Minutes:
There were two public questions received ahead of the meeting.
(a) From Mrs. Jane Williams
“At any time during this calendar year, have any funds been transferred from the Collection Fund to any other account of the district council or have any funds from the Collection Fund been used for any expenditure by or on behalf of the district council?”
Councillor John Williams, Lead Cabinet Member for Finance responded:
“Each financial year an amount is transferred from the Collection Fund to the General Fund that is equal to the value of the District Council Precept and the total of all Parish Council Precepts. This amount is fixed when the budget for that year is set in February of the preceding financial year. The amount of the District Precept is used to fund District Council Expenditure and the amount transferred in relation to Parish Councils is used to pay Parish Precepts.”
Mrs. Jane Williams was invited to ask a supplementary question:
“Is there anything in the public domain that would say whether or not at any time during this calendar year have any funds being transferred other than the ones that Councillor (John) Williams has referred to, as it is not possible to see these accounts”
Councillor John Williams responded:
“No, I think I need to explain what the collection fund is. We are the Billing Authority, which means we have a task of sending the bill to the Council Tax Payer on behalf of all those who has set precepts, so the Council Tax Payer receives one bill, then we receive all that money into what we call a collection fund, and then we take out of that collection fund what we have precepted, and we take out of that collection what the Parish Councils have precepted, so that we can pay them their money, so there is no other reason why we would take money out of that collection fund because what left in it is there for other precepting authorities, (such as) the County Council, the Fire and Police. So I do hope that explains the workings of the collection fund, we take out of the collection fund what we have asked our Council tax payer to pay for South Cambs services in their Council tax. Similarly, we take out what the Parish Councils have asked of their parishioners to pay for their services.”
Mrs. Jane Williams thanked Councillor John Williams for the responses.
(b) From Mr. Daniel Fulton
“The Council recently announced that it will be contributing £170 million over the next four years towards new development partnerships with the Hill Group and Balfour Beatty. The council’s announcement also stated that “identifying suitable land opportunities will be a core element of work by the partnerships” and that target sites are located within South Cambridgeshire.”
Could the Leader of the Council please identify the parishes in which these target sites are located, and does the Leader of the Council foresee any potential conflicts of interest that could arise as a result of the Council’s dual role as a profit-making land developer and its statutory duties for plan making and development management as the district’s local planning authority?
The Leader of the Council responded:
“The Investment Partnerships are in the very early stages of development, with initial meetings between partners taking place this month. Any potential sites would be discussed by the Council’s Investment Governing Board members before any further appraisal work is undertaken.
In terms of conflict of interest, the investment strategy is clear. Our aims are to: ‘provide a robust and viable framework for the acquisition of commercial property investments and the pursuance of redevelopment and regeneration opportunities that contribute to Business Plan objectives and can deliver positive financial returns for the council’. The potential for any conflicts of interest to arise is one the council takes very seriously, and as a result, we have thought in great detail about the decision making and advisory approach to be taken with regards to the investment partnerships. We have also taken legal advice and considered best practise from elsewhere, where similar models have been introduced. Therefore, at this point, whilst we have taken steps to avoid any conflicts of interest arising we would always be vigilant in this regard and believe that those involved in the process are fully aware of their obligations and will seek further advice, if at any point they believe it is required.”
Mr. Daniel Fulton was invited to ask a supplementary question:
“My concern is the Council is basically attempting to monetise it’s regulatory function as the local planning authority, and I’d also be concerned if the Council is going to become a ‘for profit land developer’, it could also potentially leverage this to given a competitive advantage over other local developers who are not the local planning authority. Have these concerns been given any consideration at all?”
The Leader of the Council responded that those concerns had been given consideration but would provide a full written response.