Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Harman, Hibbert, Holliday, Lansley, Stennett, Stewart and Wall.

Councillors C Hay, Driver, Smith and Williams declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Agenda item 13 as CBH Board members.

Councillor Massey declared a personal interest in agenda item 14 as a member of the CESG Listed Advisor Scheme’

5 September 2013

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 September 2013 were approved and signed as a correct record.

The Mayor informed members that she had attended the opening of the refurbished gym at Leisure@. She then informed Members that she had attended the launch of the new Art Gallery and Museum “The Wilson” and paid tribute to the hard work of Jane Lilystone, the Museum and Arts Manager and Councillor Rowena Hay, Cabinet Member Sport and Culture. This was now a very impressive art gallery and museum and something which Cheltenham should be proud of. The Wilson had received 1600 visitors on Saturday with 500 coming through its doors on both Sunday and Monday. The Heritage Lottery Fund had thanked the Council for its excellent bid and its spectacular building. The Chair of the Arts Council for England had also been very impressed with the Wilson. This was positive news for the town.

Later in the Council proceedings the Mayor asked Councillors to stand for a moments silence in memory of Honorary Alderman Les Freeman who had recently passed away.

The Leader of the Council reiterated the thanks already expressed to those who had contributed to “The Wilson” which was a great asset to the town.

Members were informed that the Leisure and Culture Trust was now looking for 11 trustees, 2 of which would be members of council. A no obligation drop-in session would take place on 16 October for those interested to obtain further information.

The Leader paid tribute to the excellent floral displays in the town this year.

Reference was made to the LGA’s “Rewiring Public Services” document and members were informed that the LGA would be hosting a seminar on this on 12 November in Taunton. He would be sending the invitation to the event to group leaders. He believed an all party approach to this was essential as it concerned local government’s response to central government with regard to the local government finance settlement.

The Leader also referred to a recent erroneous article in the Echo stating that the Police would be having a presence in the Municipal Offices on the Promenade. The council had received an apology from the Police & Crime Commissioner as this was not the case. The Council was keen to work with the police on accommodation but consideration would need to be given with regards to timing and location issues.

The Leader reported that the council had received an unqualified opinion for the Statement of Accounts and the Audit Committee had complimented the GO partnership for the work it had done on its behalf.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on the fourth working day before the date of the meeting

None received.

**Please note that the debate on a petition received on the 23 August 2013 has now been postponed to the special Council meeting scheduled for Monday 18 November at the request of the petitioner **

Members noted that the discussion on the petition regarding the Cheltenham Transport Plan had been postponed to the special meeting of Council to be held on Monday 18 November at the request of the petitioners.

None have been received by the deadline.

None received.

None received.

The Mayor informed Members that she had agreed to take an item as urgent business as it was deemed to be sufficiently significant to the Authority’s operations so as to justify its consideration as an urgent item of business at the meeting. This would be discussed in exempt session as Agenda Item 14.

The Council is recommended to approve the following resolution:-

“That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 3; Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular

person (including the authority holding that information)

RESOLVED

“That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 3; Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular

person (including the authority holding that information)

Paragraph 5; Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety

Having declared personal and prejudicial interests in this item Councillors Driver, C Hay, Smith and Williams left the room and did not participate in the debate.

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety introduced the report and explained that this constituted the last strand of work in the St Paul’s regeneration project. Prior to the construction phase commencing, this report concerned funding allocations and approval required, including loan arrangements.

In terms of overall project loan finance, CBC would apply for this via the Public Works Loan Board and then advance these funds with the appropriate agreements in place to CBH. Repayment of this finance would be met from the net rental income over the longer term.

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety referred to concerns previously expressed by Members relating to the risk of losing the HCA grant. He reported that this risk remained until the project was complete. This was due to the fact that there was a different mechanism for paying the grant. He reassured Members that all possible factors that could result in delays had been identified and were being monitored via robust project management.

The Cabinet Member paid tribute to the hard work being undertaken by CBH officers on this project and made reference to the award CBH had received at a national housing awards ceremony. He also highlighted the fact that CBH had obtained finance of nearly £4 million in a very difficult financial climate.

In response to a question the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety clarified that the term of the loan period was 40 years.

A member paid tribute to the work CBH had done in levering in funding and suggested that CBH be involved in the JCS policy to raise more affordable housing in the town. In response the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety explained that CBH was currently looking at its whole strategy to add to its housing stock.

RESOLVED THAT

1.      The use of £100,000 from usable capital receipts arising from HRA asset disposals that the Council has previously resolved to apply to the provision of affordable housing be approved. This subsidy is to be used to support the affordable housing build element of the St Paul’s Phase two development

2.      The Authority sourcing loan finance of up to £2.3m from the Public Works Loan Board be approved and that the sums be advanced to CBH to be used for the construction of the affordable housing units to be comprised within the St Paul’s phase two development. And that a payment guarantee be authorised to the contractor in respect of the building contract.

3.      A loan agreement be entered into with CBH to a maximum of £2.3m, repayable from the net rental stream from the affordable housing properties

4.      The use of an additional £50,000 be approved from usable capital receipts arising from HRA asset disposals that the Council has previously resolved to apply to the provision of affordable housing for the site assembly, thus increasing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

Councillor Garnham had brought this as an urgent item to Council because of the urgent nature of the content of the letter from the Cabinet Office dated 19 September 2013 in which it was made clear that Cheltenham Borough Council’s access to the PSN network could be switched off within 24 hours of the date of the Council meeting.

The Mayor confirmed to Members that she was of the opinion that the ICT network issue relating to the council’s PSN submission was sufficiently significant to the authority’s operations so as to justify its consideration as an urgent item of business at the meeting. It was agreed that Members could speak more than once in the debate.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report and updated Members on the current position regarding PSN compliance. He explained that an extensive note had been separately issued which alerted public sector organisations to resourcing issues in the Cabinet Office. This note referred to 300+ organisations which needed extensive support to achieve compliance and that there was no immediate risk to suspension of PSN where there was genuine appetite and realistic plans to achieve compliance.

The Cabinet Member then highlighted the following:

• Access to the PSN allowed emails to be received and transmitted via the Government Connect Secure Extranet (GCSX). It was a requirement of the government that access should only be allowed if users completed an annual compliance assessment 
• The PSN rules required users to be compliant with a range of standards and criteria, when they are, they can use the GCSX to send and receive emails within an encrypted framework.
• The authority had been using GCSX as a method to transfer restricted data electronically since April 2009 and completed two previous assessments without issue.
• ICT Shared Service had been working on the current compliance submission and associated infrastructure work since April of this year with the compliance team for the Cabinet Office. Despite this, the Cabinet Office still issued formal warning letters to remind councils of deadlines.
• The management of the PSN compliance process and evidential requirements have changed substantially since last year which meant that the council had to provide significantly more evidence that the same ICT infrastructure, which had previously complied, still complied.
• The goalposts were moving on a continual basis with new guidance being provided on unmanaged end point devices as late as August 2013 which ICT responded to by amending its processes and guidance to remote workers connecting in to the council.
• He explained that this had therefore been a challenging process and had highlighted some key concerns for both officers and members and that there was a need to ensure that there was earlier engagement with the compliance team to address issues well ahead of the deadlines. He was confident that the new ICT shared service would ensure this happened.
• The Cabinet Member noted that that this had been a particularly challenging year for the ICT team and the more complex and stringent process had been adhered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.