Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

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.

No interests were declared.

No questions were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 2016

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 2016.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor A V Smith and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 2016 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Reason for decision: To comply with the Constitution.

The Chairman announced that Item 5 – Implications for High Speed 2 for the District, had been withdrawn in view of the announcement made by the Government earlier that day, which meant that much of the information in the report was now out of date.  He advised that a report would be considered by Policy Development Group before coming to Cabinet prior to the consultation deadline.

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

The Leader presented the report to members, highlighting the following key areas of performance:

-        Re-letting times have continued to improve, achieving a re-let time of 37 days against a target of 40.

-        Officers supported the organising of the Coalville Colour Run which over 500 people attended.  The event was a great success for the Council and for Coalville.

-        A new structure in the housing repairs team was put in place in August which had allowed for better workforce planning and more efficient scheduling of works.

-        All targets for Council Tax and business rates have remained on target with business rates exceeding targets by 0.7%, alongside an increase in the amount collected of £1.7 million.

-        The standard of taxi vehicles has continued to improve with first time pass rate of 74% in quarter 2, surpassing the previous quarterly best pass rate of 69% in quarter 1 and representing a 10% improvement from the previous year.

-        Performance in determining planning applications within target has remained strong.

-        The General Fund and special expenses budgets were being managed effectively and there were early projections of additional income.

-        The projected sickness figure at the end of quarter 2 stood at 8.94 days per full time employee which was higher than the target of 7.4 days.  All long term absences were being closely managed with human resources and there had been an increase in absences due to viral infections which was expected at this time of year.

Councillor T Gillard stated that local businesses had already been contacted with reference to the announcement made by the Government in respect of HS2.  He outlined plans to visit retail outlets on 3 December.

Councillor R Blunt welcomed the work to reach out and connect with all businesses across the district on any matters such as HS2.

Councillor R D Bayliss made reference to the restructure within the housing repairs team and highlighted that calls were now being dealt with by the team themselves rather than via customer services.  He also referred to the improvements in the average re-let time and advised that there was a prospect of improving this further.  He also highlighted improvements in the percentage of vacant properties.

Councillor T J Pendleton pointed out that the percentage of minor applications determined within 8 weeks was now at 85%, which was well above the target.  He added that staffing was now full within the planning department and performance was well above target.

Councillor N J Rushton commented that sickness absence needed to be monitored, however he believed this had been exacerbated by cases of long term sickness, some of which had now been resolved.

Councillor A V Smith drew members’ attention to the work being done in leisure services including the health and wellbeing centre at Hood Park which had seen over 784 patients.  She highlighted the quality of the facilities there.  She also drew attention to the partnership working being undertaken with the sport and activity team being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Report of the Director of Services

Presented by the Community Services Portfolio Holder

The Community Services Portfolio Holder presented the report to members, highlighting some current projects including the renaming of the Urban Forest Park with local school children and the memorial to commemorate World War I.  She advised members that the Christmas lights switch on event would take place on 3 December.  She commended the work done by Glyn Rennocks at Coalville Town Football Club and thanked the members of the Working Party for their work.

It was moved by Councillor A V Smith, seconded by Councillor R Blunt and

RESOLVED THAT:

The recommendations made by the Coalville Special Expenses Working Party as detailed within the minutes and summarised at 3.0 be approved.

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

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.

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 Director of Housing

Presented by the Housing Portfolio Holder

The Housing Portfolio Holder presented the report to members.

It was moved by Councillor R D Bayliss, seconded by Councillor A V Smith and

RESOLVED THAT:

The disposal of the property on Dawsons Road be approved by sale on the open market.

Reason for decision: The proposal is to dispose of the property in accordance with the HRA Disposal Policy, which was approved by Cabinet on 3 March 2015, to generate a capital receipt to meet the needs of the HRA Business Plan.

Report of the Director of Housing

Presented by the Housing Portfolio Holder

The Housing Portfolio Holder presented the report to members.

It was moved by Councillor R D Bayliss, seconded by Councillor T Gillard and

RESOLVED THAT:

The disposal of the property on Hemington Lane be approved by sale on the open market.

Reason for decision: The proposal is to dispose of the property in accordance with the HRA Disposal Policy, which was approved by Cabinet on 3 March 2015, to generate a capital receipt to meet the needs of the HRA Business Plan.

Report of the Director of Housing

Presented by the Housing Portfolio Holder

The Housing Portfolio Holder presented the report to members.

It was moved by Councillor R D Bayliss, seconded by Councillor T J Pendleton and

RESOLVED THAT:

The decision to acquire the property on Garden Crescent, Castle Donington as outlined in this report be noted.

Reason for decision: The acquisition of the property is in accordance with the Council’s Acquisition Policy which was approved by Cabinet on 10 February 2015. Specifically, the objectives of the acquisition are to provide affordable housing and regenerate the area by avoiding potential physical blight to the estate. This is a report for information rather than a report seeking a decision from Cabinet.