Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 6^th June 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 6 June 2019 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

There were no announcements.

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 on the top up from the 2018/19 budget surplus to the Transformation fund.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet

i)       Approved the transfer of £0.144m from the General Fund reserve to the earmarked transformation reserve.

ii)       

iii)     Delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, the authority to use the transformation fund as appropriate.

Reasons for recommendations

i) To top up of the earmarked transformation reserve for projects that would help transform the Council in the future; being effectively funded from the 2018/19 budget surplus.

The Leader reported that the Council had delivered a £828k revenue surplus in 2018/19 after allowing for budgets that carried over to 2019/20 to cover essential expenditure on projects that had been unavoidably delayed.   A surplus budget of £1.4m was forecast in 2019/20 and near balanced budgets in 2020/21 through to 2022/23. However, this relied on implementing a range of actions to help deliver further income generation and efficiency measures.

Setting aside £0.5m in the transformation earmarked reserve for 2019/20 would help transform the Council in the future. £336k remained unspent in the reserve at 31 March 2019; the top up of £144k would be funded from the 2018/19 budget surplus.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet

i)       Approved the transfer of £0.144m from the General Fund reserve to the earmarked transformation reserve.

ii)      Delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader, the authority to use the transformation fund as appropriate.

Reasons for recommendations

i) To top up of the earmarked transformation reserve for projects that would help transform the Council in the future; being effectively funded from the 2018/19 budget surplus.

To receive a report to delegate authority to the Director of Corporate Resources to award a contract for the supply and maintenance of the Council’s Telephony System contract.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

i)          delegate to the Director of Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Lead for Finance & Assets, to award the contract for the provision of telephony after the tender process is complete.

Reasons for Recommendations

In line with the Constitution Cabinet would normally (approve the) award any contract with a total value over £250,000. The report recommends a delegation to the Director of Corporate Resources to avoid this delay.

The Leader reported that Cabinet was asked to approve the delegation of authority to the Director of Corporate Resources to award a contract for the supply and maintenance of the Council’s Telephony System contract.  This need had arisen because the contract with the current supplier had come to an end.  The contract would also provide the Council with further opportunity to call off additional Services covered under the Telephony Contract at any time during the term of the contract.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

i)          delegate to the Director of Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Lead for Finance & Assets, to award the contract for the provision of telephony after the tender process is complete.

To receive a report on the Horsham District Council Local Development Scheme.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

i)       approve the publication of the Local Development Scheme July 2019 – July 2022.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)       To ensure that the Council acts in accordance with the requirements of the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Development reported that the Planning & Compulsory Planning Act 2004, as amended by the Localism Act 2011, required each local planning authority to prepare and maintain a document setting out the programme for the preparation of planning documents, known as the Local Development Scheme (LDS).

The LDS was a three-year project plan for preparing planning documents. It is not a policy document. It provided a starting point for the local community and stakeholders to find out what planning documents were being prepared by the Council and the timetable for their production. In particular, it set out the timetable for the review and update of the Council’s Local Plan, and outlined the dates when there would be formal opportunities to get involved with the plan making process.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet:

i)       approve the publication of the Local Development Scheme July 2019 – July 2022.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)       To ensure that the Council acts in accordance with the requirements of the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011).

To receive a report on revised collection charges for bulky waste collections.

RESOLVED

Cabinet approved that:

i)          A single item charge of £20 and subsequent items at £14.

ii)         A 50% discount available to those in receipt of benefits.

iii)        a free of charge service for those in receipt of benefits over the state Pension age be continued.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)          The Council can continue to provide a bulky waste reuse and recycling programme

ii)         The Council needs to introduce a revised charging structure that will allow a sustainable service to be provided. The proposed charges are in line with neighbouring authorities and they still represent a reasonable charge for service.

iii)        The revised discount of 50% takes in to account individual financial circumstance, offering a comparable discount to that offered by other neighbouring authorities iv) The free of charge service offered to those in receipt of benefits who are of state pension age remains unchanged.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Waste introduced the report, which sought a modest uplift in the charges for the removal of bulky waste.  The service was not designed to make a profit, but to cover its costs, and charges were benchmarked against other neighbouring authorities.  There was a balancing act to ensure that people use this service where appropriate. 

He added that it was his intention to encourage the West Sussex Waste Partnership produce a comprehensive guide to waste disposal to highlight the various options that were available to the public both through the partnership and third parties.

RESOLVED

Cabinet approved that:

i)          A single item charge of £20 and subsequent items at £14.

ii)         A 50% discount available to those in receipt of benefits.

iii)        a free of charge service for those in receipt of benefits over the state Pension age be continued.

Reasons for Recommendations

i)          The Council can continue to provide a bulky waste reuse and recycling programme

ii)         The Council needs to introduce a revised charging structure that will allow a sustainable service to be provided. The proposed charges are in line with neighbouring authorities and they still represent a reasonable charge for service.

iii)        The revised discount of 50% takes in to account individual financial circumstance, offering a comparable discount to that offered by other neighbouring authorities iv) The free of charge service offered to those in receipt of benefits who are of state pension age remains unchanged.

To receive a report on the Explore the Market Towns project: Go Digital (Rural Car Parks Digital Signage).

RESOLVED

That Cabinet recommend to Council that a supplementary capital budget of £112,664 be approved for the project.

Reasons for Recommendations

i) To enable the successful delivery of the rural car-parks digital signage project.

The Cabinet Member for Local Economy and Parking reported that on the 2^nd July 2019 he had approved the award of a contract for the supply and installation of ‘digital signage’ subject to the submission and approval by Cabinet and Council of the raising of a supplementary capital estimate.

The report sought approval for a supplementary capital budget of £112,664, within year, and met residual project resourcing requirements of £59,386 to supplement the LEADER grant award of £53,278.  The LEADER scheme is part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) which was managed by the Rural Payments Agency and funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

RESOLVED

That Cabinet recommend to Council that a supplementary capital budget of £112,664 be approved for the project.

Reasons for Recommendations

i) To enable the successful delivery of the rural car-parks digital signage project.

To receive a report on the Piries Place car park pricing review.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet agree the proposed hourly tariff, charging period, and season ticket pricing for the new Piries Place car park as set out within this report

Reasons for Recommendations

i)       The Piries Place car park investment justification assumed an increase in tariff.

ii)      Continue the consistent pricing approach within the town centre

iii)     Usage data is not available to inform this process, the tariff has been set the same as local car parks

The Cabinet Member for the Local Economy and Parking reported that Piries Place was in the final stages of its redevelopment. The £8m investment had been approved, on the basis that there would need to be a tariff increase to make the development financially viable.  There had been significant changes to the local area including the Piries Place development, price changes in other local Horsham District Council car parks and a change to the operating times of the local controlled parking zones extending them to finish at 9pm.

There was no current usage data available to inform tariff settings, and it was proposed that the operating hours, hourly tariff and season ticket pricing be set to be consistent with local car parks for the interim until usage data was available and could be reviewed.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet agree the proposed hourly tariff, charging period, and season ticket pricing for the new Piries Place car park as set out within this report

Reasons for Recommendations

i)       The Piries Place car park investment justification assumed an increase in tariff.

ii)      Continue the consistent pricing approach within the town centre

iii)     Usage data is not available to inform this process, the tariff has been set the same as local car parks.

To receive a report from the Cabinet Member.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet

  i.         Approve the proposed development of Oakhurst Phase 4, at a budget of £1.96m, funded from the £3m investment portfolio capital budget. The target completion date is Spring 2020, therefore the majority of the expenditure would be incurred in 2019/20.

 ii.        Delegate authority to the Director of Place to enter into a contract with the building contractor who submitted the lowest tender as set out in Appendix 1.

Reasons for Recommendations

For the Council to continue to expand the Council’s property investment portfolio, the income of which is used to support Council services.

The Leader reported that the Council owned a substantial portion of Oakhurst Business Park; 69,700 square feet of industrial/warehouse space, which provided a rental income of c£810,000 pa.  This was a successful scheme, which was popular with tenants.  The scheme was valued at £7.8m and accounted for c15% of the Council’s total property portfolio. 0.7 acres of the Park was undeveloped and available for development by the Council for additional industrial/storage accommodation.

A scheme had been prepared to provide eight units with a total floor area of 11,431 square feet of industrial/warehouse accommodation.  These were small units, which would appeal to new businesses.  There was a good demand for this size of space, which was not currently being delivered by the commercial development market. 

A tender process had been completed for the construction works and it was recommended that the Director of Place be granted delegated authority to enter into a construction contract with the lowest bidder, as set out in exempt Appendix 1.  A contingency had also been included in the budget figures to offset unknown risks during the construction phase.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet

i.       Approve the proposed development of Oakhurst Phase 4, at a budget of £1.96m, funded from the £3m investment portfolio capital budget. The target completion date is Spring 2020, therefore the majority of the expenditure would be incurred in 2019/20.

ii.      Delegate authority to the Director of Place to enter into a contract with the building contractor who submitted the lowest tender as set out in Appendix 1.

Reasons for Recommendations

For the Council to continue to expand the Council’s property investment portfolio, the income of which is used to support Council services.

To receive a report on the tender of the Council’s contract for planned and preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet delegate authority to the Director of Place to enter into a contract with the successful contractor as detailed in Appendix 1 on the terms recommended.

Reasons for Recommendations

For the Council to continue to carry out planned, preventative and reactive works to the Council’s property portfolio.

The Leader reported that the Council has substantial property holdings, which require repair and maintenance to keep them in good condition and compliant with statutory requirements. 

The Council has a contract for the maintenance of Mechanical and Electrical plant and Public Health (MEP) and Fabric maintenance. 

The current contractor had been on a four year contract which would expire in October 2019. The contract had already been extended by one year and therefore a procurement process needed to be completed for a new contract to be put in place.

The contract size was in excess of OJEU thresholds therefore a full OJEU compliant open tender process had been completed and a number of bids had been received as detailed in exempt Appendix 1.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet delegate authority to the Director of Place to enter into a contract with the successful contractor as detailed in Appendix 1 on the terms recommended.

Reasons for Recommendations

For the Council to continue to carry out planned, preventative and reactive works to the Council’s property portfolio.

There were no matters of special urgency to be considered.

There were no matters of special urgency to be considered.