Minutes for Cabinet meeting, Dec 1 2009, 6.00PM official page

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2009 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 20 October were confirmed and signed by the Leader.

The Forward Plan of Executive Decisions was presented for consideration.  The Plan contained all key decisions to be taken in the next four months together with other significant decisions anticipated to be taken within the next twelve months.

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan be noted and approved.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Resources Portfolio recommending the proposed Council Tax base for 2010/2011. 

The report assessed the factors involved in calculating the tax base and provided calculations of the tax base for each Parish area and the area as a whole.  There was little discretion to exercise in arriving at the Council Tax base figures, which had to be calculated on the position as known at 5 October 2009.  Appendices to the report set out where variations had occurred in the number of Band D equivalent properties, amounting to an overall increase of 0.29% for the District to a total of 32,470. 

RECOMMENDED that the calculation of the Council’s tax base for the year 2010/2011, as set out in the report, be approved and that in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 1992, the amount calculated by South Bucks District Council as its Council Tax base for the year 2010/2011 shall be as follows:

2010/2011

Band D equiv

Beaconsfield

6,173

Burnham

5,157

Denham

3,380

Dorney

384

Farnham Royal

3,057

Fulmer

354

Gerrards Cross

4,428

Hedgerley

429

Iver

4,820

Stoke Poges

2,309

Taplow

1,009

Wexham

970

South Bucks District

32,470

The Cabinet considered a report of the Resources Portfolio Holder reviewing the Authority’s capital expenditure programme for the period 2010/11 – 2013/14.

The review of the capital expenditure programme was part of the overall budget setting process.  The programme was made up of a fixed budget for the next financial year and provisional figures for the three following financial years. 

The report set out the current capital programme in detail, with each scheme categorised according to Resources PAG guidelines, from five stars down to one star, where five stars equated to a statutory requirement or contractual commitment reducing to one star for other projects with no priority. 

There was a continuing need to maintain a level of usable capital receipts at ideally not less than £20m (in order to maintain investment income as far as possible), which constrained the amount of capital expenditure that could be made.  It was pointed out that the Council’s target of ensuring that investment income does not fall below 15% of net service expenditure was unlikely to be met this year due to low interest rates and lower returns.  Accompanying the report were two appendices which set out the accounting rules regarding what constitutes capital expenditure and the Council’s capital strategy (updated version) which helps to align the capital programme to the priorities of the Corporate Plan in a realistic manner.

The report put forward the following suggestions for reductions or other changes to the programme:

• Community Development Grant budget – reduce from £28,000 to £20,000 as in previous years not all the budget has been spent;
• Housing Grants budgets – due to a slight fall in demand, reduce the home renovation grants and disabled facilities grants budgets to £60,000 and £310,000 respectively;
• ICT budgets – through removal of the Internet/intranet allocation (no longer chargeable to capital) and amalgamation of other budgets, revise the allocation going forward to £25,000 for Desktop IT and £60,000 for ICT development of systems;
• As all expenditure for Farnham Park will now be chargeable to the Charitable Trust, expenditure on other capital minor works could be reduced from £110,000 to £80,000.

No capital growth bids had been made at present.  The report also detailed the current capital receipts programme.  As there were no major asset sales planned, it was proposed that the Land and Property Sales budget be reduced from £250,000 to £100,000 per annum.  A table was also presented showing the overall effect of spending and receipts on capital reserves.

Although the reductions suggested were useful, the Cabinet considered that further work was required to review the capital programme in its entirety with the exception of unavoidable statutory obligations in order to reduce the programme further to mitigate, as far as possible, the effect of lower investment income from 2010/11 onwards.

RESOLVED that:

(1)    approval of revised capital programme for 2010/11 – 2013/14 be deferred for further consideration and critical review; and

(2)    the updated Capital Strategy be approved.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Resources Portfolio Holder on the budget monitoring position as at 31 October 2009. 

With regard to the forecast revenue outturn position, a summary of in-year budget variations identified to date was set out, showing a forecast overspend of £248k (compared to £161k in the last report).  There were also a number of items agreed to be funded from reserves by the Council at past meetings, amounting to £61k.  The effect of balances was therefore a net reduction of £309k. 

Progress against key income targets was summarised in the report.  The main variants were shortfalls against budget in Land Charges fee income and Building Control fee income.

The report gave an update on the main financial risk areas within the budget.  Progress against the 2009/10 savings and efficiencies target was also set out, showing the current estimate of savings achievable of £354k against a target of £395k.  With reference to the revenue reserves, it was estimated the balance would be £1,405 at 31 March 2010, well in excess of the advised prudent level.  The estimated outturn of capital expenditure during the year (adjusted for removal of the Farnham Charitable capital) was £1.506m, a projected underspend of £120k. 

            RESOLVED that the report be noted. 

The Cabinet considered a Notice of a Decision of the Resources Portfolio Holder issued on 5 November, together with the minutes of a meeting of the Resources Policy Advisory Group held on 4 November 2009.  The Cabinet noted that the PAG had received a report for information on investment performance over the last quarter.

On the recommendation of the Portfolio Holder, with regard to the Council’s payroll contract run by Aylesbury Vale DC, it was

RESOLVED that the contract with Aylesbury Vale DC be extended, pursuant to Contracts Procedure Rule 14 (2), for a further year to 31 March 2011 at a cost of £12,520.  (This was in line with Pathfinder to enhance joint working and ensure coterminous end dates with other Bucks Authorities).

The Cabinet considered a Notice of a Decision of the Community Portfolio Holder issued on 6 November, together with the minutes of a meeting of the Community Policy Advisory Group held on 5 November 2009.  The Cabinet noted decisions taken in relation to Community Development Grants approved and a report for information on community safety issues.

The following was the subject of a recommendation from the Portfolio Holder:

Proposed Playground at Farnham Park Sports Fields, Farnham Royal

Farnham Royal Parish Council proposed to install a new children’s play area on land at Farnham Park Sports Fields, using a grant of £47,923 allocated by the District from the Government’s £234m “investment in play” programme.

RECOMMENDED that:

(1)      a formal licence be issued to Farnham Royal Parish Council to use part of Farnham park Sports Fields for the provision of a new playground.

(2)      authority be delegated to the Head of Environment to progress the matter with the Parish Council and settle the detailed terms of the licence, including the provision for managing the playground, the ongoing maintenance arrangements and for a contribution of £500 from the Parish towards the Council’s legal costs.

[A decision is required to be made by members acting both as members of SBDC and as corporate trustee in accordance with the charity objectives of Farnham Park Charitable Trust].

The Cabinet considered a Notice of Decisions of the Health and Housing Portfolio Holder issued on 20 November, following a meeting of the Health and Housing Policy Advisory Group held on 19 November 2009.  The Cabinet noted that decisions had been taken on Portfolio Budgets 2010/11 (for submission to the next Cabinet), and reports for information had been received on food safety inspections, bed and breakfast and temporary accommodation for the homeless and the Housing Services improvement plan.

Arising from the recommendations of the Portfolio Holder:

Outline of the proposed Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2009

A report had been considered introducing new duties and a draft policy as required by the Private Water Supply (England) Regulations 2009, coming into effect in January 2010.  The Council would have new statutory duties to carry out risk assessments and undertake sampling in relation to private water supplies and a draft policy outlining the approach to be taken on enforcement and for specific procedures had been prepared.

RESOLVED to:

(1)               note the impact of the new Regulations and adopt the draft Policy, subject to delegated authority to the Health and Housing Portfolio Holder to approve any changes in the light of the final DEFRA guidance due to be issued in December 2009;

(2)               delegate authority to the Health and Housing Portfolio Holder, in consultation with the Director of Services and Director of Resources, set fees for the various new functions in the light of the final DEFRA guidance due to be issued in December 2009;

(3)               delegate authority to the Health and Housing Portfolio Holder, in consultation with the Director of Services, to agree any departure from the Policy where circumstances warrant it;

(4)               delegate authority to the Director of Services to revise the Policy from time to time to take account of staff and legal changes; and

(5)               delegate authority to the Director of Services, in consultation with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, to issue formal notices, only where an informal approach has failed to achieve remedial action.

The Cabinet considered a Notice of a Decision of the Environment Portfolio Holder issued on 1 December, following a meeting of the Environment Policy Advisory Group held on 30 November 2009.  Arising therefrom:

RESOLVED that the existing procedure in relation to Street Naming and Numbering, as delegated to the Director of Services, be noted and extended such that if any disagreement with any of the consultees involved occurs which cannot be settled following the usual process, the matter be referred to the Environment Portfolio Holder to decide, in consultation with the Head of Environment.

To consider report of the Chief Executive.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive showing the performance of Council services against national and local indicators and against service objectives during the period April – September 2009. 

Appendix A to the report showed the monthly priority performance indicator figures in detail.  In summary this showed:-

Areas where priority performance indicators are achieving targets

·        Percentage of Council Tax collected

·        Percentage of Non-Domestic Rates collected

·        The number of households where homelessness is prevented

·        The Rate of serious acquisitive crime per 1,000 of the population

·        The number of domestic burglaries per 1,000 households

·        The number of robberies per 1,000 of the population

·        The processing of “other” planning applications (not major or minor)

Areas where performance targets are not being achieved

·        Number of households living in temporary accommodation

·        Average number of working days lost due to sickness

·        The speed of processing new Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit claims

·        The number of theft of vehicle incidents and the number of thefts from vehicles

With regard to the number of families in temporary accommodation (which included bed and breakfast) it was noted that this has worsened partly as a result of increased demands on the homelessness service but also because of a hold up in availability of ‘move on’ accommodation.  This had been addressed in liaison with L & Q Housing – there were no families and just one single person currently in bed and breakfast, and both temporary and ‘move on’ accommodation had been released to cope with the situation.

There were also a few sustainability and environment indicators monitored on a quarterly basis in addition to the monthly priority indicators.  These showed:-

·        the figures on carbon reduction from local authority operations had yet to be collected.  A carbon reduction plan had been developed which had received a positive response.

·        the amount of residual household waste is slightly lower than the corresponding period last year – on track to meet the annual target

·        the percentage of household waste sent for re-use, recycling or composting was currently above the annual target.

·        an improved street and environmental cleanliness (levels of litter) – recorded at 1% in July (4 month indicator) against an annual target of 7%.

On economic activity indicators, the number of enquiries received by CAB relating to benefits, debt and housing has remained steady (and not increased) over the first half of the year.  The job seekers allowance claimant count shows a marked increase over the 2008 figures but had slowly decreased from a peak in May 2009.

The report went on to provide a commentary on the performance against the key service objectives across the Council within each Portfolio. 

The final section of the report discussed key operational risks put forward by Management Team, indicating the likelihood of risk occurring, the level of threat posed and actions carried out during the quarter to mitigate risk.

RESOLVED that the performance for the second quarter of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

The date of the next meeting of the Cabinet is shown as 12 January 2010 [if required].  To consider arrangements for Cabinet meeting and/or a special meeting of the Council to receive a report regarding the Pathfinder Support Services Project on that date.

The Cabinet considered when it should next meet against the background of a provisional date fixed of 12 January 2010 and the arrangements likely to be required for approval of the next phase of the Pathfinder Support Services Project.

RESOLVED that subject to the timely availability of information required on the Support Services Project, the next meeting of the Cabinet be confirmed for 12 January 2010 at 6.00 pm, to be followed by an additional meeting of the Council to be held on 19 January 2010 at 6.00 pm.

The Leader to move the following resolution:-

“that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

RESOLVED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Environment Portfolio Holder Report

(Paragraph 3 – because of information relating to the financial or business affairs of a particular person).

The Cabinet considered a report about the appointment of a grounds maintenance contractor to commence on 1 April 2010.  The Cabinet has recommended the Council on terms for the appointment of a new contractor.

Planning Enforcement and Appeals – Resources

(Paragraph 5 – because of information in respect of which a claim to legal privilege could be maintained).

The Cabinet received a report containing a resume of recent decisions relating to planning enforcement and appeals and the resource implications of each.

(Paragraph 3 – because refers to financial or business affairs of a particular person)

To consider Part II Decision Notice to be issued following a meeting of the Environment PAG on 30 November 2009.

(Paragraph 5 – because of information in respect of which a claim to legal privilege could be maintained).

To consider report of the Director of Services.