Agenda and minutes
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Apologies Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor Harris. |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members and Officers, relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: CouncillorEvemy declared an other interest in Agenda Item 9, as his employer was referred to within the report. There were no declarations of interest under the Code of Conduct from Officers.
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To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 April 2021. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of Cabinet of 12 April 2021 be approved as a correct record:
Record of Voting - for 6, against 0, abstention 1, absent 1.
Note:
The Chair sought an update in relation to Minute CAB.132 regarding the resolution to the opening hours of the Council Offices. In response, the Deputy Chief Executive reported that opening the offices until 9 PM Monday to Thursday would be trialed for a period to collect information on demand. This would enable the most cost effective and efficient arrangements to be put in place as a permanent arrangement.
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Leader's Announcements (if any) Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair advised that the meeting represented the first meeting of the Cabinet held in-person within the Council Officers since the Covid-19 outbreak and was the first being webcast. He added that webcasting of Council meetings was a manifesto pledge of the Administration to increase transparency.
The Chair also reported that two standing items had been omitted from the Agenda; these were the ‘Schedule of Decisions taken by the Leader and/or other Cabinet Members’ and ‘Matters arising from Overview and Scrutiny or Audit Committees’. These items would be reported to the next meeting of Cabinet on 7 June 2021, if required.
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Public Questions To deal with questions from the public within the open forum question and answer session of fifteen minutes in total. Questions from each member of the public should be no longer than two minutes each and relate issues under the Committee’s remit. Additional documents: Minutes: No questions had been received from members of the public. |
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Member Questions To deal with written questions by Members, relating to issues under the Committee’s remit, with the maximum length of oral supplementary questions at Committee being no longer than one minute. Responses to any supplementary questions will be dealt with in writing if they cannot be dealt with at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: No questions had been received from Members. |
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Ubico Business Plan 2021-2022 Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet was requested to consider the Ubico Business Plan 2021-22, to note progress and recommend the Leader approve the Plan.
The Managing Director of Ubico was present at the meeting and presented the report to Cabinet, responding to various questions from the Cabinet.
The Cabinet Member for the Environment, Waste and Recycling explained that the Business Plan served other partner authorities and that Ubico tailored each service to each authority’s needs. He added that one of the biggest issues was in relation to the use of diesel vehicles for waste collections and how in future this requirement needed to be considered against the carbon offset, given electric vehicles were still not suitable for use on all the District’s rounds. The Cabinet Member also expressed that emphasis needed to be placed on ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, with particular emphasis on reducing waste, given public knowledge still considered recycling to be the most environmentally-friendly method.
The Deputy Leader added that the support provided by Ubico staff during the Christmas 2020 flooding period in Cirencester and surrounding villages should be commended. He also requested that further information be provided to the Cabinet outside of the meeting in relation to trade waste.
RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommend that the Leader (as Shareholder representative) approve the Ubico Business Plan 2021-22. Record of Voting - for 7, against 0, abstention 0, absent 1.
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Spacehive: Pledge Decision Process and Scheme Criteria Additional documents:
Minutes: The Cabinet was requested to agree the decision process and criteria to operate Crowdfund Cotswold, the Council’s civic crowdfunding platform.
The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the report and highlighted various aspects. He concluded that it was hoped the new decision process and criteria would enable quicker decisions to be made than had happened previously in Cabinet Member Decision-Making meetings.
The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing commented that there had been 65 projects come forward following the Scheme’s launch, of which 28 were live at present. She added that she hoped the Scheme would bring people together and enable residents to financially support local projects and drew attention to the Equalities Impact Assessment that had been undertaken by the report authors.
RESOLVED that:
a) Cabinet approve that decisions on Council pledges be taken under a delegation to the Chief Executive or Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing;
b) the criteria for such pledges be agreed by Cabinet.
Record of Voting - for 7, against 0, abstention 0, absent 1.
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Partial Update of the adopted Local Plan - Project Update Additional documents:
Minutes: The Cabinet received an update on the project to partially update the Cotswold District Local Plan and received an updated Local Development Scheme (timetable of work). Cabinet were requested to draw down funding and to approve a draft Green Infrastructure Strategy for public consultation.
The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Forward Planning and the Forward Planning Manager jointly introduced the report and highlighted various aspects.
The Cabinet expressed their support for the recommendations and highlighted the importance of consultation with the District’s town and parish councils. The Cabinet also requested that further education on the update be extended to youth and community groups to encourage residents to reconsider and challenge previously held concepts.
RESOLVED that Cabinet:
a) approve the Local Development Scheme 2021 to 2024;
b) approve draw down of £21,000 from reserves to programmes of work identified; and
c) approve the Draft Cotswold District Green Infrastructure Strategy for a six week public consultation.
Record of Voting - for 7, against 0, abstention 0, absent 1.
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Re-opening of the High Streets Safely Fund - Welcome Back Fund Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet were requested to note the spend on Reopening High Streets Safely Fund projects to date and to agree a broad approach to the use of the Welcome Back Fund.
The Cabinet Member for the Economy and Skills introduced the report and highlighted various aspects. He also wished to extend his thanks to the Economic Development Team for their work in relation to the project.
The Cabinet commended the consistency of messaging that had been produced by the Council in relation to the reopening of high streets, and the digital education that had taken place, but questioned if discussions could take place with the County Council given that signs relating to historic Covid-19 information were still being displayed across the District.
The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Forward Planning questioned if bike storage installation had been encouraged as part of the re-opening to encourage residents to move away from car travel. In response, Officers explained that the onus had been placed on town and parish councils to consider their own plans for reopening but that some local councils had considered similar plans for their own reopening.
RESOLVED that:
a) the use of the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund to date is noted;
b) the proposed approach to the use of the Welcome Back Fund is endorsed and authority is delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive to agree specific allocations in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills.
Record of Voting - for 7, against 0, abstention 0, absent 1.
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Funding & Contract Changes to support BEIS Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Additional documents: Minutes: The Cabinet were presented with a report which sought to seek contingency and revenue funding to support the installation of carbon reduction measures in the Council’s buildings as part of the BEIS decarbonisation scheme and to seek delegated authority to award contracts for project management and works and to negotiate a contract variation with the Council's leisure provider, SLM, to ensure requirements of grant funding are met.
The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Forward Planning and Group Manager for Commissioning jointly introduced the report and highlighted various aspects.
The Cabinet expressed their support for the quick action being undertaken by Officers, despite the restrictive timescales, and commented that hopefully the ambition for the project would be rewarded with substantial funding being awarded.
RESOLVED that Cabinet:
a) note the potential revenue implications for repair and maintenance of specialist technology installed through BEIS decarbonisation funding;
b) note that the revenue implications of a) will be managed in 2021/22 through the Council’s budget monitoring process and through application of Financial Rules if necessary;
c) note that the revenue implication of a) with effect from 2022/23 onwards will be considered as part of the Council’s update to its Medium Term Financial Strategy and budget setting process;
d) delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive/Chief Finance Officer to appoint consultants, funded by the BEIS grant, to carry out all stages of delivery support including project management, procurement and on-site delivery, via a Procurement Framework;
e) delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive/Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance to award contracts to contractors, suppliers and installers to complete the grant funded carbon reduction works, via a Procurement Framework;
f) delegate authority to negotiate a contract variation with SLM to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Deputy Chief Executive/Chief Finance Officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance.
Recommend to Council that:
g) the Council proceed with the planned decarbonisation installation noting the financial risks surrounding withdrawal of funding should delivery fail to meet the grant funding completion deadline;
h) allocate a contingency sum of £120,000 (12.5% of works capital costs) to support delivery and avoid unnecessary delays if costs exceed initial estimates and grant funding provided; any expenditure of this contingency to be agreed by the Deputy Chief Executive/Chief Finance Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance;
i) that £120,000 be reallocated in the Capital Programme from the £980,000 available for “Acquisition of a Strategic site at Moreton-in-the-Marsh” to the contingency for the decarbonisation scheme;
j) note that a variation to the SLM leisure services contract is necessary to enable utility costs to be paid by the Council and agrees that management fees payable to the Council are adjusted accordingly.
Record of Voting - for 7, against 0, abstention 0, absent 1.
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Funding for Improvement Works to Rissington Road Car Park, Bourton-on-the-Water Additional documents:
Minutes: Cabinet received a report seeking agreement to allocate capital and car parking earmarked reserve funds for improvements to Rissington Road Car Park, Bourton-on-the-Water.
The Deputy Leader introduced the report and explained that the car park was in need of a complete overhaul as it regularly experienced issues of flooding and poor lighting. He explained that the works would seek to create additional disabled bays, additional lighting and the installation of electric vehicle charging points and that the works were planned for October 2021 when the tourism season for the village was at its quietest.
The Parking Manager responded to various questions from the Cabinet and advised that little improvement work had been undertaken to the car park for over 20 years; the capacity of the car park would remain largely unchanged but would feature a better layout; no tree planting was included within the proposals, but planting would feature at the adjacent roadside and lighting engineer specialists had been consulted in relation to the proposed lighting to ensure any light pollution generated was the lowest amount possible.
The Cabinet expressed support for their recommendations highlighting that Bourton village was a valuable asset to the District and investment should be made accordingly towards its improvement. The Cabinet also requested if Officers could further investigate the possibility of tree planting, covered cycle storage and electric cycle charging within the scheme.
RESOLVED that:
a) Cabinet recommend to Council the allocation of £245,000 of capital funding and £92,000 of car park earmarked reserve fund to make improvements to Rissington Road Car Park, Bourton-on-the-Water; and
b) delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance to award the contract for the agreed works.
Record of Voting - for 7, against 0, abstention 0, absent 1.
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Other Business Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair welcomed Angela Claridge, Interim Monitoring Officer, to her first meeting of the Cabinet.
The Chair also advised that Parish Council Clerk Jackie Weaver would be appearing on the next episode of CDC Live on 25 May 2021 at 3.00pm
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