Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 21^st September 2017

(Note: If any Member wishes to propose an amendment to the minutes they should submit this in writing to committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk at least 24 hours before the meeting.  Where applicable, the audio recording of the meeting will be checked to ensure the accuracy of the proposed amendment.)

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 21^st September 2017 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Cabinet

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements from the Leader, Cabinet Members or the Chief Executive

Councillor Tricia Youtan, Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing announced that Councillor Karen Burgess had replaced Councillor Billy Greening as her Deputy Cabinet Member.

To receive questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters which in the opinion of the person presiding at the meeting are relevant to the business of the meeting

No questions had been received.

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the publication of the draft Brownfield Land Register for a four week period of consultation from 20^th October to 17^th November 2017 be approved.

(ii)        That the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be authorised to agree minor editorial changes to the draft Brownfield Land Register.

(iii)       That the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be authorised to approve the final Brownfield Land Register for publication by 31^st December 2017.

REASONS

(i)         To ensure that the statutory requirements in the Town and Country Planning Act as inserted by the new Housing and Planning Act 2016 and the Town & Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017, are met.

(ii)        It is appropriate to invite public participation in the preparation of a new planning document for the District, in accordance with the Statement of Community involvement, February 2017.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Development reported that the preparation, maintenance and publication of a brownfield land register was a new legal requirement, introduced by the Housing and Planning Act 2016.  Therefore, a draft register had been prepared in line with best practice for publication for consultation.

The purpose of the register was to identify brownfield land within the District which was considered to be suitable for housing development.  The register comprised two parts:

Part 1 was a list of all sites that were considered to meet the legislative criteria of being ‘suitable, available and achievable’ for development.

Part 2 of the register would comprise only those sites in Part 1 that the local planning authority had decided would be suitable for a grant of Permission in Principle.  If no sites were considered to meet the criteria for Permission in Principle, Part 2 of the register could be left empty.

The draft Brownfield Land Register proposed 39 sites for inclusion in Part 1, all of which had been identified from sites contained in the District’s Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA); through planning applications; or were sites allocated for development in the Council’s adopted planning policy documents.  None of these sites were considered suitable for a grant of Permission in Principle and it was therefore recommended that there were no entries in Part 2 of the Register this year.  Any decision to include land in Part 2 of the register and to grant planning permission in principle was specifically excluded from being an Executive Decision under Regulation 19 of The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017.  Any future recommendation to include site(s) in part 2 of the register would therefore be a Council decision unless the Council sought to delegate it.

The Council would take account of comments received, make any necessary amendments and publish the register on the Council’s website by 31^st December 2017.  If any substantive changes were proposed in response to the consultation, it would be necessary to prepare an update in early 2018 for approval by Cabinet.  The Brownfield Land Register would be reviewed and updated annually.

The proposed content of Brownfield Land Register had been discussed by the Planning and Development Policy Development Advisory Group and a small number of factual amendments had been made to the register in light of the discussion.

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the publication of the draft Brownfield Land Register for a four week period of consultation from 20^th October to 17^th November 2017 be approved.

(ii)        That the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be authorised to agree minor editorial changes to the draft Brownfield Land Register.

(iii)       That the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be authorised to approve the final Brownfield Land Register for publication by 31^st December 2017.

REASONS

(i)         To ensure that the statutory requirements in the Town and Country Planning Act as inserted by the new Housing and Planning Act 2016  ...  view the full minutes text for item EX/45

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets

            RESOLVED

            That the Director of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, be authorised to determine whether to submit a bid to the DCLG for the Council to take part in the 2018/19 pilot for 100% Business Rate retention.

            REASON

            If taxation receipts grow faster than spending on additional responsibilities, a successful bid should result in a greater share of local taxation being retained in the area, for the benefit of residents and service users.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets reported that, on 2^nd September 2017, the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had invited pilot bids for 100% localisation of Business Rates in 2018/19. 

The current local government funding methodology included 50% localisation of Business Rates, with 40% being allocated to District Councils and 10% to the County Council in two-tier areas.  In practice, however, a system of tariffs meant that the Council actually retained less than this.

With 100% localisation, potentially all rates collected could be retained, but pilot authorities would need to take on additional responsibilities or lose other grant funding to offset the additional income.  Should the value of additional responsibilities be less than the additional funding, a tariff would be applied to ensure the starting point would be fiscally neutral for the Government.  However, levies would no longer be applied to growth, thus all growth in business rates would be retained and split between the County and District/Borough councils).

Councils wishing to be considered for pilot status in 2018-2019 had to submit their bid to DCLG by 27^th October 2017.  It was likely that there would be a competitive process and not all bids would be successful.  The outcome of the bidding process would be announced in December 2017, probably at the same time as the annual settlement.  The finance officers for all councils in West Sussex were currently modelling different scenarios in order to produce a County-wide bid to meet the 27^th October 2017 deadline.  If the initial modelling indicated that being a pilot would not be financially advantageous, or that it would be significantly risky, a bid would not be submitted.

Although, due to the timescales, it had not been possible to consult with the Finance and Assets Policy Development Advisory Group in the normal way, all members of the Group had been invited to comment on a draft of the report to Cabinet.

            RESOLVED

            That the Director of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets, be authorised to determine whether to submit a bid to the DCLG for the Council to take part in the 2018/19 pilot for 100% Business Rate retention.

            REASON

            If taxation receipts grow faster than spending on additional responsibilities, a successful bid should result in a greater share of local taxation being retained in the area, for the benefit of residents and service users.

To receive the report of the Leader

            RESOLVED

            That the consultation response, amended as discussed to include references to the Pulborough/A283 and Cowfold/A272 areas, be approved for submission to Highways England by the deadline of 16^th October 2017.

            REASON

            To take account of the issues raised in the Highways England consultation and to enable the Council to be fully transparent in its response to the proposed options.

The Leader reported that, in August 2017, Highways England had published a consultation paper outlining three potential options for a new road bypass on the A27 around Arundel.  Although the new road layout would not be located in Horsham District, the new road infrastructure would have an impact on traffic flows on roads and the local environment in the District.  A consultation response from Horsham District Council had therefore been prepared indicating that, on balance the Council favoured option 5A as this would result in the greatest reduction in traffic flows and enhancements to air quality in the District.

Details of the proposed response had been circulated to all Members and Parish and Neighbourhood Councils.

Cabinet Members suggested that the proposed response should be strengthened by the inclusion of references to the benefits that Option 5a would have in reducing traffic and ‘rat running’ in the Pulborough/A283 and Cowfold/A272 areas of the District , in addition to the areas already identified.  The Leader indicated that he would amend the consultation response accordingly.

            RESOLVED

            That the consultation response, amended as discussed to include references to the Pulborough/A283 and Cowfold/A272 areas, be approved for submission to Highways England by the deadline of 16^th October 2017.

            REASON

            To take account of the issues raised in the Highways England consultation and to enable the Council to be fully transparent in its response to the proposed options.

To consider any matters referred to Cabinet by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee - there are currently no matters for consideration

There were no matters currently outstanding for consideration.

To note the Forward Plan

The Forward Plan was noted.

There were no matters of special urgency to be considered.