Agenda

To receive apologies for absence and to note the attendance of any substitute Members.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 6 January 2021.

Members are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interests and the nature of that interest, including the existence and nature of the party whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

Any Member with an Affected Interest in a matter must disclose the interest to the meeting.  There is no requirement to withdraw from the meeting when the interest is only an affected interest, but the Monitoring Officer should be notified of the interest, if not previously notified of it, within 28 days of the meeting.

The Commission has invited guests to address the meeting before considering the following question:

“Are our current planning practices robust enough to protect Bracknell Forest from developers manipulating viability study process?”

and deciding whether to make any recommendations to the Executive.

·       Andrew Hunter, Director: Place, Planning and Regeneration to speak to the Council’s current planning practices followed by questions (25 minutes)

·       Andrew Jones from BPS Chartered Surveyors to answer questions relating to viability assessments (15 minutes)

·       Jim Bailey, representative from Pegasus Planning to provide a developer’s perspective (15 minutes)

·       Councillor Turrell, Executive Member for Planning and Transport to answer questions on his portfolio in relation to planning practices (15 minutes)

·       Conclusions and recommendations

Evidence Pack to support this item

Please note the Evidence Pack should be read in advance of the meeting but for those short of time the essential reading is the Development Viability presentation.

·       BPS Chartered Surveyors presentation on Development Viability: what is Involved and what has changed

·       National position on Plan viability and planning application decision makingViability - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

·       Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document (bracknell-forest.gov.uk) – this includes the Affordable housing policy and viability matters

To consider the draft Apprentices review report prepared by the Education, Skills and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Panel for submission to the Executive on 16 March 2021.

Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairs to provide a verbal progress updates on the work programme.

The Commission to consider any proposed changes to the Overview and Scrutiny work programme such as scope, scheduling or duration and its potential impact on the delivery of the overall programme.

The next Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting is scheduled for 7 April 2021.