Transcript

Good evening everyone and welcome to the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 29th May 2024. I'd like to welcome Councillor Kersey North to her first Cabinet meeting and any listeners who may be listening via the audio feed. The first item on the agenda is apologies, Councillor King has given us apologies and anyone else is here. Okay, item 2 public participation, do we have any members of the public wishing to speak? There are none Mr Chairman. Thank you very much. Item 3 then is declarations of interest. Any member of the committee got any interest they wish to deploy a releasing to the items that we're discussing tonight? Can't see any hands so we'll move on to item 4 then which is urgent items. Do we have any urgent items? There are none Mr Chairman. Thank you. Let's move on to item 5 then which is the minutes of the previous meeting. I'm happy to propose those as a correct record. Can I have a seconder please? Yes Chairman, I second. Item 6 then is a recommendation. Oh sorry, okay. All those in favour? Thank you, that's clearly carried. We'll have to do it on the Hamptons County Council's part of the read rather than the test. I'll be starting with hands up, there we go. Everyone has their hands up for the benefit of the audio link. Right, Item 6 then is recommendations of the Oberlin Scrutiny Committee which there are none and we'll move swiftly on to item 7 then which is the Asset Management Act report 2023-24 and I will hand over to Councilor Nunn. Thank you Chairman. It's that time of year where the financial results from the last financial year come thick and fast and this is the first of three such reports this evening with more to come when we next meet in July. The Asset Management Plan is the mechanism through which the Council plans and budgets for the essential maintenance and replacement of our land, buildings, vehicle fleet and IT infrastructure. This report sets out that the total expenditure on our asset base in the last financial year was 1.9 million. It also revises our annual management plan requirement for 2024-25 and recommends that the updated plan is approved mostly in respect of carried forward projects. There has been a requirement to carry forward some of the budget particularly for a number of vehicles that have been ordered but not delivered at the year end. The details of that and other variances against initially planned levels of expenditure are explained in the report. Given the scale and value of the Council's asset base it is inevitable that there will be changes throughout the year in the need to undertake essential maintenance works and there are procedures in place to allow this flexibility to happen. Chairman I move the recommendations on page 9 of the agenda. There are two recommendations that the expenditure for the year on asset management projects as shown in annex 1 be noted and the second recommendation is that the updated budget for asset management projects in 2024-25 as shown in annex 2 be approved. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Pannon for having me to second those two recommendations. Are there any questions or support for others or comments for debate? Yes thank you very much Chairman and thank you for tuning in to the cabinet meeting from the listener. Some important points to make. I recognise the budget carry forwards limited but I was also pleased to read in paragraph 5.2 on land and buildings there was a net savings on completed projects of 55,300 so that's good to see. And my only comment would be foreseeable carry forwards if we can polish our crystal a little further we may be able to see some more of them and put them in the correct year. That's not a criticism that Chairman it's just an obligation. Thank you Radio Drew. Any further comments? Debate? No? Okay I've put those two recommendations to you then. All those in favour? Thank you very much that is clearly carried and we will move on to our second of our three financial reports which is item 8 that is the capital out 23/24 and I'll again hand over to Councillor Pannon. Thank you again Chairman. The second of my three reports this evening. Total capital expenditure in 2023/24 amounted to 5.8 million. The largest area of expenditure was for delivery of 14 affordable properties through the government's loan of authority housing fund scheme. That was nearly 2 million pounds. It's exciting to see the growth in the capital programme related to our regeneration programme and I anticipate recommending further projects during the coming year as well as providing updates on the projects already approved and I do have pleasure in moving the recommendation on page 24 of the agenda that the update capital programme as set out in the annex to the report be approved. Thank you. Thank you Councillor but again happy to second that recommendation. Any comments or debate? Councillor Drew again. Thank you very much Chairman. Obviously note the upturns and the few underspends here as well. I wanted to raise or highlight paragraph 3.10 planning policy and in particular economic development. As we all know economic development jobs growth etc is absolutely crucial and I know that the communities team and the economic development team are working extremely hard within the constraints of their budget and are doing a brilliant job. The event in Broughton, the other lost group, has had really positive reviews and I've had really good feedback from those who attended. But just really to point out that if we had a budget of 121 and the costs are only 55,000 keen to see that money used in the best interests of the businesses up and down the borough I think that's really important. And just also to note that with great fanfare we announced the Rural Economic Prosperity Fund where there's 128,000 pounds and I see we haven't spent or no costs have been incurred yet but I look forward to that and I'm certain there are some prospects for using that in the pipeline so that's also very positive. Thank you Councillor. Councillor Flug and I were at the rural shops network meeting last week when that was advertised and there was a wide range of businesses and business owners and top owners there so hopefully we will get some applications in relation to that soon. Any further comments? No? Okay. I'll put the recommendation to you then. All those in favour? Thank you very much. That is carried. We will move on then to the next item which is on page 41. Again another report from Councillor Flug and this time the Treasury management out term 23/24. Thank you Chairman and this is the third and last report this evening. It comes little surprise that with interest rates being sustained at the highest levels for some considerable time, interest received into our revenue account is also far more considerable than it has previously been. The overall income from our Treasury activities in the year was just under £4.5 million and the average return on investments was is 4.42%. This amount is significantly more than forecast at the start of the financial year but is a little way short of the benchmark performance level of 5.23%. The main reasons for this are linked to the placing of fixed term investments before interest rates peaked and also the low risk, high credit quality requirements that we have in place to safeguard the underlying investment value. I can report that there were no breaches of the Treasury management strategy that I need to report to you and I move the recommendation as set out on page 41 of the agenda that the Treasury management out term for 2023/24 financial year be noted. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Futter. I'm more than happy to second that recommendation. Any comments today? Councillor Drew? I'm not even looking in that direction. I know you knew I put my hand up before you even looked. An important point here and thank you to Councillor Flug for highlighting it. In the summary, the second bullet point investment income for this year was £114,900 higher than we had in the forecast and that is not profit, it's a surplus that we as the Council and as Councillors can use for the benefit of residents, organisations and business right across the borough. That's really important and a positive thing to report. Thank you Councillor Drew. Yes, I think it's really important that we're prudent with how we are to invest the money and the benchmark figure, not reading that benchmark figure, is because we have to be so careful with public money and to use it in the future. That's why we're in a position beyond that. I completely agree. We reflect back to a couple of weeks ago when a couple of newspapers published the off-log figures. We were, as I said, we were fourth in the country in terms of rated best for finances. I think that is down to our prudent way of doing things and the way we invest. So unless there is any further comments, I will put the recommendation to you and that is on page 41. All those in favour? Thank you. That is count and we'll give Councillor Flug a rest and we'll go to Councillor Bundy. We are now on item 10 which is statement of community involvement in brackets, amendments, closed brackets. Councillor Bundy. Thank you, Chairman. The purpose of the report is to correct the current version of our statement of community involvement so that it aligns with the statutory position relating to the role of parish and town councils in planning application process. During the course of dealing with a recent planning application, an interested party that made representations on the proposal raised an issue regarding amendments made to the development before it was decided. After looking at the STI and the requirements of the council relating to the way that parish and town councils are notified of applications and any amendments received, we established that we needed to revise the wording in our current document. The proposed new wording is set out in paragraph 6.3 of the report. The council informs parish and town councils of all planning applications in their area and this will continue. We also publicise amendments to applications in cases where officers consider that the changes are likely to be of wider interest. This provides the opportunity for parties like parish and town councils to comment on the revised plans and other details. The assessment is undertaken on a case by case basis as it will depend on the variety of factors such as the type of application, the scale and nature of the proposal and amendments to it and the level of interest expressed in the development being proposed. Overall, this approach has worked effectively. So in conclusion, the report involves a change of one paragraph of the STI and will ensure that the document reflects the actual statutory position. I therefore propose a recommendation as set out on page 48. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Bundy. I'm happy to second that. That's pretty straightforward but any comments or questions? No? Okay. All those in favour? That is carried. We'll move on to item 11A, which is the allocation of community infrastructure levy funds, community projects reserved. Councillor Bundy. Thank you, Chairman. This bid is made by More Education who operate as COALA, which is a charity who currently provide support to autistic and neurodivergent people in Andover between the ages of five and 18 who are unable to access mainstream education. Their focus is on helping people to develop connections with others, improve physical and mental health and enable the autistic and neurodivergent community to feel safe and thrive independently, thus reduce their social isolation. The organisation also provides support for parents and carers, autistic and neurodivergent children and young people. The COALA community hub now needs a dedicated space that they can fit out and tailor to the needs of the people that use it. They are proposing to use an empty unit in the Chantry Centre but to meet the needs of the hub's users and staff, it is necessary to carry out work such as installing a platform lift, accessible toilets and lighting, et cetera. The amount of SIL funding requested to undertake this work is £50,680 with a view to commencing works as soon as funding is agreed and as the charity are required to vacate their current premises by the 1st of July of this year. The number of children on the waiting list in Hampshire requiring specialist education provision has risen from 109 in 2019 to 127 in 2021. Therefore, a dedicated space will also allow COALA to expand their offer of hybrid learning and tutoring sessions as well as offering a special interest library to help address some of this need. It is estimated that the provision of this facility will assist approximately an additional 40 to 50 children and young people through alternative education provision and support through tutoring and distance learning. The charity is on the HCC SEND providers framework and the space will also have the potential to be used by similar organisations as part of a wider network of support with other providers and families of the people that use the facility. This will enable users and their families of the organisation to assess learning and support opportunities through other organisations as well as accessing town centre services, facilities and shops. I therefore propose the recommendations on page 52 to allocate £50,618 to the COALA Community Hub and to add this to the Council's capital programme to be funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy Community Projects Preserve. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Bundy for that comprehensive introduction. Our pleasure. Second that. Councillor Fluss. Thank you Chairman. I'm aware of the good work that the COALA Community Hub does and I know there is great demand for it and I can only foresee that demand increasing and I'm very much in support of the £50,000 allocation of this money to this group. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Fluss. Councillor Johnson. Can I just confirm, are COALA services accessible just to people that come from Andover or is their reach wider? Well this report specifically relates to people in Andover. Does it? I know the premises are going to be located in Andover. I don't know. I wouldn't say for sure that they wouldn't accept children to visit the hub that lives on the outskirts of Andover. We'll just get clarification. Great. So members, if I can point towards 3.1 of the report. Sorry. I'll use the description there. So it's a central hub but it was to support the autistic and neurodivergent community within Test Valley. So I think the catchment is wider than just the town of Andover. Thank you for that clarification. Chairman, I would add that I know members of the community in the centre of Test Valley who actually have visited and have used the facilities of the COALA community. Thank you. That's wonderful to hear. Thank you. Councillor Drew. Yes, thank you, Chairman. I'm very happy to support this and the important work that this organisation does. I think I know who the lead player is in this and I'm sure I know a former colleague who's supporting them as well. At the Declaration of Information, I'm the Chairman of Norman Gates School which is a special needs school which provides some education services for mostly medium, although it's becoming more severe, medium learning difficulties, young people in and around Andover and a lot further afield. So it wouldn't surprise me if this proposal is to look after children and young people further out than just Andover. I think Norman Gates has a ham of about 100, 105 and clearly that's a primary school and additional help for those who need this support is vital. And I'm sure that the sentiment and the purpose of this is to try and give these younger people the ability to deal with their lives so they can make the best contribution that they possibly can. And frankly, that's absolutely crucial and that's why I thoroughly enjoy my role working for Norman Gates School, young people who need a bit of extra help, who can then go on to make a full contribution to life in and around the area. Thank you. I couldn't agree more. I think Kawa are a fantastic organisation run on a great tour and they support a lot of people in and as we've heard around the town, I know they've been looking for new premises for some time that meets their needs and obviously with this they've collaborated with a valley of landlords who's a job presenter, but it's important that they fit it out to their requirements because they can't move and reopen until that is the case. So I'm grateful that this has come forward at this time, which is an exception to our usual sort of seal timetable, but I think it's important that we support those young people that use it to ensure that it's open in a timely fashion. Unless there's any further contributions from members, then I'll put the recommendation to you. All those in favour? Thank you. That is clearly carries. Everyone has their hands up and we'll move on then to the final item of the evening, which is item 12 and this is cabinet appointments for outside bodies. So members will recall that annual council last week, there were a lot of appointments for outside bodies that the council made, but these ones, because of the way the constitutions are written of these organisations in our constitution, that these need to be appointments of the cabinet. So I will hand over to council log. Thank you very much, Mr Chen. Yes, the appointment of council representatives to outside bodies, in particular to liaison committees with other local authorities, allows this council to fulfil its duties and to establish mutually beneficial working relationships with these partner bodies for the sharing of ideas and information. Under this item 12, I'm recommending the cabinet's agreement to the appointment of councillors on four of such bodies. One, that councillors Bundy, Gwynne, Swain and Youlden be appointed to the Eastleigh Borough Council TVBC liaison committee. Two, that Councillor Flood be appointed to the parking and traffic regulations outside London, I think called patrol, that has responsibilities for decriminalised parking enforcement and membership of this organisation satisfies our statutory requirements in this regard. Three, that Councillor Adams, King and Bundy be appointed to the partnership for South Hampshire committee. This committee is a joint voluntary arrangement with 10 other local authorities to deliver regeneration of the core South Hampshire region. And four, that Councillor Adams, King be appointed to the South East councils. This is an organisation which represents the wider views of local authorities in the South East with a view to maintaining a position of that area in its leading economic position. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Lodge. I'm more than happy to second that. Are there any comments or questions? Crucially, does anyone object to their appointments? No objection, I'm very happy to support it, but I see that I've not been appointed to anything, so I'll keep up the good work. Forgive me for having a little chuckle when I saw that I thought Councillor Flood was going to be sent out on patrol. Then I realised it was an acronym, so no metre, no parking metre for you just at this stage. No book happy to support. I was going to say, yes, I have noticed that I've been appointed to the patrol and that I was not going out on patrol. Thank you. Perfect. Okay. Any further contribution? No. I'll quickly put those recommendations in. All those in favour? Thank you very much. That is carried and that is the end of the meeting. Thank you.