Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Cabinet is asked to note any apologies for absence received from Members.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors G V Guglielmi (Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder and Deputy Leader), J A Broderick (Leader of the Holland Residents’ Group), A Pemberton (Deputy Leader of the Non-Aligned Group), G G I Scott (Leader of the Tendring First / Liberal Democrats Group) and M E Stephenson (Leader of the UKIP Group).

To confirm and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday 16 February 2018.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet, held on Friday 16 February 2018, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, or other interests, and the nature of them, in relation to any item on the agenda.   

Councillor Bucke indicated that he would declare an interest in item A.2 – Cabinet Members’ Items – Report of the Housing Portfolio Holder – The Closure of Two Sheltered Housing Scheme insofar as he was a member of Frinton and Walton Town Council and that Council had an interest in the consultation on Spendells Sheltered Housing Scheme.

The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by the Leader of the Council.

There were none.

The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by Members of the Cabinet.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Enforcement (Councillor Nicholls) responded to recent media reports that some Local Authorities had increased parking fees by up to 45%. He confirmed that there would be no increase in off-street car parking charges in Tendring for 2018/19 and reasserted Tendring’s commitment to its residents and businesses through the issuing of the annual car parking permit.

There are none on this occasion.

There were no items referred to the Cabinet by the Council on this occasion.

There are none on this occasion.

There were no items referred to the Cabinet by a Committee on this occasion.

There are none on this occasion.

There were no items submitted by the Leader of the Council on this occasion.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

a)       having considered the positive outcome arising from the public consultation, agrees to exercise the option to extend the term of both existing contracts for waste, recycling and street cleansing for a further seven years;

b)       acknowledges that, to minimise the adverse impact on the long term financial forecast, variations to the current specification would be necessary;

c)       considers the proposed variations reflect best practice in the waste industry;

d)       delegates authority to the Corporate Director (Operational Services) and the Head of Governance and Legal Services to agree the final terms of the variations to the existing contracts; and

e)       agrees that the News Homes Bonus for 2018/19 of £1.333 million be set aside to support the implementation of the revised approach, which include the purchase of 60,000 wheeled bins.

There was submitted an addendum report by the Portfolio Holder for Environment (Councillor Talbot) which provided Cabinet with the outcome of the public consultation on the options for the future delivery of the waste and recycling and street cleansing contracts.

Cabinet was aware that a public consultation had been carried out to obtain the views of the residents of the District on the proposed variations. The addendum report had shown that a majority of respondents were in favour of the proposed changes.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment read out the following statement:-

“I wish to report the outcome of the public consultations to extend our contract with Veolia for the discharge of our Waste, Recycling and Street Sweeping responsibility, on what I think are very favourable terms, for a further seven years.

The current contract, the details of which are in the public domain, costs the District Council around four and a quarter million pounds a year – or nearly £30 million over the last seven years.

I will not talk in public about the projected cost of the service until the extension and variation is agreed as this is commercially sensitive, but once agreed I will make financial information available, providing it does not breach commercial confidentiality.

It’s great to think that after the passage of another seven years from 2012, we do not find ourselves facing a substantially increased cost for the service our contractor provides. There is an increase but at a manageable level, with the possibility of another development which could save money, taking place in the near future.

Our requirement from the contractor has been changed to suit best practice and to provide a service we can afford, and it must be said that our negotiators have done a fine job for us to keep our overall cost manageable.

There are a number of changes but the most significant is the distribution of a Wheelie Bin for landfill waste to 60,000 properties and the emptying of the Bin every two weeks. If anyone thinks that is unique, then note that of the 12 Authorities in Essex that are ‘Waste Collection Authorities’, only 3 (one of which is Tendring) still collect weekly. Perhaps in a year’s time that number will be down to 2.

At the Cabinet meeting on the 16^th February I announced a one month consultation, inviting residents to comment on the plans, using the TDC web site or direct letters from the public. When the consultation closed we had received 483 responses, with a straight forward 255 (52.8%) of those unquestionably in favour of the proposals and many of those we count as being opposed are in fact only opposed to one aspect of the proposed service, such as the 27 people who wanted a wider range of recycling or the 28 who wanted arrangements for the elderly or disabled, a service we currently provide and intend to continue to provide to those people. Then there were 65 people we count  ...  view the full minutes text for item 166.

To enable Cabinet to give consideration to the programme of meetings for the 2018/2019 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that -

(a)   the programme of meetings for the Council and Committees, as set out in the Appendix to item A.1 of the Report of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder, be approved and be submitted to the Annual Meeting of the Council for formal approval; and

(b)   the proposed dates for Members’ training on planning etc. matters be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Resources (A.1), which sought Cabinet’s agreement, as required by the Constitution, to submit for formal approval to the Annual Meeting of the Council a programme of meetings for the 2018/2019 municipal year.

Having considered the proposed Programme of Meetings:

It was proposed by Councillor Stock OBE, seconded by Councillor Fairley and:

RESOLVED that -

(a)   the programme of meetings for the Council and Committees, as set out in the Appendix to item A.1 of the Report of the Finance and Corporate Resources Portfolio Holder, be approved and be submitted to the Annual Meeting of the Council for formal approval; and

(b)   the proposed dates for Members’ training on planning etc. matters be noted.

To inform Cabinet of the outcome of formal consultations in relation to the proposed closure of the Spendells and Honeycroft sheltered housing schemes and seek agreement to close the schemes.

RESOLVED:

(a)    that Cabinet notes:

(1)     that the statutory formal consultation on closure of the schemes has been undertaken and that there have not been any objections to closure from residents; and

(2)     that the Spendells and Honeycroft Sheltered Housing schemes have proven to be unpopular for several years due to their shared facilities and dated design and that it is economically unviable for the Housing Revenue Account to continually subsidise the on-going and increasing revenue loss of rental income at the schemes.

(b)     that Cabinet agrees that:

(1)     the Corporate Director (Operational Services) be authorised to close the schemes and to make the necessary arrangements to secure alternative accommodation for affected residents;

(2)     the Corporate Director (Operational Services) be also authorised to make the necessary site security arrangements and “mothball” both buildings until a decision on their future is made; and

(3)     further work be undertaken by Officers, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, to explore the future use of both sites after detailed financial modelling within the Housing Revenue Account. Further that any consultation on proposed future options will include Frinton and Walton Town Council and Lawford Parish Council.

Councillor Bucke had earlier declared an interest in this item insofar as he was a member of Frinton and Walton Town Council and that Council had an interest in the consultation.

There was submitted a detailed report and appendices by the Portfolio Holder for Housing (A.2), which informed Cabinet of the outcome of formal consultations in relation to the proposed closure of the Spendells and Honeycroft sheltered housing schemes and sought its agreement to close those schemes.

Further to Minute 108 (10.11.17), a statutory formal consultation with residents and with the respective Ward Members and the relevant Parish and Town Councils had been undertaken in respect of the proposed closure of two Sheltered Housing Schemes; Spendells House and Honeycroft.

It was reported that the consultation responses had indicated that there was an acceptance that both schemes were no longer viable or fit for purpose and that there was support from residents for closing them. Further detailed viability work had been undertaken considering the level of occupancy at both schemes and costs associated with running them, the outcome of which supported the proposals to close them.

Therefore, it was being proposed by the Portfolio Holder for Housing that the Spendells House and Honeycroft (not including the 8 bungalows) schemes should be closed which would provide estimated annual savings to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) of £0.139 million.  Options in respect of the future for each site would be brought back to Cabinet once fully evaluated.

Cabinet was advised that securing those savings would be subject to the options around the longer term future of the sites which were planned to be presented to Members in the not too distant future. In this interim period there would be costs to maintain the properties albeit in a fully vacated state, but the cost would be lower by £0.003 million per month in this interim period compared to recent average occupancy.

Having considered the report and related appendices, it was moved by Councillor P B Honeywood, seconded by Councillor McWilliams, and RESOLVED:

(a)    that Cabinet notes:

(1)     that the statutory formal consultation on closure of the schemes has been undertaken and that there have not been any objections to closure from residents; and

(2)     that the Spendells and Honeycroft Sheltered Housing schemes have proven to be unpopular for several years due to their shared facilities and dated design and that it is economically unviable for the Housing Revenue Account to continually subsidise the on-going and increasing revenue loss of rental income at the schemes.

(b)     that Cabinet agrees that:

(1)     the Corporate Director (Operational Services) be authorised to close the schemes and to make the necessary arrangements to secure alternative accommodation for affected residents;

(2)     the Corporate Director (Operational Services) be also authorised to make the necessary site security arrangements and “mothball” both buildings until a decision on their future is made; and

(3)     further work be undertaken by Officers, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, to explore the future use  ...  view the full minutes text for item 168.

There are none on this occasion.

There were none on this occasion.

The Cabinet is asked to consider the following resolution:

“That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Items 13 and 14 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.”

It was moved by Councillor Stock OBE, seconded by Councillor P B Honeywood and:

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Items 13 and 14 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraph(s) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.

To confirm and sign the exempt minute of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday 16 February 2018.

The exempt minute of the last meeting of the Cabinet, held on Friday 16 February 2018, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To provide Cabinet with options for the future delivery of the waste and recycling and street cleansing contracts.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

a)       having considered the positive outcome arising from the public consultation, agrees to exercise the option to extend the term of both existing contracts for waste, recycling and street cleansing for a further seven years;

b)       acknowledges that, to minimise the adverse impact on the long term financial forecast, variations to the current specification would be necessary;

c)       considers the proposed variations reflect best practice in the waste industry;

d)       delegates authority to the Corporate Director (Operational Services) and the Head of Governance and Legal Services to agree the final terms of the variations to the existing contracts; and

e)       agrees that the News Homes Bonus for 2018/19 of £1.333 million be set aside to support the implementation of the revised approach, which include the purchase of 60,000 wheeled bins.