Decisions

RESOLVED that Cabinet endorses the comments of the Portfolio Holder for Assets as this Council’s formal response to the Petition.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)   notes the outcome of the review of the service as set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.8) and its appendices and agrees the decision, in principle, to adopt Option 2, that is to cease the telecare and lifting/response provision of the Careline Service, in its entirety, including service delivery under third-party contracts and that the remaining service provision will solely relate to the Council’s Out-of-Hours and CCTV service;

(b)   approves the necessary consultation to be undertaken with customers, residents and key stakeholders. This consultation to be based upon balancing best value principles with the needs of the Council’s existing customers, who now have a wider range of options available on the open market, at more comparable rates than the Council can continue to supply the service for;

(c)   delegates the format and design of the consultation to the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, in consultation with the Assistant Director (Partnerships) and the Assistant Director (Governance);

(d)   agrees the Communication and Engagement Plan with an overriding objective to encourage and support active engagement with services users to understand the principles of Option 2 and the alternative providers available, as well as understanding why Option 2 is the preferred option;

(e)   requests that the outcome of the consultation be reported back to the Cabinet in either October or November 2024, for a decision as to the future provision of Careline Services (telecare/lifting/response service), which will include a detailed transition plan as necessary; and

(f)   subject to the associated funding being agreed as part of report item A.9 elsewhere on the agenda, sets aside a total budget of £0.746m to meet the potential implementation costs.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)   agrees to the formal adoption, by the Council, of the final Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Plan for the following areas (found at Appendices A to G):

•    Brightlingsea,

•    Lower Dovercourt,

•    Frinton and Walton,

•    Great Bentley,

•    Harwich,

•    Thorpe-Le-Soken, and

•    Thorpe-Le-Soken Station and Maltings.

(b)   agrees to the formal adoption, by the Council, of the Local List Criteria (found at Appendix H to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.7); and

(c)   authorises the Director (Planning), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning, to commence public consultation for the ‘Call for Heritage Sites’ for a period of no less than six months.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

1.    notes the work undertaken by the Waste Contract Project Board to date and the contributions from the Member Working Group;

2.    notes the content and recommendations made in the Options Appraisal and Outline Business Case produced in partnership with EELGA;

3.    endorses the proposal set out within the Options Appraisal and Outline Business Case to re-tender both the waste and recycling collection and street sweeping services as a single contract in order that a contractor is in place to deliver services at the time of the expiry of the current contracts on 31st December 2025 and 31st January 2026;

4.    notes the outcome of the market engagement exercise;

5.    agrees to the route to procurement being Competitive Dialogue;

6.    agrees to formally adopt the Contract Principles, endorsed by the Waste Contract Project Board and against which the new service will be set, along with the Core Specification Principles set out in Table 4 within the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.6);

7.    agrees to offer a lease of the Fowler Road depot in Clacton on the existing terms as part of any future contractual arrangement, accepting that the depot is likely to require reconfiguring / modernisation during the contract period. Therefore, Cabinet also agrees to initiate the Property Dealing Procedure allowing Officers to explore options and alternative / additional land purchase or lease opportunities;

8.    agrees a delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Assets to determine the Social Value Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) against which the social value aspects of the tender submissions will be considered;

9.    agrees a joint delegation to the Leader of the Council, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Assets to approve:-

a.  the high level service specification provided that they consult with the Waste Contract Project Board and the Member Working Group beforehand;

b.  the aspects of the tender about which there will be dialogue held with bidders; and

c.  the tender evaluation criteria to be used;

10.  agrees a delegation to the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery) to approve:

a.  the detail of the service specification providing that they have consulted with the Portfolio Holder for the Environment; and also

b.  the membership of the tender evaluation panel; and

11.  authorises a joint delegation to the Leader of the Council, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Assets, in consultation with the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery), the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer to agree any short term extension to the current contractual arrangements, where permissible to do so and solely for the purpose of assisting with the mobilisation of the new contracts.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a)     agrees, subject to the full level of required funding being allocated, to the demolition of the Milton Road, Dovercourt car park;

b)     agrees, subject to the full level of required funding being allocated, to the demolition of the dangerous structure at 20 Victoria Street, Dovercourt;

c)      although subject to the decision set out within report item A.9 elsewhere on the agenda, agrees to allocate the additional identified sum of £250,000 to increase the overall budget to £3,798,751;

d)     subject to a) to c) above, agrees to draw down a budget of £0.450m from within the overall sum of £3,798,751 to progress demolition and associated works; and

e)    subject to (a) to (d) above, agrees that an external contractor will be commissioned to undertake the demolition works in accordance with the Council’s Procurement Procedure Rules.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    notes the increased capacity requirements on the Council’s resources to deliver a number of projects and schemes highlighted in the report, in addition to responding to the Council’s existing functions and responsibilities.

(b)    subject to (a) above, and the allocation of £1.000m of funding set out within item A.9 elsewhere on the agenda,  a Project Delivery Unit is agreed to be established for an initial period of 24 months from the date of the first officer starting in role;

(c)    accepts:

(i)      £90,000, made available by the Government as capacity funding to support the Levelling Up Partnership Project

(ii)     a sum of £86,000 made available by the Government as capacity funding to support the Levelling Up Capital Project in Clacton;

(d)    subject to (a) to (c) above, transfers both the £90,000 and £86,000 above to the funding of the Project Delivery Unit, bringing the total initial funding to £1.176m;

(e)    notes the Chief Executive will undertake the activities required to recruit the necessary capacity within the Project Delivery Unit, as Head of Paid Service (being non-executive functions);

(f)     recognising the impact on the Council, supports the Council acting as the Accountable Body for the Partnership to the benefit of Clacton and Jaywick, delegates entering into any agreements with Partners to the Corporate Director (Place and Economy), in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, and where necessary by entering into funding agreements with partners to do so;

(g)    recommends to Full Council to approve that Tendring District Council act as the Accountable Body for the Partnership (or alternative relationship determined by Government in revised policy), which forms part of the Council’s Corporate Plan 24-28, ‘Our Vision’ and therefore, within the Policy Framework;

(h)    subject to (g) being approved by Full Council, the delegation by Cabinet in December 2023, can be exercised by the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer to enter into any agreements with MHCLG for this Partnership;

(i)     subject to (g) being approved by Full Council and Cabinet, and Government approving business cases for funding, the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism be required to report to Cabinet the scope and details of the individual Partnership Projects together with the relevant Portfolio Holders taking the lead on delivery prior to implementation;

(j)     notes that the Chief Executive has nominated the Corporate Director (Place and Economy) as the lead officer for the Partnership; and

(k)    notes the Levelling Fund and Capital Regeneration Projects Portfolio Working Party terms of reference will be extended to include this Partnership and Town Board matters.

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

a)  notes the Treasury Management performance position for 2023/24; and

b)  approves the Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2023/24.

RESOLVED that Cabinet -

(a)    notes the high level Financial Outturn Position, as set out in the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.9) and the initial favourable General Fund Revenue variance of £1.829m for the year, which is currently held within the Revenue Commitments Reserve;

(b)    agrees the use of the General Fund Outturn for the Year of £1.829m, as set out in Appendix A (Section 1a);

(c)    endorses the use of existing budget of £0.144m to provide financial support to Citizens Advice Tendring (CAT) in 2024/25, as set out within Appendix A (Section 1b);

(d)    in respect of the additional £0.259m set aside for reinvestment in the Parking Service, agrees a delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Public Realm to utilise this funding during the year;

(e)    in respect of the additional £0.100m made available to support the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract, agrees a delegation to the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for the Environment, to utilise the additional proposed budget to support the work associated with the options appraisal / tender activities for the Waste and Street Cleansing Contract;

(f)     in respect of the additional £0.100m made available to support the Seasonal Grounds Maintenance and Cleansing Costs, agrees a delegation to the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for the Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Public Realm to utilise the additional proposed budget to support any associated work; 

(g)    in respect of the £0.150m made available to support the Walton-on-the-Naze Lifestyles Facility projects associated with the Swimming Pool Grant Funded Capital Projects, agrees a delegation to the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Public Realm to determine the business case and associated allocation of this funding;

(h)    in respect of the contribution of £0.144m to CAT, agrees a delegation to the Leader of the Council, in consultation with the Assistant Director (Partnerships) and the Monitoring Officer, to extend the current Subsidy Scheme for 2024/25 (along the same principles of the decisions of Cabinet in July 2023) before any payment is made along with other associated governance arrangements ahead of 2025/26 as required;    

(i)     agrees the budget adjustments for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix A (Section 2);

(j)     agrees the establishment of a Corporate Investment Fund (CIF) along with the associated budget adjustments for 2024/25, as set out in Appendix A (Section 3), which includes the three initial allocations from this fund; 

(k)    after the further review of Carry Forwards from 2023/24 that for any items subsequently not approved the associated amount shall be transferred to the CIF;

(l)     notes the updates previously requested by Cabinet that relate to the two carry forwards from 2022/23, as set out within this report;

(m)  agrees a delegation to the Council’s Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder, to adjust the outturn position for 2023/24 along with any corresponding adjustment to earmarked reserves as a direct result of any recommendations made by the Council’s External Auditor during the course of their audit activities relating to the Council’s 2023/24 accounts; and

(n)    allocates a further £0.075m from the Corporate Investment Fund in 2024/25 to support the Council’s digital / data resilience via the following two activities:-

(1)    increase the frequency of immutable backups from quarterly to monthly; and

(2)    the replacement of wireless access points within the Council’s digital network across the Council’s estate.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)   approves the list of 25 sites put forward at Appendix A to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.1) and hereby removes them from the Property Dealing Procedure based on their current status as safeguarded open space in the Local Plan;

(b)   in respect of the remaining 44 sites, as set out in Appendix B to that report, agrees to also remove them from the Property Dealing Procedure to enable resources to be allocated to other corporate projects requiring asset support; and

(c)   requests over time, when resources are available, that an assessment of the sites in Appendix B be undertaken by Officers with the Portfolio Holder for Assets to determine which ones, on a case by case basis, should be proposed for disposal to obtain a capital receipt or retained for council housing, with individual decisions.