Following a short introduction, Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Council, invited all those in attendance to observe two minutes silence in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday 8 September 2022.

Councillor Heather Williams (Leader of the Opposition speaking on behalf of herself and former Conservative Group leaders Peter Topping, Dr. David Bard, and Ray Manning) made a statement.

Councillor Bridget Smith (Leader of the Council) also made a statement.

To receive Apologies for Absence from Cabinet members. 

Councillors Peter McDonald and John Williams sent Apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 11 July 2022 as a correct record.

Cabinet authorised the Leader to sign, as a correct record, the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2022.

The deadline for receipt of public questions is 23:59 on Tuesday, 6 September 2022.

The Council’s scheme for public speaking at committee meetings may be inspected here:

Public Speaking Scheme

a)    From Mr. Daniel Fulton

The leader of the district council has recently expressed concerns about the Northstowe groundwater collapse. 

Questions have been raised about whether specific professional hydrology consultancy services paid for the by district council using public funds were ever actually delivered or whether the terms of the public procurement contract were changed after having been agreed with local stakeholders.

Members of the public, from multiple villages, have requested that the contract documents are made available for public inspection, but the district council has declined to do so. 

Does the leader agree with the district council’s decision to refuse the public access to these contract documents?

Mr. Daniel Fulton withdrew his question published on 7 September 2022.

Cabinet noted a report summarising the Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting held on Thursday, 26 July 2022, pre-scrutinising the Quarter 1 Performance Report.

That Scrutiny and Overview Committee report previewed a committee desire to scrutinise topics not on the Forward Plan of Cabinet decisions. At the Leader’s invitation, Councillor Anna Bradnam, a Scrutiny and Overview Committee member appointed by the Chair of that committee to do so, introduced a late report of the meeting held on 6 September 2022 which developed that aspiration.

Cabinet:

a)    Noted the KPI results and comments at Appendix A and the Business Plan progress at Appendix B, and recommend action needed to reflect emerging priorities or issues.

b)    Noted the addition of new KPIs (PN519, AH230 and CC314) and the rationale for these, as detailed within the comments section of Appendix A.

c)     Noted the addition of the new ‘Outlook RAG’ column in the KPI report at Appendix A (see paragraph 8).

Councillor Judith Rippeth, Deputy Leader, presented to Cabinet the Quarter 1 Performance Report, highlighting for praise Key Performance Indicators for major planning applications and for the live streaming of public meetings.

Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Council, thanked officers for their efforts in maintaining high performance levels, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Upon a proposal from Councillor Rippeth seconded by Councillor Smith, and by affirmation, Cabinet:

a)    Noted the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) results and comments at Appendix A to the report and the Business Plan progress at Appendix B, and recommended action needed to reflect emerging priorities or issues;

b)    Noted the addition of new KPIs (PN519, AH230 and CC314) and the rationale for these, as detailed within the comments section of Appendix A; and

c)     Noted the addition of the new Outlook RAG (Red Amber Green) column in the KPI report at Appendix A (as detailed in paragraph 8 of the report;

Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the response to the Anglian Water Drainage and Waste Water Management Plan 2022 consultation included in Appendix A of this report, subject to the following:

Question 1 (paragraph 3

Replace the wording from ‘However…’ to ‘…the future can be monitored’ with the amended text

“However, reducing pollution, minimising pollution incidents from storm overflows and as a result improving the water quality should also be a key priority for the DWMP and be implemented as soon as possible. Improvements should be made to the monitoring undertaken and reported for Anglian Water’s Environmental Performance Assessment in order to provide clear information in a timely manner on such events, and their environmental impacts, so the effectiveness of DWMP programme in the future can be monitored.”

Question 2 (paragraph 3)

In the sentence beginning ‘Given the need…’ between the words ‘…such as…’ and ‘…removing…’ add the words ‘…intermediate targets for…’

b)    Agreed to grant delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development, in consultation with the South Cambridgeshire District Council Lead Cabinet member for Planning and the Cambridge City Council Executive Councillor for Planning and Infrastructure (in consultation with chair and spokes), to make any minor editing changes and corrections identified to the response included at Appendix A prior to submission.

Councillor Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning, presented to Cabinet a report on the proposed Consultation Response to the Anglian Water Drainage and Waste Water Management Plan.

Cabinet members noted the slight amendments proposed for the responses to Questions 1 and 2.

Following a short debate, Councillor Dr. Hawkins proposed that the recommendations in the report (as amended) be approved. This was seconded by Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Council and by affirmation Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the response to the Anglian Water Drainage and Waste Water Management Plan 2022 consultation included in Appendix A to the report, subject to the following:

Question 1 (paragraph 3)

Replace the wording from ‘However…’ to ‘…the future can be monitored’ with the amended text

“However, reducing pollution, minimising pollution incidents from storm overflows and as a result improving the water quality should also be a key priority for the DWMP and be implemented as soon as possible. Improvements should be made to the monitoring undertaken and reported for Anglian Water’s Environmental Performance Assessment in order to provide clear information in a timely manner on such events, and their environmental impacts, so the effectiveness of DWMP programme in the future can be monitored.”

Question 2 (paragraph 3)

In the sentence beginning ‘Given the need…’ between the words ‘…such as…’ and ‘…removing…’ add the words ‘…intermediate targets for…’

b)    Agreed to grant delegated authority to the Joint Director of Planning and Economic Development, in consultation with the South Cambridgeshire District Council Lead Cabinet member for Planning and the Cambridge City Council Executive Councillor for Planning and Infrastructure (in consultation with chair and spokes), to make any minor editing changes and corrections identified to the response included at Appendix A prior to submission.

Cabinet:

a)    Noted the forecast 2022/23 revenue position against the approved revenue budget shown in Appendix B, the projected major variances with reasons for these variances at Appendices C1 and C2 and the action being taken to address the underlying issues.

b)    Noted the latest Capital Programme 2022/23 position [and variances, if any] as shown in Appendix D.

Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Council, presented to Cabinet the 2022-2023 Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring report for Quarter 1.

In response to comments from Councillor Heather Williams, Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Smith pointed out that variances were not unusual in the first Quarter of a financial year, and the Head of Finance undertook to provide Councillor Williams with a written explanation regarding the specific query raised.

Upon a proposal from Councillor Smith seconded by Councillor Rippeth, and by affirmation, Cabinet:

a)    Noted the forecast 2022-23 revenue position against the approved revenue budget shown in Appendix B to the report, the projected major variances with reasons for these variances at Appendices C1 and C2 and the action being taken to address the underlying issues;

b)    Noted the latest Capital Programme 2022-23 position [and variances, if any] as shown in Appendix D.

Cabinet:

a)    Noted the 2021/22 revenue outturn position and the net overspend in the year of £0.029 million, and the explanations provided for the variances compared to the revised 2021/22 revenue budget;

b)    Noted the overall increase in the Housing Revenue Account balance as at 31 March 2021 to £5.681 million;

c)    In relation to the Capital Programme:

              i)          Noted the 2021/22 capital outturn of £17.485 million;

             ii)          Acknowledged the performance achieved in relation to the Capital Programme schemes substantially completed in 2021/2022, summarised in Appendix A.

           iii)          Recommended to Council the carry forwards to 2022/23 of £0.836 million in relation to HRA Housing improvements due mainly to slippage.

           iv)          Recommended to Council carry forward amounts of £1.896 million to 2022/23 in relation to HRA housebuilding during 2021/22, due to slippage.

            v)          Noted that a full review of the Capital Programme will be submitted to Cabinet at its December 2022 meeting to include re-phasing of the existing programme and new Capital bids for the next budget cycle.

Councillor John Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Housing, presented to Cabinet a report on the 2021-2022 Provisional Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Outturn. He briefly explained the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the capital account.

Upon a proposal from Councillor Batchelor seconded by Councillor Smith, and by affirmation, Cabinet

a)    Noted the 2021-22 revenue outturn position and the net overspend in the year of £0.029 million, and the explanations provided for the variances compared to the revised 2021-22 revenue budget;

b)    Noted the overall increase in the Housing Revenue Account balance as of 31 March 2021 to £5.681 million;

c)    In relation to the Capital Programme:

                          i)           Noted the 2021-22 capital outturn of £17.485 million;

                        ii)           Acknowledged the performance achieved in relation to the Capital Programme schemes substantially completed in 2021/2022, summarised in Appendix A to the report;

                       iii)           Recommended to Council the carry forwards to 2022-23 of £0.836 million in relation to HRA Housing improvements due mainly to slippage;

                       iv)           Recommended to Council carry forward amounts of £1.896 million to 2022/23 in relation to HRA housebuilding during 2021/22, due to slippage; and

                        v)           Noted that a full review of the Capital Programme would be submitted to Cabinet at its December 2022 meeting to include re-phasing of the existing programme and new Capital bids for the next budget cycle.

Cabinet:

a)    Approved a trial to be run from January – March 2023, preceded by a planning period of three months.

b)    Requested the Employment & Staffing committee to receive update reports at its meeting on 10 November 2022 and 23 February 2023, with a view to reporting back to Cabinet after the end of the trial making recommendations as appropriate; and

c)    Noted that feedback would be received from Cambridge City Council’s Strategy & Resources Committee meeting on 10 October 2022 and requested that officers continue to keep that committee updated with information during the planning period and trial.

Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Council, presented to Cabinet a report detailing a proposal to trial a four-day week at South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Following a question raised by the Chief Executive of Cambridge City Council, the Leader confirmed that the City Council’s Strategy and Resources Committee would be involved in the development of the trial and receive regular updates, and that, should the trial prove successful, it was envisaged that Cambridge City Council would play an important role in extending the four-day week to the Shared Waste Service.

Councillor Brian Milnes emphasised the importance of assuring residents that the trial was intended, among other things, to address any unexpected negative impact on the delivery of Council services.

The Chief Executive told Cabinet that staff, Members, and partner organisations all had a crucial role to play in making the trial a success.

The Leader informed Cabinet that the following additional recommendation should be considered, namely that feedback was due from Cambridge City Council’s Strategy & Resources Committee meeting on 10 October, and that South Cambridgeshire District Council would continue to keep that committee updated with information during the planning period and trial.

The Leader and Chief Executive responded in detail to a series of questions raised by Opposition members. Councillor Judith Rippeth (Deputy Leader) highlighted the potential benefits for staff in terms of their wellbeing, and said that the impact on residents would be monitored during the trial period.

Upon a proposal from Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Rippeth, and by affirmation, Cabinet:

a)    Approved a trial to be run from January to March 2023, preceded by a planning period of three months;

b)    Requested the Employment & Staffing committee to receive update reports at its meetings on 10 November 2022 and 23 February 2023, with a view to reporting back to Cabinet after the end of the trial making recommendations as appropriate; and

c)    Noted that feedback would be received from Cambridge City Council’s Strategy & Resources Committee meeting on 10 October 2022 and requested that officers continue to keep that committee updated with information during the planning period and trial.

The press and public are likely to be excluded 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). Paragraph 3 relates to information about the financial or business affairs of any person, including the Authority holding that information.

Cabinet agreed by affirmation that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of item 15 in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) (exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act). Paragraph 3 refers to information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Upon the proposal of Councillor Bridget Smith seconded by Councillor John Batchelor, and by affirmation, Cabinet authorised the Leader to sign, as a correct record, the exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2022.

Cabinet:

Approved the property acquisition as specified in paragraphs 6 and 7 in the exempt report.

Councillor John Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Housing, presented to Cabinet the exempt report.

Upon a proposal from Councillor Batchelor seconded by Councillor Judith Rippeth, and by affirmation, Cabinet:

Approved the property acquisition as specified in paragraphs 6 and 7 in the exempt report.