Agenda and minutes

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Contact: charles hungwe 

Items
No. Item

411.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Townend.

412.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest. Members are advised to consider the advice contained within the Declaration of Interest form attached at the back of this agenda. If a Member declares an interest, they should complete that form and hand it to the officer clerking the meeting and then take the prescribed course of action.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

413.

Minutes of previous meeting - 31 January 2017 pdf icon PDF 81 KB

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on 31 January 2017, copy attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Crow-Brown proposed, Councillor Brimm seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 31 January 2017.

414.

Minutes of extraordinary meeting - 16 February 2017 pdf icon PDF 74 KB

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the extraordinary Cabinet meeting held on 16 February 2017, copy attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Lin Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the extraordinary meeting held on 16 February 2017.

415.

Business Case, Single East Kent Council pdf icon PDF 18 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet debated the report on the Business Case for the proposed Single East Kent Council. Members acknowledged the comments that were forwarded to Cabinet by the Overview & Scrutiny Panel. Cabinet further provided a response to recommendations from the Panel.

 

Councillor Campbell and Councillor Bayford spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor Wells proposed, Councillor L. Fairbrass seconded and Cabinet agreed that in making final recommendations to council and Members took into account the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel and thereafter agreed the following:

 

1.  That having considered the business case it becomes the policy of this Council to explore further the abolition of the local government district areas of Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet and the constitution of a new local government district area of East Kent comprising the areas of those districts;

 

2.  That the unspent balance of the £20,000 previously agreed by the Council to fund the preparation of the business case be made available to fund a consultation andpublic engagement exercise;

 

3.  That the Cabinet be requested to ensure an appropriate consultation and public engagement exercise is undertaken to ascertain views on the proposal set out in 1 above;

 

4.  That a further report be submitted to the Council prior to the making of any submission to the Secretary of state.

 

And

 

5.  In response to recommendations from the Overview & Scrutiny Panel, Cabinet confirmed that with respect to recommendations 1, 2 and 4, in accordance with the Council decision of the 14th July 2016, the strategy to implement any proposed merger is part of our budget and policy framework and therefore a final decision will be made by Full Council.

 

In addition the Overview and Scrutiny Panel forms a vital part of the budget and policy framework procedure and must be given the opportunity to look at and make recommendations on the final report prior to it being considered by Full Council. Therefore, the generic timetable for Thanet will be amended accordingly;

 

6.  And whilst not specifically referred to in the report, Recommendation 3 which states that ‘If there was an early recognition that the timescale for implementing the project was slipping, an early decision should be made by each of the participating councils to seek permission from the Department of Communities and Local Government to extend the current administration by a year’ is accepted and will be taken on board in future discussions by Officers and the Leader moving forward.

 

Cabinet also thanked the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for their positive input into this matter.

416.

Q3 Corporate Performance monitoring report 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 255 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet received the corporate performance report for quarter 3. In the main the report received positive feedback and Members noted the improvements and challenges.

 

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

 

Councillor Game;

Councillor Campbell;

Councillor Taylor-Smith.

 

Councillor Crow-Brown proposed, Councillor Brimm seconded and Cabinet agreed to note the Council’s performance for the period up to 31 December 2016.

417.

Budget Monitoring Report No 3 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 349 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet noted that the overall General Fund revenue forecast was going to break even, although there were some pressures, which need to be managed. The General Fund capital programme was now funded, following Cabinet’s decisions on 17th January to amend the programme and its funding.

 

The main risk regarding the capital programme was the ability to spend the budget for vehicle replacements. There was a risk that the expenditure would fall in the next financial year, if the vehicles were delivered after 31st March. Funding would still be available, but the level of forecast capital expenditure in this report would not be achieved.

 

The Housing Revenue Account was forecast to overspend by £120,000. However this was an improvement on the forecast overspend in quarter two.

 

Councillor I. Gregory spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor L. Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Wells seconded and Members agreed the following:

 

1.  That Cabinet notes the forecast position for 2016-17 for the General Fund;

 

2.  That Cabinet notes the current Housing Revenue Account position;

 

3.  That Cabinet notes the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Capital Programmes and agree the budget changes detailed as per Annex 1 and Annex 3 for the General Fund capital and HRA.

418.

Access to Hodges Gap Promenade Car Park pdf icon PDF 236 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet agreed the need for Council to promote and manage the public message around antisocial behaviour as part of civic duty responsibility and a responsibility for the safe use of all the promenades under Council’s control.

 

Councillor Brimm proposed, Councillor Crow-Brown seconded and Cabinet agreed that the barriers should remain locked unless the concession in situ is open and trading to allow daytime vehicular access to the lower promenade at both Palm/Walpole Bay areas.

419.

Strategic Asset Management Plan 2017-2021 pdf icon PDF 107 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members discussed the Strategic Asset Management Plan and agreed that it was a key corporate strategic tool which set out the Council’s property objectives, focussing on how the Council intends to utilise its asset base to deliver its Corporate Plan over the next five years.

 

Members were further advised that the council would be establishing a centralised corporate landlord function to create the capacity and expertise to prioritise resources, manage risks and obtain greater value from the council’s estate. It was hoped that this would provide support for the implementation of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

 

The following Members spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

 

Councillor Campbell;

Councillor Bayford;

Councillor I. Gregory.

 

Councillor L. Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Stummer-Schmertzing seconded and Cabinet agreed the Strategic Asset Management Plan.

420.

Overview & Scrutiny Panel Recommendations to Cabinet pdf icon PDF 108 KB

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Panel on suggestions from the Community Safety Partnership Working Party regarding the provision of appropriate services for victims of violent crime in the district.

 

Councillor Campbell and Councillor Game spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor Lin Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Wells seconded and Cabinet approved the following recommendations that:

 

1)  Thanet District Council approach town councils in Thanet to request funding of £188 to finance one day per week, of EK Rape Crisis Centre counselling services if Thanet District Council will provide a room for the counselling sessions on a match funding basis;

 

2)  Approaches are made to the ‘Place2Be’ to provide their free children services to schools in Thanet;

 

3)  A letter be written to the Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) to raise concern about the changes to policing in the area and write a letter advising the PCC that approaches were being made to town councils in Thanet to support the EK Rape Crisis Centre and inquire if the Commissioner was willing to work with town councils in this effort.

 

And the following recommendation from Officers:

 

4)  Authorise officers to submit an application on behalf of council for funding from the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) victims specialist service grant. If successful, organise the funding arrangements for the counselling services with the other sub district councils.

421.

Community Safety Partnership Plan 2017-2020 pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The draft Community Safety Plan was drawn up after a public engagement event was held and survey conducted to understand the areas of concern for the local residents. A practitioner event was also held where good practices and ideas for the next year’s action plan were shared by participants.

 

Councillor Game and Councillor Campbell spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor L. Fairbrass proposed, Councillor Wells seconded and Cabinet agreed to recommend to Council that the Thanet Community Safety Partnership approve the proposed draft Thanet Community Safety Plan for 2017-20.