Agenda, decisions and minutes

None.

Councillor Colin Hay declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 8 as a Board Member of Cheltenham Borough Homes.

None - minutes of Cabinet of 13 October 2011 will be approved at the next meeting.

There were no minutes to be approved.

The deadline for public questions has been extended in view of the public interest in a number of items on the agenda. Any public questions must now be received by post or email by 10 am on Thursday 13 October. Questions should be sent to Democratic Services at the Municipal Offices or emailed to [email protected]. You must be a registered elector in the borough and need to supply your name and address but your address will not be made public.

Please phone 01242 774937 if you need more information.

The public questions and responses, together with supplementary questions and answers follow:

Report of the Cabinet Member Sustainability

Cllr Driver was invited to address the meeting. She explained that she was speaking on behalf of the Glensanda Court Residents Association (GCRA). GCRA was concerned that Cabinet would take a decision about the use of Montpellier Gardens for Festivals in 2012 before it had been able to assess the environmental damage caused to the Gardens by the 2011 Literature Festival.

GCRA were concerned that it had not been consulted about the planned build programme for the 2011 Literature Festival,that guidelines for working hours were either not stipulated or were ignored causing unreasonable disturbance to residents, that guidelines for noise levels during construction were either not stipulated or not enforced and that there had not been a hotline telephone facility provided by the Festivals or their construction contractor.

GCRA were thus seeking assurances from CBC that, if CBC decided to allow Cheltenham Festivals to use Montpellier Gardens again in 2012, conditions of the permitted use would include:

a. Full and timely consultation with GCRA to allow GCRA views to be considered when plans are finalised by Cheltenham Festivals.

b. Guidelines for working hours would be issued and enforced by CBC.

c. Guidelines for noise levels would be issued and enforced by CBC.

d. A hotline telephone facility would be provided by Cheltenham Festivals for use during construction and use periods.

In response the Cabinet Member Sustainability explained that timescales had not enabled the impact of the 2011 Literature Festival to be assessed prior to a decision being made on the 2012 Festival. An assessment had been made based on the difficulties experienced in Imperial Gardens in 2010 which informed the proposal in the future. He acknowledged that GCRA should have been consulted and going forward consultation would take place with residents surrounding the park. He suggested that if there was a proliferation of interested parties then it may be more appropriate for residents to nominate a spokesperson.

In terms of working hours and noise levels the Cabinet Member Sustainability referred to the answers given to the first public question addressed to this Cabinet meeting. It was a difficult issue as the shorter in the morning and evening that there were restrictions on timings for erecting tents then there would be more demand for days to allow that process to take place. He explained that Environmental Health had been involved in working closely with gardens hirers to ensure noise was kept to acceptable levels. In terms of setting up a hotline he undertook to talk to Cheltenham Festivals as the council was not in direct control of the events. He also undertook, in collaboration with officers, to look at the proximity of properties to the site.

The Cabinet Member referred to the public question regarding concerns on usage and whether this complied with conditions for which the Heritage Lottery Fund had awarded funding. He quoted the Heritage Lottery Fund “So far as the use of the gardens for the Cheltenham Festival are concerned, we agree in principle to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Cabinet Member Built Environment

The Cabinet Member Built Environment referred to the Council recommendation of 10 October for Cabinet to appoint Augur Buchler Partners Limited as the preferred bidder to undertake the redevelopment of North Place and Portland Street sites. The Cheltenham Development Task Force also unanimously made the same recommendation at its meeting on 14 October. He explained that the recommendation was a result of a competitive tendering process based on the development brief. 9 formal bids had been received and on the basis of an objective scoring matrix 5 were invited to participate in a competitive dialogue process at which point 1 bidder withdrew. From the 4 bids received two schemes scored much higher than the others and were invited to submit a formal tender. The two schemes were from Salmon Harvester and Augur Buchler. Due to commercial reasons Salmon Harvester subsequently withdrew their bid. Augur Buchler and CBC agreed to continue the process with the Augur Buchler bid meeting both the design brief and financial requirements. The proposed scheme would deliver a broad mix of uses for the site including public parking, housing and environmental improvements. It would complete the masterplan for Cheltenham by providing a green route from Montpellier through to Pittville.

The Cabinet Member Built Environment made reference to the public consultation and Cabinet was well aware of the concerns that had been expressed concerning traffic, parking and land uses. The traffic impact would be measured and modelled and impact assessments would be undertaken on the proposed retail, hotel and parking provision via the planning process. There would be an opportunity for further consultation at the planning stage. The Council was obliged by law to achieve best consideration for its land and leading property valuers GVA had been engaged to certify that best consideration had been achieved.

Members welcomed the proposed high class development. The Leader explained that the process had followed an efficient timetable and had been years in preparation. The public had had an opportunity to comment on the development brief in 2010.It was a difficult balance to meet, what the landowner wished to see and what a developer would be prepared to build. Nothing else had been brought up at the design brief stage and Augur Buchler had a high quality design and was one bidder of an originally large field.

The Cabinet Member Built Environment wished to put on record his thanks to Members of the Development Task Force which included members of the business community and local amenity groups and its chair Mr Graham Garbutt.

RESOLVED to :

1. appoint Augur Buchler Partners Limited as the preferred bidder to undertake the redevelopment of  the North Place and Portland Street sites (the Sites) having considered the recommendation of Council on 10 October 2011 and taking into account the advice of the Cheltenham Development Task Force

2. delegate authority to the Head of Property Services in consultation with the Borough Solicitor to:

i)                    conclude the documentation necessary to appoint Augur Buchler Partners Limited as the preferred bidder;

ii)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety introduced the report and thanked members of the working group and officers for their work. She explained that the cross party working group had been set up in response to the wide scale changes being set out in the Localism and Welfare Reform Bills. The working group gave members and officers the opportunity to look into the various challenges which the legislative changes pose, to identify risk to the council and for residents, and to identify ways for the council to consider moving forward.

The Cabinet Member highlighted Appendix 3 which outlined the various challenges and opportunities coming from the Localism Bill, the Affordable Homes Programme, Welfare Reform, Supporting People and the self financing HRA. A number of housing related risks were on the corporate risk register. Of particular concern to task group members was the impact of the welfare reform bill and its associated risks, the affordability of the private sector and the fact that the changes to Local Housing Allowance would make this sector less accessible and less affordable, the impact of reductions in the Supporting People budget and the associated revised supporting people strategy. CBC would be working closely with CBH to ensure the needs of tenants in sheltered housing would continue to be supported. The Supporting People risk had been added to the corporate risk register.

Key opportunities for the Council were provided by the Housing Revenue Account Reforms and members valued the member seminar held on the subject to develop its understanding of the subject as part of the overall package of changes affecting housing.

Cabinet was being asked to support the principle of development of a housing and homelessness strategy which would deal with complex and cross cutting issues. The issue of Social Housing Tenure reform would be dealt with in the emerging tenancy strategy which would be part of the housing and homelessness strategy. The theme of this was to make best use of existing stock, whilst at the same time supporting balanced communities.

Moving forward, the Cabinet Member proposed that the working group meet again to consider the housing and homelessness strategy before it is submitted to Cabinet for approval early next year and once the HRA business plan had been through the consultation with tenants and stakeholders.

The Leader of the Council wished to put on record his thanks to the working group which had undertaken some very useful work.

RESOLVED that :

1.      the recommendations of the review group as set out in appendix 2 be endorsed and built into workplans.

2.      the principle of the development of a housing and homelessness strategy which incorporates the review groups findings for consideration by Cabinet in March 2012 be endorsed.

3.      the outcomes framework as set out at appendix 4 be endorsed as a basis for consultation with stakeholders and be used to inform the development of the housing and homelessness strategy.
 

4.      the Housing Review Member Working Group continues to meet to support the development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety

Having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this item Councillor Colin Hay left the room and did not participate in the debate.

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development highlighted that there were major changes in social housing including the introduction of a new housing finance system, changes to Welfare reform and changes in provision of funding for new social housing.

He explained that under the new housing finance system CBC would borrow an amount at which the housing stock was valued minus current housing debt, and pay a one off capital amount back to central government funded by borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board. This would mean the Council would have control over how rental income was spent locally. This could over the next 10 years make the Council £15.4m better off at today’s values. This would then enable the Council to invest a net amount of £12.2m.

The business plan advocated the following approach to spending this:

• Continue with new build – particularly involving St Paul’s phase two at Crabtree Place, Cakebridge Place and Garage sites.
• Invest in existing stock and in particular to improve local environments such as Neighbourhood works
• Improve services to tenants – particularly to invest in community development initiatives in order to address anti-social behaviour, financial exclusion and unemployment.

The business plan also had took account of:

• Rent restructuring – this would continue with the expectation that all rents would be at the Government formula level by 2015/16 and thereafter increase at RPI plus 0.5%.
• The introduction of affordable rents (80% of private sector market housing) with which to finance new build – in future the Homes and Communities Agency will insist that if councils and Housing Associations are to ‘qualify’ for HCA funding they must operate on the basis of affordable rents.
• Changes to the benefits system. This was of the greatest concern as Government policy was set to increase rents at the same time as reducing benefits, and over 70% of tenants were in receipt of benefits.

The Cabinet Member welcomed the autonomy that the Council would have which would enable it to continue the new-build initiated in St Paul’s five years ago, and improve the quality of life for CBH tenants as a result. He also wished to thank officers and those at CBH for their valuable contributions to this work.

Bob Dagger, Assistant Chief Executive CBH informed Cabinet of two recent policy announcements. Firstly, there would be a discounted rate of 85 basis points below the prevailing rate for local authority borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board. This would provide additional confidence to the social housing market. Secondly, the right to buy discount had been increased to make it more attractive to council housing tenants who wished to buy their homes. The money raised from the sales would be used to repay debt and reinvest in new affordable homes.

Significant changes to council housing finance meant that the Council could be innovative in its housing.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community explained that the name of the Single Advice Contract had changed to the Advice and Inclusion contract.

He explained that the current contract expired on 31^st March 2012. The intention was to let the contract for 3 years plus a further 2 years subject to satisfactory performance.

Changes to the benefits system would mean an increase in the need for housing advice for private sector tenants particularly with the changes recently announced in terms of housing benefit for single people under 35 which would compel them to share accommodation, and the reduction in the amount of local housing allowance available from 50% of local market rents to 30%.

The Cabinet Member reported that more focus had been given to the contract and the amount available had been reduced from £155k to £130k.

The key outcomes were to prevent homelessness, to reduce debt and prevent future debt arising, to ensure the rights of people are protected in respect of rights to benefits and to support the most vulnerable.

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety informed Cabinet that this approach had been discussed by the Housing Review group. It had welcomed the focus on new priorities and the streamlining of the contract.

RESOLVED that

The Director of Built Environment be authorised to re-tender this contract, as the ‘Advice & Inclusion Contract’, for a term of 3 years from April 1^st 2012, plus a further 2 years, subject to satisfactory performance and available finance.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development introduced the report and explained that there was a projected overspend of £476k this year. To address this there was a freeze on Supplies and Services spending and a freeze on staff recruitment subject to various criteria.

The following key issues had been identified :

• not yet being able to save the £80k on salaries budgeted for as resources had been cut to the minimum already.
• there was a shortfall in parking income of a projected £104k (para2.4.6) which was being experienced nationally as a direct result of the recession.
• there was a shortfall of £110k in refuse collection – mainly in Trade Waste and attributable to the recession although a projected increase in recycling income of £100k should partly offset this.
• there was a projected shortfall of £306k against budget for the Green Waste collection system and this was being addressed.

The Cabinet Member reported that whilst the recession clearly had an impact on the generation of income, collection rates of both business rates and Council tax was currently ahead of target.

The Cabinet Member was optimistic that the gap could be addressed without having to fall back on reserves but there were structural implications on next year’s budget of a couple of these figures which would have to be paid particular attention to.

The Leader of the Council paid tribute to the continued hard work undertaken by officers to address these issues. Cabinet wished to thank the officers for this work and praised the way that efficiency savings had been found in an inventive way.

RESOLVED that

1. the contents of this report including the key projected variances to the original 2011/12 budget identified at this stage and the potential projected overspend of £476,400 for the financial year 2011/12 be noted.

2. the current freeze on spending against supplies and service expenditure budgets, where possible, is continued until further notice. This will be factored into the revised 2011/12 budget.

3. If, following the more detailed monitoring process currently being undertaken as part of the budget setting process for 2012/13, the potential overspend is confirmed, corrective action be taken to ensure that the Council delivers services within the overall net budget for the year.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development

The Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development introduced the report which outlined the process and timetable for the 2012/13 budget up to and beyond budget setting on 10th Feb 2012.

The current predicted gap was £824k assuming a Council Tax increase of 2.5%. The Government had announced it wished to freeze council tax for a second year and fund it for a year.  However he warned that when the funding was exhausted after one year the Council would face a minimum 5% increase in Council Tax the following year. Since the Council had taken advantage of government funding for 4 years to freeze Council Tax in this year’s budget the Council would face an increase of at least 5% in 2016/17. This had been built into the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS)  to ameliorate it.

The Cabinet Member outlined that the key aims were to protect front line services, develop longer term plans for efficiencies in the MTFS including shared services and a new approach to commissioning, co-ordination of the financial implications of all this through Bridging the Gap group.

The cross-party budget working group established in the last budget had made a number of suggestions about the budget process that would be considered in due course and the group would meet again once a draft budget had been drawn up He reported that the principles being used were no growth (unless invest to save) and no pay inflation and 2.5% inflation.

The Cabinet Member explained that this year consultation should be targeted around specific issues and this would take place between December 2011 and January 2012. In addition to this there would be meetings with the Chamber of Commerce, Trade Unions, Voluntary Sector etc and other Groups upon request and Scrutiny Committees. He highlighted that this would be another difficult budget and the financial difficulties were set to continue.

The Leader of the Council welcomed the proposed targeted consultation in specific areas.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services stated that whilst the shared services and commissioning work did not deliver immediately he was very encouraged by progress achieved to date and looked forward to more services being delivered in this way. He also referred to the work being done in building capacity within communities.

RESOLVED that

1. the budget setting timetable at Appendix 2 be approved.
2. the estimated funding gap for 2012/13 of £824k at Appendix 3, based upon a 2.5% increase in council tax be noted.
3. the budget strategy outlined in section 4 below be approved.
4. authority be delegated to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to consider the suggestions from the Budget Working Group in preparing the interim budget proposals for 2012/13 as outlined in section 5.

Report of the Leader (appendix 2 to follow awaiting outcome of panel meeting on 7 October 2011)

The Leader of the Council explained that Cabinet agreed to create the Promoting Cheltenham Fund to support events, projects and initiatives that would stimulate economic and business growth in Cheltenham. 19 bids had been received and he thanked the Panel which had assessed the phase 1 applications.

It had been suggested that the funding should be made sustainable by generating income from those who had been awarded the funding and this point would be taken on board.

Cabinet welcomed the model which had been used for the grant assessment panel and welcomed the worthy projects which had been awarded the funding.

RESOLVED that

the list of projects to be funded from the Promoting Cheltenham Fund as set out in appendix 2 – “List of projects and recommendations” be approved.

Report of the Cabinet Member Built Environment (appendix 3 to follow)

The Cabinet Member Built Environment introduced the report which made recommendations for the distribution of the £149 200 in the Environmental Improvements Fund. Many of the projects awarded funding would attract additional funding from elsewhere and benefits would be felt across the town.

He explained that the New Homes Bonus would continue next year so the schemes that had not been included this time could be put forward at that time. Officers had devised a scoring matrix of appropriate criteria in order to meet the Council’s high level environmental objectives. He acknowledged that Environment Overview and Scrutiny had not been given the criteria for the scoring process but assured Members that there would be better Member involvement next year.

The Cabinet Member Sustainability added that it had been a difficult assessment to make but the allocation of funding represented a good geographical spread across the town.

Tribute was paid to those local community groups and businesses who were taking the initiative to improve their areas recognising that local authorities would no longer have the resources to support such projects.

Councillor Regan was invited to address Cabinet. She expressed her disappointment that funding had not been granted to one particular scheme proposed by Waterwise relating to supplying guttering and water butts to all council allotment sheds. However she congratulated all those groups which had received funding.

Cabinet congratulated those groups which had been successful in their bids from both the Promoting Cheltenham Fund and the Environmental Improvements Fund. It was hoped that these would bring about successful outcomes.

RESOLVED that

the prioritised list of bids attached at Appendix C be supported, having had regard to the available budget of £149,200 and the minutes of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee attached at Appendix D

Report of the Leader

The Leader of the Council introduced the report which sought Cabinet’s endorsement for the new structures for partnership working in Cheltenham. He reported that a consultation process had been undertaken, the responses to which were outlined in Appendix 3. The Council placed great value on the voluntary and community sector being involved in discussions at the highest level. The Leader explained that all partner bodies were currently examining what the proposed new structure entailed for them and the December meeting of the Cheltenham Strategic Partnership would approve the new structure.

Councillor Regan was invited to address Cabinet. She expressed her concern that very few non Cabinet Members were represented on any of the committees or task forces in the new structure. In response the Cabinet Member Corporate Services explained that Cabinet members were in the best place to serve on the partnerships as they were the decision makers. However he referred to the current review of the Council’s scrutiny arrangements which could provide an opportunity in the future for non Cabinet member involvement in terms of scrutiny of the partnerships.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services referred to the Economy and Business Improvement Scrutiny Committee’s request for additional information as to whether the new structures would generate any savings. This point was accepted. In his view in the future scrutiny would need to look at how best to scrutinise the partnerships effectively and what kind of reporting to scrutiny was required.

Cabinet welcomed the new structure which would avoid the current duplication and provide more clarity. It acknowledged that the relationship between the elected member and the partnerships still needed to be developed.

RESOLVED that:

1. the new structures for partnership working in Cheltenham as set out in appendix 2 be endorsed.

2. the issues raised by the consultees and the responses of the CSP task and finish group in appendix 3 be noted.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety

The Cabinet Member Health and Housing introduced the report which sought a new Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) to cover the whole of Cheltenham Borough and to revoke the current AQMA located in the portion of (lower) Bath Road and High Street. It also sought Cabinet endorsement of the joint working with the County Council and the Transport Authority in the development and implementation of the required Further Assessment and Air Quality Action Plan to address this issue.

The Cabinet Member highlighted that under 2.1 of the assessment-London Road, the reference to London road junction with Priors Road should read London Road junction with Hales Road.

Cabinet welcomed the proposed holistic approach and said it was vital that an action plan was put in place to tackle the problem. As this was a traffic related issue it was dependent on joint working with the County. The Council was keen to also address the issue via the Civic Pride proposals.

RESOLVED that :

1. a new Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) be declared to cover the whole of Cheltenham Borough and the current AQMA located in the portion of (lower) Bath Road and High Street be revoked .
2. the joint working with the County Council as the Transport Authority in the development and implementation of the required Further Assessment and Air Quality Action Plan to address this issue be endorsed.

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

(please refer to report for Council 10 October Agenda item 10)

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report which sought to simplify the Executive functions and provide more flexibility within the Officer delegations.

The Leader referred to a spreadsheet of Cabinet Member responsibilities which would be made available to all Members.

RESOLVED that :

the proposed Executive Functions set out in the new Part 3E (appendix 2 to agenda item 10 Council 10^th October) be recommended for approval by the Leader

Report of Cabinet Member Built Environment

The Cabinet Member Built Environment introduced the report. He explained that the built environment review had identified a number of recommendations to improve service efficiency, customer service and ultimately budget savings. The review had engaged a number of stakeholders via a series of workshops which provided a valuable insight into the way in which the services were perceived. A member working group was established to support the Cabinet Member with this review and Environment Overview and Scrutiny had also been involved.

In terms of efficiency, the review had found that efficiency savings of £434k had already been made. The Systems Thinking approach had been applied and had identified ways in which the service could be streamlined to the public. It was also recommended that alternative models to deliver the service should be examined. The market should be tested to see how the council’s costs compared to that of external providers.

The Cabinet Member referred to the current uncertainty regarding the introduction of the ability for councils to set their own planning fees. If approved this would enable the Council to recover the full cost of planning applications from fees. However, due to this unknown it was not possible to set a definitive budget.

Cabinet thanked all those involved in the review.

RESOLVED that :

1. the outcome framework set out at appendix 3 be approved and used as a basis for the development of a service specification, against which the internal team will deliver.
2. the Director of Built Environment restructures his team to assist delivery of the outcomes and agreed service specification.
3. the Director of Built Environment report back to the Cabinet, once there is clarity on the legislation, with regards to the local setting of planning fees and identifies the additional planning income which may be realised.
4. the division continue to improve the customer experience by embedding the systems thinking approach across the full range of its services.
5. the division explores with partners the opportunities to undertake collaborative working, where it will provide service resilience and make the most efficient use of resources.
6. a review of alternative delivery models for building control is undertaken in 2013, as part of the programmed review of the current shared service arrangement with Tewkesbury Borough Council.
7. theinscope range of built environment services will be tested against private sector service alternatives in 2013/14, to confirm whether the internal service continues to deliver value for money, based on an assessment of both cost and quality.
8. that the division holds regular (at least twice per year) stakeholder sessions including agents, developers, conservation and heritage groups, architects panel as well as councillors to discuss progress in delivering the outcomes.
9. that the Director of Built Environment explores the opportunities to extend the charging for pre application process to other areas currently not within scope.
10. that the commissioning division works with the Voluntary and Community Sector to support market development in areas which will underpin the localism bill.

The Leader of the Council informed the meeting that he was still consulting with Group Leaders regarding support for the proposed Council representative on the Local Authority Company. The nomination would be formally approved at the November meeting of Cabinet.

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)

The Cabinet was recommended to approve the resolution as set out on the agenda.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

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 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.

Report of the Cabinet Member Sport and Culture

Members discussed the financial matter, considered the options proposed and approved a recommended way forward.