Agenda and minutes

Venue: Austen Room, Council Offices, Cecil Street, Margate, Kent. View directions

Contact: Charles Hungwe 

Items
No. Item

644.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

No apologies were received.  

645.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 113 KB

To receive any declarations of interest. Members are advised to consider the advice contained within the Declaration of Interest advice attached to this Agenda. If a Member declares an interest, they should complete the Declaration of Interest Form

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

646.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 52 KB

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the Cabinet meeting held on 28 January 2020, copy attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Everitt proposed, and Councillor Yates seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 28 January 2020.

647.

Minutes of Extraordinary Meeting pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To approve the summary of recommendations and decisions of the extraordinary Cabinet meeting held on 17 February 2020, copy attached.

Minutes:

Councillor Everitt proposed, Councillor Yates seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held 17 February 2020.

648.

Corporate Performance Report Quarter 3 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered the report previously presented to Overview and Scrutiny Panel on the 20 February 2020. It was noted that performance would now be monitored against the Council’s new Corporate Performance Statement. Members will now be invited to contribute to the performance monitoring process. Targets will be set and this process will be done transparently.

 

The following Councillors spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1:

 

Councillor Ashbee;

Councillor R Bayford;

Councillor Dexter;

Councillor Game;

Councillor Hart;

Councillor Rogers.

 

Councillor Yates proposed, Councillor Albon seconded and Members agreed to the following:

 

1.  To note the Council’s performance for the period up to 31 December 2019;

 

2.  To accept the recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Panel to set up a Member/Officer panel to allow Members the chance to input into the review of the future performance targets.

649.

Response to the declaration of a Climate Change Emergency pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Duckworth noted the Council's previous decision to declare a climate change emergency, and outlined some of the responses being undertaken, including creating a tree strategy, hiring a dedicated climate change officer, boosting recycling in the district and creating resident communication to reduce, reuse and recycle.

 

Councillor Garner spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor Duckworth proposed, Council Albon seconded and Members agreed to the following recommendations:

 

1.  The Council adopts and commits to delivering actions already agreed within the proposed Action Plan 1, in annex 1 to the cabinet report;

2.  The Council commits to exploring proposed actions within Action Plan 2, in annex 1 to the cabinet report;

3.  The Council seeks to develop a Climate Change Strategy to provide a cohesive approach to this wide-ranging issue.

650.

2019-20 Quarter 3 Budget Monitoring pdf icon PDF 116 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Yates introduced the report, noting that it provided the Quarter 3 monitoring position in respect of the 2019-2020 General Fund budget and the Housing Revenue Account, for both capital and revenue. The overall general Fund revenue position is forecast to be an overspend of £867,000 at the year-end; this is a £138,000 deterioration compared to the position reported at Quarter 2, mainly due to further worsening in forecast income shortfalls.

 

Some elements of the 2019-2020 income shortfalls were assumed to continue into 2020-2021 and were funded in 2020-2021 by being built into the budget gap. The assumption was that management action would be taken to reduce the in-year income shortfalls and deliver the 2020-2021 budget. This quarter’s forecasts suggests that this action is still a work in progress, and it has not yet fed through to an improvement in the forecast.

 

Any overspends at the end of the current year will have to be funded from reserves. The Housing Revenue Account is forecast to underspend by £31000, details of which are in section 3 of the report. This is an increase on the £8,000 forecast underspend that was previously reported to Cabinet at Quarter 2.

 

Councillor Dexter spoke under Council Procedure Rule 20.1.

 

Councillor Yates proposed, Councillor Everitt seconded and Cabinet agreed the following:

 

1.  To note the 2019-20 Quarter 3 forecast position for:

 

a.  The General Fund;

b.  The Housing Revenue Account;

c.  The General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Capital Programmes;

 

2.  To the updated General Fund and Housing Revenue Account Capital Programmes as set out in Annex 1 and 2 to the Cabinet report.