Decisions

RESOLVED that the award of the Stock Condition Survey be awarded to Savills (UK) Limited.

RESOLVED that the report concerning the Council’s Corporate Debt as at 31st March 2024 be noted.

RESOLVED that 1) the outturn position in respect of the 2023/24 financial year be noted,

2) that the transfers to earmarked reserves of £1.455m as outlined in detail in paragraph 2.3 be approved,

3) the proposed carry forward of capital budgets detailed in Appendix 5 totalling £12.332m be approved.

RESOLVED that 1) the revised Disposals & Acquisitions Policy be adopted,

2)that a new Acquisitions Strategy be developed to sit alongside the Policy document to enable the Council to make swift decisions regarding the purchase of land or property.

RESOLVED that 1) the recommendations of the review outlined in section 2.5 of the report and Section 2 of Appendix 1, be endorsed,

2) monitoring takes place over a twelve-month period via the PERFORM system with an update report to the Customer Services Scrutiny Committee at the end of the monitoring period.

Council considered a report of the Chair of the Employment and Personnel Committee, which sought agreement for budget increases for the establishment of two posts that had been agreed at Employment and Personnel Committee on 17^th April 2024.

The proposals agreed at the Employment and Personnel Committee were to establish two new posts, one Land and Property Assistant and one Communications Officer.  The Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer confirmed that the budget required for each post would be:

Land and Property Assistant (a full-time post at Grade 4 - £34,594 - £36,278 including on costs)

Communications Officer (a full-time post at Grade 6 - £38,810 - £41,892 including on costs).

The additional posts would require an increase to the Council’s General Fund budget.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Deborah Watson

RESOLVED that the growth in salary budgets as recommended by the Employment and Personnel Committee on 17^th April 2024 be approved.

(Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer)

Council considered a report which sought adoption of the revised Statement of Principles under the Licensing Act 2003.

The report explained that the Licensing Act 2003 imposed a statutory requirement upon the Council to prepare and publish a Statement of Principles every five years. The previous Statement of Principles had been published in 2019 and was now due for renewal.

The Joint Environmental Health Service had conducted an initial review of the Policy and had identified a number of amendments necessary to being the Policy up to date.  In summary, the proposed amendments aimed to achieve the following:

·         Ensure the policy was consistent with legislation and statutory guidance

·         Increase the clarity of the Policy

·         Improve the standards of premises in the District through the recommendation of more robust management practices

·         Provide clarity on delegations

·         Update local demographics.

The draft policy had been considered by the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee and the Climate Change and Communities Scrutiny Committee, after which a six-week public consultation had run from 26^th February 2024 to 7^th April 2024.  No responses had been received during the consultation period and a proposed final version of the Policy had been considered by the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee on 29^th April 2024.

The revised Statement of Principles under the Licensing Act 2003 was attached to the report at Appendix 1.

Moved by Councillor Anne Clarke and seconded by Councillor Emma Stevenson

RESOLVED that, as recommended by the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee, the revised Statement of Principles under the Licensing Act 2003 be adopted and take effect immediately.

(Assistant Director of Environmental Health)

Council considered a report which sought approval to allocate budget from the Housing Revenue Account Development Reserve for a Stock Condition Survey of the Council’s Housing Revenue Account Dwelling Stock.

The report stated that in line with best practice, and the updated Consumer Standards, a stock condition survey was needed, given that it was now ten years since the previous survey had been undertaken.  The new survey would seek to provide a comprehensive and accurate stock condition dataset enabling the Council to effectively maintain and improve the housing stock, inform decisions about procurement and investment priorities, as well as ensuring that the Council met its statutory and regulatory landlord obligations.

The report set out details of the expected cost and recommended procurement route.

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor John Ritchie

RESOLVED that budget be allocated from the Housing Revenue Account Development Reserve for a Stock Condition Survey of the Council’s Housing Revenue Account Dwelling Stock.

(Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer/Assistant Director of Housing Management and Enforcement)

Council considered a report of the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP).  The report set out the recommendations and reasons of the IRP, which in summary recommended no change to the level of allowances. Attached to the report at Appendix 1 was the current Members’ Allowances Scheme and at Appendix 2 was the report of the IRP.

The recommendations of the IRP were:

Basic Allowance – Recommendation: no change to the level of Basic Allowance

Special Responsibility Allowance – Recommendation: no change to the level of Special Responsibility Allowance

Other Parts of the Allowance Scheme – Recommendation: no change

Next Review of Allowance Scheme – Recommendation: the Allowances Scheme be reviewed again in three years (unless there was a particular need to address something within that period.)

Moved by Councillor Steve Fritchley and seconded by Councillor David Bennett

RESOLVED that (1) the recommendations of the IRP be agreed in full;

            (2) the Allowances Scheme be reviewed again in three years;

(3) the Director of Governance and Legal Services & Monitoring Officer be delegated authority to amend the Members Allowance Scheme in line with the Council’s decision and to publish the new scheme as required.

(Director of Governance and Legal Services & Monitoring Officer)

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Councillors were able to submit Motions on Notice for consideration at meetings of Council.

a) The following motion was submitted for consideration by Councillor Donna Hales

MOTION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT PAY TO COUNCIL: A FULLY FUNDED, PROPER PAY RISE FOR COUNCIL AND SCHOOL WORKERS

This council notes:

Since 2010, local government workers have lost an average of 25% from the value of their pay. Our staff are experiencing an ongoing cost of living crisis. Since 2010 the cost of living has risen by 60%, more and more local government workers have been pushed into debt, and their basic spending has overtaken their income, with 1 in 5 households having less than £100 to spare each month. This is a terrible situation for anyone to find themselves in.

At the same time, workers have experienced ever-increasing workloads and persistent job insecurity. Across the UK, the local government workforce has fallen by 30% as a result of job cuts. This has had a disproportionate impact on women, with women making up more than three-quarters of the local government workforce.

Local government continues to show how indispensable it is. But staff are increasingly leaving the sector for better paid jobs elsewhere, for example in retail, leaving local authorities with a massive skills gap, and vacancies in a range of key services, including in social care, education and youth services.

Local government finance is in an enormously difficult state, facing an estimated funding gap of more than £3.5 billion for 2024/25. Recent research shows that if the Government were to fully fund the unions’ 2024 pay claim, around half of the money would be recouped thanks to increased tax revenue, reduced expenditure on benefits and tax credits, and increased consumer spending in the local economy.

This council believes:

Our workers are public service super-heroes. They keep our communities clean and safe, look after those in need and keep our, neighbourhoods, towns and cities running.

Without the professionalism and dedication of our staff, the council services our residents rely on would not be deliverable.

Local government workers deserve a proper real-terms pay increase. The Government needs to take responsibility and fully fund this increase; it should not put the burden on local authorities whose funding has been cut to the bone.

This council resolves to:

Support the pay claim submitted by UNISON, GMB and Unite on behalf of council and school workers, for an increase of £3,000 or 10%, whichever is the greater.

Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to fund the NJC pay claim, working with the unions to present a united front in defence of the local government workforce.

Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for a pay increase for local government workers to be funded with new money from central government.

Meet with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim and consider practical ways in which the council can support the campaign.

Encourage all local government workers to join a union.

Councillor Donna Hales was not present at the meeting so Councillor Anne Clarke moved the Motion and it was seconded by Councillor Rob Hiney-Saunders.

On being put to the vote the Motion was carried.

RESOLVED that the Council (1) support the pay claim submitted by UNISON, GMB and Unite on behalf of council and school workers, for an increase of £3,000 or 10%, whichever is the greater.

(2) Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to fund the NJC pay claim, working with the unions to present a united front in defence of the local government workforce.

(3) Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for a pay increase for local government workers to be funded with new money from central government.

(4) Meet with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim and consider practical ways in which the council can support the campaign.

(5) Encourage all local government workers to join a union.

Council considered a report which sought approval for the acceptance of new burdens capital grant funding for the introduction of weekly food waste collection arrangements and to approve capital funding for the purchase of vehicles and containers to meet the Council’s new weekly food waste collection duty.

The report explained that from 1^st April 2026, the Council had to undertake weekly collection of food waste from all domestic households. This had to be separate from waste collected in black (residual), burgundy (dry mixed recycling) and green (garden) bins. 

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had awarded new burdens funding to the Council, details on which were set out in the report.  The Streetscene (Waste Services) Team did not consider the funding assumptions to be sufficient and had sent a funding review request to DEFRA. 

Regardless of the DEFRA new burdens funding allocated, the capital cost to the Council of implementing weekly food waste collections was estimated to be £1,021,408.  Therefore, to ensure the Council was able to implement the collections by 1^st April 2026, Council was asked to approve a budget for the full cost of meeting the new duty consisting of £699,908 guaranteed funding awarded, leaving a funding shortfall of £321,500.  The shortfall of £321,500 would potentially need to be funded by the Council should the funding review request submitted to DEFRA be unsuccessful.

Approval for budget to cover the potential shortfall in funding was being sought now to allow the procurement of vehicles and waste containers to ensure the new duty of weekly food waste collections could be met by the deadline.

Moved by Councillor Anne Clarke and seconded by Councillor David Bennett

RESOLVED that a budget be added to the capital programme of £1,021,408.  This would be funded from an external grant of £699,908 as a minimum, with £321,500 funded by the Council from available capital resources, including prudential borrowing, if the outcome of the DEFRA review request was unfavourable.

(Strategic Director of Services/Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer)

Council considered a report which advised Members of any Key Decisions taken under statutory Urgency Rules in the previous 12 months, any decision taken under Urgency Rules with the Council’s Scrutiny Rules (this was where call-in provisions were waived as the decision was urgent and could not be reasonably deferred), and to set the Key Decision threshold for the forthcoming year in line with the constitutional requirement at Annual Council meetings.

The report set out that one Key Decision had been taken using Special Urgency rules in the previous 12 months.  This had been a decision in respect of a Public Space Protection Order.

The report stated that all Key Decisions were subject to the Council’s call-in provisions which were set out in the Scrutiny Rules. Call-in provisions may be waived only where a decision was urgent. A decision was urgent if any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the public interests. The Chair of the relevant Scrutiny Committee (or, in their absence the Chair of Council or Vice Chair of Council) must agree both that the decision proposed was reasonable in all the circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency. Decisions taken as a matter of urgency were required to be reported to Council. In the past 12 months, five decisions had been taken using urgency provisions to waive call-in.  These decisions had been:

Lease in respect of Property at Former Construction Block, The Arc (Decision by the Chief Executive on 17^th July 2023)

Dog Management Public Space Protection Order (Decision by the Chief Executive on 25^th October 2023)

Renewal of Insurance Policies (Decision by the Director of Finance & Section 151 Officer on 29^th September 2023)

Appointment of Contractor to Deliver Hyper-Local New Zero Innovation Programme (Executive – 6^th November 2023)

Award of three-year Idox Software Maintenance Contract (Executive – 15^th April 2024)

The report recommended that the Key Decision thresholds remained the same, which were:

·       Revenue Income, Savings or Expenditure - £75,000

·       Capital Income of Expenditure - £150,000

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Tom Munro

RESOLVED that (1) the decisions that had been taken over the past 12 months under Special Urgency Rules, be noted.

          (2) the decision that had been taken over the past 12 months under Urgency Provisions in the Council’s Scrutiny Rules, be noted.

          (3) the financial thresholds for Key Decisions be maintained at £75,000 (Revenue) and £150,000 (Capital).

(Monitoring Officer/Governance & Civic Manager)