Agenda, decisions and minutes
Venue: Conference Chamber West (FR1-09), West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU
Contact: Claire Skoyles: Democratic Services Officer
Email: claire.skoyles@westsuffolk.gov.uk
Items
No. |
Item |
76. |
Apologies for Absence
Minutes:
No apologies for absence were received.
|
77. |
Minutes PDF 194 KB
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
26 November 2019 (copy attached).
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 26 November
2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chair.
|
78. |
Open Forum
At each Cabinet meeting, up to 15 minutes
shall be allocated for questions from and discussion with,
non-Cabinet members. Members wishing to
speak during this session should if possible, give notice in
advance. Who speaks and for how long
will be at the complete discretion of the person presiding.
Minutes:
No non-Cabinet Members in attendance wished to
speak under this item.
|
79. |
Public Participation
Members of the public who live or work in the
District are invited to put one question or statement of not more
than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in
Part 1 of the agenda only. If a question is asked and answered
within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a
supplementary question that arises from the reply.
A person who wishes to speak must register at
least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to
start.
There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes
for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s
discretion.
Minutes:
No members of the public in attendance had
registered to speak.
|
80. |
Report of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee: 28 November 2019 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/001) PDF 153 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/001
Chairman of the Committee: Cllr
Ian Houlder
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Christine
Brain
Minutes:
The Cabinet received and noted this report,
which informed Members of the following substantive items discussed
by the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee at their meeting
held on 28 November 2019:
1. Internal Audit
Mid-Year Progress Report 2019-2020;
2. 2019-2020
Performance Report (Quarter 2);
3. Delivering a
Sustainable Medium Term Budget
2020-2021;
4. Mid-Year Treasury
Management Report and Investment Activity (April – September
2019);
5. Health and Safety
Sub-Committee (Verbal Report); and
6. Work Programme
2020.
Councillor Ian Houlder, Chair of the
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, drew relevant issues to
the attention of Cabinet, including that separate reports were
included on this Cabinet agenda for Items 3. and 4. above.
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81. |
Report of the Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership Joint Committee: 17 September and 17 December 2019 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/002) PDF 320 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/002
Chair of the Joint Committee:
Cllr Sarah Broughton
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Rachael Mann
Minutes:
The Cabinet received and noted this report,
which informed Members of the following substantive items discussed
by the Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership Joint Committee at
their meetings held on 17 September and 17 December 2019:
A. 17 September
2019:
The Joint Committee was inquorate for this
meeting therefore only a few items were discussed and noted, as
indicated below:
1. Governance and
Reporting Arrangements relating to Internal Audit (Item deferred
to 17 December 2019);
2. Joint Committee ARP
Brochure (Item deferred to 17 December 2019);
3. Performance Report
and Service Updates – July 2019:
a. Joint Committee
Performance Report July 2019;
b. Service
Updates;
4. ARP Financial
Performance;
5. Welfare Reform
Update;
6. Review of the Anglia
Revenues Partnership Constitution (Item deferred to 17 December
2019);
and
7. Forthcoming
Issues.
B. 17 December 2019:
1. Governance and
Reporting Arrangements relating to Internal Audit;
2. Review of the Anglia
Revenues Partnership Constitution;
3. Performance Report
and Service Updates:
a. Joint Committee
Performance Report – October 2019;
b. Service
Updates;
4. ARP Financial
Performance;
5. Welfare Reform
Update;
6. ARP Strategy
Refresh;
7. The Anglia Revenues
Partnership (ARP) Service Delivery Plan;
8. ARP Joint Committee
Partnership Budget;
9. Joint Committee ARP
Brochure;
and
10. Forthcoming Issues.
Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder
for Resources and Performance and Chair of the Anglia Revenues and
Benefits Partnership Joint Committee, drew relevant issues to the
attention of Cabinet, including that a separate report was included
on this Cabinet agenda for Item 2. above.
Attention was particularly drawn to the Joint
Committee ARP Brochure, which had been designed for the partner
councils to be used on an internal basis only. Its purpose was set
out in section 2.1.3 of the report and had been circulated to the
Cabinet for information. Members also particularly noted the detail
of section 2.2.3 of the report, which related to current issues and
performance of ARP.
|
82. |
Recommendations of the Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership Joint Committee: 17 December 2019 - Review of the Anglia Revenues Partnership Constitution (Report No: CAB/WS/20/003) PDF 170 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/003
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Rachael Mann
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
1. the
revised Partnership Agreement attached as Appendix 1 to Report No:
CAB/WS/20/003, be approved to have effect from 1 April 2019;
and
2.
subject to approval by each partner authority, the revised
agreement be signed and sealed by the Council (and each other
partner authority).
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report which
sought approval for proposed changes to the Anglia Revenues
Partnership (ARP) Constitution following its review by the Anglia
Revenues and Benefits Partnership Joint Committee.
Attached as Appendix 1 was the
proposed revised Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership Agreement. The revision to the terms of reference
had been produced by the ARP’s Operational Improvement Board,
as previously agreed by the Joint Committee. These amendments were
largely required as a result of the creation of the new councils in
East and West Suffolk; however, this also provided the opportunity
to make other changes, as set out in the report. The Joint
Committee was now recommending to all the partner authorities,
approval of the revised Partnership Agreement.
Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder
for Resources and Performance and Chair of the Joint Committee,
drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet, including that
the proposed changes to the ARP Constitution would ensure the ARP
and its Joint Committee was operating within the most up to date
governance arrangements.
RESOLVED:
That:
1. the
revised Partnership Agreement attached as Appendix 1 to Report No:
CAB/WS/20/003, be approved to have effect from 1 April 2019;
and
2.
subject to approval by each partner authority, the revised
agreement be signed and sealed by the Council (and each other
partner authority).
|
83. |
Recommendation of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee: 28 November 2019 - Delivering a Sustainable Medium Term Budget 2020/2021 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/004) PDF 243 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/004
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Rachael Mann
Decision:
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL (as part of the budget
setting process): 25 February 2020
That the proposals
detailed in Section 2 and Table 1 of Report No:
PAS/WS/19/019, be included in securing a balanced budget for
2020/2021 and the medium-term financial plans.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report, which
sought approval for budget proposals for inclusion to secure a
balanced budget for 2020/2021 and in the medium term.
Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder
for Resources and Performance drew relevant issues to the attention
of Cabinet, including that a range of budget proposals had been
assessed and updated following previous consideration by the
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee. The update was to reflect
developing trends and revised information as it became available as
far as possible.
Table 1 that had been considered by the
Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee and reproduced in Report
No: CAB/WS/20/004, provided a set of proposed actions and solutions
to reduce the identified budget gaps between 2020-2024.
Work would continue to monitor the trends
included in Table 1, including driving to agree the assumptions
that would close the remaining budget gap for 2020/21 for
presentation to Council on 25 February 2020.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL (as part of the
budget setting process): 25 February 2020
That the proposals
detailed in Section 2 and Table 1 of Report No:
PAS/WS/19/019, be included in securing a balanced budget for
2020/2021 and the medium-term financial plans.
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84. |
Recommendation of the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee: 28 November 2019 - Treasury Management Report September 2019 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/005) PDF 142 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/005
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Rachael Mann
Decision:
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: (25 February 2020)
That the Treasury Management Report (September
2019), being Report No: FRS/WS/19/004, be approved.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report, which was
recommending to Council, the approval of the Treasury Management
Report for the period from 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019.
Following the creation of West Suffolk
Council, the total amount invested at 1 April 2019 was
£42,750,000 and at 30 September 2019
£46,900,000.
The 2019-2020 Annual Treasury Management and
Investment Strategy set out the Council’s projections for the
current financial year. The budget for
investment income in 2019-2020 was £142,141 which was based
on a 0.90% target interest rate of return on investments.
Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder
for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the
attention of Cabinet, including that as at the end of September
2019, interest earned during the second quarter of the financial
year amounted to £194,249 against a profiled budget for the
period of £71,070; a budgetary surplus of
£123,179. The budgetary surplus
related to higher than expected cash balances due to slippages in
the Capital programme and also the favourable interest rates
secured on the investments carried over from the previous
councils.
As at the end of September 2019 a total of
£14.5m had been borrowed internally from available cash
balances. This had meant the Council had not had any additional
borrowing over the long-term £4m loan.
Members also noted assumptions on borrowing
for the capital projects included within it, alongside the current
£4m external borrowing in respect of the previous Newmarket
Leisure Centre build. This new borrowing requirement was based
around three specific projects, as outlined in the report.
A summary of the capital borrowing budget for
2019-2020 was also noted, together with a summary of capital
borrowing for quarter two; borrowing and income –
proportionality; current borrowing as at 30 September 2019 and
other market considerations. The
Government’s unexpected announcement on 9 October 2019, which
stated they would be raising the margin applied to Public Works
Loans Board loans by 1%, was of particular concern to the
Cabinet.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: (25 February
2020)
That the Treasury Management Report (September
2019), being Report No: FRS/WS/19/004, be approved.
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85. |
Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document - Adoption (Report No: CAB/WS/20/006) PDF 228 KB
Report No: CAB/WS/20/006
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sara
Mildmay-White Lead Officer: Julie
Baird
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
1. the
Schedule of Responses set out at Appendix A to Report No:
CAB/WS/20/006, be noted; and
2. the
Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), contained
in Appendix B to Report No: CAB/WS/20/006, be approved for
adoption.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this
report, which sought approval for adoption of an updated version of
the Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document.
This Supplementary Planning
Document (SPD) updated and replaced the original Affordable Housing
SPD for West Suffolk produced in October 2013. Following changes to National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
2019 which included a wider definition of Affordable Housing and
how this may influence future housing delivery across West Suffolk,
it was considered prudent to update the SPD at this
time.
Councillor Sara Mildmay-White,
Portfolio Holder for Housing, drew relevant issues to the attention
of Cabinet including that a draft version of
the Affordable Housing SPD was subject to a nine-week public
consultation between 24 July 2019 and 30 September 2019, in
accordance with the Council’s adopted Statement of Community
Involvement. A total of 11 responses had been received and a
summary of these representations and the schedule of changes
recommended were contained in Appendix A. Appendix B contained the amended version of the
SPD as a result of those recommended changes. A summary of the main
issues raised during the consultation were contained in paragraph
2.1.3 of the report.
In response to question, the
Cabinet was informed that the document did not form part of the
Local Plan but was guidance to accompany it. Neighbourhood Plans
did form part of the Local Plan and were considered as material
considerations when determining planning applications.
RESOLVED:
That:
1. the
Schedule of Responses set out at Appendix A to Report No:
CAB/WS/20/006, be noted; and
2. the
Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), contained
in Appendix B to Report No: CAB/WS/20/006, be approved for
adoption.
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86. |
Recommendations of the Grant Working Party: November 2019 - Community Chest 2020/21 (Report No: CAB/WS/007) PDF 286 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/007
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Robert
Everitt
Lead Officer: Davina Howes
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
1. the
allocation of Community Chest funding for 2020/2021, as previously
approved in 2018/2019 as part of two-year funding agreements, be
noted, (papers EXC/SA/18/013 and 014 refer) namely:
a.
Bury Drop in
£12,288
b.
Fresh Start – New Beginnings £11,600
c.
Gatehouse
£10,000
d.
Haverhill Community Trust (separate project to that listed in (2)(l) below.)
£25,168
e.
REACH (separate project to that
listed in 3(a)below) £9,360
f.
Relate (separate project to that
listed in 3 (b) below.)£2,000
g.
Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS) £5,000
h. The
Voluntary Network – Community Transport
(separate project to that listed in 4 (u) below.)
£15,800
i. The Voluntary
Network – Connect and Support
(separate project to that listed in 4 (u) below.)
£17,961
2.
the allocation
of Community Chest funding for 2020/2021, be approved,
namely:
a.
Befriending Scheme – Haverhill Community Kitchen
£4,420
b.
Second Chance Stroke Group £3,500
c.
Steel Bones £3,500
d.
Suffolk Mind £4,500
e.
Sharing Parenting – Special Needs (separate project to that listed in 4(j)
below) £17,000
f.
Suffolk Cruse Bereavement Care
£8,000
g.
Alumah CIO £5,870
h.
West Suffolk Citizens Advice – across West Suffolk
(separate project to that listed in 4(k)
below) £240,000
i. HomeStart Mid and West Suffolk –
Sensory (separate project to that
listed in 4(m) below)
£14,000
j. Our Special
Friends
£3,500
k. Bury
Theatre Workshop
£4,000
l. Haverhill
Community Trust (separate project to that listed in 1(d)
above) £14,750
m. Newmarket
Day Centre CIO £10,000
n. The
Erskine Centre, Chedburgh£5,000
o. The
Turner Hall, Newmarket £5,000
3.
Subject to the budget setting process for 2021/2022, and subject to
the satisfactory submission of evidence-based
reports detailing the benefits and success of each individual
project in 2020/2021, the allocation of
Community Chest funding for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, be approved,
namely:
2020/21
2021/22
a.
REACH
£10,000
£10,000
(separate
project to that
listed in
1(e) above)
b. Relate
£4,500
£5,000
(separate project to that
listed in 1 (f) above)
4. No
Community Chest funding for 2020/2021 be awarded to:
a. Art
Branches;
b.
Castle Fields Pre-School;
c.
Fine not Fine;
d. Memories and Golden Community Hub;
e. St
Nicholas Hospice Care;
f.
Suffolk Young People’s Health Project;
g. The
Reader;
h.
Best Before;
i. EPIC
Dad;
j. Sharing
Parenting – Community Outreach (separate project to that listed in 2(e)
above);
k.
West Suffolk Citizens Advice – Outreach (separate project to that listed in 2(h)
above);
l. Green Light
Trust;
m.
Home-Start Mid and West Suffolk – Volunteering
(separate project to that listed in 2
(i) above);
n. The
Resume Foundation;
o.
Basketball Outreach;
p.
Clare Swimming Club;
q.
Couch Casters;
r.
Mildenhall Girl Guides;
s. The
Kinetic Science Foundation;
t. The
Tree Appreciation;
u. The
Voluntary Network (separate
project to that listed in 1(h) and (i)
above);
v.
West Suffolk Hive CIC;
w. All
Saints Church – Cornerstone;
x.
Fledglings Pre-School, Brandon;
y.
Horringer Pre-School;
z.
Lakenheath Peace Memorial Hall;
aa. Racing Centre,
Newmarket; and ...
view the full decision text for item 86.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this
report, which sought approval for the recommendations of the Grant
Working Party following its consideration of applications for
Community Chest funding in the 2020/2021 financial year.
Applications for Community
Chest funding for 2020/2021 closed on 30 September
2019. A total of 45 applications were
received from a wide variety of organisations as detailed in
Appendix 1 to the report. The total
value of the applications received was
£911,806.33.
The Community Chest budget for
2020/2021 was £466,733. £109,177 of the 2020/2021
budget was committed in 2018 for second year funding, as listed in
Appendix 1 and noted by the Cabinet. The remaining budget available
for 2020/2021 was therefore £357,556.
There were a number of
potential synergies between the applications and as such they were
grouped into various categories as set out in section 2.3 of the
report. Each application was required to be evaluated by the
Working Party in accordance with the eligibility and selection
criteria set out in Appendix 2 of the Grant Working Party report
and was considered in turn.
Councillor Robert Everitt,
Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities, drew relevant issues
to the attention of Cabinet and commended the Grant Working Party
for their sterling work. Before making any further comments, with
the agreement of the Chair, he invited Councillor Jim Thorndyke,
Chair of the Grant Working Party to provide a summary of their
work.
Councillor Thorndyke informed
Cabinet that the Working Party had met on three occasions in
November 2019 to consider each application and to make appropriate
recommendations for Community Chest funding (if any). The main
challenge faced by the Working Party was that over £900,000
worth of funding had been applied for and following the removal
from the 2020/21 budget of funding already allocated in 2018 as
part of two year funding agreements, a budget of just over of
£357,000 remained. A significant amount had been applied for
by Citizens Advice, and therefore following a sizeable allocation
to this organisation, the budget was depleted further for
allocation to other applicants.
Councillor Thorndyke explained
that the Working Party planned to meet in March 2020 to consider
how the consideration of the applications could be improved and how
the scheme could be better communicated to organisations to try and
reduce the number that were unfortunately turned down for Community
Chest funding this year.
Councillor Thorndyke thanked
the Working Party for its work and also officers from the Families
and Communities team. He particularly commended the depth of
knowledge for enabling organisations that were turned down or had a
reduction in Community Chest funding to be signposted to
alternative grant schemes and sources of funding. This provided
some reassurance that projects may still come to
fruition.
Councillor Everitt acknowledged
the benefits to organisations of the discretionary Community Chest
grant scheme and whilst the Council faced ongoing financial
challenges, he was pleased that the scheme currently remained
available to offer some help to eligible organisations. He
recognised the extremely difficult task undertaken by the Working
...
view the full minutes text for item 86.
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87. |
West Suffolk Rural Taskforce - Final Recommendations (Report No: CAB/WS/20/008) PDF 203 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/008
Portfolio Holder: Cllr John
Griffiths
Lead Officer: David Collinson
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
1. the
recommendations proposed by the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce, as
attached at Appendix A to Report No: CAB/WS/20/008, be adopted;
and
2. it
be agreed that a report be received in six months to understand the
actions that have been undertaken in respect of the Rural
Taskforce’s work.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report, which
sought approval for the final recommendations of the West Suffolk
Rural Taskforce.
Following its establishment in June 2019, the
Rural Taskforce had undertaken a thorough review of issues facing
residents, communities and businesses in more rural areas (villages
and outlying dwellings (as opposed to those in more urban
areas)). This review was undertaken by
firstly seeking evidence from officers on the
challenges faced by different rural communities in West Suffolk,
including demographic evidence, examples of good practice and
national level strategic documents. As
set out in section 2 of the report, a survey was produced for
residents and community groups followed by a series of workshops
held in four different rural locations of the district. The
outcomes of the survey and workshops enabled the Taskforce to
identify the following three theme areas, which then became the
focus of further work:
1. Digital
Connectivity, Access to Health and Transport
2. Appropriate and
Affordable Housing
3.
Communication, Working Together across Communities and Young
People
The Chair invited Councillor
Mike Chester, Chair of the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce to draw
relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet. He explained that following the above survey and
workshops, for each theme area, a dedicated workshop was held with
guests invited from a wide range of relevant organisations
including transport and infrastructure providers, public sector
partners, housing associations and community groups. This enabled the Taskforce to focus on the
specific challenges and priority areas for action.
As required by the Taskforce’s terms of
reference, attached as Appendix A was the proposed action plan
which had been produced to address the key elements that had arisen
from the survey and workshops. In particular, Cabinet had requested
that the Taskforce:
·
develops options as to how to address the key issues
identified by rural communities, and
·
advises on how rural considerations can be included
in future Council processes and decision making.
Councillor Chester highlighted
a typographical error within the action plan, as
follows:
Under the theme of Digital
Connectivity, Access to Health and Transport, this had an outcome
which should have stated:
Better connected rural places, where people are able to stay
safe, healthy and well, build relationships and community and
access skills, education and jobs.
Members commended the extensive
work of the Taskforce and it was considered that the proposed
recommendations and actions were sensible and achievable. It was
acknowledged that the actions could be taken forward and be
integrated, as far as possible, into the future work of the Council
across Members’ portfolios whilst recognising that a number
of actions would be led by others and therefore the Council would
have an influencing and lobbying role in respect of these
particular actions.
Recognition was given to the
positive correlation of the proposed recommendations and actions
with the three key policy framework documents of the Council,
namely the West Suffolk Strategic Framework, Medium Term Financial
Strategy and the development of the new West Suffolk Local Plan and
welcomed the progress review ...
view the full minutes text for item 87.
|
88. |
Update on the Work of the West Suffolk Environment and Climate Change Taskforce (Report No: CAB/WS/20/009) PDF 254 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/009
Portfolio Holder: Cllr John
Griffiths
Lead Officer: Jill Korwin
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
1.
progress made by the Taskforce to date be noted and support be
confirmed for the approach being taken, including the following
proposals under consideration outlined in section 1 of Report No:
CAB/WS/20/009:
a.
Explore ways we can reduce and measure our carbon use through
systems used in the sector such as carbon budgeting, consideringthe
aim to become a carbon neutral authority by 2030;
b.
Explore and embed where possible new ways of working and processes
that are more environmentally friendly that could have wider
benefits, such as cost savings or health improvements.
2. The
following initial recommendations be considered and:
a. it
be agreed that the Taskforce Terms of Reference are updated to
better reflect the working of the Taskforce and link to
Council’s declaration of a climate emergency and awareness of
environmental challenges, as laid out in section 3;
b. it be agreed to
advise the Barley Homes Shareholder Advisory Group regarding future
recommendations of the Taskforce;
c. the proposed
objectives and amendments for the West Suffolk Strategic Framework
2020-24 be agreed, as laid out in section 4;
d. it be agreed that
the West Suffolk Local Plan should include a specific strategic
objective regarding the environment and climate change challenges,
as laid out in section 4;
e. the recommendations
for the 2020/21 budget, as set out in Section 5, be approved,
specifically for up to £18,000 to be available from the
Medium Term Financial Strategy Reserve to meet the additional cost
of purchase of electric vehicles.
Additional
Recommendations (Addendum to Report No: CAB/WS/20/009)
RESOLVED:
That:
f. The West Suffolk
Environmental Statement 2018/19, as contained in Appendix B to
Report No: CAB/WS/20/009, be noted; and
g. for future years,
the Environmental Statement be included in the Council’s
Annual Report, starting with the 2019/20 Annual Report,
as laid in section 4.2 of Report No:
CAB/WS/20/009.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report, which
updated on the work of the West Suffolk Environment and Climate
Change Taskforce and sought approval for a number of
recommendations put forward in the interim period.
Following its establishment in July 2019, the
Environment and Climate Change Taskforce had begun a thorough
evidence-based review of environment and climate change issues with
the purpose of making recommendations back to Cabinet on the
further actions the Council could take to address climate change
and mitigate adverse impacts on the environment.
The Taskforce was expected to present its
final recommendations later in 2020; however, a number of initial
recommendations had been proposed for consideration at this
meeting, which if approved, would help the work of the Taskforce to
progress.
An additional recommendation was proposed
which had inadvertently been omitted from the report and was tabled
before Members. The purpose and reason for the recommendation was
set out in the original report. The recommendation was as
follows:
1. The
West Suffolk Environmental Statement 2018/19, as contained in
Appendix B to Report No: CAB/WS/20/009, be noted; and
2. for
future years, the Environmental Statement be included in the
Council’s Annual Report, starting with the 2019/20 Annual
Report, as laid in section 4.2 of Report No: CAB/WS/20/009.
The Chair invited Councillor David Roach,
Portfolio Holder for Local Plan Development and Delivery and Member
of the Environment and Climate Change Taskforce to present the
update and move the recommendations.
Councillor Roach explained the approach and
methodology of the Taskforce, as set out in paragraphs 2.3 to 2.5
of the report, and how a range of options were currently being
developed in respect of each workstream so that final proposals
could be presented to Cabinet for approval later in
2020. In the meantime, initial
recommendations were set out in sections 3, 4 and 5 of the report
and each were considered in turn.
A detailed discussion was held and the Cabinet
acknowledged that good progress was being made with general support
expressed for the recommendations. Specifically, the following
observations and comments were made, that:
·
An Air Quality Group had been established in Bury St
Edmunds and it would therefore be appropriate for these and other
similar environmental groups to work together to achieve common
aims.
·
In respect of future tree planting, consideration
needed to be given to the impact on the landscape and to ensure
existing landscapes were protected where necessary; allowance of
sufficient time for the trees to grow and embed properly and
safely; to plant indigenous species in order to help protect
existing plant growth and reduce the potential spread of disease;
and to ascertain whether the Council could act commercially in
terms of whether the trees could be planted
and harvested on a rotational basis to generate an
income.
·
Greener initiatives potentially needed to be
introduced into the existing ageing housing stock in the district
and not just provided in new homes. The Council would need to lobby
Government regarding such change.
·
In respect of reporting CO² savings,
...
view the full minutes text for item 88.
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89. |
Draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2020-2024 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/010) PDF 277 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/010
Portfolio Holder: Cllr John
Griffiths
Lead Officer: Ian Gallin
(Note: This item was deferred by Cabinet on 26 November
2019.)
Additional documents:
Decision:
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: (25 February 2020)
That subject to the
incorporation of Appendix A (Leader’s Foreword), the draft
West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2020-2024, as contained in
Appendix B to Report No: CAB/WS/20/010 be adopted, taking account
of the comments made by the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report which was
recommending to Council, the approval and adoption of the draft
West Suffolk Strategic Framework.
The preparation of the new draft West Suffolk
Strategic Framework had been taking place as part of a wider piece
of work aimed at ‘Planning for the Future’, in which a
joined-up approach was being taken to the Strategic Framework, West
Suffolk Local Plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy.
The advent of the new council and the aligned
timetables of the three documents provided a good opportunity for
West Suffolk Council to develop a single, coherent narrative and
approach to what councillors wanted to see achieved in West Suffolk
in coming years.
Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the
Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet,
including that section 1 of the report detailed the process that
had been undertaken to produce the draft Strategic Framework, which
included holding Member workshops. The first workshop sought
exploration of specific questions, the feedback from which had been
used to inform both the Strategic Framework and the initial scoping
of the new West Suffolk Local Plan and Medium Term Financial
Strategy. The second workshop
considered in more detail what might be the best approach to
achieving growth in West Suffolk in future years.
The input from Members was then combined with
the existing commitments and priorities, plus those of partner
organisations, to produce a draft Strategic Framework document.
Members noted that in developing the
Framework, the key points to acknowledge and as set out in further
detail in the report, were:
a. The document was not
comprehensive;
b. It was proposed that
the Council’s strategic priorities remained the same.
c. West Suffolk’s
contribution was only part of the picture.
d. The document
included a new emphasis on the Environment and Rural issues.
On 14 November 2019, the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee had considered the draft document and had made a number
of comments which were set out in section 3 of the report.
Having considered the document (Appendix B),
the Leader’s Foreword (Appendix A) and the comments of the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Cabinet was supportive of
recommending its adoption by Council.
RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: (25 February
2020)
That subject to the
incorporation of Appendix A (Leader’s Foreword), the draft
West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2020-2024, as contained in
Appendix B to Report No: CAB/WS/20/010 be adopted, taking account
of the comments made by the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee.
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90. |
Decisions Plan: 1 January 2020 to 31 May 2020 (Report No: CAB/WS/20/011) PDF 285 KB
To consider the most recently published
version of the Cabinet’s Decisions Plan
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/011
Portfolio Holder: Cllr John
Griffiths
Lead Officer: Ian Gallin
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report which was
the Cabinet Decisions Plan covering the period 1 January 2020 to 31
May 2020.
Members took the opportunity to review the
intended forthcoming decisions of the Cabinet; however, no further
information or amendments were requested on this occasion.
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91. |
Revenues Collection Performance and Write-Offs (Report No: CAB/WS/20/012) PDF 143 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/012
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Rachael Mann
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
The write-off of the amounts
detailed in the Exempt Appendices to Report No: CAB/WS/20/012, be
approved, as follows:
(1) Exempt
Appendix 1: Council Tax totalling £11,778.83
(2) Exempt
Appendix 2: Business Rates totalling £289,654.00
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this
report, which provided the collection data in respect of Council
Tax and National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) and sought approval for
the write-off of the amounts contained in the Exempt Appendices
attached to the report.
Councillor Sarah Broughton,
Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant
issues to the attention of the Cabinet, including the current
performance of both council tax and business rates collection, as
set out in Section 3 of the report. She reiterated that it was
always frustrating to write-off any outstanding debts.
The Cabinet agreed with
Councillor Broughton’s frustration but commended the work of
the Anglia Revenues and Benefits Partnership, and in particular their Enforcement Agency, in trying to
do all they possibly could to retrieve outstanding
debts.
RESOLVED:
That:
The write-off of the amounts
detailed in the Exempt Appendices to Report No: CAB/WS/20/012, be
approved, as follows:
1.
Exempt Appendix 1: Council Tax totalling
£11,778.83
2.
Exempt Appendix 2: Business Rates totalling
£289,654.00
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92. |
Western Way Development, Bury St Edmunds (Report No: CAB/WS/20/013) PDF 479 KB
Report No:
CAB/WS/20/013
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Joanna
Rayner
Lead Officer: Alex Wilson
Additional documents:
Decision:
RESOLVED:
That:
1.
subject to resolution 2. below, the external assurance review for
the Western Way Development carried out between November and
December 2019 be deemed to be satisfactory in terms of progression
of the project on the basis approved by Council on 19 September
2019;
2. the
action plan set out in Appendix 1 to Report No: CAB/WS/20/013
address the key findings of the review be approved and
implemented;
3.
subject to resolution 2. above and the existing conditions approved
by Council on 19 September 2019 being met, the Director be
authorised to:
a.
adjust the final phase 1 scheme for a
replacement leisure centre, the new public service hub and their
supporting infrastructure in consultation with the Portfolio Holder
and the Council’s Section 151 Officer so that it continues to
meet the objectives set out in the Final Business Case;
and
b.
commence procurement work for the parts
of this phase 1 scheme in respect of which the necessary safeguards
to the Council are in place; and
4.
subject to planning consent being secured, the final award of
contract(s) prior to works starting on site be subject to approval
by Cabinet.
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered this report, which
contained recommendations for enabling the next stage of the
proposed Western Way Development in Bury St Edmunds to
progress.
Approval was given by Council in September
2019 of the final business case for the Western Way Development.
Under the terms of that Council decision, Cabinet was now
authorised to deliver the project described in the final business
case, and seek external funding, without reference back to Council
provided that it met certain tests and conditions, as set out in
section 1.4 of the report.
Councillor Joanna Rayner, Portfolio Holder for
Leisure, Culture and Community Hubs, drew relevant issues to the
attention of Cabinet, including that the project was developing in
accordance with meeting those requirements, which included the
undertaking of an independent external assurance review. This
review was commissioned to Rider Levett
Bucknall (RLB), property and development specialists. A copy of its
full report was attached as Exempt Appendix 2.
RLB had not identified any significant issues
that would prevent progression of the project; however, there were
some areas that they felt needed addressing and as such, RLB had
provided a number of recommendations to be taken
forward. Appendix 1
attached to the report contained the full and verbatim
recommendations received from RLB.
These were provided in the form of an action plan to ensure each
recommendation was acted upon and monitored as suggested by
RLB. In addition, RLB’s main
findings were briefly summarised in section 2.6 of the
report.
Councillor Rayner emphasised
that the review had been undertaken by a fully independent
specialist. She and Cabinet felt reassured that no significant
issues had been identified that would prevent the project from
progressing and that it was broadly moving in the right
direction.
Subject to addressing and
monitoring the issues highlighted in the action plan, and subject
to planning consent being secured and working effectively with
partners, the Cabinet looked forward to this exciting and
innovative second stage of the aspirational Public Service Village
concept coming to fruition.
RESOLVED:
That:
1.
subject to resolution 2. below, the external assurance review for
the Western Way Development carried out between November and
December 2019 be deemed to be satisfactory in terms of progression
of the project on the basis approved by Council on 19 September
2019;
2. the
action plan set out in Appendix 1 to Report No: CAB/WS/20/013
address the key findings of the review be approved and
implemented;
3.
subject to resolution 2. above and the existing conditions approved
by Council on 19 September 2019 being met, the Director be
authorised to:
a.
adjust the final phase 1 scheme for a replacement leisure centre,
the new public service hub and their supporting infrastructure in
consultation with the Portfolio Holder and the Council’s
Section 151 Officer so that it continues to meet the objectives set
out in the Final Business Case; and
b.
commence procurement work for the parts of this phase 1 scheme in
respect of which the necessary safeguards to the Council are
...
view the full minutes text for item 92.
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93. |
Exclusion of Press and Public
To consider whether the press and public
should be excluded during the consideration of the following items
because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be
transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the
public were present during the items, there would be disclosure to
them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of
Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated
against each item and, in all circumstances of the case, the public
interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest
in disclosing the information.
Minutes:
See minutes 94. and 95. below.
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94. |
Exempt Appendix: Western Way Development, Bury St Edmunds (para 3) (Report No: CAB/WS/20/013)
Exempt Appendix 2 to Report No: CAB/WS/20/013
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Joanna
Rayner
Lead Officer: Alex Wilson
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered the Exempt Appendix to
this report. However, no reference was
made to specific detail and, therefore, this item was not held in
private session.
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95. |
Exempt Appendices: Revenues Collection Performance and Write-Offs (paras 1 and 2) (Report No: CAB/WS/20/012)
Exempt Appendices 1 and 2 to Report
No: CAB/WS/20/012
Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah
Broughton
Lead Officer: Rachael Mann
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered the Exempt Appendices
to this report. However, no reference
was made to specific detail and, therefore, this item was not held
in private session.
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In this section
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