This meeting was scheduled to discuss a wide variety of topics, including the council's spending plans for the next few years, performance against existing targets, proposals for a new Tenancy Strategy, and contracts for ICT systems. It also considered the appointment of a contractor to complete repairs at Pleasley Vale Business Park.

Appointment of contractor to complete insurance remedial works at Pleasley Vale Business Park following Storm Babet

The report pack included a report on the appointment of a contractor to complete the insurance remedial works at Pleasley Vale Business Park following Storm Babet.

Storm Babet took place in October 2023 and caused widespread damage. At Pleasley Vale, this included damage to buildings, infrastructure and tenant units in Mills 1 and 3.

The council's insurance company appointed Monaghans Ltd to project manage the repairs, and they procured the works to four different contractors.

Monaghans evaluated the three tenders they received and recommended that the council appoint Dragonfly Development Limited (DDL), at a cost of £405,123.26. This was the lowest cost tender, and Monaghans considered it the most compliant and least risky.

It was concluded, following the procurement exercise undertaken by Monaghans and subsequent discussions with the Loss Adjuster that Dragonfly Development Limited be appointed as the preferred supplier.

The insurance company agreed to pay £799,337.05 for the works. After accounting for the £100,000 insurance excess, the £200,000 that has already been paid to the council by the insurer and the £45,337.05 the council was scheduled to contribute from its insurance reserve, this leaves £454,000 to cover the costs. There was therefore a funding shortfall of £56,351.30 which the report pack suggested be funded from general reserves.

The report pack argued that the full scope of works needed to be completed, even if this meant exceeding the insurance settlement. This is because the report authors considered that not doing so would adversely affect the condition of the buildings and could risk damaging the council's relationships with tenants.

Housing Strategy 2024-2029

The report pack contains a draft of the Bolsover District Council Housing Strategy for 2024-2029, and the results of a public consultation on the strategy.

It describes the council's vision in relation to housing, which is to Deliver social and private sector housing growth.

The strategy proposes four key priorities, which are:

• Providing Good Quality Housing
• Enabling Housing Growth
• Supporting Vulnerable and Disadvantaged People
• Maintaining and improving property and housing management standards and ensuring that standards and living conditions in the district contribute towards better health outcomes for all.

The report pack proposes 11 outcomes for the strategy. These include:

• Increased housing supply to meet local housing needs
• Compliance with the Regulator's consumer standards for social landlords
• Improved property condition across the private sector
• Improved energy efficiency of homes
• Increased supply of high-quality affordable housing
• Residents living independently for longer
• Reduced numbers of empty homes across the District

The report pack says that the strategy is intended to support the delivery of the corporate priorities relating to housing in the council's corporate plan.

It goes on to describe the council's plans to meet each of these four priorities.

In particular, it describes plans to build new council housing through the 'Bolsover Homes' programme, using the council-owned Dragonfly Development Ltd, and plans to work with private developers to increase the number of properties in the council's ownership. It describes a new 'First Homes' scheme developed in partnership with Homes England, to provide affordable homes for sale to local and key workers.

It also describes plans to reduce the number of empty homes in the district, including increasing the Council Tax premium for empty properties and exploring the possibility of leasing empty homes to operate on the private rented market.

The report pack contains a summary of 56 responses to a consultation on the strategy. 89% of respondents agreed that Providing good quality housing should be a priority for the strategy, 61% agreed with Enabling housing growth, 80% agreed with Supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged people and 94% agreed with Maintaining and improving property and housing management standards.

Tenancy Strategy 2024-2029

The report pack contains a draft of a new Tenancy Strategy. This sets out how the council intends to provide social housing in the district and provides guidance to Registered Providers of social housing on the tenancies that the council wants to see in the district.

The document is a significant update to the previous strategy, which was published in 2018, to take account of changes to the law and to good practice.

The report pack says that it is a legal requirement for the council to produce a Tenancy Strategy, and to keep it under review.

The Council is required to produce a Tenancy Strategy as per the Localism Act 2011, and to keep said document under regular review.

The proposed strategy says that, although the council wants to make sure that tenants are provided with secure, stable homes, it will use non-secure tenancies in some circumstances. These include:

• Temporary accommodation provided to homeless applicants during the first 56 days of their application
• Accommodation provided after the council has made a decision on a homelessness application, but where the applicant has complex needs and the council does not have any other suitable accommodation

The strategy says that all other council tenants will be given secure tenancies.

The draft strategy goes on to describe the council's approach to social housing reforms that have taken place in recent years, and provides guidance to Registered Providers of housing in the district on implementing them. In particular, it discusses:

• Affordable Rent
• Fixed Term Tenancies
• Mutual Exchanges
• Succession rights

The strategy says that the council will not be using fixed term tenancies because it is concerned about the effect this would have on the security of tenants' homes.

The Council will not be using fixed term tenancies for their own housing stock due to concerns that the sustainability of communities will be adversely affected, and that tenants will not have the opportunity of a settled and secure home.

However, the document recognises that Registered Providers may decide to use fixed term tenancies, and sets out the council's expectations for how this should be implemented. These include:

• The minimum term should be 5 years except in exceptional circumstances
• Households with children should be granted a tenancy that lasts at least until the youngest child finishes full time education.
• Fixed term tenancies should not be used to manage rent arrears or anti-social behaviour.

The draft strategy says that the council wants to support the use of Mutual Exchanges because it believes they can help to reduce under-occupancy, overcrowding and unemployment. However, it wants to make sure that tenants understand the implications of a mutual exchange before they agree to one. In particular, it says that tenants should be aware that this could mean:

• A change in their security of tenure
• A change in rent
• A change in service charge
• A gain or loss of the right to buy their home

The report pack says that the strategy was developed in consultation with Registered Providers.

Council Plan Targets Performance Report - July to September 2024 (Q2)

The report pack contained the second quarter performance report for the period July to September 2024.

It summarises the council's performance against its targets and those of Dragonfly, a company wholly owned by the council.

The report highlights a number of projects and programmes that the council is delivering, including:

• An employee engagement programme
• The Shirebrook Market Place: REimagined project
• A number of initiatives to support the arts and the visitor economy
• A retrofit green skills hub
• A crematorium and wake facility
• The Bolsover Homes programme, to build new council housing

The report says that:

• 32 out of 33 council plan targets were on track at the end of the second quarter.
• 30 out of 37 Dragonfly KPIs had a positive outturn at the end of the second quarter

Granicus GovService Contract Renewal

The report pack included a report seeking endorsement of the Chief Executive's decision to renew the council's contract for Granicus GovService.

GovService is an ICT system that provides a number of services to the council, including:

• A customer relationship management system
• A self-service portal for customers to report issues, pay for services and apply for things
• A system to manage internal forms and processes

The current contract is due to expire on the 4th December 2024. Granicus offered the council a three-year contract extension at a discounted price, through the GCloud 13 framework.

The Council’s current contract is due to expire on 4th December 2024; we were offered the opportunity to secure a new, three-year contract on the GCloud 13 framework which is soon to be replaced with GCloud 14. This needed to be signed by mid-November.

The new contract would cost a total of £142,350 over three years, but the council would have had to pay more for the service if it had waited until after the current contract had expired.

The report pack says that the Chief Executive used her delegated powers to renew the contract because it needed to be signed before this meeting of the Executive.

It goes on to say that the council intends to carry out a full review of its ICT systems in the near future, but that renewing the contract will give it more time to plan and implement any new systems.

CivicaPay Bos Contract Renewal

The report pack included a report seeking endorsement of the Chief Executive's decision to renew the council's contract for CivicaPay Bos.

CivicaPay Bos is an ICT system that the council uses to process payments made online, over the phone and at contact centres.

The Council uses CivicaPay to process any payment at a contact centre, over the phone, via the automated telephone line or online.

The current contract is due to expire on the 21st of November 2024. Civica offered the council a three year contract extension, at a discount of £5,000 per year.

The report pack says that renewing the contract will give the council more time to review its ICT systems.

The new contract would cost £319,745 over three years. The report pack says that the Joint ICT Service already has sufficient funds in its budget to cover the costs of the new contract.

Like the contract for GovService, the Chief Executive used her delegated powers to renew the contract for CivicaPay Bos because it needed to be signed before this meeting of the Executive.

Medium-Term Financial Plan - Revised Budgets 2024/25

The report pack included an update to the council's Medium-Term Financial Plan, to take account of recent events. This included revised budgets for 2024/25 for the General Fund, the Housing Revenue Account and the Capital Programme.

The revised general fund budget was scheduled to show a balanced budget. It proposes a net cost of services of £16,703,000, a net contribution of £1,808,000 from reserves and balances, a net contribution of £1,870,000 to the NNDR Growth Protection Reserve and a requirement for £19,291,000 of funding from council tax, business rates and government grants.

The report pack contains a lot of detail about the reasons for the changes that were proposed since the original budget was set. It highlights in particular:

• The settlement of the 2024/25 Local Government Services pay agreement, which cost less than the council had anticipated.
• The need for an increase to the budget for diesel.
• The receipt of additional funding from the government in the form of business rates and grant funding.
• A reduction in the anticipated costs for gas and electricity.
• An increase in the council's insurance premiums.

The report pack contains a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget for each of the council's cost centres, including a breakdown of the proposed spending on Dragonfly's services. It also proposes budgets for other sources of income and expenditure, such as debt charges and Parish Precepts.

The revised Housing Revenue Account budget is also scheduled to show a balanced budget. It proposes a net cost of services of £8,561,725 and a total of £8,561,725 to cover these costs from appropriations such as the Major Repairs Allowance, capital interest costs and depreciation. It says that the council will make a contribution of £1,586,706 from earmarked reserves to ensure that the account remains in balance.

Like the General Fund budget, the report pack contains a detailed breakdown of the proposed budget for each cost centre, showing the split between the council's own services and those provided by Dragonfly.

The report pack also contains a revised Capital Programme for 2024/25, with a total budget of £34,969,687.

The Council’s capital programme is shown in Appendix 5. It has been updated from the original budgets to reflect approvals within the year and the profiling of the individual schemes following approved changes by Members and from detailed discussions with budget officers.

The report pack contains a breakdown of the budget by directorate, showing the split between spending on the General Fund and spending on the Housing Revenue Account. It also shows the sources of funding for the capital programme, such as borrowing, reserves and external funding.

The report pack says that the revised programme does not propose any changes to the way the programme will be financed.

It says that, although the accounts are forecast to be in balance, the council will need to keep a close eye on spending on the Housing Revenue Account in the future to make sure that it remains sustainable.