DRAFT
CABINET
Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 5thDecember 2017 at Worksop Town Hall
Present:Councillor S A Greaves (Chair),
Councillors K Dukes, J Evans, J A Leigh, D G Pidwell, S Scotthorne, S Shaw and J White.
Advisory Member:Councillor H M Brand.
Liaison Members:Councillors H Burton, K H Isardand T Taylor.
Officers:B Alderton-Sambrook, D Armiger,S Brown, K Childs, P Clark, L Dore,
D Hill, E Prime,C Staniforth, N Taylor and R Theakstone.
(The meeting opened at 6.32pm.)
(The Chair welcomed all to the meeting and referred to the Fire Evacuation Procedure and the recording regulations – there were sevenmembers of the public present).
70.QUESTION TIME - PUBLIC
Council Procedure Rules were suspended for fifteen minutes to allow for questions from the public; there were seven members of the public present and onequestion asked:
Georgina Leake, from St Augustine’s School and representing Worksop Junior Council, asked if Cabinet saw a role for Junior Council members to assist in the development and proposals to improve Worksop town centre.
The Leader of the Council responded that therewould absolutely be an opportunity for Junior Council to help develop a plan as the future of the town centre was important to everyone. He acknowledged there will be a lot to do as it is currently not what it needs to be and working with the public, businesses and organisations, the challenge was to make it vibrant for the future.
He mentioned that approval had been given for improvements to buildings through Heritage Lottery Funding and that an event is being organised for January 2018 where everyone will be able to put their ideas forward to find out what people and businesses want to see in the town centre.
In acknowledging that Worksop Junior Council would have their own ideas, he asked them to put their views and thoughts forward as he felt sure they would have a keen interest in improving the facilities and opportunities available. He mentioned plans were also being proposed to improve the facilities at the Canch Park and that Junior Council might want to put their ideas forward for this too. He considered that Junior Council was a great forum to discuss what might be done to improve Worksop generally and that he personally would like to see more facilities. He added that they might like to consider invitingCabinet Membersto contribute and assist at some of their future meetings.
The Leader thanked Georgina for her question and also the three other members of Worksop Junior Council for attending the meeting.
(Six members of the public left the meeting).
71.APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Liaison Member Councillor S Fielding.
72.DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS AND OFFICERS
(a)Members
Councillor K Dukes declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No.13(a) –2017-2022 Homeless Prevention Strategy, as he is a residential property landlord; he remained in the meeting.
Councillor D G Pidwell declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No.13(a) – 2017-2022 Homeless Prevention Strategy, as he is a residential property landlord and also participated in the consultation process; he remained in the meeting.
Councillor J A Leigh declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item, No.13(a) – 2017-2022 Homeless Prevention Strategy, as she is a residential property landlord; she remained in the meeting.
Councillor S E Shaw declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item, No.13(a) – 2017-2022 Homeless Prevention Strategy, as she is a residential property landlord; she remained in the meeting.
Councillor D G Pidwell declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No. 18(a) – Proposed Sale of Land at Turner Road, Worksop, as he is Chair of the Planning Committee; he left the meeting and took no part in the discussion and voting thereof.
Councillor S Scotthorne declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda Item No. 18(a) – Proposed Sale of Land at Turner Road, Worksop, as he is a member of the Planning Committee; he left the meeting and took no part in the discussion and voting thereof.
(b)Officers
There were no Declarations of Interest from officers.
73.MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 17th OCTOBER 2017
The Chief Executive Officer informed the meeting that the appendices which were approved for referral to Council’s 8th March 2018 meeting at Minute 59(a) – General Fund Capital Programme 2018/19 to 2022/2023 (Key Decision No. 654), would now be presented to Council at its 14th December 2017 meeting instead.
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 17th October 2017 be approvedsubject to the agreed amendment.
74.MINUTES FOR ACTION AND IMPLEMENTATION
RESOLVED that the Minutes for Action and Implementation be received.
75.OUTSTANDING MINUTES LIST
RESOLVED that the Outstanding Minutes List be received.
76.FORWARD PLAN
RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be approved.
SECTION A – ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION IN PUBLIC
Key Decisions
77.REPORT(S) OF THE CABINET MEMBER - POLICY, STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS - COUNCILLOR S GREAVES
(a)Performance Indicator Report Quarter 2 2017/18 (Key Decision No. 643)
Members were asked to consider the analysis of the Council’s performance against a suite of ‘required returns’ to Government as noted on the Single Data List. The streamlined report focusses on core responsibilities which the Council has a duty to deliver on.
The Portfolio-holders for Housing and Corporate Services gave a brief update on performance in specific areas within their portfolio service areas that are currently off target and advised on the actions being taken to address the issues.
Options, Risks and Reasons for Recommendations
In presenting performance reports to Members we ensure Portfolio-holders take responsibility and are committed to ensuring the Council is properly managing corporate performance.
Effective monitoring of performance allows us to respond to both under-performance and over-performance. The risk associated with the failure of this monitoring is that poor performance may be adversely affected without regular scrutiny.
RESOLVED that the contents of the report and appendices analysing the performance for Q2 2017/18 be noted.
78.REPORT(S) OF THE CABINET MEMBER - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - COUNCILLOR J WHITE
(a)Publication of Updated Local Development Scheme(Key Decision No. 519)
The approval of Members was sought to publish an updated Local Development Scheme (LDS) as part of the development of the Local Plan (the Bassetlaw Plan). Section 15 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011) requires every Local Planning Authority to prepare, maintain and publish a LDS. It is a key requirement that the LDS is made available to the public and kept up-to-date.
Cabinet had approved the current LDS in 2015which was duly made available to the public and published on the Council’s website. An agreed timetable had been put in place at the time to develop the new Local Plan for Bassetlawincluding the first round of consultation, however unavoidable circumstances had necessitated a review of the Local Plan’s proposed timetable. The reasons for the review and the revised timetable were included in the report along with the request to carry the budget underspend against the 2017/18 budget forward to 2018/19 to support the delivery of the LDS.
The Portfolio-holder commented on some of the circumstances that had prompted the update to the proposed timetable including the findings of the Land Availability Assessment which will include the delivery of a new village, the housing need for Bassetlaw and the loss of two Planning Officers working on the Plan. Shealso commented on some of the key stages within the revised timetable which will now see formal adoption of the Local Plan in 2020.
The Head of Regeneration added that it was essential a robust plan was in place to take forward for examination and in response to a question from a Liaison Member, advised in the absence of a Local Plan, the Core Strategy is currently in place to assist in planning matters.
The Portfolio-holder responded to questions by advising: the findings of the land availability assessment were available on the Council’s website; while it had been hoped that the majority of growth would be around Worksop, not enough land had been become available, hence the proposal for a new village; the original timetable had been extended by between six and twelve months.
Options, Risks and Reasons for Recommendations
If the revised Local Development Scheme is not brought into effect, the Council will not be able to meet the requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended) and we will not be able to keep the public up-to-date on the intended timetable for the development of the Local Plan. Furthermore, the Local Plan cannot be progressed without the publication of this document thereby leaving the Council in a position of no overarching local strategy document. It is therefore recommended that its publication is supported.
RESOLVED that:
- The publication of the revised Local Development Scheme be endorsed.
- Approval be given for any underspend against 2017/18 budget to be carried forward to 2018/19 to support delivery of LDS as detailed within the report.
- Regular updates on the progression of stages set out in the revised LDS be presented to future meetings of Cabinet.
79.REPORT(S) OF THE CABINET MEMBER – CORPORATE SERVICES – COUNCILLOR K DUKES
(a)ICT Strategy for Bassetlaw 2018-2020 (Key Decision No. 666)
Members were asked to consider a report which presented the ICT Strategy for Bassetlaw 2018-2020 replacing the current Strategy for the period 2013 to 2016. The proposed Strategy was appended to the report.
The Portfolio-holder commented that the key focus will be on ICT usability for all including the people who work for Bassetlaw, members of the public and the business community.In response to a question from a Liaison Member he advised he was aware that not all issues with the new Skype system had been resolved but they would be as it was important to ensure everything worked first time, every time. He thanked the ICT Strategic Manager and his team for their work in delivering the previous Strategy and moving forward with the new one, the subject of a report later on the Agenda.
Options, Risks and Reasons for Recommendations
Cabinet has the option of approving the Strategy, amending in part or to fundamentally reject the document.
RESOLVED that:
- The ICT Strategy 2018-2020 be approved.
- An annual update be presented to Cabinet on progress against the implementation plan.
80.REPORT(S) OF THE CABINET MEMBER – FINANCE – COUNCILLOR J EVANS
(a)Budget Monitoring and Capital Programme Update Report to 30th September 2017(KeyDecision No. 651)
Members were presented with:
- The spending position for the period 1st April to 30th September 2017 for the Council’s General Fund, Housing Revenue (HRA) and Capital Programme.
- Updates on any significant variances from the approved budgets.
- Information on the proposed resourcing of the Capital Programme and the level of Council capital resources available, including capital receipts.
- Updates on Treasury Management budget issues.
- The regular quarterly update on performance against the approved Treasury Management Prudential Indicators for the period ending 30th September 2017.
- The mid-year Treasury Management Strategy and Investment Strategy report.
Members’ approval was sought for the new additions, variations and reprofiling to the existing Capital Programme.
Options, Risks and Reasons for Recommendations
The budget monitoring section of this report provides Managers’ forecasts and is for information only. There are always some risks that the actual outturn variance could be substantially different from that currently shown, (mainly due to the volatility of income), but the report sets out officers’ projections, and as such the financial risks that may occur by 31st March 2018.
The Council has responsibility for delivering its Capital Programme on time and not doing so could undermine the achievement of its objectives. The bi-monthly capital monitoring meeting will continue into the future.
This report is for the second quarter of the year. Current indications are that there will be a budget overspend of £0.029m in year for General Fund and an underspend of (£0.005m) in year for HRA. However, it is important to note that this report is only highlighting that a problem may or may not arise, and draws to both officers and Members attention that these need to be closely monitored throughout the year.
The continual pressures on Local Government finances are well documented and led to another challenging budget setting process for 2017/18. A total of £0.719m was removed from 2016/17 base budget to produce the 2017/18 budget. The Financial Management of these budgets by spending officers’ is crucial. This quarterly report is just one element of the robust monthly budget monitoring process that the Council operates. Spending officers are pivotal in this process and are required to recognise and report any forecast variances to budget as early as possible, to enable appropriate action to be taken. The financial equation is simple, any overspends in the current year will increase the savings target for all services in future years if the Council is to survive the cuts to public sector funding that the central government are implementing.
RESOLVED that:
- The position with regard to revenue and capital budget monitoring be noted.
- The ‘new approvals funded from capital receipts’ to the 2017/18 Capital Programme totalling £0.012m, as detailed in Appendix 3 of this report, be approved.
- The ‘other variations’ to the 2017/18 Capital Programme totalling £0.056m, as detailed in Appendix 3, be approved.
- The ‘reprofiling’ to the 2017/18 Capital Programme totalling £0.000m, as detailed in Appendix 3, be approved.
- The proposed resourcing of the Capital Programme and the level of capital receipts currently available to fund any further capital expenditure be noted.
- The quarterly update on performance against the approved Treasury Management Prudential Indicators for the period ending 30thSeptember 2017, as detailed in Appendix 6, be noted.
- The weekly investment balances made throughout the third quarter of the financial year, in conjunction with the Security, Liquidity and Yield benchmarking data for the Council, as detailed in Appendix 7, be noted.
- The mid-year Treasury Management Strategy and Investment Strategy be recommended for approval by full Council on 14th December 2017.
(Note: Minute 80(a) (8) Following the meeting, it has subsequently come to light that this recommendation is superfluous and will be removed at the next meeting).
(b)Fees and Charges 2018/19 (Key Decision No. 652)
Members’ approval was sought to determine the level of fees and charges for 2018/19 in accordance with the Corporate Charging Policy. The Fees and Charges Schedule 2018/19 had been included with the Agenda.
The report included:
- Introduction
- Corporate Charging Policy
- Pricing Principles
- Fees and Charges for 2018/19
- New Charges for 2018/19
Fees and Charges are a significant income stream for the Council. All Councils are operating under increasing financial pressure to support the service they currently provide, and Members should take this annual opportunity to strengthen their resource base. The consequence of not doing so will mean cuts and reductions in services, as any specific subsidy is ultimately paid for by general council taxes, and there is a consequence for any decision whether it be to subsidise, break-even or achieve any sort of surplus. In the past the Council’s Budget has been robust in terms of the level of Formula Grant, but as this decreases, all aspects of the Council’s Budget needs to be considered in the light of fewer resources, which creates different service/income tensions.
A Liaison Member sought clarity on the cost penalties for Public Space Protection (Dog Control) and also welcomed and encouraged the continued success of the Green Waste Scheme, although it was acknowledged that not all properties can access this service.
Options, Risks and Reasons for Recommendations
To accept the recommendations and adopt the fees and charges set out in accordance with the adopted Corporate Charging Policy and its underlying principles, as detailed in the Fees & Charges schedule 2018/19 appended to this report.
To not adopt the fees and charges set out in accordance with the adopted Corporate Charging Policy and its underlying principles.
When setting fees and charges, attention needs to be paid to the level those fees are set at. They need to support the underlying principles of the Corporate Charging Policy, but with an aim to secure maximum income levels for the Council. Pitching the fee and charge at the correct level is vital. Too high and it may encourage people to find an alternative service provider meaning the Council could lose income, too low and the Council would not be recovering its costs.
RESOLVED that:
- The individual fees and charges, as set out in the Fees and Charges Schedule 2018/19, be approved subject to the ratification of the licensing fees by the Licensing Committee (which has the constitutional responsibility for setting licensing fees).
- The new fees applicable from 1st April 2018, as detailed in the Fees and Charges Schedule 2018/19, be noted.
- The level of concessions and discounts to be applied to any relevant in year new or amended charges be delegated to the relevant Head of Service and the Head of Finance and Property to agree.
81.REPORT(S) OF THE CABINET MEMBER – HEALTH AND COMMUNITY WELL-BEING – COUNCILLOR S SHAW
(a)Children and Young People’s Action Plan Annual Update (Key Decision No 501)
Members were updated on progress against the Council’s Children and Young People’s Plan over the past year.
The report outlined: the five outcomes from ‘Every Child Matters’; the objectives of the Plan; the monitoring framework and mechanism for referrals. The dashboard and exception report were included in the report, which provided information on the status of each objective.
The Portfolio-holder commented on the growth in membership of the Youth Council, which includes representatives from rural communities and has been supported by County Youth services. It has supported the “Help me I’m Fine” campaign, been involved in the ‘Bassetlaw Spring Clean’ and participated in the consultation on GP Extended Hours and East Midland train franchise, providing a young person’s perspective. In addition, Worksop Junior Council initiated the Kindness and Understanding beats Racism and Bullying (KURB) project and both groups had been involved in an event on voter registration. She added that the Council continues to seek opportunities to offer apprenticeships.