Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillors Clucas and Hegenbarth

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 2018

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 April were approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

In the absence of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services the Leader introduced the report and explained that on 25 May 2018 the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and a new Data Protection Act and related legislation came into force. A temporary arrangement had been put in place leading up to this Cabinet decision. The new Data Protection Policy at appendix 2 applied to all users who handled information and personal data held by Cheltenham Borough Council, including personal data of our service users. The policy applied to all employees, Members and processors of personal data held by the Council. It did not apply to Members handling their own data or data as part of their political work.  A process for Members to register was taking place separately to this.

RESOLVED THAT

1.   the new Data Protection Policy be approved.

2.   Authority be delegated to the Director of Resources and Corporate Projects to vary the existing s101 Share Service arrangement between the Council, Gloucester City Council and One Legal (Tewkesbury Borough Council) to;

-     Include undertaking the statutory function of the Data Protection Officer (DPO) under the Data Protection legislation and;

-     the Council’s Borough Solicitor be designated as the DPO for the Council.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing

The Cabinet Member Housing introduced the report and explained that CBH took over the management of the council’s Housing Options Service in December 2013, following approval by Cabinet in June 2013 to transfer the service from the council to CBH. Throughout this period the Housing Options Service had been delivered from Cheltenham First Stop on the High Street. Following the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act in April 2018, Additional Burdens Funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and local Government (MHCLG) had been used to provide additional staffing within the Housing Options Team to support the requirement to provide additional duties/services to households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. This increase in staff, in combination with an estimated increase in the number of households likely to present to the Housing Options Service in housing need, means that it is now necessary to move this service to larger, more suitable accommodation. The proposed move to the municipal officers would support these requirements, by better meeting the team’s back office needs, whilst also providing a larger reception area and more interview room space to households in housing need.

The Cabinet Member wished to pay tribute to the work of the housing options team and explained how key its partnership with One Stop and CCP was.

In response to a question the Cabinet Member confirmed that whilst the details were being finalised this move meant that there was a single point of contact  in reception for the public for the housing options team.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The relocation of the Housing Option Service from Cheltenham First Stop, High Street to the Municipal Offices be approved.

2.    Authority be delegated to the Lead Commissioner – Housing Services, in consultation with Cabinet Member – Housing to approve any further changes to these proposals, should this become necessary in order to meet future customer requirements.

3.    It be noted that the lease to CBH will be granted at a peppercorn rent.

The Leader informed that the council had received confirmation from House of Fraser that it intended to keep Cavendish House open. This was good news for the town and as this store was an important part of the retail offer the council would offer its assistance in helping the business maintain its presence in the town.

The Leader reported that the appointment of representatives to outside bodies would be considered at July Cabinet. Should there be no consensus among the political groups on a particular appointment a report would be taken to the July Council meeting.