Decisions

Use the search options at the bottom of the page to find information regarding recent decisions that have been taken by the council’s decision making bodies.

Alternatively you can visit the officer decisions page for information on officer delegated decisions that have been taken by council officers.

Decisions published

06/02/2025 - To approve the revised Sexual Entertainment Licensing Policy and Equality Impact Assessment for public consultation ref: 3278    Recommendations Approved

Decision Maker: Cabinet Member Safety and Communities

Decision published: 06/02/2025

Effective from: 06/02/2025

Decision:

To approve the revised Sexual Entertainment Licensing Policy and Equality Impact Assessment for public consultation to commence on 10 February 2025.

Lead officer: Louis Krog


04/02/2025 - To accept grant funding via Local Authority Air Quality Improvement project funding initiative ref: 3277    Recommendations Approved

Decision Maker: Head of Public Protection and DEPLO - Louis Krog

Decision published: 04/02/2025

Effective from: 04/02/2025

Decision:

1.To accept grant funding of £4,000 being awarded to Cheltenham Borough Council from Gloucestershire County Council via its Local Authority Air Quality Improvement project funding initiative.
2.To accept the grant in accordance with the grant agreement dated 28th January 2025

Lead officer: Bernadette Reed


30/01/2025 - To extend a contract to recruitment consultancy Carrington West for Planning Policy Manager for a further 3 months ref: 3276    Recommendations Approved

Decision Maker: Director of Community & Economic Development - Tracey Birkinshaw

Decision published: 31/01/2025

Effective from: 30/01/2025

Decision:

To extend a contract to recruitment consultancy Carrington West for Planning Policy Manager for a further 3 months (up to 30th April 2025) to be reviewed in line with recruitment and the timing of a handover to permanent appointment.

Lead officer: Tracey Birkinshaw


27/01/2025 - To award the contract to BT Surveillance for works to upgrade the public realm CCTV network ref: 3275    Recommendations Approved

Decision Maker: Cabinet Member Safety and Communities

Decision published: 28/01/2025

Effective from: 06/02/2025

Decision:

1. To award the contract to BT Surveillance for works to upgrade the public realm CCTV network to Vision RS10000E product as per quote outlined in Appendix 1a.

2. To award the contract in accordance with the following BT Surveillance documents:
• General Terms
• CCTV Service Schedule
• BT Redcare View
• Digital Video Storage Service

Lead officer: Louis Krog


13/01/2025 - 2025/26 General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Budget proposals ref: 3273    Recommendations Approved

Decision Maker: Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Made at meeting: 13/01/2025 - Overview & Scrutiny Committee

Decision published: 27/01/2025

Effective from: 13/01/2025

Decision:

As Chair of Budget Scrutiny Working Group (BSWG), Councillor Bamford said he and other working group Members had been considering the specific role of the group, and deduced that this is not to comment on how the reports have been prepared – there are good processes already in place to check for any technical errors - but to consider strategically how the finance team had arrived at certain decisions.  He said it was unfortunate that the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets was unable to attend the recent BSWG meeting, but thanked the Deputy Chief Executive for standing in to answer questions, which focussed on budget savings and additional income, considering the green, amber and red categories and what the impact on the budget would be if they didn’t come to fruition as planned. 

BSWG also considered interest rates, noting that these can change at any time, and Councillor Day subsequently met with the Director of Finance and Assets to discuss some outstanding concerns which will be reflected in the final report to Council.  Looking at the savings plan and additional income plan, Members noted that there were some uncertainties, but that provision for this was built into the budget.  Councillor Bamford said that in these difficult times, the council’s sound budget and relatively healthy financial position was a great reflection on the Deputy Chief Executive, finance team, and council as a whole.

There were no formal notes from the previous week’s BSWG meeting, but Councillor Bamford read the following summary:

The Budget Scrutiny Working Group met with Paul Jones and Gemma Bell to review the draft HRA and General Fund Budgets on Thursday 9January. We discussed the proposals in detail.

 

That review and the feedback provided to this Committee forms part of the consultation on the draft budgets. Cabinet will use this feedback to prepare a final budget that will be presented to the Council in February.

 

Councillor Day will be having a further meeting with Gemma Bell to discuss a number of areas in more detail and will provide feedback to the Working Group and Cabinet.


The Working Group’s discussion identified the following:

 

-        The difficulty of achieving the savings targets for 2025/26 was highlighted, with shortfalls in achieving targeted savings over the prior two financial years noted. The need was stressed for specifics on how the money will be saved identified and agreed, with detailed implementation plans in place. In particular the £150k listed under a review of discretionary services needs greater clarity from the Cabinet. (it was noted that savings from the decision on the HRC is not included within this total amount);

-        The Working Group discussed whether it was better to set a more realistic target for savings and payment into reserves, from a financial and political perspective;

-        Concern was raised that the proposed contribution to the general reserves may be optimistic due to the external challenges discussed. It was recommended that the draft budget proposals be reviewed before the final report to recognise that circumstances outside of the council’s control have moved since the report was originally written.

 

The Leader apologised for the fact that no Cabinet Member was able to fill in for the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets at the BSWG meeting at such short notice.

A Member commented that what Councillor Bamford had said changed the focus of the report presented today, as it appears that the role of Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) is to scrutinise budget scrutiny rather than scrutinising the budget.  As he understood, the role of BSWG role was to recognise the story and the numbers, and for O&S to promote to the Cabinet and Leadership Team anything that needs guidance or further examination.

In response to Members’ questions, the Deputy Chief Executive said:

-       the recent press story concerning CBC’s pension contributions was poor and irresponsible journalism; it was ludicrous to suggest that Basingstoke Council could spend 106% of its council tax income on pension contributions, and to suggest that CBC’s only income is from council tax, which in fact represents just 10% of the council’s £100m turnover.   The council has a specific pension strategy, and what is reported in The Times as Cheltenham’s annual contribution is in fact three years’ worth of contributions, an up-front payment made as a conscious budgetary decision which from 2026 will result in a £2m reduction in the council’s annual pension contributions.  This strategy has been in place since 2016, and was explained to the Times reporter who deliberately chose to ignore it to give the true context.  It would be impossible for CBC to fund all the services it provides from bin collection to upkeep of parks, if it was spending 75% of its council tax on pension contributions;

-       to explain the green, amber and red assessments on the savings page:  green means the money is banked and the project will be delivered; amber means that there are plans in place (such as EV charging) but there may be timing issues due to contractual arrangements and practical issues; and red means that there are no clear plans in place or decisions made, but these will always be included in the budget assessment because of the statutory duty under the Section 25 report for an assessment of the adequacy of reserves and balances.

To clarify the role of BSWG and O&S, the Monitoring Officer explained that O&S’s input is required as part of the budget consultation, and that BSWG’s responsibility is to look at the finance reports on behalf of O&S and report back.  Ideally, a summary of its findings will be shared.    

A Member echoed the comments of the Deputy Chief Executive about the substandard and misleading Times journalism, saying that any business operating a defined budget pension scheme would give its eye teeth for a pension scheme in the funding position that CBC is in today.  He said residents can be assured that we have a very strong pension scheme that will greatly assist future cash flow and costs for the council. The Chair agreed that it was very frustrating that the council was receiving a lot of negative backlash as a result of the incorrect news item.

She said it is valuable to have BSWG reporting in to O&S, keeping an external eye on the council’s finances and holding ourselves to account. Keen to meet the needs of O&S, the working group will welcome any suggestions or ideas of what should be included in its remit.  She thanked the Deputy Chief Executive and the Chair of the Budget Scrutiny Working Group for their input, saying that it might be worth considering more regular check-ins and updates to keep everyone well informed.