Agenda, decisions and minutes

To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2008 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2008 were approved as a correct record.

Councillor AG Orgee declared a personal interest as a County Councillor, as a number of items on the agenda included issues where this authority was working in partnership with the County Council.

None. 

Cabinet, at its meeting in October 2008, recommended that Council adopt a series of Aims, Approaches and Actions for the Council (the 'Three As'). These three As were subsequently adopted by the Council on 27 November.

The Council's agreed strategic aims are as follows:

a.         We are committed to being a listening council, providing first class services accessible to all.

b.         We are committed to ensuring that South Cambridgeshire continues to be a safe and healthy place for you and your family

c.                  We are committed to making South Cambridgeshire a place in which residents can feel proud to live

d.         We are committed to assisting provision for local jobs for you and your family

e.         We are committed to providing a voice for rural life

The Leader and Council expressed a wish to incorporate all elements of these aims into a Vision for the Council which encapsulates what South Cambridgeshire District Council is aspiring to achieve in the eyes of its employees, Members, partners and customers. 

Cabinet has worked with officers to develop this vision, and is now requested to RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the following Vision for the Council be adopted:

`To make South Cambridgeshire a safe and healthy place where residents are proud to live and where there will be opportunities for employment, enterprise and world-leading innovation. We will be a listening Council, providing a voice for rural life and first-class services accessible to all’. 

Cabinet

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the following Vision for the Council be adopted, subject to a check for grammatical accuracy:

“To make South Cambridgeshire a safe and healthy place where residents are proud to live and where there will be opportunities for employment, enterprise and world-leading innovation. We will be a listening Council, providing a voice for rural life and first-class services accessible to all.” 

Cabinet

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the following Vision for the Council be adopted, subject to a check for grammatical accuracy:

“To make South Cambridgeshire a safe and healthy place where residents are proud to live and where there will be opportunities for employment, enterprise and world-leading innovation. We will be a listening Council, providing a voice for rural life and first-class services accessible to all.” 

Cabinet

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the authority “opts in” to the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 by:

A)     Publicising the process locally, including a deadline for proposals to be submitted the Council for consideration by the Panel;

B)    Asking the membership of the South Cambridgeshire Local Strategic Partnership Board to set up a Panel to consider proposals and try to reach agreement with the Panel as to the merits of a proposal and priorities between different proposals;

C)    Consulting with those parties affected if the proposal involves the transfer of a responsibility from one public body to another;

D)    Having regard to a list of matters set out in a Schedule to the Act;

E)     Finally making a formal decision on whether to forward the proposal/s onwards to the Selector; and

F)     Assessing the effectiveness of these arrangements at the end of the 2009/10 civic year.

The New Communities Portfolio Holder introduced this item regarding the Secretary of State’s invitation under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 to receive proposals promoting the sustainability of local communities.

Members of Cabinet made the following points:

• The process needed to be handled sensitively to avoid raising unrealistic expectations.
• The most efficient solution was to ask the membership of the South Cambridgeshire Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) Board to set up the Panel to consider the proposals.
• Due to concerns about the process and its effectiveness it was agreed that Cabinet should review this issue at the end of the 2009/10 civic year.

It was suggested that the Scrutiny and Overview Committee would be a more suitable forum to consider the resulting proposals than the LSP Board, especially as it was meeting in the District’s villages. However, It was noted that the Panel could not be made up exclusively of District Councillors but had to include other representatives of the local community.

Cabinet

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the authority “opts in” to the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 by:

A)     Publicising the process locally, including a deadline for proposals to be submitted to the Council for consideration by the Panel;

B)    Asking the membership of the South Cambridgeshire Local Strategic Partnership Board to set up a Panel to consider proposals and try to reach agreement with the Panel as to the merits of a proposal and priorities between different proposals;

C)    Consulting with those parties affected if the proposal involves the transfer of a responsibility from one public body to another;

D)    Having regard to a list of matters set out in a Schedule to the Act;

E)     Finally making a formal decision on whether to forward the proposal/s onwards to the Selector; and

F)     Assessing the effectiveness of these arrangements at the end of the 2009/10 civic year.

Cabinet NOTED

A)     The support already being provided by this Council to support local residents, businesses and staff during the economic downturn.

B)    That the Leader was allocating Economic Development to Councillor NIC Wright’s Planning portfolio.

Cabinet

AGREED to

A)     Appoint Councillor MB Loynes as the Member Champion for Economic Development.

B)    Allocate £15,000 for immediate remedial work at Orchard Park.

C)    Aim to pay all suppliers within 20 days.

D)    Receive a report at its next meeting, setting out in greater detail any further actions that might be possible, as well as the unfolding impact on the Council itself.

E)     Instruct the Chief Executive to draft a budget for the next financial year that would allocate a 2.4% increase in the Council Tax (almost half of the total 4.9% increase) or approximately £150,000, to support South Cambridgeshire during the current economic downturn.

The Leader introduced this item which detailed how the Council currently supported its residents, businesses and staff during the current economic downturn and also suggested ways in which the authority could take further action to mitigate its effects.

Championing economic development

The Leader stated that he was allocating responsibility for economic development to Councillor NIC Wright’s Planning Portfolio and he recommended that Councillor MB Loynes be made the Member Champion for Economic Development.

The budget for 2009/10

The Chief Executive reported that he had been instructed to draft a budget for the next financial year that would allocate approximately £150,000, to support South Cambridgeshire during the current economic downturn. It was proposed that this allocation would be funded by a 2.4% increase in the Council Tax, out of a total increase of 4.9%.

Supporting businesses

Cabinet resolved that the main focus of the Council should be to support businesses in the District and so they agreed that the authority should aspire to pay its suppliers within 20 days, instead of the current deadline of 30 days.

Cabinet agreed that serious consideration should be given to increasing rural rate relief as this would assist many of the District’s businesses and the Government would subsidise three times the amount contributed by the Council. In response to questioning the Chief Executive stated that the Council might have to alter the scheme’s criteria to ensure that enough businesses were eligible for the proposed relief.

Supporting staff

It was noted that staff could receive counselling and advice from the organisation PPC via the website or helpline.

Councillor Edwards stated that the Council’s homelessness section had experienced a huge increase in the number of enquiries due to the current economic situation and he praised the staff in this section and their managers for the excellent work they were carrying out in challenging circumstances.

Citizen Advice Bureaux (CABs)

In response to suggestions from opposition members, Cabinet rejected extra funding for CABs on the grounds that this was the primarily the responsibility of the County Council, but agreed to consider whether the Council could provide free office space at Cambourne to CABs.

Cabinet NOTED

A)     The support already being provided by this Council to support local residents, businesses and staff during the economic downturn.

B)    That the Leader was allocating Economic Development to Councillor NIC Wright’s Planning portfolio.

Cabinet

AGREED to

A)     Appoint Councillor MB Loynes as the Member Champion for Economic Development.

B)    Allocate £15,000 for immediate remedial work at Orchard Park.

C)    Aim to pay all suppliers within 20 days.

D)    Receive a report at its next meeting, setting out in greater detail any further actions that might be possible, as well as the unfolding impact on the Council itself.

E)     Instruct the Chief Executive to draft a budget for the next financial year that would allocate a 2.4% increase in the Council Tax (almost half of the total 4.9% increase) or approximately £150,000, to support South Cambridgeshire during the current economic downturn.

The covering report and Appendix 1 are enclosed with the agenda. Appendices 2 to 9 relating to the individual Supplementary Planning Documents and the responses made to them are enclosed separately for Cabinet members. They can also be viewed as part of the agenda pack on the Council’s website, www.scambs.gov.uk 

Cabinet

AGREED

A)     To adopt the Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) relating to Development Affecting Conservation Areas, Open Spaces in New Development, Public Art, and Trees & Development Sites, as contained in Appendices 2, 4, 6 and 8 and proceed in accordance with Regulations 18 and 19 (for ease of reference, Appendix 1 lists the changes made to the draft SPDs following the consultation process);

B)    That no changes be made to the Sustainability Appraisals for each SPD and these can be published in their final form alongside the SPDs.

Councillor Dr DR Bard, New Communities Portfolio Holder, introduced this report which detailed the results of a public consultation exercise carried out on four Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) and sought approval for these documents to be formally adopted, where they will form part of the Local Development Framework and be used to help determine planning applications.

The Planning Policy Manager explained that the reference to the possible setting up of a Public Art Support Group in paragraph 17 related to the content of the consultation draft Public Art SPD. The recommendation was this Support Group should not be set up, relying instead on the views of the local communities where Public Art projects were being considered. It was noted that the appendices mentioned in paragraph 21 of the report should be 3, 5, 7 and 9 instead of 2 to 5 and the appendices in paragraph 32 a) should be 2, 4, 6 and 8 instead of 6 – 9.

Cabinet noted that guidance on mobile homes within Conservation Areas would be included in the revised version of the Cambridgeshire Design Guide, which would be published later this year.

Cabinet

AGREED

A)     To adopt the Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) relating to Development Affecting Conservation Areas, Open Spaces in New Development, Public Art, and Trees & Development Sites, as contained in Appendices 2, 4, 6 and 8 and proceed in accordance with Regulations 18 and 19 (for ease of reference, Appendix 1 lists the changes made to the draft SPDs following the consultation process);

B)    That no changes be made to the Sustainability Appraisals for each SPD and these be published in their final form alongside the SPDs.

Cabinet DEFERRED this item. 

The Leader introduced this report on the County Council’s General Operating Principles for Neighbourhood Panels, by recommending that Cabinet defer this item to allow the Council to liaise with the County Council on this matter before making a final decision. Deferral would also allow the Cabinet to receive a formal recommendation from the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, which had discussed this matter at their meeting earlier in the month.

Cabinet DEFERRED this item. 

Cabinet

AGREED

A)     A meeting schedule for the 2009/10 Municipal Year as detailed in paragraph 5 of the report.

B)    That Cabinet should meet at the times detailed in paragraph 4 of the report. 

Cabinet

AGREED

A)     A meeting schedule for the 2009/10 Municipal Year as detailed in paragraph 5 of the report.

B)    That Cabinet should meet at the times detailed in paragraph 4 of the report. 

Councillor AG Orgee introduced this update on the Council’s efficiency savings project, by explaining that although substantial savings had been made, there was a still a funding gap and it was becoming increasingly difficult to find further efficiencies and savings of the levels required to bridge this gap in the General Fund.

The Chief Executive reported that the Council’s Internal Auditors, RSM Bentley Jennison, had proposed that they ascertain whether further savings could be made through an E-auction process, whereby all contracts would be put out to tender. This suggestion had the potential to identify significant savings and would be considered by the Executive Management Team.

Cabinet NOTED the funding gaps and the actions being taken to address them.

None.

None.