Agenda, decisions and minutes

No Members of the public had registered to speak.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent items.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2020 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no recommendations to consider from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Community and Leisure

To consider a Revenue Grants review with a proposed one year extension (2021 – 2022) and approach to review for 2022 – 2025.

Resolved:

1.  To extend the current funding arrangement for grant recipients under the Revenue Grant programme by one year on the current terms plus an appropriate provision for inflation, subject to any adjustments made as a result of savings identified under recommendation 3 to the report and subject to approval of the Council’s Revenue Budget.

2.  That a decision on extending Community Transport funding after March 2021 is considered later this year in coordination with Hampshire County Council as primary funder.

3.  That the offer to extend the current funding arrangements by one year will take in to account where organisations have suspended services included within their grant agreement due to Covid-19 and have made savings as a result.

4.  That the review of the Revenue Grant programme be deferred by twelve months.

Consideration was given to a report of the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder which recognised and valued the work of charities and community and voluntary organisations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It also set out the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented in undertaking a review of the Revenue Grants programme, which is in the final year of a three-year cycle.

Because of these continuing challenges it offers options for the continuation of the grant programme beyond March 2021.

Approval was sought to undertake the actions detailed in option three in the report. This would provide valuable stability to the third sector which will play an important role in the successful recovery of communities in Test Valley whilst demonstrating due diligence in regards to the use of public funds. It would also allow time for an appropriately delivered review of the programme before committing to a three year cycle.

The Leader proposed an amendment to Recommendation 1 to include the wording ‘subject to approval of the Council’s Revenue Budget’.

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

Resolved:

1.  To extend the current funding arrangement for grant recipients under the Revenue Grant programme by one year on the current terms plus an appropriate provision for inflation, subject to any adjustments made as a result of savings identified under recommendation 3 to the report and subject to approval of the Council’s Revenue Budget.

2.  That a decision on extending Community Transport funding after March 2021 is considered later this year in coordination with Hampshire County Council as primary funder.

3.  That the offer to extend the current funding arrangements by one year will take in to account where organisations have suspended services included within their grant agreement due to Covid-19 and have made savings as a result.

4.  That the review of the Revenue Grant programme be deferred by twelve months.

Community and Leisure

To consider that the Test Valley Borough Playing Pitches and Sports Facilities Strategies be approved.

Resolved:

1.  That the Test Valley Borough Playing Pitch Strategy (Annex 1 to the report), Sport Facilities Strategy (Annex 2 to the report) and Executive summary (Annex 3 to the report), be approved and published.

2.  That an Annual Monitoring report will be produced to keep the strategies current.

Consideration was given to a report of the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder which sought approval of the Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) and Sport and Facilities Strategy (SFS) as linked documents that will continue to guide the Council’s current and future strategic direction for sport, recreation and physical activity provision.

As essential evidence documents for the Local Plan, maintaining a robust audit of supply and demand of all of our sporting infrastructure is essential. Adoption and approval of these strategies will ensure that our evidence base is up to date, enable robust defence of our sports infrastructure evidence of need, and assist in prioritising projects and resources going forward.

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

Resolved:

1.  That the Test Valley Borough Playing Pitch Strategy (Annex 1 to the report), Sport Facilities Strategy (Annex 2 to the report) and Executive summary (Annex 3 to the report), be approved and published.

2.  That an Annual Monitoring report will be produced to keep the strategies current.

Community and Leisure

To consider the Test Valley Borough Green Space Strategy be approved and published following a period of public and partner consultation.

Resolved:

1.  That the Draft Green Space Strategy be approved subject to public and partner consultation.

2.  That the Head of Community and Leisure be authorised, in consultation with the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder, to make any minor changes to the document following consultation.

Consideration was given to a report of the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder. The Green Space Strategy 2020 – 2030 sets out the way the Council will manage and improve its green spaces over the next 10 years, and how we will work with the community to manage, improve and create a resilient green space network.

The report sought the approval that the Draft Green Space Strategy be approved subject to public and partner consultation and that the Head of Community and Leisure be authorised, in consultation with the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder, to make any minor changes to the document following consultation. This would help to ensure the published strategy is a robust and reflects the needs of our community.

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

Resolved:

1.  That the Draft Green Space Strategy be approved subject to public and partner consultation.

2.  That the Head of Community and Leisure be authorised, in consultation with the Community and Leisure Portfolio Holder, to make any minor changes to the document following consultation.

Finance

To compare actual revenue income and expenditure against profiled budget for the four months ended 31st July 2020.

Resolved:

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

Consideration was given to a report of the Finance Portfolio Holder which reviewed the Council’s revenue spending for the first four months of the 2020/21 financial year.  The report also examined the main differences between the original estimate for 2020/21 and actual spend to 31 July 2020 and provides explanations for significant variances.

Overall, net expenditure to 31July 2020 was £544,000 more than budgeted at this stage of the year. This adverse variance comprises additional expenditure of £496,000 due to service related expenditure and £48,000 less income from the Council’s investing and borrowing activities.

The report should be read in conjunction with the report that was presented to the Special Council meeting on 5August, 2020, as there were a number of exempt contractual matters that were not included in the report, but which took the overall adverse variance to just over £1M for the first four months of the year to 31July, 2020.

Overall, net expenditure is £544,000 higher than forecast at 31July. There are a number of areas with large variances between the profiled budget and the actual income / expenditure to date due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report did not make any recommendations for changes to budgets at this stage in the year and therefore the recommendation was that the current budget position be noted.

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 in the Annex to the report be noted.