Decisions

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors regarding items on the agenda.

No written questions were submitted and one member the public asked a question at the meeting.

The Committee:

(1)            Received the revised National Planning Policy Framework and the possible implications for the Borough Council in terms of the emerging Local Plan and the determination of development proposals considered through the Development Management Process;

(2)            Agreed the future decisions accord with the revised National Planning Policy Framework.

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee held on 10 July 2018 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee agreed a way forward as set out in the Minutes.

Note:  The details are considered officially sensitive at this time and the Minute for this item will be exempt from publication.

The Committee:

(1)            Noted the proposed changes to the officer structure aligned to the delivery of Council priorities as outlined in Annex 1 of the report.

(2)            Agreed that £20,000 be included in the Council’s budget planning process for 2019/20 for business improvement work needed to further enhance capacity within the organisation.

(3)            Agreed the one-off costs associated with moving to the new structure as detailed in the confidential supplementary Annex 4.

The Committee resolved to exclude the Press and Public from the meeting. This was 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 Minutes of the Meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee held on 26 July 2018 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

In the interests of openness and transparency, Councillor Vince Romagnuolo declared he was a member of the Planning Committee with particular regard to Item 3 on the agenda.

No written questions were submitted and one member of the public asked two questions at the meeting.

The Committee:

(1)            Received the Minutes of the meeting of the Financial Policy Panel held on 11 September 2018.

(2)            Agreed the following overall revenue budget target for 2019/20:

a)              Estimates to be prepared including options to reduce organisational costs by £406,000, subject to government grant announcement, in order to minimise the use of working balances and maintain a minimum working balance of £2.5 million in accordance with the medium term financial strategy;

b)              That at least £200,000 additional revenue is generated from an increase in discretionary fees and charges;

c)               That a provision for pay award is made of £280,000 that represents an increase to the staffing budget of 2.5%, 1% for cost of living and 1.5% for progression.

d)              That further savings and efficiencies be identified to address the budget shortfall of £113,000 in 2019/20;

e)              That £200,000 from the financial gain of being part of the Pilot for Business Rates is used to mitigate the potential payment of £625,000 to government for ‘negative RSG’.

The Committee agreed to appoint Councillor Eber Kington as the Chairman for the Shareholder Sub Committee.

The Committee:

(1)            Approved the proposed site configuration Option C as described in the report.

(2)            Agreed the commencement of a consultation with residents on the proposed site configuration, Option C.

(3)            Agreed that a report to inform on the final options and proposals for the Wells site be brought to a future meeting.

Note:  The committee agreed to replace recommendation 3 on the published agenda with recommendation 3 above

The Committee

(1)            Agreed to the adoption of the Empty Property Strategy as set out in Annex 3 to the report.

(2)            Approved in principle the creation of an Empty Property Fund, the details of which will be subject to a further report to the Committee.

The Committee:

(1)            Received the report on the Council’s treasury management performance 2017/18.

(2)            Approved the actual 2017/18 prudential indicators.

(3)            Noted MCHLG’s Statutory Guidance on Local Government Investements.

(4)            Noted the suspension of further out-of-borough investment property acquisitions, where the main purpose is purely to profit, until further guidance or case law is published that clarifies the Council’s related vires.

Note:  Two Councillors abstained from agreeing to note recommendation 4 above.

The Committee agreed to:

(1)            The Council entering into a partnership arrangement with Southern Internal Audit Partnership

(2)            Give delegated authority to the Head of Corporate Governance in conjunction with the Chief Finance Officer to finalise the arrangements.