Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 14 July 2015 were approved as a correct record.

None received.

Report of the Cabinet Member Development and Safety

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety, Councillor McKinlay, introduced the report.  The report explained that the Gambling Act 2005 requires that the council produce, consult on and publish a statement of the principles that they propose to apply when exercising their functions under the Act. The Act also requires that the Statement of Principles should be kept under review and must be re-published at least every three years. Cheltenham Borough Council published its existing Statement of Principles in October 2012 and the Statement is now due to be reviewed and a new Statement of Principles will need to be published to take effect no later than January 2016.

The Cabinet Member emphasised that with only 20 licensed gambling premises in Cheltenham, there were few problems arising from gambling in the town.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the proposed changes to the Statement of Principles be noted; and

2.    the attached revised draft of the three year Statement of Principles be approved for the purpose of consultation with all relevant parties; and

3.    subject to no substantive amendments being made following consultation, Council be recommended to adopt the revised Statement of Principles.

Report of the Cabinet Member Development and Safety

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety, Councillor McKinlay, introduced the report.  The report explained that the council has a statutory duty to ensure all of its licensed drivers are, and remain, fit and proper people. The council is committed to keeping its policies under review to ensure they continue to be effective and comply with the latest guidance and national best practice. This report was seeking permission from Cabinet to approve minor changes to the council’s taxi and private hire licensing policy for consultation.

He highlighted the proposed requirement for all licensed drivers to undertake safeguarding training and this would enable them to assist the authorities in identifying any relevant activities and equip themselves against any false allegations.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the proposed changes to the current taxi and private hire licensing policy be noted; and

2.    the proposed changes be approved for consultation.

Report of the Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment

The Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment, Councillor Coleman introduced the report. He was delighted that he was able to bring this report to Cabinet and he gave thanks to the excellent team of officers who had made a tremendous input to the project. He also acknowledged the contribution made by Councillors Reid, McCloskey and Ryder as members of the Cabinet Member working group who had been a very useful sounding board to himself and the rest of the team.

It had been acknowledged that investment was needed to improve public facilities and in particular, the reliability of the cremators at Cheltenham’s cemetery and crematorium. This follows the poor quality cremator installation which took place in 2011, during which the main contractor went into liquidation, leaving a number of authorities with sub-standard equipment issues. To ensure that the best solution was secured, architects Robert Potter and Partners were commissioned to look at a number of options ranging from installing new cremators in the current building, to building a new chapel and crematorium. The options identified were diverse and had different operational, customer service and financial implications. All options had been considered in detail by the Project Board and at gateway review meetings before selecting option E as the preferred one. He was confident after all the work that had been done, that option E was financially viable given the increase in fees recommended.

The report set out the results of the public consultation process which had included professionals as well as the public. There had been an encouraging response in favour of option E including support for increasing fees. He concluded that the cemetery and crematorium was seen as a hugely important service to the town by its residents and by Council Members. He was now seeking Cabinet endorsement of the recommended preferred option for implementation, subject to Council agreement to the financial implications of the project.

Cabinet Members praised the work done in bringing this project to this stage and felt it was a huge step forward given the situation 12 months ago. The level of public response had been heartening and demonstrated the importance of the service to people in Cheltenham. It sent a message to the town that the council is committed to protecting and delivering quality local services. They fully endorsed the recommendations and hoped the Council would take the same position and support the financial implications.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    it be agreed that Option E be progressed- a new build facility on Council-owned land to the east of the current cemetery site - as the preferred option for the future provision of its crematorium service;

2.    authority be delegated to the Director of Environmental and Regulatory Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Clean and Green Environment and the Head of Property Services to prepare and submit the necessary planning application for the new building, cremator plant and associated works;

3.    it be noted that, subject to Council approving the project budget;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Leader

The Leader, Councillor Jordan introduced the report. The report explained that an application to designate a Neighbourhood Plan Area had been received from Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council. This application had been assessed against the requirements set out in the legislation and was considered to meet the requirements to enable designation of the Neighbourhood Area.

Following the Council resolution, the Cabinet were being asked to approve the designation to ensure a response was given within the eight week timescale. This would enable Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council to prepare a Neighbourhood Development Plan for the area covered by the designation.

Cabinet Members agreed that neighbourhood plans were something that the council was keen to encourage as it facilitiated local people making local decisions about their areas. It was noted that the council may need to give some consideration to how the process might work for non-parished areas.

 RESOLVED THAT

the designation of a Neighbourhood Area covering Leckhampton with Warden Hill parish be approved.

Report of the Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles, Councillor Hay, introduced the report. She reminded Members that Cabinet had received an earlier report on 14 July 2015 on the future delivery of the Shopmobility service, which had been served notice to quit its current premises by November 2015. Cabinet had resolved to consult on its future delivery and this report set out the results of that consultation. Provisional analysis of the consultation results indicated significant support for continued provision of a Shopmobility service in the town. The Community Impact Assessment clearly indicated that any changes to the provision of the service would affect a vulnerable section of the community and therefore the council would need to continue to make a sensitive assessment against the budgetary position for this non-statutory service. The tables in the report indicated the current subsidy level and the falling patronage.

Whilst the favoured organisation for continued delivery was the Borough Council, there was a general acceptance that delivery could be through another organisation. A town centre location close to car parking was favoured.  An updated consultation report following the closing dates for comments had been made available to Members before the meeting.

Cabinet were being asked to support the relocation of the service to the Horse & Groom, St George’s Place and then commence a procurement exercise to establish interest from other organisations in operating the service. The Cabinet Member recognized that the proposed site for relocation does not meet all of the needs however this relocation would allow the service to continue whilst the commissioning process is implemented and the finances are reviewed. She gave thanks to the members of the scrutiny task group and to all of the people who had responded to the consultation.

The Leader supported the recommendations and felt they were a very sensible solution in the circumstances.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    the relocation of the Shopmobility service to the Horse and Groom, St George’s Place be agreed with the one-off costs being funded from within the existing service budget.

2.    Cabinet is committed to a commissioning process for the Shopmobility service, the process to commence in January 2016.

3.    in the interim a review of fees and funding sources is undertaken, in conjunction with the 2016/17 Budget Setting Process. 

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety confirmed that following a recruitment process, Tracey Crews had been appointed as Director of Planning, in the new structure for REST agreed by Council.

Earlier this week he had attended a series of presentations by officers in the REST division to demonstrate how they had improved customer services and service standards.  He had been very impressed by their achievements particularly as all the changes had been completed whilst continuing to deliver business as usual. He thanked and congratulated all the staff for their efforts. 

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles reported that the Tonga World Cup Rugby Team had been delighted by the Welcome reception they had received. This had been organised by the Cheltenham Trust but the council and local community groups had been involved.

The Cabinet Member Finance updated members on the conservation work being undertaken on the war memorial. The conservator had completed his initial tests and would soon be in a position to submit a listed building application to this council and a tender document was being prepared for the work.

The Leader advised that the Director, Mike Redman had produced a briefing note on economic development which the Leader intended to publish with the minutes of this meeting.

The Leader updated members on the latest situation with regard to Community Pride funding. The Strategy and Engagement Manager had sought further information on the three bids outstanding and circulated this to the Leader. Cabinet had previously delegated the final decision to the officer in consultation with himself and he was happy that the bids could now be confirmed. All bids had now been determined leaving a small amount in the fund. 

Cabinet Members advised Cabinet of any Cabinet Member decisions they had taken since the last meeting and details were all available on the council’s website.