BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL STRATEGY COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STRATEGY COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON THURSDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2006

PRESENT: Mr N A Ridley – Chairman

Mr D J Read and Mr L H Young were unable to be present.

116 SUBSTITUTES

It was noted that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 5, substitutes were in attendance as follows:-

Mrs E F Bates (substituting for Mr D J Read)
Mr P Jones (substituting for Mr L H Young)

117 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Mr C M Spence declared a personal interest in various items on the Agenda including the Budget (Minute No. 125) by virtue of his membership of Suffolk County Council.

Mr N A Bennett declared a personal interest in the Budget (Minute No.125) by virtue of his membership of Sudbury Town Council.

Mr C M Spence subsequently declared a prejudicial interest in Minute No. 128 – Disposal of Council Owned Land for the Provision of Affordable Housing – by virtue of a family connection with a tenant and was not present during consideration of this item.

118 MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2006 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

119 PETITIONS

None received.

120 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

None received.

121 ISSUES ARISING FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEES (OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY RULES 33 AND 34)

None received.

122 WORK PLAN

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted a report (Paper E272) on items identified for future meetings of the Strategy Committee. Members were aware that the Work Plan is subject to on-going updates, but in response to a specific question, the Chief Executive confirmed that reports relating to the ODPM suggestions for the reorganisation of local government would be included as appropriate.

RESOLVED

That the Work Plan set out in Paper E272 be noted.

123 THE FUTURE OF HADLEIGH SWIMMING POOL, EAST HOUSE AND LAND ADJACENT TO BRETT WORKS, HADLEIGH

Mike Hammond, Corporate Director, presented Paper E275R asking the Committee to consider various options for the future of Hadleigh Swimming Pool, East House and land adjacent to Brett Works, Hadleigh. Prior to Mr Hammond’s presentation the Chairman of the Committee clarified the proposed position on the recommendations in Paragraph 2 of the report which was that they should be made to the Council meeting on 23 February. A Schedule updating the situation on the relocation of Community Groups as referred to in paragraph 4.20 of Paper E275R was circulated to Members at the meeting, together with verbal updates from officers on the current position. Mike Hammond in the course of his presentation emphasised that Options (a) and (b) under Recommendation 2.3 were not mutually exclusive.

During the course of a wide-ranging discussion on various issues raised by Members through their consideration of Paper E275R, a motion was proposed to grant short-term lettings to existing users for a period of one year with the possibility that the property might be transferred to a Hadleigh Charity. The motion was not seconded.

The recommendations in paragraph 2 of Paper E275R were subsequently proposed and seconded and before the vote was taken, the following modifications were made to the wording:-

2.3(a) – inclusion of words ‘towards the provision of facilities within Hadleigh’ after – ‘generate a capital receipt’ and the replacement of ‘or’ between 2.3(a) and 2.3(b) with the word ‘and’.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

(1) That the Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services be authorised to commence negotiations for the sale of land providing access to the proposed superstore site at Brett Works, Hadleigh.

(2) That Babergh continues to seek to persuade Hadleigh Town Council to jointly negotiate the sale of land in our ownerships which provides access to the proposed superstore site at Brett Works, Hadleigh, in order to jointly maximise the value of our land holdings.

(3) That, following the decision of Suffolk County Council that it can no longer support the community groups by the provision of accommodation at East House, Hadleigh, the Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services be authorised to:

(a) market and sell the unencumbered freehold interest with vacant possession in East House, Hadleigh, in order to generate a capital receipt towards the provision of facilities within Hadleigh; in accordance with terms approved by the Council’s Valuer; and

(b) grant a short term letting for the use of East House, Hadleigh, by community groups, which currently use the building in order that they have additional time to secure alternative accommodation upon such terms as approved by the Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services. Any such short-term letting to be on the basis of:

• no additional costs of maintaining and owning the building to fall upon Babergh
• at the expiry
of the letting Babergh is able to secure vacant possession of the building.

(4) That the timing and details of a feasibility study, at an estimated cost of £30,000, for a new Hadleigh Swimming Pool be triggered by Strategy Committee when and if progress is made upon generating the capital receipts referred to above.

124 2006/07 CORPORATE PLAN

The Corporate Support Manager submitted a report (Paper E273). Members were asked to approve the Corporate Plan which was attached to the report as Appendix A and which had been updated after reference to the various exercises and processes referred to in paragraph 4 and taking into account the views of the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee at its meeting on 31 January. The Corporate Support Manager then updated Members on the deliberations of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee at its meeting on 7 February, and Members accepted the comment of that Committee to emphasise sustainability when addressing the 2007-2011 Plan. Members suggested some minor wordings to the text on pages 14 and 24 of Appendix 1, which were incorporated within the recommendation.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

(1) That the 2006/07 Corporate Plan attached as Appendix 1 to Paper E274 be approved subject to amendments to cover the following:-

Page 14

Babergh East LSP – 1^st bullet point - replace ‘likely’ with ‘possible’

Hadleigh Swimming Pool – to read ‘The Babergh East LSP will continue to maintain an overview for the provision of a new Hadleigh swimming pool’

Haven Gateway Partnership – to read ‘The Babergh East LSP is working with the Haven Gateway Partnership to investigate…..’

Page 24 –
Private Sector Housing – 3^rd bullet point to read [we] ‘Have removed the 50% council tax discount on long term empty properties and reduced that on second homes to the statutory minimum…’

(2) That the Corporate Support Manager be authorised to make any further minor amendments to the Performance Management information within the Corporate Plan.

125 BUDGET 2006/07

Members had before them the report of Geoff Kistner, Corporate Director (Paper E274), regarding the General Fund Budget and level of Council Tax, which had been the subject of consultation and scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committees on 31 January and 7 February. Members also had before them Papers E238 and E239 together with Papers E280 and E274A which had been circulated prior to the discussion on this item.

Geoff Kistner explained that Paper E274A summarised some additional information and reflected the views of the two Overview and Scrutiny Committees on the Budget together with the views of the Procurement Task Group on the Leisure Trust Funding (Paper E280 also refers) and the Government’s Final Grant Settlement with a marginal increase on the provisional announcement in December. Mr Kistner confirmed that both Overview and Scrutiny Committees were in agreement with a 2.7% increase in Council Tax although they differed slightly on some of the items listed in paragraph 2.2 of Paper E274A. These items were then considered by Members in the light of the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees. The decisions reached resulted in an agreement to increase the amount to be taken from reserves by the total sum of £10,300 referred to in paragraph 3.1 of Paper E274A.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

(1) That a Council Tax increase of 2.7% be approved with £10,300 more being taken from the General Fund reserves to reflect the following amendments to the draft budget as set out below:-

(2) That the revised charges, as set out on pages 49 – 55 of the draft budget attached to  report E239, be implemented with effect from 1 April 2006.

(3) That the Council Housing budget attached to report E238  on 12 January be approved.

(4) That the weekly rents for Council dwellings and compulsory let garages be increased on average by 5.0% and in accordance with rent restructuring requirements with effect from Monday, 17 April 2006.

(5) That the revised Council Housing charges, which are set out in Appendix B of report E238, are implemented with effect from Monday, 17 April 2006.

(6) That the amendments to the staffing establishment set out in paragraph 4.7 of report E274 be approved.

(7) That the prudential indicators for capital finance and treasury management set out in Appendix 3 of report E274 be approved.

(8) Where expenditure is included within the approved budget, the S151 officer, be empowered to:-

- Vary the timing of revenue and capital payments from the current financial year to 2006/07 or vice versa in accordance with Financial Regulations and Council resolutions.

- Vary the method of financing capital schemes, if he is satisfied that it is in the financial interest of the Council to do so.

RESOLVED

That an increase in Capital Grant to the Leisure Trust of £20,000 in 2005/06 be funded from savings in Private Sector Renewal Grants.

126 STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT FOR BABERGH LOCAL PLAN DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

The Acting Head of Planning Policy and Economic Development submitted a report (Paper E276) requesting Committee approval to the next stage of the process for approving the Statement of Community Involvement. Members were aware that following the further round of public consultation any further responses received would be reported back to the Committee prior to the Council being recommended to adopt the final version of the SCI.

RESOLVED

(1) That the results of the Regulations 26/27 Consultation Exercise be noted and that the draft Statement of Community Involvement appended to Paper E276 be revised in the light of the responses received as set out in the report.

(2) That the revised draft Statement of Community Involvement referred to in (1) above be approved for submission to the Secretary of State and that a further period of public consultation take place for the statutory six weeks, anticipated to be during February and March 2006 (as required under Regulations 28/29 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2004.

127 CONSIDERATION OF POLICY STATEMENT AND COPORATE GUIDANCE IN RELATION TO THE REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT 2000

The Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted a report (Paper E277) asking the Committee to recommend the Council to adopt the Guidance and Policy Statement which was attached as Appendix A to the report.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

(1) That the guidance on authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and associated Policy Statement (Appendix A to Paper E277) be adopted.

(2) That the RIPA Working Group carry out an annual review of the Clients and Policy Statement in response to the operational needs of the organisation.

At this point in the meeting the Committee adjourned for lunch at 12.55 pm and resumed at 1.40 pm when the following Members were present:

Mr N A Ridley – Chairman

128 APPROVAL TO DISPOSE OF COUNCIL OWNED LAND FOR THE PROVISION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Members had before them Paper E111 previously circulated detailing in Appendix 1 the Affordable Housing Programme approved by the Council on 18 October 2005, together with a list circulated at the meeting indicating the sites in Council ownership.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

That the Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services be authorised to dispose on appropriate terms and conditions of all Council owned property detailed in the affordable housing programme approved by the Council on 18 October 2005.

129 SHOP LEASES AT POPLAR ROAD, GREAT CORNARD

The Head of Housing referred to the Strategy Committee’s previous decision to approve the disposal of the Poplar Road site to Flagship Housing Group for the development of a mixed scheme consisting of affordable homes, shops and a community facility. He reported that from the Group’s negotiations with the Shopkeepers, it appears that at least two of them may be willing to surrender their Leases early. It was considered that this would enable Flagship Housing Group to complete its negotiations with the Shopkeepers and for the redevelopment of the site to be expedited. In order to accommodate this, authority was sought for appropriate delegation to accept early surrender.

RESOLVED

That the Acting Head of Legal and Administrative Services in consultation with the Housing Panel be authorised to enter into all necessary agreements concerning early surrender of Leases or any other matters relating to the Leases which will enable Flapship Housing Group to complete its negotiations with the Shopkeepers.

130 REPORTS FROM MEMBERS

(a) SPARSE

Members had before them Paper E278 from the Member Representative on SPARSE (Richard Kemp) drawing Members’ attention to various items considered by SPARSE, including the Sustainable Communities Bill. Members noted that Mr Kemp had asked for a resolution in support of this Bill and, on the basis that the Bill acknowledges the problems of rural areas and if passed would help to address those problems, Members were minded to give their support.

RESOLVED

That SPARSE be advised that on the basis that the Sustainable Communities Bill acknowledges the problems of rural areas and if passed would help to address those problems, Babergh District Council expresses its support for the Bill.

(b) EERA

The January 2006 Bulletin was circulated to Members on behalf of Peter Jones, the Council’s representative on EERA.

Note: The meeting adjourned between 10.45 a.m. and 11.10 a.m. for refreshments and 12.55 pm and 1.40 pm for lunch.

The business of the meeting was concluded at 2.00 p.m.

Chairman