Agenda and decisions

To take any questions or statements from members of the Public.

To receive declarations of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or other registrable or non-registrable interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 8 October 2024 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

To report to the committee the annual statement of the Armed Forces councillor champion.

The Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Receive and note the annual statement of the Armed Forces councillor champion.

To report to the committee the annual statement of the Mental Health councillor champion.

The Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Receive and note the annual statement of the Mental Health councillor champion.

This report summarises the proposed 2025/26 capital programme and a provisional programme for 2026/27 to 2029/30. The Committee’s approval is sought for the programme to be submitted to Council in February 2025.

The Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Submit the capital programme for 2025/26 as identified in section 3 of the report to the Council for approval on 11 February 2025;

(2)          Note the provisional forecast of schemes for the capital programme for 2026/27 to 2029/30;

(3)          Note that schemes subject to external funding from Disabled Facilities Grants will only proceed once funding has been received.

This report recommends fees and charges for which this Committee is responsible, with the new charges being effective from 1 April 2025.

The Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Agree the fees and charges for the Community and Wellbeing Committee for 2025/26.

(2)          Nominate and authorise the Head of Operational Services and Assistant Head of Service (Venues) to issue discounts on the new facility fee for group bookings of over 25.

This report sets out estimates for income and expenditure on services in 2025/26.

The Committee resolved (7 for, and 1 abstaining) to:

(1)          Recommend the 2025/26 service estimates for approval at the budget meeting of Full Council in February 2025.

To agree the arrangements for performing statutory housing reviews of decisions relating to homelessness and the suitability of temporary accommodation.

The Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Approve the award of a contract for the conduct of reviews of allocation and homelessness decisions to Residential Management Group (RMG) Ltd for a period of 1 year with an option to extend for a further period of 1 year and;

(2)          Nominate and authorise to RMG Ltd the Council’s statutory functions pursuant to the provisions of s166A(9) and s202 of the Housing Act 1996 to perform reviews of decisions made either regarding the suitability of accommodation offered s166A(9) or as the result of a decision upon a request for assistance as homeless s202. And:

(3)          Nominate and authorise to the Strategic Housing Manager the Council’s statutory functions pursuant to the provisions of s166A(9) and s202 of the Housing Act 1996 to perform reviews of decisions made either regarding the suitability of accommodation offered s166A(9) or as the result of a decision upon a request for assistance as homeless s202.

(4)          Nominate and authorise Housing Reviews Ltd to conclude all outstanding cases as per the previous committee report in October.

This report sets out the Council’s intended health and wellbeing priorities for 2025-2028.

The Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Support the Council in developing its revised Health and Wellbeing Strategy based on the priorities set out in the report, and as included in Appendix 1 of the report.

This report considers the continued support of voluntary sector organisations and sets out the proposed funding arrangements for 2025/2026.

The Committee unanimously resolved to exclude the Press and Public from the meeting in accordance with Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended) and that pursuant to paragraph 10 of Part 2 of the said Schedule 12A the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Committee resolved (7 for, and 1 against) to:

(1)          Agree to the financial support of the voluntary sector organisations in 2025-2026 as detailed in option 2 (section 3.10 of the report).