Agenda item

The Leader expressed her gladness that Cabinet had still met to make these important decisions at a time of national mourning.

Decisions of Cabinet Members

Cabinet Members had made a total of ten decisions since the last meeting on 12^th July.

The Leader reported that she had taken a decision on the 19^th July to make appointments to outside bodies.

The Cabinet Member Finance, Assets and Regeneration had made five decisions. On 21^st July, he had agreed to a variation of an existing Gas Servicing, Maintenance and Installation contract with British Gas Social Housing Limited, and on the 27^th July had approved Phase 2 of the Discretionary Council Tax Energy Rebate Scheme. On 26^th August, he had approved the sale of Arle Nursery, on 1^st September he had amended the COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) Scheme, and on 2^nd September he had appointed a firm of suitably qualified and experienced Property Development Specialists to review the options for bringing forward development of Chelt Walk Car Park.

The Cabinet Member Cyber, Regeneration and Commercial Income had taken a decision on 3^rd August to extend the council’s contract with Avison Young, who were assisting them on the Golden Valley Development.

The Cabinet Member Waste, Recycling and Street Services had taken a decision on 16^th August to approve a mid-year inflationary increase in fees and charges of 5% with effect from 1 October 2022. This included an increase in the garden waste collection charge from £47/year to £50/year per bin for new subscriptions and renewals, and a 5% increase for bulky waste collections, commercial waste and all other waste and recycling related charges set out in the fees and charges schedule. There would be no change to the number of collections per household per year.

The Cabinet Member Waste, Recycling and Street Services had also taken a decision on 25^th August to enter into a three-year contractual agreement with Future Recycling Limited and Suez Recycling & Recovery Ltd for the trial collection and recycling of flexible plastics from the kerbside in the borough, at no cost to Cheltenham Borough Council. He added that this was part of their commitment to reduce waste and increase recycling across the borough, and was a collaboration agreement much like that of Podback for coffee pods. CBC was the first local authority to sign the collaboration agreement, and collection in selected parts of the borough only would begin on 7^th October 2022.  Residents who would be able to take part would receive information through the door shortly. Over the three years, he hoped that all residents in the borough would be able to benefit from the scheme. The trial, part funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, would help them understand how to introduce the scheme across the country.

In the absence of the Cabinet Member Safety and Communities, the Leader reported that she had taken a decision on 17th August to award a community grant of £15,000 to #FeedCheltenham to enable the recruitment of a shared worker to support the community food network and Inspiring Families.