Information

Public Information Exhibitions will run from Tuesday 27 September until Monday 24 October.

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/a14-cambridge-to-huntingdon-improvement-scheme/

Nominations for the Living Sport Sports Awards for 2016 are now open. There is an array of awards such as Community Club of the Year, Coach of the Year and Volunteer of the Year which you can nominate for here. You can also find a full list of available awards here.

Nominations will close on the 30^th September, a judging panel will then shortlist three nominees for each award who will then be invited to the Sports Awards Evening on Thursday 24^th 2016 at the Burgess Hall in St Ives. It is a truly inspirational event and a great chance to celebrate the hard work, dedication and commitment of the various members of our sporting community over the last year.

I would be very grateful if you and your colleagues could consider whether any projects or people from your area should be nominated for an Award.  You are particularly well placed to be aware of nominees for Awards such as the Matthew Warn Power of Sport Award, Jonnie Peacock Award or perhaps Workplace of the Year Award.

I hope you will be able to consider nominees for these awards and make the information available to appropriate contacts.  Alternatively please let me know of potential nominees and one of my team will follow up. To find out more about the awards or read about the winners from 2015 see our website.

The Government launched a technical consultation on the 2017/18 local government financial settlement on 15 September; web-link here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/local-government-finance-settlement-2017-to-2018-technical-consultation

It contains a proposal to introduce a referendum requirement for large parish councils that increase council tax above a, to be determined, threshold. The relevant text is as follows:

"that referendum principles are introduced for town and parish councils whose Band D precept is higher than that of the lowest charging district council for 2016/17 (£75.46), and which have a total precept for 2016/17 of at least £500,000, while taking account of transfers of responsibilities, and that consideration is given to the extension of referendums to all local precepting authorities."

It would appear that no parishes in South Cambs would be caught by this requirement as proposed but parish councils might wish to note that views are being sought on widening this requirement to all parish councils.

The deadline for responding to the consultation is 28 October 2016.

Unless otherwise specified, please confirm your availability to attend any of the following briefing or training events by contacting Patrick Adams on 01954 713408. This will ensure your training records are kept up to date and suitable venue and catering booking can be made. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Book your place on social media training on Tuesday 27 September, whether you want to know the basics or are an old hand looking for new ideas.

Training will be delivered in two-hour bitesize sessions, split to offer a social media basics session in the morning, followed by a more advanced user session in the afternoon.

Both workshops will be tailored to the needs, skills and experiences of staff and members via a survey which will be shared in advance of the workshops.

Dates and timings

Both workshop sessions will be held at South Cambridgeshire Hall

Session 1: Beginners guide to social media will run 10am – 12noon

Session 2: Social media for advanced users will run 1pm – 3pm

I’m interested – what do I do next?

Please email darrencaveney@gmail.com to book a place on the course sharing your contact name and email address so that you can take part in the social media survey. Please also specify if you want to take part in session 1 for beginners, session 2 for more advanced users, or both.

A joint visit to the Shared Waste Management Facility at Waterbeach, involving councillors from both Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, has been arranged for 10am on Thursday 29 September and is expected to last about two hours.

The tour will include an inspection of the Mechanical Biological Treatment, the composting and the recycling facility.

District Councillors are invited to intend a briefing on Thursday 13 October at 6pm in the Swansley Room on the Government’s devolution proposals for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Thursday 15 September: Mail: Public sector sheds a million staff

The number of state employees on salaries paid by the taxpayer has fallen to its lowest level since the 1990s, new ONS figures reveal, the blow falling hardest on local councils.

Friday 16 September: Independent: Cuts to supported housing

Labour and charities have warned that a 1 per cent annual rent cut to providers of supported housing for vulnerable people will lead to increasing homelessness and reduced services.

Saturday 17 September: BBC Online: Food “traffic light” labelling should be mandatory, council say

Food manufacturers should be forced to put “traffic light” nutrition labels on the front of packs, the LGA has said.

Sunday 18 September: Times: Postcode lottery claim over planning system

A report by the Times claims that cuts and rule changes have created a postcode lottery in the planning system, which is making it harder to tackle the housing crisis.

Sunday 18 September: Guardian: Diminishing wildflowers on the verge

Conservators claim roadside verges – deemed the last stronghold of Britain’s diminishing wildflowers – are being mown down by councils because of budgetary pressures and a lack of guidance.

Sunday 18 September: Guardian: Social housing in the UK now at record low

Britain is becoming more segregated due to high house prices, a report reveals, as figures show that the number of new “social rent” homes funded by the Government fell to fewer than 10,000 last year.

Monday 19 September: Times: Town halls look at the contents of bins

Refuse bins have been taken away for analysis by consultants acting on behalf of councils to see who falls to separate rubbish and recycling, it is reported.

Monday 19 September: BBC Online: How do you stop fly-tipping and littering?

A feature fly-tipping across England says the problem is getting worse with councils spending more than £67 million to clean up public land and prosecute anyone they catch.

Tuesday 20 September: BBC Online: Call for public money to protect village from floods

Villages in Oxfordshire hit by flooding last week “can’t cope” with further deluges, according to a parish councillor.

Tuesday 20 September: I paper: Bin collection moves to once every four weeks in bid to encourage recycling

A trial is underway in which bins will only be emptied once a month in a bid to boost levels of recycling.

A list of decisions currently within the call-in period is available on the Council’s website.

The call in procedure is set out in full in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, ‘Scrutiny and Overview Committee Procedure Rules’. 

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder has agreed to award 23 grants under the Elite Athlete Award Scheme, totalling £12,000. The decision was made on the recommendation of the Elite Athletes Award Panel. More details are available from the link below:

http://scambs.moderngov.co.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=10136

The call-in period for this decision expires at 5pm on Friday 23 September. If not called-in the decision can be implemented on Monday 26 September.

Cabinet

NOTED the Council’s provisional financial position together with the performance and risk matters and contextual information set out in the report and Appendices A to C.

ENDORSED the suite of key performance indicators and Corporate Plan outcome measures attached at Appendices B1 and B2 of the report.

APPROVED the Strategic Risk Register and matrix set out in Appendices D and E of the report.

This decision was first published on Friday 16 September and so the deadline for call-in is Friday 23 September at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 26 September.

Cabinet

NOTED the content of the report and the budget and funding implications.

SUPPORTED the Council’s participation in the Government’s Apprenticeships initiative which commences in April 2017.

REQUESTED that officers give further consideration to the pay scale for apprenticeships and that this be reported back through the Council’s budget setting process.

This decision was first published on Friday 16 September and so the deadline for call-in is Friday 23 September at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 26 September.

Cabinet APPROVED the business case, as set out in the supplement to the agenda, and DELEGATED authority to the Executive Director (Corporate Services) to make decisions and to take steps which are necessary, conducive or incidental to the establishment of an Internal Shared Audit Service in accordance with the business case.

This decision was first published on Friday 16 September and so the deadline for call-in is Friday 23 September at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 26 September.

Cabinet APPROVED option one in the report, as below, as a starting point for discussions on the requirement for a local connection criteria on five year land supply sites:

“The first eight affordable homes on each five year land supply site will be occupied by those with a local connection , the occupation of any additional affordable homes, thereafter will be split 50/50 between local connection and on a district-wide basis.

If there are no households in the local community in housing need at the stage of letting or selling a property and a local connection applies, it will be made available to other households in need on a cascade basis looking next at adjoining parishes and then to need in the wider district, in accordance with the normal lettings policy for affordable housing. The number of homes identified for local people within a scheme will always remain for those with a local connection when properties become available to re-let.”

This decision was first published on Friday 16 September and so the deadline for call-in is Friday 23 September at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 26 September.

Cabinet AGREED to the submission of an efficiency plan to the Department for Communities and Local Government and DELEGATED drafting and approval of the plan to the Executive Director (Corporate Services) as the Council’s Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing.

This decision was first published on Friday 16 September and so the deadline for call-in is Friday 23 September at 5pm. If not called-in this decision can be implemented on Monday 26 September.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder

AGREED        to ratify the purchase of the replacement FMS from Technology One.

This decision was first published on Wednesday 21 September and so the deadline for call-in is 5pm on Wednesday 28 September. If not called-in the decision can be implemented on Thursday 29 September.

Please click on the link below to find details of decisions made by officers under delegated authority:

https://www.scambs.gov.uk/content/access-information