Decisions

The alleged breach of planning control relates to the siting of ten concrete pads and ten mobile poultry houses with feed silos and tracks.
Retrospective planning applications 64059, 64060, 64061,64062 and 64063 were refused planning permission and a subsequent appeal was dismissed by the planning inspector in May 2020. All five applications have been dealt with under the same appeal. The development remains in situ.
Landscape and visual harm
Policy DM08A of the North Devon

To issue an Enforcement Notice under Section 171A(1)(a) of the Town

The alleged breach of planning control relates to the siting of ten concrete pads and ten mobile poultry houses with feed silos and tracks.
Retrospective planning applications 64059, 64060, 64061,64062 and 64063 were refused planning permission and a subsequent appeal was dismissed by the planning inspector in May 2020. All five applications have been dealt with under the same appeal. The development remains in situ.
Landscape and visual harm
Policy DM08A of the North Devon

To issue an Enforcement Notice under Section 171A(1)(a) of the Town

REQUESTED DECISION: To agree to waive the contract procedure rules and to appoint Voi, for the purposes of running an e-scooter pilot in North Devon with NDC and Petroc, where no monetary incentive or grant forms part of this agreement with Voi. This agreement is for a pilot period only – lasting 12 months under the licence from Department for Transport (DfT).

STATEMENT OF THE REASONS FOR THE REQUEST AND WHY IT IS URGENT:
The urgency is to meet the DfT deadline to acquire a licence to run an e-scooter pilot in North Devon with a partnership between Petroc and an e-scooter supplier (Voi).

Petroc have been in discussion with local partners, including Devon County Council, NDC and TDC since early July around the potential for an e-scooter pilot for North Devon. All parties were broadly in agreement with the principle of a pilot – both addressing the ‘first/last mile’ issue faced by Petroc students, and the offer for visitors to North Devon who wish to find a more sustainable method of traveling around when on holiday in the area. Petroc made contact with a micro mobility provider, who had already successfully started pilots with other local authorities, mostly in city regions. The company, Voi, were keen to look at a pilot in a rural area. Through discussions with DfT, Petroc were made aware that this would be the first rural pilot in England, and the data collected from the pilot would be very welcomed by the DfT. Petroc therefore proceeded to submit an Expression of Interest, as per the process. The Dft welcomed the submission but at this point made it clear that they would only accept a full proposal from a local authority – as they were only granting licences through these bodies.

On September 9th, Petroc contacted NDC to seek our approval to submit a proposal on behalf of the emerging partnership they had formed with Voi. This was agreed by the Head of Place and at this point work was started on the proposal. It was clear after the first few meetings that the DfT required the proposal to have the micro mobility partner already procured, so their operating procedures could form part of the assessment process on submission to the DfT.

Guidance from DfT on procurement for proposals being submitted states:

Dialogue with several areas suggests that light-touch contractual arrangements may be suitable for many authorities and better able to rapidly deliver e-scooter trials in response to COVID-19. In some cases, however, areas may choose to undertake a more traditional procurement exercise with a more detailed contractual arrangement. This is entirely a local decision.

We did not have the appropriate time to carry out a contracting process, prior to submission, given the deadline of September 30th 2020.

Voi have provided a lot of detail around the safety and risk mitigation to run a successful e-scooter pilot, bringing with them a fair bit of experience from working within other local authority areas across England. There is no financial gain for them in the running of the pilot – they will not make a profit, but will build up experience of working in a rural setting, something they have not yet done. Voi will provide all of the capital equipment – scooters, spare parts, storage units, safety equipment so will invest a lot during the life of the pilot.

Once the 12 month pilot period concludes, Voi will remove all of the infrastructure they have in the area. If proof of concept is successful partners will discuss with DfT a longer term solution to e-scooter use in the area.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: (NOTE: Please state if there are any financial implications. If so, state whether there are sufficient funds within the agreed budget. If there are insufficient funds please state how the decision will be financed).

There are no financial implications for NDC taking the lead role in this E-scooter trial. All capital equipment needed will be provided by the supplier (Voi) at no cost to the public purse. The proposal to the DfT is for a licence to run e-scooters in the district – it doesn’t cost the authority any money to obtain this.

Approved

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S COMMENTS:
Approve the decision. There is still a lot of work to be done on the project but I’m happy to act as the applicant to the bid and to appoint Voi in order to move the project forward.

Reason(s) for the Decision: The case management system has proved invaluable over the past few months, particularly with team members spending additional time working remotely from home. The current contractor is performing well. Paragraph 24.1(a) of the Contract Procedure Rules (Part 4 of the Constitution) allows the approval of an extension or other change to a contract under delegated powers where it is provided for in the contract in “clear, precise and unequivocal review clauses” which is the case here.

Information: The current contract provider is market leader in the local government legal case management field.

Financial Implications: Contract costs rise annually in line with inflation. There are sufficient funds within the agreed budget.

To extend the legal case management system contract with Iken for a further year until 15 January 2023. The legal case management system contract runs for two years from 15 January 2019 until 15 January 2021 with an option to extend for a further two periods of 12 months.