuniary interest as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Admiral Swimming Centre in Brixham.)

Further to its consideration of the Revenue Budget monitoring report at its meeting held on 18 February 2015, the Board made the following recommendation to the Council.

Resolved:  that the following motion be placed before the Council at its meeting to be held on 26 February 2015:

The Overview and Scrutiny Board is concerned about the possible calls on the General Fund balance of £4.4 million given the high probability that the Comprehensive Spending Review reserve will be depleted due to the estimated level of redundancy costs, the current projected overspend at year end and the possible outcome of the current Judicial Review.

Therefore the Council requests the Executive Director – Finance and Operations to undertake a further Review of Reserves to identify whether there is spare capacity within the Reserves to replenish the Comprehensive Spending Review reserve.

Further to its consideration of the Capital Plan Budget monitoring report at its meeting held on 18 February 2015, the Board made the following recommendation to the Council.

Resolved:  that the following motion be placed before the Council at its meeting to be held on 26 February 2015:

The Overview and Scrutiny Board is concerned that it is recommended that the term of the Prudential Borrowing associated with Meadfoot Beach Chalets be extended from 25 to 35 years.  It is also concerned about the lack of detail which was available to it with regard to the business case for the reinstatement and enhancement of the beach chalets at Oddicombe Beach.

The Council re-confirms its position that any Prudential Borrowing must be agreed by the Council and be backed by a clear Business Case and that, at this time, the Council has not seen a full Business Care for Oddicombe beach huts.