Agenda and minutes

To receive and record any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Briggs and Y Weeks.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 30 April 2014.

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 30 April 2014 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting.

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting.

To receive and record any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest from any of the members present.

There were no matters the Chairman wished to report.

The Cabinet considered a report setting out the appointments to working parties an panels required for 2014/15.

RESOLVED that the following appointments be confirmed:

(1)       Coastal Defence Panel – Councillors Guest, Branson, L Turner, K Smith, Pierce Jones and Galloway; and

(2)       Local Plan Panel – Councillors Hilton, Hart, Lenaghan, Guest, Keast, Buckley, Mrs Shimbart, Gibb-Gray, Heard, Turner, Wilson, Brown and Sceal.

(Development Management Committee Standing Deputies are also included for information but do not usually attend – D Smith, Galloway and Hart)

The Cabinet considered a report recommending the appointment of members to represent the Council on the governing bodies of various outside organisations for the 2014/15 municipal year. Cabinet members noted that the annual appointments to outside bodies would be subject to review by the Governance & Logistics Scrutiny and Policy Development Panel as part of its ongoing work programme.

(1)       the appointments set out in the Appendix to these minutes be confirmed; and

(2)       outstanding appointments be delegated to and confirmed by the Leader of the Council.

To consider the following recommendation arising from the Scrutiny Board meeting held on 3 June 2014 (report attached).

RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that:

(1)       Closer scrutiny of Mayoral engagements take place to ensure cost-efficiency to the Council and to maximise value to the organisation concerned;

(2)       The Economic Development Team, in conjunction with the relevant Portfolio Holder, be encouraged to liaise more closely with the Mayor’s support team to identify suitable events at an early stage;

(3)       Closer liaison between the Mayor and the Cabinet/Joint Management Team to ensure that no opportunity for maximising the role of the Mayor to promote/raise the profile of the Borough is missed; and

(4)       Alternatives to using porta cabins as polling stations be sought in order to minimise costs.

The Cabinet considered a recommendation arising from the Scrutiny Board meeting held on 3 June 2014 in connection with the Governance & Logistics Scrutiny and Performance Development Panel on Democratic Processes.

RESOLVED that

(1)       closer scrutiny of Mayoral engagements take place to ensure cost-efficiency to the Council and to maximise value to the organisation concerned;

(2)       the Economic Development Team, in conjunction with the relevant Portfolio Holder, be encouraged to liaise more closely with the Mayor’s support team to identify suitable events at an early stage;

(3)       closer liaison between the Mayor and the Cabinet/Joint Management Team to ensure that no opportunity for maximising the role of the Mayor to promote/raise the profile of the Borough is missed; and

(4)       alternatives to using porta cabins as polling stations be sought in order to minimise costs.

The Cabinet considered a report setting out the provisional Revenue Outturn for 2013/14 and seeking approval to transfer the residual surplus to the General Fund.

RESOLVED that

(1)       the Outturn position and the Cabinet’s previous agreement to the following be noted:

·                    carry forward £85,000 for the Local Development Framework,

·                    carry forward £218,000 for Major buildings repairs. 

(2)       that the following be approved:

·                    set aside £500,000 in the General Fund to cover the 2014/15 reduction in Business Rates income to cover backdated appeals on the Retained Business Rates system.

·                    note that the £93,000 from Central Government received following the winter floods to fund grants will be paid to businesses and households during 2014/15.

·                    that £1,152,000 is set aside in the General Fund to support the delivery of the Council’s vision, driving forward opportunities to transform public services and create financial efficiency.

The Cabinet considered a report presenting twin applications for Emsworth to be designated as a ‘Neighbourhood Area’ and for the Emsworth Forum to be designated as the ‘Neighbourhood Forum’ for the purposes of neighbourhood planning in Emsworth. 

In response to a query regarding further publicity of the proposals, Cabinet members noted that the recommendations would be subject to normal media coverage prior to final approval by full Council on 23 July.

RECOMMENDED to full Council the designation by Havant Borough Council of Emsworth as a Neighbourhood Area and the Emsworth Forum as the Neighbourhood Forum for the purposes of neighbourhood planning in Emsworth.

The Cabinet considered a report setting out the process by which income derived from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) could be distributed, including criteria to guide the prioritisation of spending and aid the assessment of requests for CIL funding, to ensure that CIL and remaining S106 funds are used effectively and for the benefit of the community.

RECOMMENDED to the Council that

(1)       the Regulation 123 List be reviewed alongside the process of prioritising the distribution of CIL funding;

(2)       the key principles of the Funding Decision Protocol, as set out in paragraph 4.42 of the Cabinet report, be agreed.

(3)       all of the CIL collected be used to support infrastructure for the communities within the Borough. Of this:

i.        Up to 5% of CIL receipts will be used within the Planning budget to provide a dedicated resource for the annual monitoring and management required by the CIL regulations. The funding of any additional resource to undertake the additional work related to CIL will be cost neutral to the Council as it will fall within the 5% element ;

ii.       The remainder of CIL receipts (95%) will be allocated by the Council on behalf of the community for investment in infrastructure for the Borough, in accordance with the Community Infrastructure Levy Funding Decision Protocol (attached at Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report); and

(4)       the decision-making process be reviewed in 12 months’ time with a view to simplifying it where possible.