Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Rawson.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2014

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

None.

Councillor Penny Hall, Chair of the Scrutiny Task Group will present its report to Cabinet. The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety will then present his report setting out his response to the recommendations.

Councillor Penny Hall, Chair of the Dog Fouling Scrutiny Task Group, was invited to address the Cabinet. She briefly gave the background to the review and outlined the work and visits the group had undertaken. She paid tribute to the commitment of those involved, both officers and members. She gave particular thanks to Bev Thomas, Democracy Officer, who had facilitated the work of the group.

On behalf of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety thanked the Chair of the Scrutiny Task Group for its report and said that dog fouling was an issue that affected every ward in the town. He highlighted the partnership working which officers were involved in and many of the recommendations would be picked up through this work. He was pleased to take on board all of the recommendations of the group, subject to the service planning and delivery requirements of the commissioning review on the new Environmental and Regulatory Services Division. Cabinet Members also welcomed the report and recognised that whilst this affected all areas there were particular hotspot areas in the town.

Finally, the Chair of the Dog Fouling Scrutiny Task Group thanked Cabinet for its enthusiastic support of the recommendations. She reiterated that it was only a small number of dog owners who were irresponsible but highlighted the dangers that this could cause. She also emphasised that the scrutiny task group, which was cross-party, had demonstrated that scrutiny can work well.

RESOLVED THAT

1.      The recommendations of the Scrutiny Task Group Report as laid down in paragraph 5.3 of the scrutiny report, and taking into account the officer comments in Appendix 2, subject to the service planning and delivery requirements of the commissioning review on the new Environmental and Regulatory Services Division be approved;

2.      It be noted that O&S have scheduled a review of the implementation of the recommendations in 12 months time.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

In the absence of the Cabinet Member Finance, the Leader of the Council introduced the budget monitoring report which updated Members on the Council’s current financial position for 2013/14 based on the monitoring exercise at the end of February 2014. The report covered the Council’s revenue, capital, treasury management and the Housing Revenue Account and identified any known variations to the 2013/14 current budget and a position statement on major schemes.

The Leader explained that the Council was in a positive position and the results were encouraging. He highlighted that the budget monitoring report to the end of November 2013 projected an underspend of £444 k which had now been redeployed.The anticipated outturn position was projected to deliver a further budget saving of £11 300. The Leader then emphasised that carry-forward requests would be scrutinised thoroughly.

RESOLVED THAT

the contents of this report including the key projected variances to the current 2013/14 budget and the total projected budget saving of £11,300 be noted.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety introduced the report and explained that the review of public protection and private sector housing was one of a range of commissioning reviews which had been undertaken by the council. A member steering group had been set up to assist with the review and to provide a sounding board to the cabinet lead. The project had faced some challenging timescales and he paid tribute to the work of officers involved.  He reported that having completed the assessment of the two proposals he and the project team concluded that neither the shared service nor the in-house proposal would meet the outcomes at the current time. It was instead concluded that a wider in-house proposal be developed to bring into scope all the services under the Environmental and Regulatory Services Division which came into force on 1 April 2014. The Cabinet Member recognised that this review would require some additional support and it was the intention that at outturn a proposal for additional capacity would be put forward on an invest to save basis.

The Leader added that it had been the right approach to investigate opportunities as they arose and it had shown that officers were prepared to act quickly.

RESOLVED THAT

1.      the outcomes as set out in appendix 2 be approved.

2.      the strategic approach to aligning services within the new environment and regulatory division as set out in section 7 of the report be endorsed.

3.      Savings of £114k in 2015/16 with a further £35k in 2016/17 to meet the already identified savings targets built into the MTFS be noted.

4. A report be brought back to Cabinet in September on the delivery plan for the service redesign and associated structural changes on an invest to save basis.

Report of the Cabinet Member Housing and Safety

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety introduced the report which proposed the merger of the Town Centre and Car Parks CCTV systems which was compatible with an upgrade from analogue to digital systems. This would be a more cost effective system and would be monitored remotely by Gloucestershire Police. He added that the scheme would result in cost savings and the scheme would be delivered by the existing unspent capital budget for town centre and car parking CCTV. The Cabinet Member also explained that there would be one maintenance contract to cover a merged system and this would be more cost effective.

The Leader commented that this was a proposal for agreement in principle and the cost implications would be assessed once the tendering process was complete. It would therefore be subject to further scrutiny.

RESOLVED THAT

1.      the merger and full digital upgrade of the Town Centre and Car Park CCTV systems be approved in principle

2.      the temporary extension of the current Town Centre CCTV maintenance contract until procurement processes are completed for the upgrading works be approved;

3. authority be delegated to the Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Safety, to approve appropriate specification requirements for tender processes, and agree the capital and revenue implications within existing resources

1. one contractor is appointed to carry out this agreed work, as well as undertaking the maintenance contract for the merged system be approved

The Cabinet Member Sport and Culture informed Members that the Wilson had been put forward for four awards, including in the Leisure and Culture sector. She also informed Members that the County Council’s youth activities fund had now been launched. The focus this year would be on young people not in education and the negative effect of alcohol related behaviour especially in the town centre of young people congregating in the town. The process involved the Positive Lives and Positive Participation Partnerships and the voluntary sector and representatives of these would make a decision on the allocation of funding. She also explained that £5 000 of funding would be top sliced for the purposes of financing the training of voluntary youth workers.

The Leader of the Council informed members of the launch of the Community Pride Fund whereby community groups had the opportunity to bid for £5 000 match funding. He also informed that a small pot of funding would be available for special events. The deadline for bids was 23 June and there would be a cross party panel which would adjudicate the bids. This would be reported back to Cabinet in July.

Finally, the Leader wished to put on record his thanks to officers who had supported Cabinet over the last two years and to his Cabinet colleagues for their valuable contributions.

The Cabinet Member Sustainability informed the meeting that he had taken a decision to undertake a trial of mixed plastic recycling at a number of the larger bring sites for a minimum of three months, subject to evaluation criteria being agreed before implementation and to close a number of smaller bring sites on or after 22 August 2014. He informed that a report would be brought back to Cabinet in September on permanent implementation if the trial was successful.

The Cabinet Member Built Environment reported that he had taken a decision to support the request from the owner of the Brewery Site, NFU Mutual, for the authority to consider using its compulsory purchase powers, if necessary to acquire any third party interest to enable the development of the Brewery Site. The decision requested the Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services to undertake the preparatory work required for compulsory purchase process should this be necessary, subject to NFU Mutual underwriting all of the Council’s reasonable and proper costs. He also noted that if it was considered by the Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services that it was necessary and appropriate for a CPO to be made, that a report would be taken to Cabinet seeking approval to the making of the order.

The Cabinet Member Housing and Safety explained that he had taken a decision to provide a grant to Cheltenham Housing Aid Centre in the sum of £7500 for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015. This funding would be used for clients who are moving on from supported accommodation into independent living.

The Leader of the Council reported that he had made the decision, in the absence of the Cabinet Member Finance, to appropriate 29 Crabtree Place under Section 232 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to be held for general purposes under the Local Government Act 1972 for the purposes of the benefit, improvement and development of the Authority’s area; and to dispose of 29 Crabtree Place to Cheltenham Borough Homes under Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 for £1.00.

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 Sport and Culture

The Cabinet Member Sport and Culture introduced the report and outlined the background to the issue. She reported that verbal agreement with CRFC had now been reached and Cabinet agreement was sought on the recommendations outlined in the report.

RESOLVED THAT

The recommendations as laid down in the report be approved.