There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair welcomed new Members to the Committee.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on the 28^th April were approved as a correct record subject to the following amendment:-

Paragraph 4 of “Welcoming Place Aim Overview – “The Project Development Manager for Championing National Parks”  should have read “The Project Development Manager for Championing National Parks for Everyone”

There was no urgent business.

To note any questions or to receive any statements, representations, deputations and petitions which relate to the published reports on Part A of the Agenda.

One member of the public had given notice to make a representation to the Committee.

The Chief Executive presented the report which was to seek approval for the Authority to host the National Parks UK Communications function for  the next three years.  This would provide an integrated communications service which meets the collective needs of all 15 UK National Park Authorities, National Parks England and National Parks Partnership.

The Peak District National Park Authority would host the function, recruit and manage the staffing.  The recruitment for a Communications Director would start as soon as possible and the HR Team will assist with setting the new staff up.  The overall budget for the year would be £195,000, and this would be made up of contributions from the other National Parks, together with contributions from National Parks England and National Parks Partnership.  Contributions for year 2 and 3 will be proposed to be increased in line with inflation.

Members queried if monitoring of the performance of the project would be done.  The Chief Executive stated that a performance group would review the performance of the Director and a wider steering group would be set up to meet regularly and review overall progress.  There would also be a review at the end of the 3 years to assess how it had performed. 

The recommendations as set out in the report were moved, seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED:

1.    To enter into Service Level Agreement(s) (SLAs) with (1) National Parks Partnership and (2) National Parks England and (3) National Park Authorities for terms of three years for a value of up to £585,000 to deliver the expected outcomes of National Parks UK Communications.

2.    That the terms of the SLAs are delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with Head of Finance and the Legal Team.

3.    To establish up to 3 posts (1 Director and up to two Officers – subject to budget details being agreed) to deliver the function.

4.    The Authority may, subject to compliance with its procurement standing orders, enter into contracts in order to deliver the outcomes of the SLAs.

The Occupational Safety and Health Advisor introduced the report to Members which had also been submitted for consultation to the Health & Safety Committee and the Management Team.  The report provided assurances that the Peak National Park was meeting or exceeding its obligations for Occupational Safety and Health.

In response to questions from Members the OSH Adviser confirmed the following:

·         Incidents re violence/aggression – there had been 3 incidents reported over the last year categorised as involving threat and of  harassment.  All such incidents are followed up and staff training/competence to deal with these types of event are considered.  Where necessary further follow-up action and further training is arranged.

·         Absenteeism due to ill health – while figures  did increase throughout the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic figures have returned to normal/previous levels.

·         Team Manager Training – While at the last quarterly reported figure 40% of designated Team Managers had completed the ISOH Managing Safely Training Course, further courses including refresher courses had been provided and currently all designated managers are in-date for training.  Further review of management training needs will be completed once the new structural changes are in place.

·         Near Misses – the OSH Adviser re-iterated the on-going requirement  to encourage staff to report near miss incidents, thus allowing suitable follow-up investigation and action to prevent future accidents.

The Members thanked the OSH Advisor for the report.

The recommendations set out in the report were moved and seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED:

1.         The work, summarised in the report, to deliver continuing improvements in OSH management at the Peak District National Park (PDNPA) through 2022-2023, is recognised.

2.         Proposals for priorities to be addressed for 2023-2024 are noted.

The Head of Planning was present for this item, he introduced the report and gave a presentation to Members on  the Peak District National Park Management Plan (NPMP) and Authority Plan thriving communities aims and objectives, including the Authority’s progress since 2021.

Thriving Communities is one of the 4 aims of the NPMP and one of the objectives for the Programmes and Resources Committee, and since October 2021 significant progress has been made on delivering these objectives and fulfilling the aims, but it was accepted that more needed to be done.

The Chair of Programmes & Resources then invited the Chair of Planning, as a Member of the Local Plan Steering Group, to speak.

The Chair of Planning reported that he was pleased to see that emphasis was on economy as well as affordable housing, but concerned that a link between the 2 was missing.  Young families were moving out of the area and people were having to commute from out of the National Park to jobs. Since 2013 the numbers of affordable/local needs dwellings had dropped, and the Authority needed to look at why that was and what can be done about it.  The Authority also needed to look at sites for housing and grasp opportunities, as latest data appears to show that  the number of local residents was declining and the Peak District National Park was experiencing more of an aging population.

The following spoke under the public participation at meetings scheme:

• Cllr Kath Potter, Member of the Authority

Members queried why the introduction of Air B&B and holiday homes was not mentioned in the report and in response the Head of Planning stated that it was hard to control the change of use of permanent homes to second homes without a change in use class , but this was not unique to the Peak District.  There was currently a Government consultation on proposed changes to planning legislation including permitted development rights for dwellings and agricultural diversification and development,  which National Park Authorities have responded to.

The Chair of the Authority reported that he and the Chief Executive had met the leader of Derbyshire Dales District Council recently and one of the items discussed was affordable housing and the opportunity for a working partnership to raise the profile with Government. 

Members thanked Officers for their report and presentation and asked that the presentation be made available to them. 

The recommendation as set out in the report was moved, seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED:

To note the Peak District National Park Management Plan 2023-28 aim on Thriving Communities, progress in responding to this since October 2021, and the platform this provides for delivering our new objectives.

The Corporate Property Team Manager attended the meeting to present the report to request approval for the disposal of a small area of land on the Roaches Estate to the National Grid at a cost of £500.  This was to enable them to re-site an electrical sub-station to supply electricity to Rockhall Cottage, as the existing sub-station no longer met current safety standards. 

The Corporate Property Team Manager  also reported an amendment to the report on page 42 of the reports pack where it read “following approval of the Chair of Performance and Resources” and should read “ following approval of the Chair of Programmes and Resources”.

Members asked whether Cultural Heritage had been consulted on the siting of the cablingand the Officer confirmed that they had been consulted, that the route of the cabling had been changed, and a condition regarding archaeological monitoring would be added to the consent.

The recommendations as set out in the report were moved, seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED:

1.    To dispose of the area of land as shown on the Plan at Appendix 1 of the report by private treaty toNational Grid Electricity Distribution (West Midlands) plc.

2.    To amend the Asset Disposal Procedure and associated Tool Kit to relax the need to follow the Tool Kit consultation process in the case of ‘operational transfers of low value’.  

Draft motion:

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of agenda item No. 11 to avoid the disclosure of Exempt Information under S100 (A) (4) Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12 A, paragraph 3 ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)’.

RESOLVED:

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of agenda item No. 10 to avoid the disclosure of Exempt Information under S100 (A) (4) Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12 A paragraph 3 “information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)”.

SUMMARY

The Committee determined the following item, full details of which are contained in the exempt minutes:

32/23 Warslow Moors Estate – Proposed disposal of two small areas of land