Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies received.

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

There were no interests declared.

There were no questions received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024 were considered.

It was moved by Councillor T Gillard, seconded by Councillor T Saffell and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2024 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings.

The report of the Strategic Director of Communities

Presented by the Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the report.

A couple of Members welcomed the awarding of the grant to the Council and noted the importance of improving the energy-efficiency of housing stock.

It was moved by Councillor A Woodman, seconded by Councillor N Rushton, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The grant of up to £2,767,287.35 from Wave 2.2 Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund from Government be accepted and the Council be authorised to enter into all necessary agreements to receive the grant, subject to Council agreeing the recommendation 2 below.
2. Council be recommended to amend the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme Carbon Zero element, as set out in section 2 of this report.

Reason for decision: To gain Cabinet approval to the Grant acceptance in line with the Constitution and Contract Procurement rules.

The report of the Strategic Director of Communities

Presented by the Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the report.

A Member was glad the policies had been updated and thought that they now gave greater clarity moving forwards.

It was moved by Councillor A Woodman, seconded by Councillor M Wyatt, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1. The following policies be approved:

-        The revised Anti-Social Behaviour Policy

-        The revised Compensation Policy

-        The revised Decant Policy

-        The revised Repairs Policy

-        The withdrawal of the Rechargeable Repairs Policy

2. The changes to the fees and charges schedule of £40 on top of the prevailing schedule of rates in use at the time of the repair be approved.
3. Authority be delegated to the Head of Housing in consultation with the Portfolio Holder to make minor amendments to the policies as required to address changes in national policy and local priorities.

Reason for decision: To agree amendments to the Council’s policies as set out above.

The report of the Strategic Director of Communities

Presented by the Community and Climate Change Portfolio Holder

The Communities and Climate Change Portfolio Holder presented the report.

The Chair praised the start the Portfolio Holder had made to tackling this issue, and knew it was an issue of great importance to him.

Another Member also praised the work done so far, which residents would appreciate.

It was moved by Councillor M Wyatt, seconded by Councillor R Blunt, and

RESOLVED THAT:

1.    The update and evaluation of Zero Litter be noted.

2.    The comments from Community Scrutiny Committee on the Love Your Neighbourhood Campaign be noted.

3.    The Love Your Neighbourhood Campaign be noted.

Reason for decision: To adopt and approve a new approach to help make the district cleaner and greener.

The report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Infrastructure Portfolio Holder

The Infrastructure Portfolio Holder presented the report.

The Corporate Portfolio Holder was happy that the indicators were more focused. He would be submitting further comments to the Strategic Director of Resources to share with the Corporate Scrutiny Committee, to respond to certain issues raised within his portfolio.

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder said that some indicators were not where he wanted them to be with regards to the Housing area of his portfolio, but he noted that investment was going in to repairs, part of the service was being restructured, housing policies were being updated as discussed earlier, and the cross party Housing-Improvement Board will continue its work on examining the Council’s strategy for improving its housing stock in the long term.

It was moved by Councillor K Merrie, seconded by Councillor R Blunt, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The Monitoring Report be considered and the elements making positive progress and those where there is a need for early intervention be highlighted.

Reason for decision: to make Members aware of the early progress of the Council Delivery Plan.

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.

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

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.

The report of the Strategic Director of Communities

Presented by the Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder

The Housing, Property and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the report.

A brief discussion was had.

It was moved by Councillor A Woodman, seconded by Councillor R Blunt, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The recommendations within the report be approved.

Reason for decision: To ensure all governance requirements relating to the implementation of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Asset Management Strategy and the New Affordable Housing Supply Strategy are satisfied in relation to the acquisitions referred to in the body of this report.

To ensure the financial governance arrangements in respect of the Council’s capital programme are followed as defined in the Council’s Capital Strategy.

The report of the Strategic Director of Resources

Presented by the Corporate Portfolio Holder

The Corporate Portfolio Holder presented the report.

It was moved by Councillor N Rushton, seconded by Councillor T Gillard, and

RESOLVED THAT:

The recommendations within the report be approved.

Reason for decision:

1.     To ensure Members are aware of the renewal cost of the Microsoft Enterprise Software Licence Agreement.

2.     The renewal costs take the contract value above the £250,000 threshold which requires Cabinet approval as a financial key decision.

To authorise the renewal of Microsoft Software Licences Agreement, to ensure the Council stays appropriately licenced.