Agenda, decisions and minutes

To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2013 as a correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 November 2013 were AGREED as a correct record and signed by the Leader of the Council.

No declarations were made at this stage of proceedings.

Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of the Council, expressed his thanks on behalf of Cabinet to those members of staff who had volunteered to help people in the district during the recent storms and floods.

No public questions had been received.

Cabinet RECOMMENDED to Council that the Corporate Plan setting out the Council’s vision, objectives and actions for 2014 – 2019 be approved as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

Cabinet considered a report which detailed proposed changes to the Council’s Corporate Plan.

Councillor David Whiteman-Downes, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services, presented the report and informed Members that the new Corporate Plan sought to build on what had worked well and address issues previously identified.  The revised version would comprise of the following:

·         a simplified vision providing a clearer external focus;

·         three strategic aims, retained from the current plan;

·         twelve key objectives, replacing the current ‘approaches’;

·         key actions under each objective, presented as ‘what we will do to achieve these objectives’.

A copy of the revised version of the Corporate Plan was appended to the report and the following points were noted during discussion:

·         a concern was raised under the Plan’s objective entitled ‘Temporary Accommodation’ as it did not include reference to temporary gypsy and traveller sites or illegal encampments.  Councillor Whiteman-Downes reported that this issue could be taken up with the relevant Portfolio Holder, but confirmed that this particular issue had not been mentioned at any part of the consultation process;

·         under the ‘New Communities’ objective, concern was expressed that the wording to ‘determine the WING application’ failed to convey that this application would be determined by the Cambridge Fringes Joint Development Control Committee, rather than the District Council alone.  Councillor Whiteman-Downes agreed to consult with the Chief Executive on this issue and agree a more appropriate form of words for this specific part of the objective.

It was noted that the recommendations contained within the report had been supported by the Scrutiny and Overview Committee on 11 February 2014.

Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of the Council, thanked Councillor Whiteman-Downes and officers for their work in producing the revised Corporate Plan.

Cabinet RECOMMENDED to Council that the Corporate Plan setting out the Council’s vision, objectives and actions for 2014 – 2019 be approved as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

Cabinet RECOMMENDED to Council that:

(a)        the Capital Programme and the associated funding up to the year ending 31 March 2019 be approved as submitted in Appendix A1 of the report;

(b)        a contribution of £60,000 be paid to the Friends of Friendless Churches in respect of St Denis Church, East Hatley;

(c)        projected Local Plan expenditure, as set out in the report, be included in the revenue estimates and Medium Term Financial Strategy;

(d)        the revenue estimates for 2014-15 be approved as submitted in the General Fund summary attached as Appendix B1 of the report;

(e)        the precautionary items for the General Fund be approved as set out in Appendix B2 of the report;

(f)        the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the General Fund, set out in Appendix B3 to the report, be approved based on the assumptions set out in the report;

(g)        the fees and charges proposed for 2014-15, as set out in Appendix B4 of the report, be approved;

(h)        Executive Management Team be instructed to identify additional income/ savings of £300,000 in 2014-15 and further additional income/savings of £790,000 from 2015-16;

(i)            the council tax requirement for 2014-15 be £7,155,680;

(j)         the Council sets the amount of Council Tax for each of the relevant categories of dwelling in accordance with Section 30(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 on the basis of a District Council Tax for general expenses on a Band D property of £122.86 plus the relevant amounts required by the precepts of Parish Councils, Cambridgeshire County Council, the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Cambridgeshire Fire Authority, details of those precepts and their effect to be circulated with the formal resolution required at the Council meeting;

(k)        the Housing Revenue Account estimates and the rent increase for the financial year ending 31 March 2015, as set out in Appendices C and C1 of the report, be approved, the rent increase being in accordance with rent restructuring guidance from the Department for Communities and Local Government;

(l)         the service and other charges for housing services for the financial year ending 31 March 2015 be approved, as set out in Appendix C2 of the report;

(m)      the Housing Revenue Account business plan summary for the next 30 years to 31 March 2044 be approved, as set out in Appendix C3 of the report;

(n)        the borrowing and investment strategy for the year to 31 March 2015 be approved, as set out in Appendix D1 of the report;

(o)        the prudential indicators required by the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities for the year to 31 March 2015 be approved, as set out in Appendix D2 of the report;

(p)        the Executive Director, Corporate Services, be given delegated authority to issue the final version of the Estimates Book, incorporating any amendments required from Council’s decisions.

Consideration was given to a report which sought Cabinet to approve and recommend to Council the Medium Term Financial Strategy, covering:

·         the Capital Programme for the five years to 31 March 2019;

·         the General Fund estimates and the resulting Council Tax for the financial year ending 31 March 2015;

·         fees and charges for 2014-15;

·         the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the General Fund for the five years to 31 March 2019;

·         the list of Precautionary Items for the General Fund;

·         the Housing Revenue Account estimates and the rent increase for the financial year ending 31 March 2015;

·         service and other charges for housing services for the financial year ending 31 March 2015;

·         the Housing Revenue Account business plan for the next 30 years to 31 March 2044;

·         the investment strategy for the year to 31 March 2015;

·         the prudential indicators required by the Prudential Code for Capital Finance Local Authorities for the year to 31 March 2015.

Councillor Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing, highlighted the following points in presenting the report:

·         the assumptions used throughout the Medium Term Financial Strategy were very difficult to make, but the Council’s officers were excellent at making the right assumptions.  Underlying assumptions supporting the Strategy included:

-       general provision for inflation where applicable of 2.4% in 2014-15, 2.1% in 2015-16 and 2% thereafter;

-       provision for an employer’s pension contribution rate of 25% for 2014-15 and subsequent years. 

·         two areas of additional expenditure had arisen since the Medium Term Financial Strategy report to Cabinet in November 2013, as follows:

-       the transfer of the St Denis Church in East Hatley to the Trustees of the Friends of Friendless Churches for a contribution by the Council of £60,000, to be funded from underspends on other General Fund budgets in 2013-14;

-       subject to the Council deciding in the light of public consultation that the Local Plan was ready for submission to the Secretary of State, expenditure would arise with regard to:

§  the Local Plan itself, consisting of a budget requirement of £215,000 projected over the period from 2014-15 to 2019-20, including £150,000 in 2014-15 for Inspectors costs for the examination of the Local Plan;

§  Area Action Plans, commencing in 2014-15 and continuing on a phased basis through to the end of 2019-20, at an estimated total cost of £475,000;

§  Supplementary Planning Documents that would need to be updated such that they could be adopted under the provisions of the new Local Plan and respond to changes in circumstances since their adoption.  Costs were estimated to be £50,000 over the period of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

·         the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the General Fund had a target of running to a minimum level of £2.5 million and the projected estimate for 2018-19 was £2.509 million;

·         the Council’s financial projections had been modelled as much as possible on local government finance nationally, but the national picture was still very uncertain;

·         the net result in further revenue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

Cabinet APPROVED the principles and methodology set out in option 2 of the report, as detailed in paragraph 11, that Members adopt a proportionate approach to funding items in the Section 106 Schedule as necessary such that the District Council would fund 21.6% of the additional funding required for the relevant item and the County Council would fund 78.4%.

Cabinet considered a report which sought approval for a set of principles for attributing any savings and meeting costs arising from the need to provide support funding for the Section 106 Agreement for the first phase of the new town of Northstowe. 

Councillor Tim Wotherspoon, Portfolio Holder for Northstowe, presented the report and reminded Members that the Northstowe Joint Development Control Committee resolved to grant outline planning permission consent for Phase 1 of the Northstowe development on 19 March 2013, subject to:

·         the successful negotiation of a Section 106 Agreement to secure required infrastructure and community facilities;

·         the conclusion of a land transfer arrangement for the secondary school.

The Section 106 Agreement had recently been engrossed and provided for funding of over 30 items of community or environmental infrastructure with funding triggered by the need for each facility and in relation, generally, to the occupation of homes. 

The proposed schedule of Section 106 Agreement items for Phase 1 of Northstowe and a balance of funding between County and District obligations was appended to the report.  It was highlighted that a list of all savings against all items would be kept by the parties, using an agreed open-book account system with an annual report produced by South Cambridgeshire District Council. 

Councillor Wotherspoon reflected on the development of Cambourne and reported that lessons had been learnt since then, with one of the main concerns being that Phase 1 of its development did not include a secondary school.  He was therefore pleased to report that Phase 1 of the Northstowe development did include a secondary school, with other priorities being to address local transport issues, flood risk and surface water management. 

Councillor Bridget Smith, in looking at the options detailed in the report, was concerned that the preferred option meant relying on the County Council which she felt had a reputation for delivering projects over target in terms of both budget and timeframe.  Councillor Wotherspoon reported that the District Council had become very effective at tapping external sources of funding and working with the County Council as proposed in the report’s recommendation would provide the District Council with a greater say in suggesting ways in which some of the items could be contracted and therefore assist in reducing costs.  He added that the partnership working of local authorities in Cambridgeshire in respect of the Northstowe development had been commended and was held in very high regard nationally.

A further question was raised as to the cost of the secondary school, which appeared to cost less than the primary school.  Councillor Wotherspoon explained that the secondary school would be delivered in stages, with the first stage being represented in the schedule appended to the report.  It was noted that the schedule did not include an additional contribution from the County Council to provide classrooms to accommodate children from Longstanton.

Councillor Smith was also disappointed that the Council’s usual policy of applying a rate of 40% of affordable housing to new developments had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

Cabinet:

(a)        AGREED implementation of the efficiency options 1 – 3 presented in the report at the earliest opportunity in order to contribute to the delivery of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy;

(b)        DELEGATED authority to implement the staffing changes resulting from implementation of options 1 – 3 to the Director of Health and Environmental Services in consultation with the Environmental Services Portfolio Holder;

(c)        AGREED that further options for delivering additional efficiencies in the 2015/16 financial year and beyond be identified for consideration by Cabinet at a later date;

(d)        AGREED that the Council and Cambridge City Council continue to explore opportunities for the establishment of a shared waste and recycling service, located at the Council’s Waterbeach depot for consideration by Cabinet at a later date.

Consideration was given to a report which provided Cabinet with a number of service efficiency options identified as part of the Council’s Business Improvement and Efficiency Programme waste and recycling review.

Councillor Mick Martin, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, presented the report and informed Cabinet that it had become necessary to deliver efficiency savings in 2014/15 and 2015/16, whilst continuing to provide residents with a first class, high performing waste and recycling service.  Three key areas of the service had been reviewed and proposals were noted as follows:

Optimising green and black bin services

The green and black bin rounds would be redesigned to rebalance resources more evenly throughout the district.  Acknowledging that green bin crews already had to collect far more material during the summer months than in winter, the green bin crew working hours would be annualised.  Additionally, it was proposed that green bins would be collected monthly rather than fortnightly during the three month period from December to February when green waste and participation were lowest, with the remaining nine months from March to November retaining a fortnightly collection. 

Optimising blue bin services

The blue bin rounds would be redesigned to take account of the uneven growth throughout the district and the need to rebalance existing rounds.  The number of rounds as a result would reduce from eight to seven.  A more team-centred collaborative approach would be developed amongst collection crews whereby teams took a greater responsibility for ensuring wider areas were cleared rather than individual rounds.   

Optimising trade waste and recycling services

Driver-only vehicles would be introduced across the three trade waste and recycling service vehicles, resulting in the loss of three loaders and placing the service on a more competitive footing in line with private sector practice and that of other local authorities.

Councillor Martin reported that the above changes to the waste and recycling service could return the Council savings of £400,000 by the end of 2015/16, with the report being submitted to Cabinet at this time to maximise any potential savings in this financial year.

The staffing, financial and risk management implications for each proposal were outlined in the report.  It was noted that the introduction of these changes could potentially result in five redundancies, therefore, unions had been engaged with and specific support from the Council’s Human Resources team had been put in place.  It was noted that 12 full-time equivalent positions would be removed from the service, but some of those were currently unfilled.

During discussion it was agreed that communication with residents would be key when introducing changes to bin collection services, but that education was also important.  An explanation was given, for example, of the need for organic matter to be included in black bins to aid the recycling process when many people assumed that food waste should be placed in their green bins.

Councillor Hazel Smith referred to a survey that had been conducted in Milton on the subject of waste and recycling, which had received 147 responses  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

To agree the following dates for meetings of Cabinet during 2014/15:

10 July 2014 at 6pm

11 September 2014 at 6pm

13 November 2014 at 2pm

15 January 2015 at 2pm

12 February 2015 at 2pm

09 April 2015 at 6pm

Cabinet AGREED that future meetings would be held as follows:

-       10 July 2014 at 6pm

-       11 September 2014 at 6pm

-       13 November 2014 at 2pm

-       15 January 2015 at 2pm

-       12 February 2015 at 2pm

-       9 April 2015 at 6pm

Cabinet NOTED the Council’s provisional outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters set out in the report, and APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix attached as Appendices D and E of the report.

Cabinet considered a report which provided a statement on the Council’s position with regard to its General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and capital budgets, corporate objectives, performance indicators and strategic risks.

It was noted that this report had been considered by the Scrutiny and Overview Committee on 11 February 2014, where no specific recommendations to Cabinet were made.

Councillor Nick Wright, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Economic Development, was pleased to note the increased fees being received from planning applications being received by the Council and took this as a sign that the local economy was improving. 

Councillor Simon Edwards, Deputy Leader and Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder, reflected on the latest performance for staff turnover which was currently performing under target at 9.34% compared to 5%.  He felt that this was not unacceptably high, with anything under 10% being manageable, and that it was healthy for new people to work for the authority.  Councillor Edwards added that the reason for people leaving the Council’s employment was important, which was why exit interviews would continue to be held.

Councillor Edwards also praised the high performance of the Council’s Revenues and Benefits team, particularly at a time when its workload had significantly increased.  He added that one of the key reasons for this was the return of the Customer Contact Centre as an in-house service.  The service had delivered higher first-time resolution rates, resulting in more time for back-office staff to concentrate on processing claims.

Cabinet NOTED the Council’s provisional outturn position, together with the performance and risk matters set out in the report, and APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and Matrix attached as Appendices D and E of the report.

None received.

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee met on 11 February 2014 and made no specific recommendations to Cabinet, other than to support the recommendations contained within the reports associated with minute numbers 62 and 63 above.

Following a presentation at its meeting on 20 November 2013 by the Leaders of South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridge City Council on the Greater Cambridge City Deal, the Partnerships Review Committee advised Cabinet that it SUPPORTED the proposed Greater Cambridge City Deal.

Following a presentation at its meeting on 20 November 2013 by the Leaders of South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridge City Council on the Greater Cambridge City Deal, the Partnerships Review Committee supported the proposed Greater Cambridge City Deal.

No updates were reported.

No updates were reported.

No updates were reported.

Cabinet AGREED to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following item in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act).

Cabinet APPROVED the recommendation contained within the exempt report.

Consideration was given to an exempt update report on South Cambs Ltd, the Council’s housing company.

It was noted that the recommendation contained within the report complied with the Local Government (Best Value Authorities) (Power to Trade) (England) Order 2009.

Cabinet APPROVED the recommendation contained within the exempt report.