Agenda and minutes

Prayers were led by the Reverend Wharton.

Apologies were received from Councillors Baverstock, Coole, Gidley, Hamilton, Rowles, Swain, Thom and Ward.

No members of the public had registered to speak.

There were no declarations of interest.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 26 January 2022 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Mayor announced that he had three upcoming events:

·  Queens Platinum Jubilee Tree Planting on Friday 11 March at 1pm at Romsey Abbey and Beech Hurst Park.

·  Commonwealth Flag Raising on Monday 14 March in Andover High-street and outside the FMC from 9.50

·  Member/Officer Market Place from 5.30pm and The Mayor’s Spring Reception at 6.30pm on Tuesday 29 March at Beech Hurst Council Offices.

To receive and, where necessary, adopt reports of Committees.

To consider the Council Tax resolution for 2022/23.

The Finance Portfolio Holder presented details of the Council Tax for 2022/23.

The Worshipful the Mayor reminded members that a recorded vote was required on this item.

Following the introduction by Government of a new law in 2014 relating to certain budget decisions, the Council was required to take a recorded vote on both this item and item 7.2.1.1 on the agenda, Revenue Budget and Council Tax Proposals 2022/23.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services took the vote, Members voted as follows;

Resolved:

1.  That approval is noted of the revised revenue forecast for the year 2021/2022 and the revenue estimates for the year 2022/2023, together with the revised capital programme for the year 2021/2022 and the capital programme for the year 2022/2023.

2.  That for the purposes of Section 35(2)(d) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the Act), the sum of £339,854,beingthe aggregate sum of expenses in relation to burial grounds, sports grounds and playgrounds incurred by the Council in performing in the parish of Andover the functions not performed by the Town Council, shall be treated as Special Expenses and any expenditure other than the £339,854 herein specified shall be treated as general expenses.  The Special Expenses sum equates to an amount of £19.82 per Band D Council Tax.

3.  That it be noted that the Head of Finance & Revenues has calculated the Council Tax Base for 2022/2023 for the whole Borough area as 51,338 (Item T in the formula in Section 33(1) of the Act) and, in those parts of its area to which a Parish/Town precept relates, as per the table below:

4.  That the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the year 2022/2023 in accordance with Sections 32 to 34  ...  view the full minutes text for item 475.

There were no questions under Rule 11.1

There were no questions under Rule 11.2

To review the pilot arrangements put in place to extend the time between regular meetings of Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny from 4 weekly to 6 weekly.

Consideration was given to a report of the Democracy and Governance Portfolio Holder which reviewed the pilot arrangements put in place to extend the time between regular meetings of Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny from 4 weekly to 6 weekly.

At its meeting on 26 February 2021, Council approved pilot arrangements for the frequency of Cabinet and Overview (OSCOM) meetings.

Following a trial period it is recommended that the meeting cycle for Cabinet and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee move to 6 weekly on a permanent basis. A 6 weekly frequency allows for the business of the Council to be progressed in a more meaningful and effective way therefore better facilitating the Council’s business whilst allowing better alignment with the financial and other deadlines of the Council.

Resolved:

That the frequency of Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings move to a 6 weekly cycle.

To approve the Pay Policy Statement for 2022/23 which has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.

Consideration was given to a report of the Leader which set out the Pay Policy Statement for 2022/23.  The Council is required in accordance with section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 to prepare and publish an annual Pay Policy Statement.

Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011, requires English and Welsh local authorities to produce and publish a pay policy statement for 2012/13 and for each financial year thereafter.  As a minimum, the pay policy statement must set out the Council’s policies for the financial year relating to:

o  The remuneration of its chief officers

o  The remuneration of its lowest paid employees

o  The relationship between the remuneration of its chief officers and the remuneration of its employees who are not chief officers

The Pay Policy Statement attached as an annex to the report assembled the required statutory information from the Council’s existing policies and presented them as a single document to meet the requirements of the Localism Act.

Resolved:

That the Pay Policy Statement attached at Annex 1 to the report be approved.

To consider a motion proposed by Councillor Gwynne.

Councillor Gwynne proposed and Councillor C Dowden seconded the following motion:

The Test Valley Borough Council Corporate Action Plan 2019-23 (CAP) contains the following references to ‘investment’:

·  Making our town centres attractive places for inward investment

·  Supporting the Borough’s business community by attracting inward investment and creating the conditions for new and existing businesses to thrive.

·  We will continue to make the most of the opportunities for inward investment to increase business productivity across Test Valley.

·  Making the most of the benefits from inward investment

In addition, ‘The Local Environment’ is identified in the CAP as one of TVBC’s Top Four priorities. However, the CAP contains no references at all to the green economy.

The following forecasts regarding the Green Economy come from a July 2021 study entitled Green Growth: Opportunities For The UK which was undertaken by Oxford Economics (owned by Oxford University) for the Lloyds Banking Group:

·  “Reaching net zero will require … substantial investment in new technologies and activities”

·  “… recent studies have suggested that by 2050 the number of jobs in the green economy could grow to between 1.4 million and 2.5 million”

·  “The UK will need to bolster its supply of skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths”

·  “Re-training programmes will be needed to ensure workers are able to adapt to new tasks and techniques… for example, car mechanics will need to learn to work on an increasing share of electric vehicles”

Against this background, Test Valley Borough Council recognises that the importance of the Green Economy has risen steeply during the lifetime of the current CAP. The council also note the particular opportunity that they have to exploit these opportunities, given the presence of a successful science park in the borough.

Test Valley Borough Council therefore undertake to prioritise investment in the Green Economy in both the fourth year of the current CAP as well as the CAP being developed in 2022. This to include actions to both attract inward investment – as well as direct investment of TVBC’s own funds (as is the case with town centre investment).

Upon being put to the vote the motion was carried.