Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Clist.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th April 2024 (circulated previously) be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

There were no items brought forward which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered as a matter of urgency.

Please telephone the Corporate and Community Services team to prepare a form for your signature before the meeting. Interests must be re-declared when the item is called. A declaration of interest under the Code of Conduct will be a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, an Other Registrable Interest or a Non-Registrable Interest.  If the item directly relates to your interest you must declare the interest and leave the room for the item, save in the case of Other Registrable Interests or Non-Registrable Interests where you may first speak on the item as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak.  If the matter does not directly relate to your interest but still affects it then you must consider whether you are affected to a greater extent than most people and whether a reasonable person would consider your judgement to be clouded, if you are then you must leave the room for the item (although you may speak as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak) or, if you are not, then you can declare the interest but still take part).

There were no declarations of interest announced.

The Joint Committee considered a report by the Finance Manager (NDC) (circulated previously) regarding the 2023/24 Building Control Partnership Trading Account for Quarter 4.

The Finance Manager gave the Committee the following summary:

·       Page 13 of the agenda showed the table detailing the figures for the Partnership Trading Account.

·       Column one of the trading account table, showed the annual budget for each Authority.

·       Column two of the table showed the forecasted outturn for the year 2023/24 based on the total variance as at quarter 4. This was circa £52,000 down on the 2023/24 budget.  However, the income had increased during the last quarter.

·       At the bottom of column two a percentage split was shown for the income for the two Authorities, which was currently showing a split of 65.14% for North Devon Council and 34.86% for Mid-Devon. This was against the original split of 60:40.

·       Column three of the table set out the percentage split of expenditure and income between the two authorities in greater detail.

·       Column four of the table showed the chargeable and non-chargeable costs for North Devon Council.

·      Column five of the table showed the chargeable and non-chargeable costs for Mid Devon District Council.

In response to questions, the Finance Manager together with the Building Control Manager advised the following:

·       There was a need to break even over the three year period on the chargeable elements of the service. There was a slight deficit in the outturn.  Following the receipt of the final figures for Quarter 1 of 2024/25, the trading account could then be produced.

·       Under the new Regulations, the Building Control Partnership as the regulatory body could not provide subsidiary services.  The new regulations were very clear in relation to responsibilities which should create a more level playing field.

·       The Partnership’s market share was very good and remained high. The issue was the volume and types of work given the current economic conditions. 

·       Fees could only be charged to recover costs based on a bespoke quotation which included what would be involved in terms of complexity, type of job, competency required and time.  There was a sliding scale for housing development from a single individual plot to larger developments.  The fees were charges within the bandings for the region.  The Partnership struggled to compete with external providers as were not on a level playing field as external providers could also provide a warranty.

·       It was considered unlikely that the new Government would change the new regulations.  There may be a change to reporting of key performance indicators.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that columns 4 and 5 where shown for the chargeable activities; there had been previously been a surplus in these figures in prior years. There had been challenges with the recruitment of staff, however progress was now being made to reduce the reliance on agency staff, which would result in a reduction in staffing costs. Income had increased by circa £33,000 in the final quarter.  The trading  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Committee considered a report by the Building Control Manager (circulated previously) regarding the Building Control Business update.

The Building Control Manager drew the Committee’s attention to the following key points within the report:

·       The table on page 16 of the report showed the following:

Ø  Performance in relation to decisions within two months, which was at 94% against a target of 95%.

Ø  Plan examination response times with applications being examined within 3 weeks, which was at 87% against a target of 95%.

Ø  Average time to first response 18 days, which was against a target 10 days.

·       Set against the backdrop of a spike in the application numbers experienced in the quarter of 368 and increased income of £67K for quarter one, the response figures were showing the team were working hard to maintain the level of performance being recorded when compared to the application numbers for quarter one in the previous year, which was measured at 253 applications.

·       The service was no longer being supported by Mid Devon Planning Technical Team.

·       The transition of the application processing workload to the Technical Support team was now complete. The transition had been very smooth and had not adversely impacted the response figures, especially when accounting for the increased activity in the first quarter of 2024/25.

·       Improvement in the three week and time to first response KPIs  (Key Performance Indicators) continued to be the team’s long term aim. The significant additional workload being created, implemented and undertaken for the administration of the Building Safety Regulator regime changes, meant that any improvement in the processing times were unlikely in the near future without additional resource being considered.

·       The share of completions in the Housing Market remained low at 26%.

·       Whilst there was a slight improvement on the figure for quarter four of 2023/24, which was measured at 18%, it had been evident in the past few months that some developers were choosing the private sector over the partnership for housing developments.

·       In doing so, developers took advantage of the savings they could make by instructing a Registered Approver, who also had the ability to provide a 10 year warranty for the property. This was a service that LABC (Local Authority Building Control) providers could not provide independently.

·       The partnership had seen some recent success in winning the Post Hill development in Mid Devon, which was a Housing Development for 70 new residential units and the application had now been received and plan checked.

·       At the last Joint Committee meeting it was reported that the general market share for quarter four of 2023/24 was at 75%.

·       For quarter one of 2024-25, the market share had been measured at 81% and was slightly above target, compared to the same period in 2023/24 where it was measured at 72%.

·       Whilst Finance would provide the overall picture of the financial position, it was evident income had improved in the first quarter of 2024/5 but was still below forecasted levels and this continued to reflect  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

·       Thursday 24th October 2024 at 10:00am in the Barum Room.

·       Thursday 23rd January 2025 at 10:00am in the Barum Room.

(NOTE: Unless otherwise agreed the Joint Committee must meet at least on a quarterly basis with the meeting held at 10.00am and the offices of the Chairman’s partner authority).

RESOLVED, that the following proposed dates for the Joint Committee meetings for 2024/25 be agreed:

a)  Thursday 24 October 2024 at 10:00am.

b)  Thursday 23 January 2025 at 10:00am.