Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies received from Councillor Hegenbarth

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2019

The minutes of the last meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on Wednesday 8 May 2019.

Report of the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles introduced the report and recognised that the council was very lucky to have so many volunteers willing to be part of activities where they can make a positive difference to the town.

She explained that a new volunteer policy was proposed that would ensure that the experience of those who volunteered was a safe and positive one, with the right amount of support and supervision. The policy was supported by a volunteer handbook and application forms for both individuals wanting to volunteer for CBC and groups wanting to provide volunteers.

The Leader highlighted the important role that volunteers played to the benefit of the town as a whole.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the following be adopted :

·         The NCVO definition of volunteering (see section 1.4)

·         Cheltenham Borough Council’s Volunteer Policy (appendix 2)

·         Individual (appendix 3) and Group (appendix 4) volunteering application forms

·         Cheltenham Borough Council’s handbook for volunteers (appendix 5)

2.    the Strategy and Engagement Manager be authorised to keep the Policy and supporting documentation under review and make such changes as are necessary to reflect best practice as well as legal and operational requirements

Report of the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles introduced the report and said that there was a growing body of evidence that culture was central to the growth of any town. The council now wished to ensure that in Cheltenham that potential was captured and has supported the creation of a culture board for Cheltenham. Its purpose was to collaboratively define and deliver cultural impact; positioning Cheltenham’s cultural offer further locally, regionally, nationally and internationally; therefore engaging diverse audiences and developing the cultural offer with ambition and conviction. The scope would also include a consideration of the opportunity that sport could provide in taking forward this purpose.

The Cabinet Member reported that the Cheltenham Culture Board now wished to support the development of a cultural strategy for Cheltenham and the report set out the purpose of having this strategy and a number of recommendations to facilitate its development.

The Leader highlighted that culture was a key part of the economic growth of the town and welcomed the proposals.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the council works with the Cheltenham Culture Board to develop a cultural strategy in line with the mandate attached as appendix 2 for future adoption by the council. The draft strategy will be brought to Cabinet for agreement.

2.    the council carries out the procurement of external support for the development of the cultural strategy in line with the attached brief attached as appendix 3 noting that the award of the contract will be carried out by the Executive Director for People and Change in accordance with the council’s scheme of delegation of functions.

3.    the council commits £35k as an initial commitment towards funding the cultural strategy for Cheltenham.

Report of the Leader

The Leader introduced the report and reminded Members that one strand under the Place Vision which had been adopted by the council in 2018 was to support the thriving business and workforce agenda. Whilst the council had been working with the BID and the Cheltenham Development Task Force there was no overarching link with business. This was work in progress, but to support this agenda the council now wished to collaborate closely with key business sectors and proposed to do this through the establishment of a Cheltenham Growth Board.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    a Cheltenham Growth Board be established to drive the economic growth agenda for Cheltenham

2.    authority be delegated to the Director of Planning, in consultation with the Leader of the Council to prepare Terms of Reference for the Cheltenham Growth Board and to bring a report back to Cabinet for approval following initial meetings with the new Board.

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles informed Cabinet that following the major conference on No Child Left Behind work had been ongoing with local communities and organisations to ensure all children in Cheltenham take part in cultural and other activities. She also reported that she had recently made a decision to allocate £15,000 to support the employment of the Inspiring Families project co-ordinator who would be working directly with those most at risk.

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles also reported that she had been developing new links with the new Chief Executive at the Cheltenham Trust.

The Cabinet Member Finance informed the meeting that CBC was a finalist in the MJ awards for best commercial council and would face an interview panel on 26 June.

The Cabinet Member Housing reported that MHCLG had been out to consultation on

structures that supported partnership working and accountability in homelessness. He would circulate the council’s response which had received input from the housing and support forum.

Finally, the Leader reported that he had submitted a response to the Williams Rail review following conversations with members of the previous railway working group.

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 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)

Report of the Cabinet Member Development and Safety

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety introduced the report and highlighted that the decision to acquire land at West Cheltenham was key to Cheltenham’s Place and Housing investment strategies. The first phase would allow the safeguarding of land for the expansion of GCHQ and delivery of a Cyber Innovation centre, this was key to the future of the town over the long term.

He explained that the cost of acquiring the freehold interest of the land, which was within the Joint Core Strategy strategic allocation, was £37.5m within a total budget allocation (agreed by Council in February 2019) of £44m which included ancillary costs.

He reported that the council had commissioned independent real estate consultants, Savills, to advise on the acquisition strategy and to determine a reasonable price to pay for the land. An independent review of this advice was undertaken by Avison Young.  Whilst this concluded that a premium was being paid for the land there was a strong economic and strategic case to justify the purchase at this price. A subsequent internal Gate Review carefully considered all the supporting evidence and determined the economic benefits of the Council pursuing this deal far outweighed the financial risk in renegotiating the terms or withdrawing from the deal and thus recommending proceeding at the purchase price of £37.5m.

The Cabinet Member highlighted that the capacity of M5 junction 10 was a key priority for the council and Gloucestershire as a whole. Confirmation of whether there would be Government funding was expected in the autumn. The timeframe of investment in the junction was vital to the deliverability of the development.

The Cabinet Member then made reference to the fact that throughout the document that reference to Hesters Way should actually read “Hesters Way and Springbank”.

Finally, the Cabinet Member highlighted that this represented a good financial decision for the council and whilst it represented a complex purchase, having taken advice to proceed it was a vital decision with a longer term strategic goal.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The acquisition for development of up to 112 acres of land allocated for employment and residential uses at West Cheltenham for £37,500,000 be approved.  The purchase will be unconditional and comprise the freehold interest in the land with Vacant Possession.

2.    Authority be delegated to the Managing Director Place and Growth, in consultation with the Cabinet Member Development & Safety and Executive Director Finance and Assets to negotiate any further terms as considered appropriate in advance of the exchange of contracts for acquisition of the land.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and provided the background to the proposal.

Members welcomed the proposal which represented a good way forward for the town.

RESOLVED THAT

The recommendations be approved.