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Good afternoon. May I welcome all participants to this meeting of the full council. The meeting is being livestreamed to the council's YouTube channel. Welcome to any members of the public who are watching the meeting remotely. The recording of the meeting will remain online for four years. If you are present and making a representation to the meeting, you are consenting to this and to the use of the recordings for broadcasting and training purposes. We've got no members of the public present in the gallery, so I can move on. Please be aware that CCTV and audio recording is now in operation and the footage and recordings will be held by the council for five months. Please also note that a fire alarm is not expected, so if the alarm does sound, please also note, sorry, so if the alarm does sound, you should make your way to the nearest fire exit immediately. Okay, so straight on to the meeting then. First of all, we have apologies. Apologies from Councillor Barnes, Beall, Chandler, Klokus, Collins, Lynch and Oliver. Any other apologies? No? Okay, thank you. Next item is the declarations of interest. Councillor Barrow. Yes, I just want to declare that my son works for Cheltenham Borough Homes. Thank you. Anybody else? Nope. Okay. Item three, then, minutes of the last meeting. Two sets of minutes here. Obviously, if you weren't at the meeting, then you should abstain. So minutes of the annual and selection council meeting held on the 20th of May '24. Show of hands, for those in favour, please. Thank you. No one against? Any abstentions? Thank you. And then minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on the 20th of May '24. A show of hands, please, for those as well. Brilliant. Thank you all very much. Next item is communications by the mayor. And I think different mayors will probably interpret this in different ways. I'd quite like to just refer to some of the events that I've had the pleasure of attending in the last few weeks. I see one of my roles as being out in the community, listening and learning. And also feeding back. And there's a couple of things I just wanted to pick up on. Firstly, I was delighted to attend the King's birthday reception at Imjin Banks, along with Paul. It was an absolutely glorious occasion. We had the band and the beating of the retreat. What was interesting talking to some of the senior personnel there -- and Paul, I'm sure you'll concur -- was the affinity they filled with our town. Gloster, of course, as well, and Tewkesbury. But it came over to me very, very strongly. They really value the warmth of that relationship. And clearly a lot of their staff and members there do live in Cheltenham. So I think if there's anything else I think we can do as a council to further that relationship and that warmth, then I think we should certainly be doing that. It was a lovely event. I then went to the Science Festival. I'm sure some of you guys did, too. And it was the reception. And talking to some of the organizers. And what struck me -- two things. A was the thousands of children that get involved in our Science Festival. It really does touch virtually every school in our town, both primary and secondary. And therefore I was a little bit disappointed that there was no representation there from the Golden Valley and that project. Because I think that project is so critical to the future careers of all those children who are at that festival. So I really do hope that at the next Science Festival, the Golden Valley project team will feel that they should be there. Because I really do think they should. But it's a great festival. I then attended the Gloucestershire Volunteer Awards in Gloucester. It's the inauguration of these awards. And I presented a presentation to the under 16s. And what a joy it was to have nominations of under 16-year-olds for volunteer awards. And I was even further delighted that the winner of that award was a young lad called Alfie Lightstone, who's a pupil of Pitville School in Cheltenham. He was amazing. But we also had a winner, Brian Babbage, who I think is heavily involved in the food projects in Hester's Way and Springbank. He also won a volunteer award as well. So that was, as you can imagine, a really lovely evening. And yesterday, I attended the Lives of Colour event in Pitville Park. The weather wasn't the kindest, but it was a really nice event. And I think one of the things that I take out of that is the importance of understanding culture. And I just actually attended the council's culture course this week, as it happened. So that's, of course, well worth attending. But it's events like this don't happen without the support of the Borough Council. And the Borough Council hasn't supported that event over a number of years. And finally, just not to bore you too much, but-- well, nearly fine-- D-Day was a lovely, lovely event. We had a flyover. We had a really good attendance. The weather was kind. And that's a very emotional event. And that was the one event I was a little bit worried about as mayor, that I would drop the wreath or something like that. But fortunately, I didn't on that occasion. But after that, I was invited over to Cabernet's House to open a stall or stand for Duracell Energy. But I spent three hours over there visiting all the stands. And I just think Calendar Life, and also a number of people from this Borough Council, were involved in making that happen. It would have been so easy to see that unit bordered up and empty for 12 months or more, like the sports, like JJB sports in the Strand, is shameful. This, it was vibrant. It's a vibrant community in there. It's well worth a visit. And what was interesting for me, two things, was that, A, there's a lot of local Chancellor people there who were able to dip their toes into the retail sector for the very, very first time with their own produce, whether it's flowers, whether it's chocolate, whether it's jewellery. And they were all so excited to have that opportunity without any great outlay of expenditure. And secondly, there are also businesses there from outside of the town, from Worcester and from Newport, who are considering opening shops in the town. And this was their opportunity to get a feel for our town. So that has been a massive, positive experience. And I'm hoping that can be a model for future unoccupied properties that local people can get the advantage of taking up that space. So well worth a visit. OK, that's me. Thank you for being indulgent with that. Next, we go on to Item 5, which is communications by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Haye. Thank you, Mayor. I'll keep it very short and sweet today because the only briefing I really wanted to do was to say that actually-- and you mentioned D-Day, which is a massively important day for this country. And it was great to see so many councillors there, but also to be able to stay around afterwards and chat with the veterans and actually chat with a lot of other colleagues. So staying around till the end was really worth it. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Haye. Item 6 is to receive petitions. I'm not aware of any. No. Item 7, public questions. The question is not in attendance, so the questions and answers will be taken as read, and they will be circulated to members. No member questions have been received. So we then move on to Item 9, which is housing transition, governance arrangements, and revisions to the Constitution. And this is the report to the Leader. Councillor Haye. Thank you, Mayor. So on the 11th of June this year, Cabinet considered a paper setting out the proposals for new governance arrangements to reflect the return of housing management back to CBC. These new rearrangements are vital to establishing effective and robust governance, but also have wider importance in setting a framework that will help to facilitate and create ways in which our residents can play an essential part in helping to shape CBC's housing services moving forward. Members will recall that central to those proposals to wind Cheltenham Borough Homes up was a clear pledge to place the voice of tenants and leaseholders at the heart of our housing services, ensuring that our tenants, leaseholders, and shared ownership owners can have oversight and influence the services they received. That will not only meet the test of the regulator, but also underlines our earlier commitment to put residents at the center of our housing offer. The paper before you today sets out the proposals for the new governance arrangements to reflect the return of housing management, and that will take effect from the 1st of July this year. Whilst the detail of these proposals is vital to establishing effective and robust governance, it does have a wider importance in setting a framework that will help to facilitate and create ways in which our residents can play an essential part in helping to shape again Cheltenham Borough Council's housing service. I make no apologies for actually reiterating that several times because that is at the heart of the decision that we took. The structure seeks to ensure effective engagement with tenants, leaseholders, and shared ownership owners, and provide members with the required level of oversight that will be needed. The detail of the revised structure is set out in that cabinet report. However, by way of summary, it includes the establishment of a new housing cabinet committee made up of five elected members, one of whom will be the cabinet member for housing, two tenant representatives, one leaseholder representative, and one shared ownership representative. And the main role of that committee will be to monitor performance and delivery of the consumer standards, including the new tenancy satisfaction measures, monitor the impacts of investment in ensuring the Council maintains decent homes, fire and building safety, and customer satisfaction, receive and consider complaints data to inform service delivery, and have oversight as a risk register for housing services, and provide strong and effective connectivity between the Council and the tenant panels. In addition, to reflect the need for the Council to hear the voices of their tenants and to hear the voices loudly, it is essential that tenant involvement and engagement is one of the fundamental principles within this new governance arrangement. And therefore, alongside that committee, we will establish a tenant panel and a separate leaseholder and shared ownership panel. Those panels will create a space where tenants and leaseholders can act as our scrutineers and critical friends, working with the Council to develop our plans, priorities, and our policies. At present, Cheltenham Borough Homes operate a tenant scrutiny panel, otherwise known as TSIP, which enables tenants to scrutinize and improve the way their housing services run. This has been really successful, so we're keen to build on it, developing it even further by ensuring that strong links are forged between the tenants and the housing cabinet committee. And we're delighted actually that all of the current members of TSIP are keen to continue their work under the newly named tenant panel. The creation of a new leaseholder and shared ownership panel will also facilitate higher level engagement with our leaseholders and shared ownership owners, enabling us to address some of the issues raised by leaseholders in that very wide ranging recent consultation that we carried out. All of that has led to the fact that we then needed to look-- obviously, with Cheltenham Borough Homes coming back, we needed to relook at our constitution. So there are constitutional amendments which we need to make in order to facilitate the smooth transition of housing services back into the council and to assure effective decision making can continue. It has been necessary to review part 3D, which is the office of non-executive functions, and part 3E, which are the executive functions of the consultation. And those are all set out in the report before you today. Whilst most decisions will fall within established operational delegations, some amendments were required, which council are now asked to approve. And you can see those in appendices 5 and 6. In addition to the housing-related amendments, council will note that some specific delegations around building control have also been added. And these reflect our current practice but are included to provide additional clarity in the case of any legal proceedings. I would just point out to members that there is a discrepancy in the report. And I now didn't make a note of the particular point. But in one part of the report, it says 5. In another part of the report, it says 4. Just for clarity's sake, it is 5. And it will be three Liberal Democrats, one Green Party, and also the cabinet member responsible on that housing committee. So it is 5. Thank you, Mayor. I'm happy to take any questions. Thank you, Councillor Hay, any questions for Councillor Hay? No? OK. We'll move then to the debates. Would anyone like to speak on this? Councillor Latherstone. Thank you, Mayor. Just like to say I'm hugely supportive of this new government governance framework. Historically or even today, the CBH board has facilitated the role of overview and scrutiny in terms of services offered, which has a membership of two elected members. Going forward, the new cabinet housing committee is going to include, as Councillor Hay just mentioned, five elected members, which will give greater voice representing tenant residents and tenants across the entire town. I'm also loving the fact that there's going to be a newly created shared ownership and lease holder panel. As we're building more and more shared ownership homes and-- sorry, share those homes, et cetera. And yeah, just really, really great that the voices of tenants, leaseholders across town are going to have a greater voice in terms of shaping the delivery of the service going forward. So very supportive. Any other member? OK. I'd just like to express my thanks, really. As I said, this has evolved a huge amount of officer input, both from the CBH side and from CBC. It is a huge project, and I really do thank them for this, because it's going to make a real change now, and I think if nothing else, I think what will come out of this, I think, is a real drive to build more affordable homes, as well as making sure that our tenants continue to receive the best possible service. So I don't think there's anything to come back on, Councillor Hay. So that's just for noting. I don't think we need to-- There were some decisions. Oh, is it-- [AUDIO OUT] Sorry. Yes? We now move to the vote on the recommendations. So if you'd like to use the electronic voting system. So that's unanimous. Thank you all very much. [AUDIO OUT] So we now move on to item 10, which is capital investments to reduce energy usage at Lezurat Cheltenham. And I'd like to ask Councillor Dobie, cabinet member of Climate Emergency, to introduce the item. Thank you, Chairman. Councillors, I commend this report to you. The decision described is absolutely in line with our net zero action plan. It's funded by the council approved green investment fund. And the detailed business case has already been agreed by the Green Investment Board. It is, of course, cabinet approved. Both of the described investments will reduce energy use and hence costs. Notably, the purchase of pool covers will generate a return on investment of 16.4%. Now at a time of rapidly increasing energy costs and noting that almost half of CBC's energy bill is spent on Lezurat, this is a wise spend to save decision, which makes sense financially and moreover delivers significant carbon savings and hence is on track towards this council's declared net-zero ambitions. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Dobie. Any questions for Councillor Dobie? Sorry, I-- --to your part, Ashley. Councillor Davies. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Dobie. I've had a read of this report, and I think it's really interesting, and it's really good to see this sort of move forward towards net zero. And the calculations are really interesting at how you've come up with this sort of carbon saved per year. I was just wondering if it was possible to see what these calculations look like for no reason other than my own interest, just to see how that's been worked out. Yeah, I'm sure that will be possible. And indeed, I know the sort of detail that you're looking for. For example, the investment in modern LED lighting is expected to save 29,238 pounds, which is 24,363 kilograms of CO2 in year one, equivalent to a 12% yield on investment. That's the sort of detail you're looking for. I'm sure officers will be able to supply that with-- surprise you with that detail. So that's what I intend to it. Amazing. Yeah, that would be great if you could. Yeah, it's just-- and the sort of figures around the A handling units and dehumidification and how those sorts of figures have come about with heat losses from the pool. I'm just purely just curious. I don't doubt that it's all correct. I'm just noisy. Thank you. Any more questions? Nope. OK. Debate. Anybody would like to speak? Councillor Lewis. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will say I couldn't let this report go without me getting a slight mention in, because this has, in many ways, in my previous portfolio, been one of my babies, I think it's such an important project for us to do. I remember the first time I saw our energy bills at leisure out, and I thought, oh my goodness. It's an extraordinary number. And I'm sure, as Ian said, it's a huge percentage of our carbon footprint when it comes to energy consumption. And I'm really lucky that being cabinet member for finance means that I still get to work on this project. It never escapes me. Being finance means you have to solve everybody's problems, which is somehow even worse than just trying to save the planet. But it's a fantastic project. I think the scheme we've got is very straightforward. And I do hope that we can roll out what we learn from this onto additional schemes across town. So thank you, Ian, and best of luck with the project. Thank you. Councillor Jeffries. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, previously held in the finance portfolio. I can remember living this from the other side of the fence, Alicia, so I'm with you on that. I just want to put on record my thanks to all the officers that worked really hard, and we know 18 months ago, up and down the country, we heard all these stories of swimming pools and leisure centers closing left, right, and center. And they were shocking. Some committees aren't going to get those cities back. So I just want to put on record my thanks to the team of officers in the property finance team, actually worked really hard with the trust and leisure out to make sure that the costs, whether through the roof, were managed. And Ian, thank you for carrying that on. I'm happy to support this report. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Councillor Horwood. Councillor Jeffries has almost said what I was going to say, actually. I think it's a tremendous report, and I think it really underlines the fact that you can take environmentally friendly steps and save money at the same time. The return on investment, I mean, from the LED lighting of 12-- equivalent to 12% ROI and 16% in the case of the pool covers is a really impressive rate of return, actually. So this is a fantastic result. And like Councillor Jeffries, I was going to applaud the officers who no doubt put a lot of work into this. I'm sure it's under at least three portfolio holders who've been involved in it on the cabinet side. And I'm sure it's something that all councillors can enthusiastically support. Thank you. Any other members? No? I don't think there's anything to come back on, Councillor Doby, if you just want to? No? In that case then, we go to the votes. So those in support, please vote. Thank you. These meetings are pretty easy to chair, to be frank. So that's unanimous. Thank you all very much. We're now moving on to item 11, which is council appointments. And I would like to ask the chief executive to call for nominations. So this is just a call for the nominations for the Joint Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Joint Committee. Any nominations to Councillor Jeffries? I nominate the Legal of the Council and Councillor Collins. And do we have a second? Do we need a second? Is there any other nominations? No, any other nominations? OK, congratulations to those two. And the next one is the-- We're not doing that one today. We're not doing that one today. That one's been deferred. No, that's been deferred. Yeah, that's fine. Excellent. So we will notice motions. There are none. No other urgent business that I'm aware of, so the meeting is closed. Thank you all very much indeed.