Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declarations of pecuniary interest.

There were no declarations of interests relating to matters on the agenda.

To receive the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 August 2022.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 24 August 2022 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

RESOLVED that the submitted work plan be noted.

To receive a brief update from Alan Downton, Economic Development Consultant.

The Committee received an update on the housing strategy.

The Committee examined, via a question and answer session with the relevant Cabinet Lead and officers, the following aspects of the strategy:

·                 The aims, ambitions, and objectives of the strategy

·                 The timing of the implementation of the strategy

·                 How the strategy would be delivered

·                 Organisations/bodies that had been consulted

·                 Other housing strategies which were being examined by the officers to help inform this Council’s strategy

·                 How the strategy would relate to the to the Council’s Local Plan

·                 The feasibility of working with and learning from Portsmouth City Council

·                 How the Council could fill the viability gap

·                 The results of market testing referred to in the submitted report

·                 The need to have regard to the environmental restraints on potential development sites

·                 The need to have regard to the sensitively of areas such as conservation areas

·                 The need to ensure that sites developed under the strategy would be designed for energy and resource efficiency

·                 The risks of burdening the Council with maintenance costs which outweighed the income generated by developments

·                 The form and design of future developments

·                 The financial and resource implications of the strategy

During the question and answer session, the Cabinet Lead and officers agreed to:

a          ensure that the energy efficiency measures would be more clearly identified in future reports and updates; and

b          forward examples of modular housing to members of the Committee

The Committee supported, in principle, the aims of the strategy. However, members raised a number of concerns and:

RESOLVED that:

1          the update on the housing strategy be noted: and

2          Cabinet be advised of the Committee’s following concerns regarding the housing strategy:

•       The lack of inhouse expertise and experience to deliver the strategy

•       The viability gap

•       The risk that the delivery of the strategy could result in the Council being burdened with a maintenance bill higher than income derived

•       The risk that the strategy could lead to the loss of high income generated sites

•       The need for an assurance that the design and form of development would be sensitive to the areas in which they would be located

•       The strategy should ensure that all sites were developed for energy and resource efficiency

The Committee is asked to consider whether to pass a resolution excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of any of the items on the agenda.  If members wish to do so then this could be achieved by passing the following resolution.  Members are not required to pass the resolution but the Monitoring Officer recommends this as to the item set out below.

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the items headed and numbered as below because:

it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during that item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information of the descriptions specified in paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972 shown against the heading in question; and

in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Item  4             Housing Development Strategy & Steps
(Paragraph 3)

Item  5             UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) / Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Bid and General Regeneration Update (Paragraph 3)

Paragraph 3       Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the minutes headed and numbered as below because:

it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during those minutes there would be disclosure to them of exempt information of the descriptions specified in paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972 shown against the heading in question; and

in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Minute 11     UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) / Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Bid and General Regeneration Update

(Paragraph 3)

To receive a brief update from Alan, Downton, Economic Development Consultant.

The Committee received an update on the progress of key bids in the context of the Havant BC Corporate Strategy and Havant Borough Regeneration and Economy Strategy.

The Committee examined via a question and answer session with the relevant Cabinet Lead and officers, aspects of the bids in an exempt session.

RESOLVED that the update on the housing strategy be noted.