Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Hegenbarth.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 5 November.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2019 were approved and signed as a correct record.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on Wednesday 11 December 2019.

Report of the Leader of the Council

The Leader introduced the report and explained that further to the Council acquiring the site at a cost of £37.5 million there was a potential conflict in terms of the CBC land interest and the CBC planning process which this document formed part of. To that end the Leader would now assume responsibility for the Local Plan and already held responsibility for the JCS. The Cabinet Member Development and Safety had Cyber Central within his portfolio.

The Leader explained that this represented a joint piece of work with Tewkesbury Borough Council. The report sought authority to consult on Cyber Central Garden Community Draft Supplementary Planning Document for a period of 5 weeks.  It was recommended that consultation commenced on the SPD 13th January 2020.

He reported that the draft SPD had been subject to engagement with key stakeholders and the wider community of West Cheltenham through a series of face to face engagement sessions.  It had also been subject to technical review by specialist officers across Cheltenham Borough Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council and Gloucestershire County Council.

The SPD has been informed by The Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Joint Core Strategy (JCS), the emerging Local Industrial Strategy, Connecting Cheltenham transport strategy, applications for Local Green Space designations and Hesters Way Neighbourhood Plan, together with technical reports and assessment detailing constraints and opportunities for West Cheltenham.

The Leader explained that this was the first formal stage in the preparation of the SPD.  Once consultation had been completed, a full report on the consultation together with any subsequent changes to the SPD would be presented to Council.  This was scheduled for 22nd April 2020.  The amended SPD will be presented to Council for approval, if approved the SPD would become a material consideration to the determination of future planning applications.

The Leader believed Cyber Central was a significant opportunity for the town and therefore it was essential to get it right. It had received central government support and uniquely linked cyber with new homes as well as providing extra entertainment options on site to make a genuine community.

Cabinet Members supported the document and highlighted the importance of quality development whilst also providing flexibility so not to strangle the potential to come forward of innovative ideas. Continuous engagement with those communities affected was key.

The Leader thanked all officers involved and the Cabinet Member Development and Safety.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    The Draft Cyber Central Garden Community Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) be approved for consultation in accordance with Regulation 13 of The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning)(England) Regulations 2012 for a period of 5 weeks (appendix 2),

2.    The consultation arrangements set out at appendix 3 of this report be approved, and

3.    Authority be delegated to the Director of Planning to make editorial changes to the draft SPD in terms of formatting, presentation and accuracy prior to publication for consultation purposes.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance- TO FOLLOW

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and explained that the current year marked the successful completion of a four-year plan to mitigate the rent reduction policy imposed by Government. The new social rent policy of allowing annual rent increases of CPI + 1% p.a. for five years and the abolition of the HRA debt cap ensured that additional resources would be available to increase the supply of affordable housing, further improve existing stock and invest in our communities.

The Cabinet Member Finance referred to the following highlights:

·         500 new affordable homes by 2023.

·         Completion of the new windows and doors programme for existing stock.

·         Installation of showers in all our properties.

·         Development of a carbon neutral strategy for new and existing stock and the delivery of housing services.

·         Delivery of 5 community investment plans, supported by a diverse range of partners and connecting with over 2,000 residents per quarter. These plans focus on employment and education, community safety, health and wellbeing, financial inclusion and involvement and engagement.

The Cabinet Member Finance explained that the Government’s new rent policy would commence in April 2020. Rents would be allowed to increase by CPI (as at previous September) +1% per annum for the next five years before a further review. The CPI for September 2019 was 1.7% giving a rent increase for 2020/21 of 2.7%.

The Cabinet Member Finance reported that after significant delays to the introduction of Universal Credit, the full rollout began in Cheltenham in December 2017. There were currently 996 claimants (November 2019) with 1,050 being anticipated by March 2020. Under present regulations there could eventually be up to 2,000 claimants, potentially placing considerable pressure on rent arrears. She reported that CBH was conducting a proactive campaign to provide support and information to all tenants affected by these changes. The impact on arrears would be closely monitored and the budget proposals reflected an increasing provision for bad debts.

The Cabinet Member referred to the consultation paper in the summer of 2018 which sought views on introducing more flexibility in the use of Right To Buy receipts to fund new build. Though any relaxation in the conditions of use would be welcome, the suggestions put forward in the document would be limited in their impact and the sector response was to request more wide-ranging reform, including the abolition of RTB. The consultation closed in early October 2018 and a response from the Government was still awaited.

The Cabinet Member Finance reported that the 30 year HRA Business Plan had been updated to reflect:-

·         Anticipated revenue outturn for 2019/20.

·         The proposed development and acquisition programme for the period from April 2020 to March 2023 which is forecast to deliver 500 new affordable units.

·         A contingency budget of £5.5m. for regeneration projects based on the assumption that there will be no additional revenue benefit from the investment.

·         A refreshed assessment of the 30 year “need to spend” on existing stock for both capital and revenue expenditure.

The revised capital programme for 2019/20  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance- TO FOLLOW

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and explained that there was no verifiable evidence about whether the provisional local government finance settlement would be either before or after Christmas. 

That said, interim budget proposals for the financial year ahead still needed to be prepared and the consultation process should take place for no less than four weeks prior to finalising recommendations for the Council to consider in February 2020.

The report set out the interim proposals for 2020/21. The assumptions within the interim budget proposals were based on the technical consultation on the local government finance settlement for 2020/21 which was released by MHCLG after the Spending Review 2019 (SR19) was published in September 2019. The council’s response to the technical consultation was submitted on 31st October 2019.

The Cabinet Member reported that the council’s approved Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) was predicated on the basis that council tax would increase by 2.99% per annum. However, the proposal to retain business rates growth achieved between 2013 and 2020 for a further year alongside a continuation of the removal of negative revenue support grant should have a positive effect on the councils funding in 2020/21.

The MTFS assumed legacy payments for new homes bonus (NHB) would be honoured, however, a continuation of the same methodology for a further year could equate to an additional £301k funding in 2020/21.

The projections for additional new homes in the Borough were estimated to be 350 per annum and this figure was used to calculate NHB. The actual number delivered over the last 12 months was an additional 423 new homes for occupation. With a baseline target of 0.4% this meant CBC would only receive NHB for 215 additional new homes.

The Cabinet Member Finance reported that in previous years, budgets have been prepared under a general philosophy of no growth in services unless there was a statutory requirement or a compelling business case for an ‘invest to save’ scheme. However, the Council’s aspirations to modernise its offer, become financially sustainable and be carbon neutral by 2030, required realignment of resources to deliver the outcomes.

She reminded Members that an allocation was agreed by Council in April 2015 to facilitate the redevelopment to the Town Hall. She referred to the briefing note attached to this Cabinet agenda which outlined the progress made to date but which concluded that all of the options identified were currently outside the financial envelope of affordability available for the Council to progress.

She explained that of the original allocation, £1.6m was still available and the Cabinet was recommending the following reallocation:

·         Invest a sum of £1m to pump prime the commercial opportunities identified by The Cheltenham Trust including investment which both sustains and grows income at the Town Hall);

·         Allocate £50k to fund 2 full-time documentation officers to ensure the collection receives accreditation status,

·         Allocate £200k in a contingency fund to fund the associated costs of the investment in leisure@ in respect of the splash-pad;

·         Allocate £350k to a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Cabinet Member Finance introduced the report and explained that residents’ surveys were frequently carried out by local councils in order to collect statistically robust views from a representative sample of residents.

The benefits of undertaking such a survey allowed the Council to:

·         Compare the views of residents to national data sets;

·         Explore priorities at a local level;

·         Set baselines/track perceptions of service quality;

·         Collect insight to inform strategy

·         Collect data on new or emerging issues

·         Provide a set of baseline measures for the Council’s Corporate Plan and Place Vision

The Cabinet Member reported that a total of 5,500 postal addresses were randomly sampled across all Cheltenham wards and a proportional cross section of households was included in the sampling. This approach guaranteed that the 5,500 households who were invited to complete the survey were representative of the borough as a whole.

The survey was conducted during July and August 2019 and had a response rate of 29%, above the rate now typical in surveys of this type (20-25%).

She reported that to give the geographical analysis in the report a more robust statistical basis, responses have been reviewed using five ward groupings rather than at individual ward level. The composition of these ward groupings were :-

The report showed that overall 84% of Cheltenham residents were satisfied with their local area as a place to live.  This score was higher than the Local Government Association (LGA) benchmark (80%) and the BMG urban authority benchmark (80%).

More than four in five Cheltenham residents agreed that the Council should play a role in tackling air quality issues (83%), enabling people to walk/ cycle more (82%) and enabling public transport use (81%).

Three quarters (75%) of residents agreed that Cheltenham Borough Council should try to reduce vehicle emissions in the borough.

The Cabinet Member Finance referred to the decision made by the County Council Traffic regulation order committee to reopen Boots corner which was contrary to what Cheltenham’s residents were telling the council through this statistically robust survey.

The Cabinet Member then reported that all residents were also given the opportunity within the survey to select up to three priority issues (out of a total of 15 possible priorities) for Cheltenham Borough Council to focus upon. The priorities that were most commonly selected were:

·         Providing more affordable housing (32%);

·         Tackling homelessness (30%); and,

·         Promoting walking, cycling and public transport (29%).

The full report provided a range of valuable insights that could be used to inform future decision making and priority setting as well as a baseline for the Council’s Corporate Plan.  She highlighted that the council had already started to take action to address issues highlighted within the report findings with examples including:

·         Providing more affordable housing :  the Council had announced up  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles reported that the council had been working with the Holst museum on plans to commemorate the centenary of the first performance of The Planets. Engaging with partners including the Cheltenham Trust, the Everyman Theatre and Gloucestershire libraries and schools, the aim was to stage an event, to involve children, in October.

The Cabinet Member Healthy Lifestyles informed that a new piece of art would be installed at Honeybourne place. Involving local children, the design would be finalised in the new year.

The Cabinet Member Development and Safety reported that the County Council’s TRO committee had met on Monday 16 and voted 6-3 to reopen Boots Corner to through traffic. He vehemently regretted this decision.

The Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment advised that the Joint Waste Committee had held its last meeting. CBC was strengthening its in house team and would continue working with the other Gloucestershire districts and the County Council. He highlighted his frustration with the joint waste committee which had not met the targets set out in the action plan and which had not recognised the need to address the waste and recycling requirements for west and north west Cheltenham. He reported that a meeting was scheduled with Tewkesbury BC and others in February to plan how to sensibly deliver services for developments as and when they take place.

The Leader endorsed the comments from his Cabinet Members and questioned whether CBC could work in partnership with the county on tackling climate change in light of the Boots Corner decision. He referred to a meeting of Leadership Gloucestershire whereby the county had requested funding for two climate change posts. It was unlikely that CBC would support this bearing in mind the Boots Corner decision.