Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor A Woodman.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

There were no interests declared.

Councillor R Blunt invited Councillor M B Wyatt to speak.

Councillor M B Wyatt stated that he had been informed that Cabinet had agreed not to implement the unanimous decision by the Community Scrutiny Committee to ring-fence any money from the sale of the council car parks in Coalville to the new precinct owners to be used to regenerate Coalville town centre.  He asked for clarification why this decision was taken and asked Cabinet to reconsider ring-fencing the money which was desperately needed.

Councillor N J Rushton responded that Cabinet had decided not to ring-fence the potential capital receipt because a considerable amount of capital budget had already been committed to the regeneration of Coaville.  He stated that he was opposed to ring-fencing monies in principle, and the income from the car park was not an asset specific to Coalville, but that council budgets were district wide.  He referred to the commitment made by the Leader set out in the Council Delivery Plan where the regeneration of Coalville was the number one priority and added that the fact the monies were not to be ring fenced did not mean that the monies would not be spent in Coalville. 

Minutes of the meetings held on 10 June 2019 and 18 June 2019

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meetings held on 10 June 2019 and 18 June 2019.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor R Ashman and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meetings held on 10 June 2019 and 18 June 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Reason for decision: To comply with the Constitution.

Report of the Strategic Director of Housing and Customer Services

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

Councillor N J Rushton presented the report to members, highlighting the Finance and Business Plan, the summary of the review of the assumption of the Medium Term Financial Strategy approved by Council in February and the update in respect of the Journey to Self Sufficiency Programme as set out in the report.  He drew members’ attention to the recommendation to set aside £20,000 so support the implementation of the Commercial Strategy. 

Councillor N J Rushton outlined the positive performance of the Housing Revenue Account with the required £13m required in 2022 for the purposes of repaying maturity loans now in place.

Councillor N J Rushton referred members to the update on the Journey to Self-Sufficiency Programme set out at section 5 of the report which detailed progress since the last report in February and a request for £20k from the self-sufficiency reserve to assist in the development of commercial opportunities.  He explained that good progress had been made under the programme and members could expect a revised fees and charges policy for approval in September.  The new policy will provide a consistent and transparent approach for the setting of new and review of existing fees and charges in line with the council’s new commercial approach.

Councillor R Blunt referred to the uncertainty faced by all councils and commented that the journey to self-sufficiency was quite daunting as there may be changes of major financial significance ahead.  He added that his priority was to ensure the Council’s finances were sound.

It was moved by Councillor N J Rushton, seconded by Councillor R Blunt and

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    The impact of the review of the medium term financial plans on the Council’s projected financial position be noted;

2.    The finance and business plan be noted (Appendix A);

3.    The progress of the journey to self sufficiency programme be noted; and

4.    The allocation of £20k from the self-sufficiency reserve to fund consultancy support in developing commercial business cases be approved (as detailed in paragraph 5.11).

Reason for decision:  To keep members up to date in respect of the Council’s financial projections.

Report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Planning and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder

Councillor R Ashman presented the report to members, highlighting the review of the Local Plan which the Council had agreed to undertake on its adoption in 2017.  He explained that there had been changes in circumstances and national policy which the review would need to address, and consequently it would not be feasible to submit the plan review by the required date of February 2020.  He advised that not submitting the review by this date presented a significant risk which could leave the Council vulnerable to unwanted applications and appeals.  In order to minimise the risk of the Local Plan being considered out-of-date, it was proposed to submit a partial review on Policy S1 of the Local Plan while work continued with the review. 

It was moved by Councillor R Ashman, seconded by Councillor T Gillard and

RESOLVED THAT:

 Cabinet recommends to the Local Plan Committee that:

(I)    The initial local plan review focus upon changes to Policy S1 as outlined in the report;

(II)   Officers continue to work on a wider review and with a view to submitting as soon as reasonably practicable after the publication of the 2018-household projections;

(III)  Timetables for both the initial review and wider review be established as part of a revised local development scheme.

Reason for decision: Cabinet approval of the proposed approach is required.

Report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Community Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members, highlighting the work of the Grounds Maintenance team and the increased demand from Housing Services in the past few years for fencing work, which had resulted in a requirement to undertake a formal tender process in line with EU Procurement Regulations.  He advised that officers from the Grounds Maintenance and Housing services teams had considered the most cost effective way of procuring the fencing works, and had concluded that the best option would for Grounds Maintenance to continue procuring a fencing contractor with a view to then managing and co-ordinating the works required, based on the advantages and disadvantages highlighted within the report.  Consequently, he asked Cabinet to support the commencement of an OJEU compliant procurement process to secure a fencing contractor for the Grounds Maintenance service, and that authority to award the contract be delegated to the Strategic Director of Place in consultation with the Community Services Portfolio Holder.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor R D Bayliss and

RESOLVED THAT:

a) The commencement of a procurement process in order to secure a fencing contractor for the grounds maintenance service be approved.

b) Authority to award the fencing contract be delegated to the Strategic Director of Place in consultation with the Community Services Portfolio Holder.

Reason for decision: The level of expenditure exceeds the threshold in the Scheme of Delegation.

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members, outlining key information relating to progress on the Council Delivery Plan for the fourth quarter of the last financial year.  He highlighted that 83% of the actions were on track or assessed as being green, three actions were amber or under control, and one was below target.    He highlighted progress against a number of indicators as detailed in the report across the Council's corporate priority areas as follows:

·         84% of the indicators had been assessed as being "Green" meaning performance was on track or above target.

·         6 of the indicators had been assessed as being "Red" which meant performance was below target. Robust action plans had been put in place to improve performance in these areas.

The Leader outlined the improved performance in Customer Services and managing sickness absence from the previous year, highlighting that nearly half the workforce had no sickness absence in the last year. 

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor R Ashman and

RESOLVED THAT:

The Quarter 4 Performance Management Report be received.

Reason for decision: The report is provided for members to effectively monitor the organisation’s performance.

Report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Community Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor R Blunt presented the report to members, highlighting the work being done by the officers and members of the Working Party to improve services and the locality.  He drew members’ attention to the events programme for Coalville, the success of the Coalville May Fair and the recommendation that the date for Music and Picnic in the Park be set as Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June 2020.  He asked Cabinet to support this recommendation to enable officers to start planning for 2020 on the agreement that no financial commitments be made until the budget was approved later in the year.

Councillor R Blunt reported that preparations for Christmas in Coalville were well underway, and highlighted that members of the Working Party were requesting £2,000 of balances to further invest in Christmas lights.  As there was sufficient funding available in the balances, he asked Cabinet to support this recommendation.  He explained that due to the increasing popularity of events and the beneficial impacts that events have on town centres, the Working party had requested an additional £5,000 from balances to allow for the delivery of additional events.  He asked Cabinet to support this recommendation also.

Councillor R Blunt welcomed the ongoing improvements to Coalville Park, in particular the role that the Friends of Coalville Park group were playing in helping take these forward and the efforts of members to work closely with the group.  He announced that Coalville Park was the first park in North West Leicestershire to have achieved Green Flag status.  He thanked the staff and ward members for their help and support in achieving this.

Councillor R Blunt advised that the work between officers and Barratt’s to reallocate the S106 funding received for a MUGA provision at Lillehammer Drive to a number of projects within Coalville Park was progressing.  He explained that to enable this work to continue, the Working Party were requesting £6,000 from balances to cover legal costs to remove the covenants and to make changes to Section 106 Agreements. He asked Cabinet to support this recommendation as this legal work was required to ensure the project progressed.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor R Ashman and

RESOLVED THAT:

a) The recommendations made by the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party as detailed within the minutes be noted.

b) The recommendations summarised at paragraph 3.0 of the report be approved.

Reason for decision: To progress Coalville Special Expenses projects and programmes.

Report of the Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Planning and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder

Councillor R Ashman presented the report to members, highlighting the consultation and examination process which had been undertaken and the result of the referendum that was held on 27 June 2019.  He reported that the referendum received a turnout of 13%, with 87.2% of the voters in favour of making the Neighbourhood Plan.  He congratulated all involved in developing the Neighbourhood Plan.

Councillor R D Bayliss commented on the turnout for the referendum.  Councillor R Ashman acknowledged that this was low, however the referendum had provided the community with the opportunity to have their say.  He supported the development of neighbourhood plans which supported the planning process.

Councillor R Blunt stated that he supported neighbourhood plans which could be seen as a tool to shape new developments.

It was moved by Councillor R Ashman, seconded by Councillor R D Bayliss and

RESOLVED THAT:

Cabinet agrees to make the Ellistown and Battleflat Neighbourhood Plan.

Reason for decision: Cabinet approval of the proposed approach is required.

The officers consider that the press and public should be excluded during consideration of the following items in accordance with Section 100(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 as publicity would be likely to result in disclosure of exempt or confidential information.  Members are reminded that they must have regard to the public interest test and must consider, for each item, whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure outweighs the public interest in making the item available.

RESOLVED THAT:

In pursuance of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that the business to be transacted involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Reason for decision: To enable the consideration of exempt information.

Report of the Strategic Director of Housing and Customer Services

Presented by the Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor R D Bayliss presented the report to members, highlighting the various contracts for renewal detailed at Appendix 1.

It was moved by Councillor R D Bayliss, seconded by Councillor N J Rushton and

RESOLVED THAT:

Authority be delegated to the Director of Housing, Property and Customer Services to award recurring works contracts for the housing stock in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Property and Customer Services and the Section 151 Officer, specifically for awards of contracts for:

1.    Aids and adaptations works

2.    Provision of new off-street parking scheme

3.    Gas servicing and maintenance

4.    Solid fuel and air source heat pump servicing

5.    Fixed electrical installation testing

Reason for decision: The level of expenditure in proposed contracts exceeds the authority threshold in the Scheme of Delegation.