Information

The Government published, just before Christmas (21st December), the criteria for determining if a council tax increase would trigger a requirement for a local referendum.  This confirmed:

·         For all tax raising bodies a general limit of a 2% increase (below which, there is no requirement to hold a referendum)

·         For districts and fire authorities, the limit being the higher of a 2% or £5 increase for 2017/18

·         For Social Care authorities, the power to levy an additional social care precept of up to 3% in 2017/18 and 2018/19 subject to no higher than 6% over the next 3 years, subject to those additional resources being ringfenced to social care

·         For Parish Councils, an exhortation to "demonstrate restraint" but, no implementation of a referendum requirement in 2017/18.

Please find attached the new monthly Council bulletin from Highways England in relation to the construction of the A14 scheme. Of particular interest to South Cambridgeshire:

·         In January 2017 there may be some night time lane closures between in the section between Swavesey and Milton to enable site clearance works to be undertaken (details will be provided in advance of any such works).

·         Highways England will be putting in place a temporary closure of part of The Avenue in Madingley from 20 February 2017 until 1 March 2018 (local residents have been informed) to enable the safe construction of the local access road between Dry Drayton and Huntingdon Road in Cambridge

Thursday 22 December: BBC Online: Broadband boost for remotest parts of UK

The Government as announced a £440 million funding boost to help about 600,000 more homes and businesses gain access to superfast broadband.

Friday 23 December: Times: Rural homes face years of broadband misery

Nearly a million householders will still be unable to access superfast broadband by 2020, campaigners have warned.

Wednesday 28 December: BBC Online: Electoral fraud: Voters will have to show ID in pilot scheme

Voters will be required to show of identify before being allowed to vote in a government pilot scheme to reduce electoral fraud.

Thursday 29 December: Telegraph: Outrage at “crippling” business rate rises

Theresa May is being urged by business leaders to reconsider “penal and unfair” rises in business rates amid warnings that some firms face being hit with a four-fold rise in their bills.

Sunday 1 January: Mail on Sunday: Government told to refund billions in business rates

The Government is facing calling to return more than £1 billion to companies which experts claim have been overcharged for business rates over the past six years.

Monday 2 January: ITV Online: Christmas fly-tipping crackdown needs to become a New Year’s resolution, says CLA

The rural landowners association, the CLA, has backed the Christmas crackdown on fly-tipping by councils, but wants them to make a collective New Year’s resolution that will continue throughout 2017.

Tuesday 3 January: Times: More travellers park on illegal sites

The number of traveller caravans in England has jumped by 31 per cent in a decade with those pitched on unauthorised sites rising by more than a tenth in the past year.

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

AGREED        the proposed fees and charges as set out in Appendix A.

This decision was first published on Friday 23 December and so the deadline for call-in is 5pm on Wednesday 4 January. The decision can be implemented on Thursday 5 January.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder:

a)    AGREED:

The memorandum of understanding to participate in the Healthier Options initiative to engage and support local businesses to promote healthier menu options and food preparation techniques.

b)    SUPPORTED:

A strategic mix of options one and two:

Option 1 – officers coordinate promotion with their regulatory intervention programme.

Option 2 – evidence based targeted approach to those businesses located in areas of high incidence of adult obesity who supply fast-food traditionally of a high calorific content.

c)    REQUESTED an update approximately six months after the project started.

This decision was first published on Friday 23 December and so the deadline for call-in is 5pm on Wednesday 4 January. The decision can be implemented on Thursday 5 January.

The Environmental Services Portfolio Holder

AGREED        the emerging priorities for the Portfolio to be developed and delivered in the H&ES Directorate Service Plans for 2017/18, subject to Council agreeing priorities for the SCDC Corporate Plan.

This decision was first published on Friday 23 December and so the deadline for call-in is 5pm on Wednesday 4 January. The decision can be implemented on Thursday 5 January.

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