Decisions

No questions were asked or had been submitted by members of the public

The Committee:

(1)            Agreed to continue the current scheme for the 2020/21 financial year with the underlying means tested applicable amounts being uplifted by the same percentage as the Housing Benefit rates applicable from April 2020 and applying any further Regulation changes that might apply for that financial year;

(2)            Agreed the continuation of the Discretionary Hardship Fund for exceptional cases;

(3)            Agreed the actions proposed to change the scheme to a council tax discount to be implemented from 1 April 2021.

The Committee agreed:

(1)            That a Working Group be established to consider all representations received in respect of the public consultation in respect of Polling Districts, polling Places and Polling Stations;

(2)            That the Working Group comprise of 5 members with the Chairman of the Residents’ Association, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat group and the Leader of the Labour group having nominated 3 members, 1 member and 1 member respectively as detailed in paragraph 4.2 of the report, and Councillor Christine Howells as the nominated representative from Nonsuch Ward agreed at the meeting.

(3)            That this Committee considers the proposals of the Working Group at its meeting on 26 November 2019.

The Committee agreed to the proposed commissioning of consultation and engagement experts; and specialist software to enable residents to comment for the Local Plan consultation with a budget of up to £75,000 as set out in paragraph 4.3 of the report.

The Committee:

(1)            Noted the recommendations of Financial Policy Panel held on 10 September 2019.

(2)            Agreed the following overall budget targets for 2020/21:-

a)              estimates are prepared including options to reduce organisational costs by £544,000 in 2020/21 subject to government grant announcement, 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 £290,000 additional revenue is generated from an increase in discretionary fees and charges, based on a minimum overall increase in yield of 3.0%, with the exception of car parking which is set at 6.0% as these charges are adjusted every two years;

c)               that a provision for pay award is made of £400,000 that allows for a 2% cost of living increase;

(3)            Agreed that further savings are identified for inclusion within the new Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2020-2024 to reduce the Council’s net operating costs by a minimum of £1,825,000 over the period 2020/21 to 2023/24;

(4)            That Capital Member Group seeks to maintain a minimum capital expenditure programme to control the use of capital reserves between 2020 and 2024, subject to an appropriate prioritisation of spend to save and externally funded schemes.

The Committee:

(1)            Approved the use of £106,950 of Flexible Housing Support Grant to increase homelessness prevention activity and increase the supply of Private Sector Leased properties; and

(2)            Approved the use of £63,000 of Flexible Housing Support Grant to purchase a new temporary accommodation rent accounting module and upgrade the existing Abritas Housing Services system to assist homelessness prevention & relief administration. 

The Committee agreed the Strategic Statement on Economy and Place

The Minutes of the meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee held on 30 July 2019 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

No declarations of interest were made regarding items on this agenda

No declarations of interests were made by Councillors regarding items on this agenda.

No questions were submitted or were asked at the meeting by members of the public.

The Committee:

(1)            Noted the content of the Draft Masterplan and welcomed receiving the final version for approval at a future Committee;

(2)            Endorsed the Vision for Growth set out within the Masterplan (under Part B, Section 3, page 41);

(3)            Agreed the principles (under pages 42 and 43) that had been identified as shaping the Masterplan’s Strategy and for these to be taken forward into the emerging Local Plan; and

(4)            Agreed to the use of the proposed visualisations contained throughout the document as part of the Regulation 18 Local Plan public consultation in the Autumn 2019.