Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Conference Room 1, Beech Hurst, Weyhill Road, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 3AJ

Contact: Emma Horbury - 01264 368001  Email: ehorbury@testvalley.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

192.

Public Participation

Minutes:

No members of the public registered to speak.

193.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

194.

Urgent Items

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.

195.

Minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2019

Minutes:

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2019 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

196.

Recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee: None

Minutes:

There were no recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

197.

Capital Programme Update 2019/20 to 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 243 KB

Finance

To provide an update on the approved Capital Programme and to consider new capital schemes to be added for 2019/20 to 2020/22.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommended:

1.  That the new capital schemes with a total cost of £2,493,800 as shown in Annex 1 to the report be added to the 2019/20 to 2021/22 Capital Programme.

2.  That the revised estimates and financing for the 2019/20 to 2021/22 Capital Programme as shown in Annex 2 to the report, be approved.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Finance Portfolio Holder, which provided an update on the progress of the existing 2019/20 Capital Programme and included forecast changes to its timescale and total cost.

 

Proposals were also put forward for new capital schemes recommended to be added to the Capital Programme over the period 2019/20 to 2021/22.

 

The total cost of new projects recommended for inclusion in the Capital programme was £2.5M. After taking into account external funding, the net cost of these bids was £888,200. These bids would help to deliver the Council’s key priorities and were recommended to be funded from Earmarked Reserves and the Capital Receipts Reserve.

 

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, Cabinet agreed to the following:

 

Recommended to Council:

1.  That the new capital schemes with a total cost of £2,493,800 as shown in Annex 1 to the report be added to the 2019/20 to 2021/22 Capital Programme.

2.  That the revised estimates and financing for the 2019/20 to 2021/22 Capital Programme as shown in Annex 2 to the report, be approved.

 

198.

Corporate Financial Monitoring pdf icon PDF 137 KB

Finance

To provide an update on actual revenue income and expenditure against profiled budget for the first six months of the 2019/20 financial year to 30 September 2019.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

That the financial position for each Portfolio and the key revenue areas contained within the Annex to the report be noted.

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Finance Portfolio Holder, which reviewed the Council’s revenue spending for the first six months of the 2019/20 financial year. It also examined the main differences between the original estimate for 2019/20 and actual spend to 30 September 2019 and provided explanations for significant variances.

 

Overall, net expenditure to 30 September 2019 was £209,000 less than budgeted at this stage of the year. The favourable variance comprised additional income and savings of £110,000 due to service related expenditure and £99,000 additional income from the Council’s investing and borrowing activities.

 

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, Cabinet agreed to the following:

 

Resolved:

That the financial position for each Portfolio and the key revenue areas contained within the Annex to the report be noted.

 

199.

Fees and Charges 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 229 KB

Finance

To consider the level of charges for services provided by the Council in 2020/21.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

1.  That the fees and charges for 2020/21, as set out in the annexes to the report, be approved.

2.  That Heads of Service be authorised to increase relevant fees and charges in line with statutory levels should they change following this report.

3.  That the Head of Community and Leisure, in consultation with the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder, be given delegated authority to agree changes in fees and charges in relation to services and activities that Places Leisure operate through the Council’s leisure management contract.

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Finance Portfolio Holder which set out the annual fees and charges for the forthcoming financial year and were presented for approval.

 

Most charges were to be increased in line with inflation or kept at the same level as 2019/20. Significant increases from 2019/20 were explained in the body of the report.

 

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, Cabinet agreed to the following:

 

Resolved:

1.  That the fees and charges for 2020/21, as set out in the annexes to the report, be approved.

2.  That Heads of Service be authorised to increase relevant fees and charges in line with statutory levels should they change following this report.

3.  That the Head of Community and Leisure, in consultation with the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder, be given delegated authority to agree changes in fees and charges in relation to services and activities that Places Leisure operate through the Council’s leisure management contract.

200.

Asset Management Plan Update pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Finance

To provide an update on the progress of the 2019/20 Asset Management Plan and to consider projects to be included in the 2020/21 budget.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommended:

1.  That the revised 2019/20 and original 2020/21 Asset Management Plan, as shown in annexes 1 and 2 to the report, be approved.

2.  That the Head of Finance, after consultation with the Finance Portfolio Holder and Head of Service responsible for any project, be authorised to amend the Asset Management Plan during the year, as discussed in paragraph 7.3 of the report.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Finance Portfolio Holder which provided an update on the approved 2019/20 Asset Management Plan (AMP) and recommended projects to be included in the 2020/21 budget. The report provided an update on the financing of AMP projects and included a forecast balance on the Asset Management Reserve at 31 March 2021.

 

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, Cabinet agreed to the following:

 

Recommended to Council:

1.  That the revised 2019/20 and original 2020/21 Asset Management Plan, as shown in annexes 1 and 2 to the report, be approved.

2.  That the Head of Finance, after consultation with the Finance Portfolio Holder and Head of Service responsible for any project, be authorised to amend the Asset Management Plan during the year, as discussed in paragraph 7.3 of the report.

201.

Medium Term Financial Strategy pdf icon PDF 614 KB

Finance

To set out the financial framework within which the 2020/21 budget will be prepared.

 

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommended:

1.  That the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2020/21 to 2022/23 be approved.

2.  That the Medium Term Financial Forecast outlined in Annex 3 to the report be noted.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Finance Portfolio Holder which set out the framework within which the 2020/21 budget will be prepared.  The report also set out the Medium Term Financial Forecast for the General Fund Revenue Budget together with details of Revenue Savings, which would form the basis of the 2010/21 budget.

 

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, Cabinet agreed to the following:

 

Resolved:

1.  That the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2020/21 to 2022/23 be approved.

2.  That the Medium Term Financial Forecast outlined in Annex 3 to the report be noted.

202.

2019/20 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Spending Protocol - Allocation of Funds pdf icon PDF 238 KB

Planning

To seek approval to fund a number of projects within the borough from the Council’s CIL receipts following assessment of the bids against the criteria in the Council’s approved Spending Protocol.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Recommended:

That the following projects are approved for Community Infrastructure Levy funding:

·  Plaza Theatre Stage House Rebuild – £200,000

·  Longparish Playground Redevelopment – £40,000

·  Access Improvements at Charlton Lakes – £100,355

·  Ampfield Recreation Ground – £66,432

·  Valley Park Community Centre – £79,525

·  Over Wallop War Memorial – £19,970

·  Braishfield Village Hall – £95,813

·  Hurstbourne Tarrant Flood Alleviation Scheme – £5,400

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report of the Planning Portfolio Holder which set out a summary of the bids received during 2019 including an evaluation of each one and the funding recommendation made for each project.

Councillor Gwynne addressed Cabinet at the start of the item to express his support for the funding recommendation in relation to the Plaza Theatre Stage House Rebuild.

The CIL spending protocol and scoring methodology was adopted by Council on 8 November 2017. This was the second round of CIL bidding which ran between 1 April and 30 June 2019.

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, Cabinet agreed to the following:

 

Recommended to Council:

That the following projects are approved for Community Infrastructure Levy funding:

·  Plaza Theatre Stage House Rebuild – £200,000

·  Longparish Playground Redevelopment – £40,000

·  Access Improvements at Charlton Lakes – £100,355

·  Ampfield Recreation Ground – £66,432

·  Valley Park Community Centre – £79,525

·  Over Wallop War Memorial – £19,970

·  Braishfield Village Hall – £95,813

·  Hurstbourne Tarrant Flood Alleviation Scheme – £5,400

203.

Exclusion of the Public pdf icon PDF 9 KB

The following item is confidential.

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

That, pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, the public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following report on the following matters on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, indicated below. The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information for the reason given below:

 

 

Property Matters  Paragraph 3

It is considered that this report contains exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.  It is further considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information because the information relates to the financial or business affairs of the Council and third parties who are necessarily identified, which information is commercially sensitive and which by its disclosure would have an adverse effect upon the interests of those third parties and the Council as they seek to settle agreed terms of business.

204.

Property Matters

Finance

To consider a Property matter.

Decision:

Recommended:

1.  To approve the Service Charge budget for the Chantry Centre for the calendar year 2020 as set out in the amended Annex 1 to the report.

2.  That subject to the provisions of the Constitution the Head of Property and Asset Management, in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Finance Portfolio Holder be authorised to approve the service charge budget for the Chantry Centre in future years.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a confidential report of the Finance Portfolio Holder to consider an estates property matter.

 

Recommended:

1.  To approve the Service Charge budget for the Chantry Centre for the calendar year 2020 as set out in the amended Annex 1 to the report.

2.  That subject to the provisions of the Constitution the Head of Property and Asset Management, in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Finance Portfolio Holder be authorised to approve the service charge budget for the Chantry Centre in future years.