Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Clucas

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 12 July  2016

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 July were approved and signed as a correct record.

There were none.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing

The Cabinet Member Housing introduced the report and reminded Members that in April 2012 the Government introduced a self-financing model for the Housing Revenue Account and allowed Councils to retain their Right to Buy receipts on the understanding that these receipts must be used to deliver new affordable housing. The Council’s preferred approach was to use the receipts for delivering new build on council-owned land as this option provided the greatest value for money. He emphasised however that this option could be complex and thus the timing of delivery could be uncertain which was not ideal given that these receipts have to be spent within strict deadlines otherwise must be repaid to the Government. This was outlined in paragraph 2.1 of the report. Appendix 2 illustrated the unpredictable rate at which Right to Buy receipts were received as well as the amount received over any given period.

The Cabinet Member went on to explain that in view of this it was proposed that the Council kept open the alternative option of using the receipts to purchase homes from the open market, which would then be converted to affordable housing. This would ensure that repayments of receipts to the Government could be avoided. He highlighted however that this option remained secondary to the preferred option of using the receipts for delivering new build on council-owned land.

Finally, the Cabinet Member Housing informed that a proposal for a generic policy to address the issue would be submitted to Council in due course.

Members supported the proposal to maximise the use of Right to Buy receipts acknowledging the lack of available rented housing and in particular social housing as well as the serious constraints for development in Cheltenham.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The Head of Property and Asset Management ( in consultation with the section 151 Officer) be authorised to purchase dwellings that are considered to be suitable for use as affordable housing (in accordance with  the parameters as set out within Section 4.4 of this report), subject to a total cap on the consideration paid of £0.5 million (this is additional to the £1m already authorised by Cabinet in November 2015);

2.    The Borough Solicitor be authorised to negotiate and complete such documents as she deems necessary or desirable to conclude the transactions negotiated by the Head of Property and Asset Management under Resolution 1 above;

3.    the Section 151 Officer be authorised to use the Right to Buy receipts where necessary to fund the acquisition of the properties purchased under Resolution 1 above.

Report of the Cabinet Member Development and Safety

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety introduced the report which sought permission under Schedule 3A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to designate land by order on which the council could control the distribution of free printed matter. The distribution of free printed matter was a particular problem (but not exclusively) for the council during raceweek due to the amount of litter it generated. He referred to the charging arrangements outlined in Appendix 2 of the report and the map which proposed the order to cover the entire town centre and the Evesham Road up to the racecourse. It was hoped that, assuming the consultation went well, the order would be implemented by November. He said the council would be in a position to process applications within one week and was confident that it would improve the situation in the town centre.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the proposed designation of land as outlined in Appendix 2 be approved;

2.    authority be delegated to the Director of Environment to publish the necessary notices in accordance with paragraph 2(4) of schedule three of the Environmental Protection Act 1990;

3.    subject to there being no objections received:

a.    the proposed fees and charging structure set out in Appendix 2 be approved ;

b.    the adoption of the proposed conditions set out in Appendix 2 be approved;

c.    the Director of Environment (in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Development and Safety) be delegated authority to do whatever is necessary to implement the designation of land including authority to:

                                          i.    publish notices of the decision in accordance with paragraph 2(6) of schedule three of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and

                                        ii.    designate officers as authorised persons under Schedule 3A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety referred to the briefing note attached to the agenda with regard to 159 Fairview Road and the Banksy Mural. He hoped that this provided a clear outline of the history of the issue and demonstrated that the council was doing everything reasonable to address the problem.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services referred to the announcement made by the Boundary Commission with regard to parliamentary boundary changes. He emphasised that this did not affect local authority boundaries but in terms of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire a number of seats were being moved which meant that Springbank ward would now come under Tewkesbury. He reported that the council would be formulating a response to the consultation in due course.

The Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment informed that the consultation on waste and recycling had now closed and a total of 1800 responses had been received which was an unprecedented rate. He expressed his gratitude for the feedback which was mixed in nature. He envisaged that a report would be brought to Cabinet on the redesign of the service by the end of the year with the main driver being to improve the service as much as possible.

The Leader informed that he had updated Overview and Scrutiny at its meeting last night on the current position with regard to devolution. He explained that the position was unclear due to the new Government however work was ongoing at a local level. He was proposing to convene a Member seminar so all Members could be briefed on any developments.

The Cabinet 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 paragraphs 3 and 5, 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

ITEM WITHDRAWN