Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Z Ahmed (Deputy Cabinet Member for Housing), S Broadbent (Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration), Miss S Brown (Deputy Cabinet Member for Community), G Hall (Deputy Cabinet Member for Environment), M Harris (Deputy Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration), R Raja (Leader of the Labour Group), and P Turner (Chairman of Council).

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 11 March 2019 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Councillors Mrs J Adey and Mrs J Langley declared a non-pecuniary interest in Minute 7 due to consultation with Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council. Councillors D Barnes and A Turner declared a non-pecuniary interest in Minute 7 in relation to their roles as Parish/Town Councillors. Councillor Ms K Wood also declared a non-pecuniary interest in Minute 7 in relation to her role as a member of Bucks Business First, she confirmed that she was not a controlling member. All the aforementioned Members decided that their interests were such that they would remain in the Chamber during consideration of the item.

Cabinet had before it a report that set out the recommendations from the High Wycombe Town Committee that 66 additional burial vaults should be purchased and installed at the High Wycombe Cemetery. The High Wycombe Town Committee had made the recommendations at its meeting on 11 June 2019.

The Chairman of the High Wycombe Town Committee presented the report to the meeting and invited Cabinet to consider the Town Committee’s recommendation to agree to the acquisition and installation of the additional vaults. It was noted that the report before Cabinet provided the background in relation to the options that had been considered.

The following decision was made as the High Wycombe Cemetery would be reaching its capacity for available vaults by September 2019. The purchase of additional vaults enabled the existing service to continue uninterrupted while the new Cemetery project was implemented.

RESOLVED: That (i) the release of £44,880 for 66 additional burial vaults from the Special Expenses Account be approved;

(ii)        the release of £76,500 from the Special Expenses Account for works to install an additional terrace be approved; and

(iii)       delegated authority be granted to the Head of Housing, Environment and Community Services, in consultation with the Head of Finance and Commercial and the Chairman of the High Wycombe Town Committee, to make amendments to fees and charges relating to new concrete chambers for Muslim burials.

Cabinet had before it the end of year position for the Council’s performance at service level, as well as progress made on the key projects delivering the Council’s priorities. Cabinet would continue to receive quarterly performance monitoring reports during the year, with any areas of under-performance highlighted to ensure that Cabinet could address any issues promptly.

Members thanked the officers for all their hard work in achieving an excellent set of performance results.

The following decisions were made to review the performance position to ensure that the Council was performing at the appropriate level.

RESOLVED: That (i) the 2018/19 full year outturn for the Council’s key performance measures, in particular that all of the performance measures where targets were set either exceeded the target or met the target (within +/- 5%) be noted; and

(ii)    the summary report and full list of results from the corporate performance indicators for the full year be noted.

Cabinet had before it the annual report on the Treasury Management Strategy and the Prudential Indicators 2018/2019 and was reminded of the requirements placed upon the Council in regard to these.

Members expressed their thanks and congratulated the Cabinet Member for Finance, and the Head of Finance and his team, for all their hard work.

The following decisions were made as the Local Government Act 2003 and the CIPFA prudential Code required approval of the activity undertaken compared to the strategies, limits and indicators at the end of each financial year.

RESOLVED: That the outturn position for treasury management activities for 2018/19 be reviewed and noted.

The report before Cabinet set out the economic development and housing allocations that the Council would be adopting to provide required infrastructure to support new housing development. It was recognised that a framework for fund allocation had been developed based on the 10 strategic objectives set out in the Economic Development Strategy. It was also noted that the proposed allocations across the district reflect the location of housing as outlined in the New Local Plan.

The following decisions were made to enable the allocation of the economic development and housing facilitation grants included in the 2019/20 budget.

RESOLVED: That (i) the allocations as set out in section3 of the report and Appendix A of the report be agreed; and

(ii) the application of the allocation held for rural schemes be delegated to the Leader.

Following the Cabinet decision on the 13 November 2017 regarding Members consent to the provision of future temporary accommodation being located in High Wycombe Town Centre, a planning application for the proposed scheme on Desborough Road had been granted permission.

Cabinet recalled that the current provision at Saunderton Lodge remained an ageing building with small, non-standard units, in an isolated location, with high continuous maintenance costs. Members emphasised the importance of ensuring that the scheme progressed in order to contribute towards the national housing shortage. Cabinet approval was sought to delegate authority to enter into contractual agreements with the principle contractor, when appointed.

The Cabinet Member commented that the Council was fortunate to have such expertise, vision and knowledge within its workforce to bring such a scheme forward and thanked officers for all their hard work. This was supported by the whole of Cabinet. Cabinet also expressed their thanks to the Cabinet Members that had been involved for their continued hard work in bringing the scheme to fruition.

The following decisions were made to enable the Council to enter into contractual agreement and achieve a meaningful start on site in 2019.

RESOLVED: That further to the Cabinet approval in November 2017 in which the Council decidedthat the project funds as relevant to the town centre option selected by Cabinet be approved,that:

 (i) a construction contract for no more than £7.5m be entered into to complete the scheme granted planning permission on the 24 April 2019; and

(ii) delegated authority be granted to the Corporate Director (Growth and Regeneration), in consultation with the Head of Finance and Commercial, the Cabinet Member for Economic Growth & Regeneration, and the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources to enter into the construction contract.

RESOLVED: That pursuant to Regulation 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Minute Nos 9 to 12, because of their reference to matters which contain exempt information as defined as follows:

Minute 9 Provisional Outturn Report for year ending 31 March 19 – Appendices C1 to C4

Minute 11 Proposed Acquisition of land at Little Marlow

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) (Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, Local Government Act 1972)

(The need to maintain the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure, because disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in any future tender process or negotiations)

Minute 12 - File on Action taken under Exempt Delegated  Powers

  Economic Development & Regeneration sheet nos: EDR/10/19 - EDR/26/19

Environment sheet no: E/2/19

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) (Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, Local Government Act 1972)

(The need to maintain the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure, because disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in any future tender process or negotiations)

Cabinet considered a report on the provisional outturn for 2018/19 which included the General Fund, Repairs and Renewal Fund and the Capital Programme, together with the potential Efficiency Plan Savings.

The report before Cabinet set out an analysis of the key issues from the 2018/19 financial outturn, with detailed breakdowns of spend and movements which were set out in the appendices of the report. 

Cabinet expressed their thanks to the Cabinet Member for Finance, and the Head of Finance and his team, for all their hard work on the outturn report.

The following recommendation and decisions were made as the Cabinet approved a budget each year within the context of a Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) to achieve the Council’s priorities.

Recommended: That the new legal services expenditure budget of £675,000, and the new legal services recovery income budget of £675,000 be agreed. Net change in budget requirement was Zero, (full details were included in Appendix D of the Cabinet report).

RESOLVED: That (i) the provisional outturn position for both Revenue and Capital for 2018/19 be noted;

(ii)    the movement in Reserves and Carry Forwards as set out in paragraph 2.4.2.3 and 2.4.2.4 respectively of the report be approved;

(iii)   the net surplus of £2k transferred to General Reserves as set out in paragraph 2.5 of the report be approved;

(iv)   the carry forwards and advance funding on the Capital programme outlined in paragraph 3.2 and set out in Appendices C1 and C2 of the report be approved; and

(v)    the virement for Capital schemes detailed in paragraph 3.2.6 of the report be approved.

Cabinet received the following files on actions taken under delegated powers:

Community                                                           C/10/19 – C/13/19

Digital Development & Customer Services            DDCS/01/19

Finance                                                                  F/06/19

Leader                                                                 L/03/19 – L/07/19

Planning & Sustainability                                       PS/04/19 – PS/11/19

Cabinet approval was sought to acquire the freehold interest in land at Little Marlow.

It was noted that the report was being presented to the Shadow Executive on 23 July and it was suggested that the Shadow Executive should have a site visit to assess the site. It was agreed that the Corporate Director would take this forward.

The following decisions were made to approve the release of Major Projects Strategic Land allocation in the Capital Programme to fund the proposed acquisition.

RESOLVED: That (i) the freehold interest in land at Little Marlow (lots 1 and 2 as set out in confidential Appendix B of the report) be acquired for the sum set out in section 6 of the report, detailed terms to be agreed in accordance with paragraph (ii) below;

(ii)    delegated authority be granted to the Major Projects Executive to agree detailed terms of the acquisition in consultation with the Interim Corporate Director, the Head of Finance, the District Solicitor and their respective Cabinet Members, SUBJECT TO the Head of Finance being satisfied the contamination can be remediated in accordance with the budget set out at Paragraph 27of the report; and

(iii)   the acquisition be referred to the Shadow Executive in accordance with the spend protocol agreed by the Council in respect of transition to Unitary Council.

Cabinet received the following files on exempt actions taken under delegated

powers:

Economic Development & Regeneration Sheet Nos: EDR/10/19 – EDR/26/1        

Environment Sheet No: E/2/19