Agenda and draft minutes

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting.

Minutes to follow.

HC/072/21       MINUTES

The minutes from the meeting held on Wednesday 17 November were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any apologies for absence

HC/073/21       APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were given by Cllr Harden, Cllr Bassadone and Cllr Durrant.  No apologies were received, but Cllr Ransley was not in attendance at the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)           may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

HC/074/21       DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

HC/075/21       PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

None.

HC/076/21       CONSIDERATION OF ANY MATTER REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE IN RELATION TO A CALL–IN

None.

HC/077/21       BUDGET PREPARATIONS 22/23

F Jump provided an overview of the revenue growth and savings proposals.  The new and amended capital bids was provided as follows:

·           Communications fixed term post which will be £50,000 and reserve funded. This would be a 2 year fixed term resource to deal with strategies and recovery work from COVID.

·           A revenue savings proposal which relates to customer services software and a HR subscriptions saving of £20,000 which represents underspends in the customer services budget and the savings as a result of the new HR software system.

          In terms of new and amended capital bids:

·           There is a proposal to extend the rolling programme of capital community grants of £20,000 for a further year in 2026 and 2027.

·           There is a proposed amendment to the verge hardening programme that’s already been approved until the end of the financial year 2025/26 at a cost of £395,000 with an additional year of verge hardening in 2026/27 of £250,000. 

          Cllr Adeleke queried whether, given the current climate, such expense on verge hardening was still viable. Cllr Hollinghurst agreed and noted that part of the long term strategy is to reduce the amount of vehicles on the road and increase the use of electric vehicles. Cllr Banks reminded everyone that the verge hardening is about increasing parking and reducing neighbourly disputes. It was questioned whether these verges that hardened could include electric charging points to deal with two issues at hand. Cllr Pringle is keen that verge hardening is prioritised where electric charging points can be provided. Cllr Imarni added that parking is a big contributor to antisocial behaviour.

          Cllr Hollinghurst added that the money from CIL used to go to county councils and is now ending up in the reserves of the parish and town councils all around the borough. Cllr Hollinghurst therefore suggested that verge hardening is pushed back to the parish and town councils and they are asked to contribute towards this cost.  In reality the parish councils are offering to pay for works to get them done, as a result of having the CIL money so works can get done more quickly.

          Cllr Imarni queried whether renting out council parking to residents could resume and it was confirmed this was when land was rented to housing tenants. Resident parking passes don’t solve this problem either as they apply to parking in a wider area.

          Cllr Griffiths explained that verge hardening on housing land is owned by the borough, but where it’s not council or housing land, it’s owned by highways. If the verge is on county council land then the borough have to get their permission and the borough pays for the hardening on their land.

          L Warden clarified that a review was underway of Verge Hardening and already considering the points members raised and future delivery would take into account biodiversity and infrastructure for electric charging points.

L Warden presented on the changes to the Communities Partnerships team and the Community Safety team and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

HC/071/21       WORK PROGRAMME

There were no additions to the Work Programme.

HC/070/21       ACTION POINTS

All action points were completed.

The Meeting ended at 22:20