Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on the 26th September 2019.

(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 26^th September 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

None.

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 a report from the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet recommend to Council that:

i)             The Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21 to 2023/24 be approved, and:

ii)            The projected budgets and potential actions as detailed in paragraph 3.53 and table 4of the report be noted.

The Leader stated that the report set out the proposed strategy for the period 2020/21 to 2023/24 in order to establish the context for the Council’s budget and medium term financial planning scenarios and assumptions. This had been done in the context of unprecedented levels of uncertainty. The impact on the Council from the future of business rates and the Fair Funding Review in the 2020/21 budget setting process had been delayed by Government’s parliamentary election and until the UK’s relationship with the European Union was resolved. The funding for the 2020/21 budget year was being prepared based on a ‘same as last year’ theory. However, with the existing political and therefore financial uncertainty being exceptionally high, the actual budget and MTFS that Council would set in February 2020 for 2020/21 could well be subject to change.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet recommend to Council that:

i)             The Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020/21 to 2023/24 be approved, and:

ii)            The projected budgets and potential actions as detailed in paragraph 3.53 and table 4of the report be noted.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Waste

RESOLVED

That:

a)     the formation of a partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust be approved.

b)     the partnership document and endorse its aims and actions be approved.

c)      The recommendation to Council that the budget for 2020/21 include a green reserve of £571,000 for the costs of the Wilder Horsham District programme be approved.

Reasons for Recommendations

a)    To allow the partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust to be formed, with the associated resources to achieve the aims of the partnership over a five year period.

b)    To provide a budget to replace trees lost to disease and pests etc. on Council owned land.

The Leader spoke on behalf of the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture and said that Horsham District Council had already taken measures to protect and enhance the natural environment across the District and particularly on its own land. The report proposed to enhance this approach by establishing a unique partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust. This would build on a long standing relationship that the Council already had with the Trust. The partnership would focus on ensuring that wildlife thrives across Horsham District by creating networks and expanding habitats.

The report sought approval to create the partnership and included a document which set out the actions that would be taken over the next five years. The funding requested in the report was £571,000 for the life of the programme. Outcomes from the programme would be regularly reviewed to ensure delivery, with associated adjustments to the budget. The Sussex Wildlife Trust were also contributing funding to the partnership.

The report also proposes establishing two funding pots in 2020/21. One to provide implementation funding for Parish Councils and communities wishing to undertake projects that complement the partnership and one to plant trees on Council owned land to replace ones that were felled due to disease and pests. These would require ongoing funding but would be regularly reviewed.

RESOLVED

That:

         i)        the formation of a partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust be approved;

       ii)        the partnership document be approved and its aims and actions be endorse;

      iii)        The recommendation to Council that the budget for 2020/21 include a green reserve of £571,000 for the costs of the Wilder Horsham District programme be approved.

 Reasons for Recommendations

     i)        To allow the partnership with the Sussex Wildlife Trust to be formed, with the associated resources to achieve the aims of the partnership over a five year period;

    ii)        To provide a budget to replace trees lost to disease and pests etc. on Council owned land.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Waste.

RESOLVED

i)              That the details of the carbon footprint generated by the Council’s buildings, transport and operations be noted;

ii)             To recommend to Council that in the budget for 2020/21 £200,000 be transferred into a green reserve to create a seed funding pot for community groups for a five year period.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)              The Council’s carbon footprint will form the basis of setting a science based target for reducing its carbon emissions and producing a practical, costed action plan to achieve the target;

ii)             Community groups and Parish Councils would be able to apply for funding for projects that tackle climate change and contribute to a District wide approach to addressing this issue. The fund would be £40,000 per annum.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste and Recycling reported that Horsham District Council was committed to tackling climate change and had a good track record on addressing environmental issues which it could build on. The report provided an update on the Council’s work to examine and reduce its own carbon footprint, as it moved towards becoming a carbon neutral organisation. This was only the first step for the Council as an organisation. Having established its footprint, this would be followed up with a science based target and a practical and costed action plan as to how this could be achieved. The report and action plan would follow in early 2020. 

The report also proposes establishing a seed funding pot of £40,000 per annum, commencing in 2020/21 financial year in order to support community groups and Parish Councils who wanted to implement projects that addressed climate change.

RESOLVED

i)              That the details of the carbon footprint generated by the Council’s buildings, transport and operations be noted;

ii)             To recommend to Council that in the budget for 2020/21 £200,000 be transferred into a green reserve to create a seed funding pot for community groups for a five year period.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)              The Council’s carbon footprint will form the basis of setting a science based target for reducing its carbon emissions and producing a practical, costed action plan to achieve the target;

ii)             Community groups and Parish Councils would be able to apply for funding for projects that tackle climate change and contribute to a District wide approach to addressing this issue. The fund would be £40,000 per annum.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Local Economy & Parking.

RESOLVED

That, in order to discourage people from parking for longer than five hours in the Pavilions car park, two new tariff points be introduced.

Reasons for Recommendations

The reasons for recommending the tariff changes are:

  I.        Required to keep the car park short stay with the introduction of pay on foot;

 II.        To ensure long stay parkers use those other car parks designated for long stay parking;

III.        Two stage tariff to reduce the impact of those that just exceed the five hour threshold.

The Cabinet Member for Local Economy and Parking reported that the Pavilions car park was a short stay parking facility. The car park was currently operated via pay and display and the short stay element was managed by not offering a tariff beyond five hours. The Pavilions car park would soon have the new Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system installed which would change the operation from pay and display (customer pays upfront) to pay on foot (customer pays on exit).

Managing short stay car parks through pay on foot required a different approach because of the nature of how customers use them. There was no ability to limit the time available to purchase upfront, meaning that this could only be managed through the use of pricing. The purpose was to make the price unfavourable beyond the maximum period that the council wanted customers to park. AS a result it was proposed to implement two new tariff points after five hours that were priced above other town car parks in order to encourage longer stay users to park elsewhere.

RESOLVED

That, in order to discourage people from parking for longer than five hours in the Pavilions car park, two new tariff points be introduced.

Reasons for Recommendations

The reasons for recommending the tariff changes are:

  I.        Required to keep the car park short stay with the introduction of pay on foot;

 II.        To ensure long stay parkers use those other car parks designated for long stay parking;

III.        Two stage tariff to reduce the impact of those that just exceed the five hour threshold.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Community Matters and Wellbeing.

RESOLVED

That the West Sussex Disabled Facilities Grant Policy at Appendix 1 to this report be adopted, to take effect from 2^nd January 2020.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)     To enable the Council to sustain a robust Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy.

ii)    To use effectively the increase in funding the Better Care Fund is providing to local authorities for home adaptations.

The Cabinet Member for Community Matters and Wellbeing presented a report and said that in 2016 West Sussex County Council and the West Sussex District and Borough Councils agreed to implement a project to explore innovative new ways of delivering Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs). As part of this project it was agreed that a more flexible approach to the use of discretionary DFGs should be adopted and in November 2017 Horsham District Council approved a discretionary DFG policy recommended by the project group. The policy had been reviewed by the project group and with a few minor changes was being recommended for adoption by all the West Sussex, District and Borough Councils.

RESOLVED

That the West Sussex Disabled Facilities Grant Policy at Appendix 1 to this report be adopted, to take effect from 2^nd January 2020.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)     To enable the Council to sustain a robust Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy.

ii)    To use effectively the increase in funding the Better Care Fund is providing to local authorities for home adaptations.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development.

RESOLVED

That:

i)          The arrangements set out in the report for the future governance of the receipts from the Community Infrastructure Levy be approved;

ii)         A Joint Officer Working Group be established to prioritise infrastructure projects seeking funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy and provide recommendations to the Director of Place regarding which projects should receive such funding;

iii)         To establish an Infrastructure Projects Working Group (IPWG) to receive the recommendations of the Director of Place on prioritised schemes which shall be funded from the Community Infrastructure Levy;

iv)        The prioritisation of and collection and monitoring of CIL spend be delegated to the Director of Place in consultation with the Director of Community Services and the Infrastructure Projects Working Group as charging authority on behalf of the Council;

v)         the Planning Obligations Panel be dissolved and the prioritisation, collection and monitoring of any financial contributions arising from agreements made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 be delegated to the Director of Place in consultation with the Director of Community Services.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)          To provide clarity, transparency and consistency in the collection, allocation and spending of CIL receipts.

ii)         To set out the relationship between the Council as charging authority and key stakeholders and infrastructure providers (internal and external).

iii)         To ensure CIL receipts are spent on infrastructure required to support development, in accordance with the CIL Regulations 2010 as amended (‘the CIL Regulations’);

iv)        To ensure CIL serves its purpose of contributing to the delivery of the        infrastructure necessary to support the Horsham District Planning Framework.      

The Cabinet Member for Planning & Development reported that Horsham District Council had introduced a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) in order to allow funds to be raised from developers to pay for infrastructure that was needed to support growth. The Council adopted its Charging Schedule for CIL on 26 April 2017 and implementation of the levy commenced on 1 October 2017. The Council had overarching responsibility for the allocation of CIL monies and reporting the amount of money collected and spent.  It was needed to establish a clear CIL Governance Structure to oversee the collection, auditing and spending of CIL monies. The report proposed the key governance arrangements for the delivery of infrastructure through CIL in order to achieve the following aims:

1.    That there was clarity, transparency and consistency in the collection, allocation and spending of CIL receipts;

2.    That the relationship between the Council as charging authority and key stakeholders and infrastructure providers (internal and external);

3.    To ensure CIL receipts were spent on infrastructure required to support development, in accordance with the CIL Regulations 2010;

4.    To ensure CIL served its purpose of contributing to the delivery of the infrastructure necessary in order to support the Horsham District Planning Framework.

RESOLVED

That:

i)          The arrangements set out in the report for the future governance of the receipts from the Community Infrastructure Levy be approved;

ii)         A Joint Officer Working Group be established to prioritise infrastructure projects seeking funding from the Community Infrastructure Levy and provide recommendations to the Director of Place regarding which projects should receive such funding;

iii)         An Infrastructure Projects Working Group (IPWG) to receive the recommendations of the Director of Place on prioritised schemes, which shall be funded from the Community Infrastructure Levy, be established;

iv)        The prioritisation of and collection and monitoring of CIL spend be delegated to the Director of Place in consultation with the Director of Community Services and the Infrastructure Projects Working Group as charging authority on behalf of the Council;

v)         the Planning Obligations Panel be dissolved and the prioritisation, collection and monitoring of any financial contributions arising from agreements made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 be delegated to the Director of Place in consultation with the Director of Community Services.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)          To provide clarity, transparency and consistency in the collection, allocation and spending of CIL receipts.

ii)         To set out the relationship between the Council as charging authority and key stakeholders and infrastructure providers (internal and external).

iii)         To ensure CIL receipts are spent on infrastructure required to support development, in accordance with the CIL Regulations 2010 as amended (‘the CIL Regulations’);

iv)        To ensure CIL serves its purpose of contributing to the delivery of the        infrastructure necessary to support the Horsham District Planning Framework.     

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development.

RESOLVED

That:

     I.        the draft Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans, which include proposed boundary changes, be approved for public consultation.

    II.        the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be approved to be given delegated authority to agree minor editorial changes prior to publication.

Reasons for Recommendations

      I.        To enable Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans to be produced to help guide development for Slinfold and Warnham.

    II.        To give the Cabinet Member delegated authority to approve minor changes to the document, without the need for it to be referred back to Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member for Planning & Development reported seeks approval to consult on the draft Conservation Area Appraisals & Management Plans that have been produced for Slinfold and Warnham. They include proposed additions, and in some cases deletions, to the current Conservation Area boundaries.

Conservation areas had been introduced through the Civic Amenities Act (1967). Section 71 of the Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act 1990 required a local planning authority from time to time, to review and protect their conservation areas. Appraisals assessing the character of each area and proposals for their future management should be researched, consulted upon and adopted by a local authority.

These Conservation Area Appraisals provided a basis on which to determine whether any changes should be made to existing Conservation Areas. It was considered that public consultation should be undertaken on the draft Appraisals to take account of local views and knowledge. Once adopted after public consultation, the completed Appraisal would help inform future planning decisions regarding developments within or adjoining the respective Conservation Area. The Conservation Area Appraisal had been concluded with a Management Plan. The Management Plan would take forward the issues raised in the Appraisals, identifying means by which the special interest of the Conservation Areas would become self-sustaining into the future.

RESOLVED

That:

     I.        the draft Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans, which include proposed boundary changes, be approved for public consultation.

    II.        the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development be approved to be given delegated authority to agree minor editorial changes prior to publication.

Reasons for Recommendations

      I.        To enable Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans to be produced to help guide development for Slinfold and Warnham.

    II.        To give the Cabinet Member delegated authority to approve minor changes to the document, without the need for it to be referred back to Cabinet.

To note the Forward Plan

The Forward Plan was noted.

To consider any matters referred to Cabinet by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee

There were no matters currently outstanding for consideration.

There were no matters of special urgency to be considered.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Community Matters and Wellbeing.

RESOLVED

That the tender from Mole Valley District Council for the contract to provide the Community Link Lifeline Alarm monitoring service be accepted.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)          The tender from Mole Valley District Council for the contract to provide the Community Link Lifeline Alarm monitoring service offered the most economically advantageous bid in terms of price and quality.

It was moved that, under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, by virtue of paragraph 3 regarding information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information, and in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED

That the tender from Mole Valley District Council for the contract to provide the Community Link Lifeline Alarm monitoring service be accepted.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)        The tender from Mole Valley District Council for the contract to provide the Community Link Lifeline Alarm monitoring service offered the most economically advantageous bid in terms of price and quality.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Community Matters and Wellbeing, Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets.

RESOLVED

  i.         the business case for the purchase of the affordable rental house in Slinfold by Horsham District Homes (Holdings) be approved;

 ii.        the business case for the construction of three homes for affordable rental in Roman Way, Billingshurst by Horsham District Homes Ltd be approved;

iii.        The transfer of the land in Roman Way, Billingshurst from Horsham District Council to Horsham District Homes (Holding) for a sum to be determined by an independent valuer subject to not needing the consent of the Secretary of State be approved;

iv.        A loan of up to £350,000 to Horsham District Homes Ltd for the construction of the three properties at Roman Way, Billingshurst at the agreed rate of 4% plus base rate, be approved;

 v.         That the transfer of s106 funds to Horsham District Homes (Holdings) for the purchase of the two bedroomed house in Slinfold for a sum of no greater than £205,000 plus stamp duty and agents fees be recommended to Council.

vi.        That the transfer of s106 funds to Horsham District Homes (Holdings) for the purchase of three properties at Roman Way, Billingshurst for a sum of no greater than £675,600 plus legal and professional costs be recommended to Council.

Reasons for Recommendations

Approval of the recommendations will allow the details of the transactions to be completed so that the affordable rental properties can be delivered for the benefit of households on the housing list.

It was moved that, under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, by virtue of paragraph 3 regarding information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information, and in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED

  i.         the business case for the purchase of the affordable rental house in Slinfold by Horsham District Homes (Holdings) be approved;

 ii.        the business case for the construction of three homes for affordable rental in Roman Way, Billingshurst by Horsham District Homes Ltd be approved;

iii.        The transfer of the land in Roman Way, Billingshurst from Horsham District Council to Horsham District Homes (Holding) for a sum to be determined by an independent valuer subject to not needing the consent of the Secretary of State be approved;

iv.        A loan of up to £350,000 to Horsham District Homes Ltd for the construction of the three properties at Roman Way, Billingshurst at the agreed rate of 4% plus base rate, be approved;

 v.         That the transfer of s106 funds to Horsham District Homes (Holdings) for the purchase of the two bedroomed house in Slinfold for a sum of no greater than £205,000 plus stamp duty and agents fees be recommended to Council.

vi.        That the transfer of s106 funds to Horsham District Homes (Holdings) for the purchase of three properties at Roman Way, Billingshurst for a sum of no greater than £675,600 be recommended to Council.

Reasons for Recommendations

Approval of the recommendations will allow the details of the transactions to be completed so that the affordable rental properties can be delivered for the benefit of households on the housing list.