Agenda, decisions and minutes

None, all Members of the Cabinet were present.

Decision made: (Unanimously):

That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 12 September be approved as a correct record for signing by the Leader of the Council.

Minute 21:     New Service Delivery Model of Preventative Health

The Cabinet were informed that the cross party working group on Leisure, Health and Wellbeing would be established following the Member Briefing that would take place on 1 November 2018.

Minute 23:     Council Tax Support Scheme

The Cabinet were informed that a report on various options for consultation with residents on the Council Tax Support Scheme would be considered at its next meeting on 21 November 2018

Members are requested to indicate at this stage in the proceedings any items on the agenda in which they intend to declare an interest. Members are reminded that if the interest is a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (as defined in the Members’ Code of Conduct) they must leave the room for the whole of that item. If the interest is not a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, but is such that a member of the public could reasonably regard it as being so significant that it is likely that it would prejudice their judgment of the public interest (as explained in the Code of Conduct) then they may make representations, but then must leave the meeting for the remainder of the item.

There were no declarations of any interests.

Report of the Chief Executive attached.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That:

1.    Cabinet endorses the production of one FORWARD newspaper in October 2018 and the production of a newsletter for each My Neighbourhood forum produced in November detailing Christmas events in each area with funding made available from the corporate communications budget.

2.    Cabinet approve a delivery method of the October edition of FORWARD via Royal Mail delivery.

3.    Cabinet approve the re-establishment of the communicating with residents and businesses cross party Member Working Group to review the way the Council should communicate with residents and businesses in the Borough in the future.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive that provided detail on how the Council will communicate with residents and businesses in the Borough. The previous report considered by Cabinet in September had been called in and had been considered further by Scrutiny Committee. Following recommendations made by Scrutiny the report had been amended to take into consideration local government guidance on the frequency of publications. Future communication methods would be consulted upon and recommended by a cross party working group.

In response to a question from Councillor Bennet it was explained that the publication of Members Allowances on the Council’s website would meet the legal requirement for disclosure.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That:

1.    Cabinet endorses the production of one FORWARD newspaper in October 2018 and the production of a newsletter for each My Neighbourhood forum produced in November detailing Christmas events in each area with funding made available from the corporate communications budget.

2.    Cabinet approve a delivery method of the October edition of FORWARD via Royal Mail delivery.

3.    Cabinet approve the re-establishment of the communicating with residents and businesses cross party Member Working Group to review the way the Council should communicate with residents and businesses in the Borough in the future.

Reason(s) for the Decision:

A Communications Strategy was developed in 2017 that would transform how the Council would communicate with its stakeholders. One of the objectives in the medium-term action plan was to undertake a rigorous and evidence based review of the FORWARD newspaper.

Following the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee the report was amended to reflect local government guidance around Council publications.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

None.

Report of the Director of Planning and Property attached.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That Cabinet agrees the general scope of inward investment marketing activities set out in the report.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Planning and Property that informed of proposals for use of the Place Promotion budget to deliver Invest Central Lancashire and South Ribble inward investment marketing activity as set out in the Corporate Plan.

Its aims were to raise the profile of the South Ribble offer to attract investors, visitors and skilled workers to support the economic growth, reinforce the message that South Ribble is the UK’s Best Place to Live, engage property professionals and intermediaries in promoting the Borough’s offer, generate enquiries for City Deal employment sites and raise awareness of the benefits of locating businesses in the Borough.

A number of different activities were proposed that included the publication of an Invest in South Ribble Business magazine, industry press advertising, designing new infographics, creating Apprentice Factory promotional materials, sourcing new GDPR compliant business contacts and exploring search engine optimisation.

Members asked for more emphasis to be placed upon advertising through social media as opposed to websites and asked if this could be picked up in a new strategy.

It was agreed that there was lots of good initiatives taking place that if monitored in the right way will be of great benefit to our residents. The Apprentice Factory project is a fantastic scheme for the Borough and Members were pleased to note the employment of a new Digital Marketing Apprentice that would undoubtedly be a great asset to the Council.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That Cabinet agrees the general scope of inward investment marketing activities set out in the report.

Reason(s) for the decision:

Place promotion is one of the projects within the approved Corporate Plan 2018-2023. These proposals provide further detail about the implementation and use of the funding to deliver Invest Central Lancashire and South Ribble inward investment marketing.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

An alternative option was considered to procure a single, specialist agency to deliver a place promotion campaign. This was rejected on the grounds of cost.

Report of the Interim Deputy Chief Executive (Resources and Transformation)/Section 151 Officer attached.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That Cabinet note the decision appended to the report for South Ribble Borough Council to participate in the Lancashire bid to be a pilot of 75% Business Rate Retention in 2019/20.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Interim Deputy Chief Executive (resources and Transformation)/Section 151 Officer that informed Members of a decision taken for South Ribble Borough Council to participate in a pilot bid for 75% retention of business rates in 2019/20.

The decision had been taken urgently by the Cabinet as the deadline for a response to the Government was 25 September. If the bid was successful, further work would be required and future decisions determined by Council.

In response to a question from Councillor Warren Bennet regarding a previous allegation from the Labour Group that the decision had been made illegally, the Leader of the Council explained that they were content with the actual decision but that under the Local Government Act felt that the report should have been presented to the next Council meeting which was on 26 September.

Decision made: (Unanimously)

That Cabinet note the decision appended to the report for South Ribble Borough Council to participate in the Lancashire bid to be a pilot of 75% Business Rate Retention in 2019/20.

Reason(s) for the Decision:

The decision was made on the understanding that the Council would be in no worse a financial position, entering into the pilot, and if not successful the default position would be to continue with the existing pooling arrangement.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

If this Council did not participate in the bid, it may affect the chances of the Lancashire bid being accepted.

If not part of a pool in 2019/20, the financial benefits of pool membership to the Council would be foregone.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Condition:

Information is not exempt if it is required to be registered under-

The Companies Act 1985

The Friendly Societies Act 1974

The Friendly Societies Act 1992

The Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978

The Building Societies Act 1986 (recorded in the public file of any building society, within the meaning of the Act)

The Charities Act 1993

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

To exclude the press and public.

Decision made: (Unanimously)

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item of business as it involved the discussion of information defined as exempt from publication under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, ‘Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) ‘ and in which the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing it.

Report of the Director of Planning and Property attached.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That:

1.    Cabinet approves the Capital expenditure of up to £582,965 to refurbish the property at Station Road and convert flats with office accommodation at ground floor.

2.    Approval to invite tenders for the works for the refurbishment and conversion to the property and to subsequently appoint a contractor to undertake the works.

3.    Approval to enter into a legal agreement/contract with Methodist Action NW for them to manage the property at a cost of 25% with an initial lease term of seven years, with an option to extend the lease.

The Cabinet received a report of the Director of Planning and Property that sought Cabinet approval to progress proposals to convert the Council owned site at Station Road from its current use as commercial offices to the use of affordable rented housing and potentially ground floor office accommodation.

The Council has key corporate aims to meet housing needs in the Borough and make efficient use of its assets. The property on Station Road is currently vacant and provides an excellent opportunity for conversion to meet housing need. The Council currently retains significant commuted sums that can be used towards providing affordable housing. This proposal is an excellent opportunity to provide such accommodation which the market is not delivering.

The Council would enter into a legal agreement with Methodist Action NW for them to manage the property. Methodist Action NW are a housing charity managing over 300 properties across Lancashire and are keen to develop in the South Ribble area and work with the Council more widely in the future. The organisation does a lot of additional work with its residents like forming residents groups and the Cabinet felt that they would be a good partner to work with.

The property had been recently subject to a flood that had caused extensive damage to the property. A small amount of the refurbishment costs could be attributed to these repairs, however the Council were speaking with their insurers regarding this matter and the Director of Planning and Property explained that the full details of the refurbishment costs could be provided upon request.

In response to a question about tenancy criteria and selection, it was explained that the housing would be Social Rental property and available for people in receipt of benefits. The Cabinet thought that it was important for the Council to distinguish the difference between affordable housing and social rental housing in its reports going forwards.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That:

1.    Cabinet approves the Capital expenditure of up to £582,965 to refurbish the property at Station Road and convert flats with office accommodation at ground floor.

2.    Approval to invite tenders for the works for the refurbishment and conversion to the property and to subsequently appoint a contractor to undertake the works.

3.    Approval to enter into a legal agreement/contract with Methodist Action NW for them to manage the property at a cost of 25% with an initial lease term of seven years, with an option to extend the lease.

Reason(s) for the Decision:

The building on Station Road has been previously rented out as a commercial property, although it has remained vacant since 2016 whilst being actively marketed to let. The property has recently been subject to a flood which has caused extensive damage and rendered it unusable.

Consequently potential options have been explored to ensure the financial and/or social value of the asset is maximised. The preferred option of converting to residential would enable us to meet key corporate aspirations for housing.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Dispose of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development attached.

Decision made (Unanimously)

That:

1.    Cabinet endorses the utilisation of the PAGABO’s national framework for Professional services in Construction and Premises, as the preferred procurement route for developing the leisure element of the Leyland Campus as detailed in the report.

2.    Cabinet approves delegated authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development in consultation with the portfolio holders for Assets and Transformation and for Public Health, Leisure and Wellbeing to enter into a contract with Faithful+Gould to design, manage construction and deliver the leisure building element of the Leyland Campus project on the basis that the final proposal does not exceed £1.8m under the terms of a full RIBA scheme of works, as summarised in Appendix 1 of the report.

3.    Cabinet notes that throughout the contract period with Faithful+Gould whenever a significant stage of the project is reached, a report will be brought to Cabinet for authorisation. A cabinet report will be brought to the next Cabinet meeting on 21 November 2018 detailing the significant stages in the project for approval.

4.    Cabinet approves the general governance arrangements of the Campus programme, subject to the Cabinet Programme Board being cross party and renamed the Campus Programme Board and its role being to make recommendations to the Cabinet.

5.    Cabinet approves the general governance arrangements of the Campus programme, subject to the Campus Programme Board being cross party and renamed the Campus Programme Board and its role being to make recommendations to the Cabinet.

6.    Cabinet delegates authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods and development in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Campus Programme Board to determine the terms of reference of the Campus Programme Board.

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development that requested delegated authority to enter into a contract with Faithful+Gould Limited via the PAGABO Framework to procure the services of a comprehensive design and development team to aid the progress of the Leyland Campus. The report also detailed the Governance arrangements of the Campus programme for information.

Members’ attention was drawn to previous Cabinet reports to help them in their deliberations.

The Cabinet’s previous report had been called in and following consideration by the Scrutiny Committee a number of recommendations had been made around the provision of relevant detail within the report particularly in relation to governance arrangements that included termination clauses for the Council, should they be required. The Cabinet were now satisfied and fully supported the amended recommendations in the report.

The Cabinet also considered the establishment of a cross party working group extremely important to the ongoing process so that all Members of the Council would buy-in to the project and help to promote its benefits to residents. It was also felt that the design of the Campus was a really good opportunity to put South Ribble on the map with a distinctive piece of architecture and asked if further consideration could be given to this approach.

It was widely acknowledged amongst Members that this was an exciting project for the health and wellbeing of the residents and would be a good investment for the Borough.

Decision made: (Unanimously)

That:

1.    Cabinet endorses the utilisation of the PAGABO’s national framework for Professional services in Construction and Premises, as the preferred procurement route for developing the leisure element of the Leyland Campus as detailed in the report.

2.    Cabinet approves delegated authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development in consultation with the portfolio holders for Assets and Transformation and for Public Health, Leisure and Wellbeing to enter into a contract with Faithful+Gould to design, manage construction and deliver the leisure building element of the Leyland Campus project on the basis that the final proposal does not exceed £1.8m under the terms of a full RIBA scheme of works, as summarised in Appendix 1 of the report.

3.    Cabinet notes that throughout the contract period with Faithful+Gould whenever a significant stage of the project is reached, a report will be brought to Cabinet for authorisation. A cabinet report will be brought to the next Cabinet meeting on 21 November 2018 detailing the significant stages in the project for approval.

4.    Cabinet approves the general governance arrangements of the Campus programme, subject to the Cabinet Programme Board being cross party and renamed the Campus Programme Board and its role being to make recommendations to the Cabinet.

5.    Cabinet delegates authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods and development in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Campus Programme Board to determine the terms of reference of the Campus Programme Board.

Reason(s) for the Decision:

Development of campuses is a key element of the Health and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.