Decisions

On 26 March 2021 the Grants Advisory Committee reviewed all Community Chest applications received between 13 February 21 and 13 March 21, to the Community Chest funding scheme during 2020/21.  There was one deferral to be considered from the previous month.  

Two applications were brought forward in ‘Appendix A’ of the meeting’s reports pack:

26 March 2021  - Agenda Pack

After consideration of these applications, the Committee recommended to the Lead Cabinet Member for Finance that:

1. Bassingbourn Nature Rangers (CNDMQGMT), previously deferred from February committee, be approved and funded at the full amount requested of £1000 pending receipt of DBS check completion evidence.
2. PCC of All Saints Church Cottenham (BCNHZCDJ) to be approved and funded at the full amount requested of £1,000.

To accept the recommendations of the Grants Advisory Committee (see above).

1. Background

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has launched an eight-week consultation on proposals to establish a new Office for Place, which would require all local planning authorities to create their own design codes in consultation with local stakeholders. These design codes would have to be adhered in the planning submission process by all developers, and would entail some alterations to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Deadline: 27th March

2. Context

The consultation follows directly from the 2021 consultations on the Planning White Paper. Last autumn, the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service (GCSP) responded to the Planning White Paper: Planning For The Future, Changes To The Current Planning System and Land Data consultations last Autumn. A copy of this joint response is available on the Councils’ websites.

The rationale, proposals and specific questions for this consultation, as well as the draft text updates to the NPPF and the annexed draft National Model Design Code can be downloaded from the government’s website. 

In this consultation, the government is acting to implement some of the main recommendations from the Building Better, Building Beautiful Report.

3. Proposed Response from Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council

Overall, Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service Officers consulted agree with the government that the planning system could be improved and should have more emphasis on design. This view echoes Greater Cambridge’s response to the Planning White Paper last year where proposals that simplify processes and take advantage of more digital approaches to provide more certainty, design quality, and an emphasis on sustainability were welcomed.

However, there are significant concerns that some of the proposed changes may undermine its stated objectives of achieving good design. This concern is centred on proposed changes to Article 4 directions and the resources to deliver the design codes in a coherent manner.

The full response proposed is included as Appendix 1 to this decision.

To confirm that the response set out in Appendix 1 of this decision should be made to the government consultation on changes to the NPPF and National Design Code.

Cabinet:

Approved the following recommendations:

a)    Recommendation 1 – The Council should ensure adequate resource is allocated for community recovery and to support parishes with further development of their community response/emergency plans, so they are as well-equipped as possible for any future crises.

b)    Recommendation 2 – The Council should host appreciation events to

celebrate the success of the community response and to acknowledge the work of community groups and volunteers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cabinet:

Approved the following recommendations:

a)    Recommendation 1 – Key performance indictors relating to how the council responds to BAME employees at South Cambridgeshire District Council should be reported to the Employment and Staffing Committee on an ongoing basis.

b)    Recommendation 2 – The Leader of the Council should assign the

responsibility for equalities to the relevant Lead Cabinet Member.

c)    Recommendation 3 – The Lead Cabinet Member with responsibility for equalities should investigate the establishment of an equalities advisory panel/group. It is suggested that this panel/group could follow the model of the Council’s Brexit Advisory Group rather than requiring a formal committee to be set up. The Lead Cabinet Member should establish the most appropriate reporting route for the equality in employment report and whether this should be reported to the equalities advisory panel/group or the Employment and Staffing Committee.

d)    Recommendation 4 – The new equality advisory panel/group should track the outcomes of the equalities staff forum.

e)    Recommendation 5 – The suitable Lead Cabinet Member should liaise with relevant officers on street naming in South Cambridgeshire.

f)      Recommendation 6 – The Council should produce an equalities toolkit for businesses, to help broaden their understanding of race inequality in the workplace and enable them to undertake Race Equality Impact Assessment on their employment practices. This is in line with work that has already been undertaken by Cambridge City Council. It is suggested that this toolkit should be developed by the Business Support Team. The group acknowledges that there may not currently be capacity for the team to undertake this work due to demands supporting businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, so this work should be undertaken when capacity allows.

g)    Recommendation 7 – Provision of training on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller cultural awareness for all councillors and officers. As well as requiring all councillors to attend a briefing on equality and diversity, Cambridge City Council provided training on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller cultural awareness which was found to be beneficial. The task and finish group suggests the same training is provided for South Cambridgeshire district councillors and officers and that all should be required to attend.

h)    Recommendation 8 – The Council should seek to collaborate with

Cambridge City Council in its engagement with BAME community groups. Cambridge City Council has taken steps to enhance dialogue with BAME community groups, the Council and other public sector organisations. As there is overlap between City and South Cambridgeshire community groups, it is suggested that this Council seeks to collaborate with and support the work already being done by Cambridge City Council to avoid duplication.

i)      Recommendation 9 – The Council should build links with local BAME

community groups. The Council should seek to understand the concerns of BAME community groups and ensure that there is a way for them to engage with the Council on issues of importance and concern to them. This relationship should be monitored and maintained through the new equality advisory panel/group.

The policy has been drawn up with 5 other local authorities to agree how social housing will be prioritised and allocated across the area.

Cabinet:

Reviewed and noted the outcome of the allocations review, including the consultation feedback and agreed the subsequent revisions to the Lettings Policy.

To agree the consultation process the developers of the new town will follow to decide a name for the new town.

Cabinet:

Agreed the engagement process that the two master developers will follow to gather feedback and opinion on the name of the new town north of Waterbeach,with a paper coming back to Cabinet in order to take the final decision on the name of the new town.

To approve the Ermine Street Housing Business Plan.

Cabinet:

Received and noted the Ermine Street Business Plan for the period 2020/2021 to 2029/2030 for information.

To review the Council’s Business Plan.

Cabinet:

(a)  Recommended the proposed 2020-25 Business Plan at Appendix A (with the Action Plan primarily focused on delivery 2021-22) to Council for approval, with any amendments as required.

(b)  Authorised the Chief Executive to make any minor wording changes required to final drafts, in consultation with the Deputy Leader.

Please note that recommendations to Council are not subject to call in.

To review performance against KPIs and progress against Business Plan objectives as at end of Q3.

Cabinet:

Reviewed and noted the KPI results and comments at Appendix A and progress against Business Plan actions at Appendix B.

To consider the latest monitoring data in respect of the 2020/2021 revenue and capital budgets (Q3) and emerging budget issues.

Cabinet:

a)    Reviewed and noted the forecast 2020/2021 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)    Reviewed and noted the latest Capital Programme 2020/2021 position as shown in Appendix D.

The purpose of this report is to request that the Head for Finance formally adopt a revised policy for the granting of Discretionary Rate Relief to Business properties.

Agreed

Purpose

1.    The purpose of this report is:

a.    To agree the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply document (Appendix 1 of this decision) to be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website. The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five year housing land supply calculations have been prepared jointly with Cambridge City Council, consistent with the adopted Local Plans.

b.    To delegate any further minor editing changes to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply document to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they are technical matters.

2.    In January 2019, Cabinet agreed that the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five year supply calculations would be agreed by the Cabinet Member for Planning via a decision outside of a meeting (together with the Executive Member for Planning Policy at Cambridge City Council).

Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply

3.    The government through national planning policy requires that all local planning authorities identify sufficient deliverable sites to deliver a minimum of five years worth of housing against their housing requirement, as set out in their Local Plans. The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council to calculate their five-year housing land supply and also to demonstrate that anticipated housing delivery will meet or exceed their housing requirement.

4.    The Councils have prepared the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five-year supply calculations based on national planning policy and guidance for housing trajectories and five-year supply calculations.

5.    The adopted Cambridge Local Plan 2018 (Policy 3) and the adopted South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 (Policy S/12) state that “the housing trajectories for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire … will be considered together for the purposes of phasing of housing delivery, including for calculating 5-year housing land supply in development management decisions that concern housing development” and that the “five year housing land supply will be calculated using the Liverpool Method and a buffer of 20%”. The use of the Liverpool methodology remains appropriate having regard to national planning guidance, as there have been no changes in circumstances. However, national planning policy has changed the approach to the assessment of previous under delivery from that set out in national planning policy against which the Local Plans were examined. National planning policy now sets out that a 20% buffer should be applied where there has been significant under delivery of housing over the previous three years, and that this will be measured against the Housing Delivery Test results, with the 20% buffer applying where the Housing Delivery Test indicates that delivery was below 85% of the housing requirement. On the basis of the latest Housing Delivery Test results, the Councils consider that it is no longer appropriate to apply a 20% buffer and that a 5% buffer should be applied.   

6.    The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five-year housing land supply calculations show that jointly for Greater Cambridge, the Councils can demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, using the Liverpool methodology and 5% buffer. The Councils jointly have 6.1 years of housing land supply for the 2021-2026 five-year period. The Councils can also demonstrate a five year housing land supply, using the Liverpool methodology and 20% buffer, if a different view was taken and it was concluded that a 20% buffer should still be applied. The Councils have taken a robust and conservative approach to assessing the deliverability and / or developability of each of the sites in the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory.

7.    National planning policy and guidance sets out the circumstances where planning policies should be considered out of date when making decisions on planning applications, and this includes where the Council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. On the basis of the five year supply calculations in the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply document (which is Appendix 1 of this decision), this does not apply to Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire, as the Councils can demonstrate a five year supply.

8.    Through the process undertaken to prepare the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five year supply calculations, the Councils have taken into account the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic that have already been felt by the housebuilding and construction industries, and the impacts that are still ongoing such as the social distancing guidelines and the availability of materials.

9.    The Cambridge Local Plan 2018 sets a housing requirement of 14,000 homes to be delivered between 2011 and 2031. The new housing trajectory shows that 14,129 dwellings are expected to be delivered in Cambridge between 2011 and 2031. The South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 sets a housing requirement of 19,500 dwellings to be delivered between 2011 and 2031. The new housing trajectory shows that 23,097 dwellings are expected to be delivered in South Cambridgeshire between 2011 and 2031. Therefore, together the Local Plans set a housing requirement of 33,500 homes between 2011 and 2031 for Greater Cambridge. The new housing trajectory shows that 37,226 dwellings are expected to be delivered between 2011 and 2031. The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory shows that anticipated housing delivery within each Council’s area is more than its respective housing requirement.

Next Steps

Once agreed by Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Executive Member for Planning Policy at Cambridge City Council, the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply document (April 2021) will be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website.

That the Cabinet Member for Planning agrees:

a.    the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply document (Appendix 1 of this decision) to be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website.

b.    to delegate any further minor editing changes to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply document to the Joint Director for Planning and Economic Development where they are technical matters.

It is recommended that the Lead Cabinet Member agrees to write off the debt of £25,060.53 in respect of Fairstore.

All reasonable efforts to recover the debts have been attempted and have proved unsuccessful.  There is no likelihood of the debts being recovered and it is appropriate to write it off at this time to ensure good accounting practice.

Authorise the write off of the debt as set out in the report dated 15^th March 2021.