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 Councillor Joy Broderick (Independent Living Portfolio Holder).

To confirm and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday 24 January 2020.

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday 24 January 2020 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

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

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Stock OBE) informed Cabinet that he had, on Wednesday 19 February 2020, attended a meeting held at The Kingscliff Hotel, Holland-on-Sea, with representatives from Public Health England, Health Watch, other local NHS bodies, Essex County Council and with Professor Marmot, Institute of Health Inequality also in attendance which had discussed the very high levels of health inequality in parts of Clacton-on-Sea and its environs and what economic investments solutions could be found to alleviate such inequalities.

The Chief Executive (Ian Davidson) also outlined the useful outcomes and pending actions from that meeting, which had been an “eye opener” for many of the attendees and that supporting evidence of this issue would be submitted to an All Part Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting to be held in the House of Lords in Parliament during March 2020.

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

There were none on this occasion.

There are none on this occasion.

There were none on this occasion.

To enable Cabinet to consider a recommendation made by the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee in relation to the above.

RESOLVED, that Cabinet notes the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s recommendation and endorses the response of the Housing Portfolio Holder thereto.

The Cabinet was informed that, at its meeting held on 13 January 2020 (Minute 85 referred) the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee had had before it the Council’s draft Homelessness Reduction and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019 – 2024 and accompanying Briefing Note.

At that meeting Members were informed that the draft Homelessness Reduction and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2019-2024 had been approved by the Housing Portfolio Holder to go out to public consultation and that the consultation period had been running since 6 January 2020 for six weeks. As part of the consultation process, it had been suggested that the draft strategy be presented to the Community Leadership Overview & Scrutiny Committee (CLOS).

Members were further informed that Section 1 Homelessness Act 2002 required the Council to carry out a review of homelessness in the District and to formulate and publish a homelessness strategy based upon the conclusions in that review and predicted future levels of homelessness in the District. The Council was required to comply with the provisions of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011 and subsequently the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017) in assessing, preventing and tackling homelessness in the District.

The Homelessness Reduction & Rough Sleeping Strategy had been drafted following the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. That Act had initiated the most significant change to homelessness administration and legislation since the first homelessness legislation was passed in 1977. The Strategy had been developed to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping in the District at a time when homelessness was increasing locally and nationally with associated social and financial costs.

The strategy set out the national and local strategic setting for homelessness and the causes and demographics of homelessness and rough sleeping in the District. It also set out the challenges the Council faced in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping locally and how homelessness was an issue that needed to be tackled in partnership with other agencies. The Council, as a community leader, could facilitate earlier prevention and better partnership working.

The strategy identified four key strategic priorities to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping in the District as follows:

•           Earlier Intervention and Education

•           Better Partnership and Holistic Working

•           Increasing the Supply of Suitable Accommodation

•           Exploring New Ways to Prevent and Tackle Rough Sleeping.

Once the consultation period expired, the Council would produce an action plan to deliver the priorities identified in the strategy. 

Following the information provided, Members were given the opportunity to ask questions which were responded to by Peter Russell (Executive Projects Manager (Housing)), Tim R Clarke (Head of Housing and Environmental Health) and Councillor Honeywood. Officers agreed to re-examine the section of the Strategy referencing the levels of deprivation in the area.  A typographical error on page 27 of the report was also highlighted to officers.

Following discussion the Committee had recommended to Cabinet that the various housing delivery methods available to the Council be looked into and that a detailed presentation be provided to all Councillors  ...  view the full minutes text for item 117.

There are none on this occasion.

There were none on this occasion.

To present the deliverables and measurable outcomes for the Cabinet’s agreed Priorities and Projects 2019/20, as well as reporting the current position as at Quarter Three (October to December 2019).

RESOLVED that the current position for each performance measure as at Quarter Three (October – December 2019) be noted.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder (A.2) which presented it with the deliverables and measurable outcomes for the Cabinet’s agreed Priorities and Projects 2019/20, as well as reporting the current position as at Quarter Three (October – December 2019).

Members recalled that the Performance Reports (Resources & Services and Community Leadership) set out the detailed actions and targets for the delivery of the Council’s priorities throughout the year by including both the Council’s emerging Corporate Plan 2020/24 and Priorities and Projects for 2019/20.

In respect of the Quarter 3 position (as reported in the Resources and Services Performance Report) Members were informed that of the 22 indicators and projects where performance was measured, 21 (95%) were on, or above, their expected target and 1 indicator (5%) was not currently in line with expected performance. The indicators and projects highlighted in the Community Leadership Performance Report were deemed ‘non measurable’ as the Council’s role was that of ‘influence’ only.

Cabinet was advised that the respective reports were due to be presented to the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 17 February 2020 and to the Community Leadership Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 6 April 2020.

Transforming Tendring Project

Cabinet also received an update within the Portfolio Holder’s report on the current progress of the transformation project in Clacton-on-Sea which touched on the following areas:-

(1) Pier Avenue & Barnes House Offices;

(2) Northbourne Depot;

(3) Westleigh House demolition;

(4) Town Hall Phase 2 structural works;

(5) IT Network and Firmsteps Interface; and

(6) Scanning and Digitalisation.

Having considered all of the information provided in the report and its appendices:-

It was moved by Councillor G V Guglielmi, seconded by Councillor Stock OBE and:-

RESOLVED that the current position for each performance measure as at Quarter Three (October – December 2019) be noted.

To provide an overview of the Council’s financial position against the budget as at the end of December 2019 and to present an updated long term forecast.

RESOLVED that –

(a)     in respect of the financial performance against the budget at the end of December 2019:

(1)     the current position be noted;

(2)     the proposed adjustments to the budget, that include a contribution to the Forecast Risk Fund of £0.446m, as set out in Appendix H to item A.3 of the Report of the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder, be agreed; and

(3)     the use of £0.041m of the contribution to the Forecast Risk Fund of £0.446m to fund the cost in 2019/20 of the changes to the Members’ Scheme of Allowances agreed by Full Council on 21 January 2020 be agreed.

(b)     in respect of the Updated Long Term Forecast:

(1)       the updated forecast be agreed, which includes the commitment to on-going support to external organisations within the principles set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report; and

(2)       the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee be consulted on the updated long term forecast.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a comprehensive report of the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder (A.3) which provided it with an overview of the Council’s financial position against the budget as at the end of December 2019 and also presented it with an updated long term forecast.

In respect of the in-year financial position as at the end of December 2019:

It was reported that the position to the end of December 2019, as set out in more detail within the appendices, showed that, overall, the General Fund Revenue Account was underspent against the profiled budget by £2.864m. As had been the case in previous quarters, the variance to date primarily reflected the timing of expenditure and income although any significant issues arising to date had been highlighted and comments provided as necessary within the Portfolio Holder’s report.

Cabinet was made aware that, in respect of other areas of the budget such as the Housing Revenue Account, capital programme, collection performance and treasury activity, apart from additional details set out in the report, there were no major issues that had been identified to date.

Members were informed that any emerging issues would be monitored and updates provided in future reports which would include their consideration as part of updating the on-going long term financial forecast.

Cabinet was advised that some necessary changes to the budget had been identified which were set out in Appendix H to the Portfolio Holder’s report, with an associated recommendation included within the report. The net impact of all of the budget adjustments was a surplus of £0.446m.

Members were further advised that, in addition to the adjustments included within Appendix H, it was also proposed to fund the cost of the changes to the Members’ Scheme of Allowances that had been approved at Full Council on 21 January 2020. The total cost was £0.041m in 2019/20 and it was proposed to fund this from the net surplus of £0.446m reported above.

It was reported that, after taking the above into account, the net budget surplus at the end of December 2019 had been revised to £0.405m, which was proposed to be contributed to the Forecast Risk Fund.

Cabinet was informed that, subject to the recommendations set out in the report, as at the end of the third quarter a total of £0.335m would have been contributed to the fund over the course of the whole year. This was £0.165m short of the required target of £0.500m set out in the long term forecast, which hopefully was a gap that could be closed over the remaining quarter of the year.

As in previous years, it was recognised that a number of smaller variances within services emerged over the course of the year that would not necessarily be specifically highlighted or discussed within the in-year finance reports. It was still therefore possible that a range of smaller variances might remain at the end of the year and would contribute to the overall outturn position.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

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 Item 13 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.”

It was moved by Councillor Stock OBE, seconded by Councillor G V Guglielmi 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 Item 13 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the exempt minute of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Friday 24 January 2020.

It was moved by Councillor Stock OBE, seconded by Councillor G V Guglielmi and:-

RESOLVED that the Exempt Minute of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 24 January 2020 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.