Agenda and minutes
PDF 125 KBVenue: Council Chamber - South Kesteven House, St. Peter's Hill, Grantham. NG31 6PZ
Contact: Democratic Services
Note: Decision implemented date (provided no call-in) - 8 November 2022.
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Register of attendance and apologies for absence
Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, Mark Whittington and Linda Wootten.
The Leader of the Council provided a brief introduction to the meeting, and highlighted the following events:
· The pre-election period, or ‘purdah’ for the by-elections in Bourne East and Grantham St. Wulfram’s wards taking place on 10 November 2022 had commenced. · The Council received a ‘Highly Commended’ award at the 2022 Brownfield Awards for the St. Martin’s Park development, Stamford. · Work had commenced on the move to the new office space for Council staff. · Grantham had been nominated for an international regeneration award at the 2023 Urbanism Awards. · The work of Council staff in terms of Covid support and recovery had been shortlisted at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Local Government Awards. · The Peer Review Panel had visited the Council for their six-month review, and the final report was awaited. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting
Minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2022. Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 September 2022 were confirmed as a correct record. |
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Disclosure of Interests
Minutes: There were no declarations of interests at this stage of the meeting. |
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Remediation works for St Martin's Park, Stamford
Minutes: Purpose of report
Decision
That Cabinet:
1. Notes the update regarding the project. 2. Recommends to Full Council the budget of £192,630.23, to be met from the regeneration reserve, for the additional expenditure incurred in the contract with GF Tomlinson for the demolition. Authority to be delegated to the S151 Officer in consultation with the Leader of the Council to pay for the additional works above the original £1.303m. 3. Notes that Members will receive a subsequent report on the remediation costs once the strategy has been finalised and will seek approval for the budget for those works at Full Council.
Alternative options considered and rejected To not pay GF Tomlinson for these additional items – this would be a breach of contract.
Reason for decision
The Council was obligated to demolish and remediate its part of the site at the St. Martin’s Park to enable the delivery of housing, a retirement village and commercial space.
The construction contract was reviewed at the Finance, Economic Development and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny (FEDCO) meeting held on 27 September 2022. It was highlighted that there were no contingency monies in the original contract. There had been additional unforeseen works which were included in the report before members; these needed to be addressed before completing the sales contract with the developer.
The following points were raised during discussion:
· The situation with the 1904 building on site at St. Martin’s Park was discussed at length at FEDCO at its meeting on 27 September. It was the oldest building on the site, and it had originally been hoped that the building could be retained. However, following demolition works of the pre-fabricated block attached to the 1904 building, it had become apparent that the structural integrity of the 1904 building had been compromised. Therefore, it would need to be demolished as the costs of retaining the building in its current form would be prohibitive. · The Council would ensure that the developers of the site recreated the 1904 building in as close a form as possible to the original layout and look. · The St. Martin’s Park development was an excellent initiative within the Council’s property portfolio. · The project was ‘on-track’ in terms of timescales and there were ongoing positive relations with Burghley Estates, the development partners. · The aim of the development project was to look for a return on capital, whilst providing wider benefits in terms of economic growth for the south of the district. It would provide 180 homes of good quality.
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Housing Compensation Policy
In common with all social landlords, the Council is obliged in some circumstances to make payments to tenants or leaseholders to compensate them for loss or inconvenience. The Housing Compensation Policy is intended to provide clarity of the circumstances, both discretionary and statutory, where it is appropriate such payments will be made. Additional documents: Minutes: It was AGREED by Cabinet that the Housing Compensation Policy would be deferred until the 8 November 2022 meeting of Cabinet, due to there being some missing information in Appendix One of the report. |
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Housing Recharge Policy
The Council is required, as a social landlord, to incur costs that arise from works which are normally the responsibility of the tenant, including repair of damage, pest control, and property cleans and clearances. The Housing Recharge Policy seeks to define the circumstances where such recharges are appropriate and make clear the Council’s intention to recover such costs. Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
The Council was required, as a social landlord, to incur costs that arose from works which were normally the responsibility of the tenant, including repair of damage, pest control, and property cleans and clearances. The Housing Recharge Policy sought to define the circumstances where such recharges were appropriate and make clear the Council’s intention to recover such costs.
Decision
That Cabinet:
1. Notes the content of the report.
2. Approves the Housing Recharge Policy, with the addition of the line “the case will be made at Head of Service level and above” at 6.7 of the policy.
3. Delegates to the Director of Housing and Property authority to make minor amendments to the Housing Recharge Policy as required by changes to regulation or legislation.
Alternative options considered and rejected
Doing nothing would leave the Council without a recharge policy in place. This was not recommended due to the risk of high costs to the Council if work was undertaken and not re-charged.
Reasons for decision
The Recharge Policy clearly sets out when a recharge would and would not be made and reduced the risk of a high cost of works not recouped in line with the tenant’s responsibilities.
The policy covered works that were not within the Council’s responsibility as a landlord, and were consistent with the tenancy agreement. An example of a breach of this policy would be damage by the tenant, to the property.
The policy would allow the Council to recover costs from damage to the property. In cases such as this, a pre-inspection would take place in order to give vacating tenants as much notice of potential costs as possible.
There would be certain circumstances in which a recharge would not be appropriate, for example:
· Where the tenant was a victim of domestic abuse, and the property damage was made by the perpetrator. · Consideration of vulnerabilities, including mental health issues, would also be considered prior to the recovery of recharges.
The current recharge policy was not deemed fit for purpose.
The following points were noted during discussion:
· Employment Committee would be tasked with receiving the training plan for staff on use of the policy, in partnership with officers. · The consultation for the policy was communicated to tenants through social media and Council communications channels. It had been ‘live’ for two weeks, the same time period as the Housing Compensation Policy. However, officers were also mindful of those tenants who did not use technology, and the policy was, and would be, shared through sheltered housing scheme meetings that the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property attended. · The Leader of the Council agreed to look at all consultations publicised by the Council to ensure that everything possible was in place for residents to contribute to these matters. · All Council properties met the Housing Service Void Policy and Re-let Standard, as approved by Cabinet in January 2022, when they were re-let to tenants. There may be some follow-on works identified by the tenant; however, the Council ... view the full minutes text for item 45. |
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Local Development Scheme for the Local Plan
To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Planning Policy seeking approval of a revision to the timetable associated with the Local Development Scheme (LDS).
Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Planning Policy seeking approval of a revision to the timetable associated with the Local Development Scheme.
Decision
That Cabinet approves the proposals for the revised Local Development Scheme 2022-2025.
Alternative options considered and rejected
The alternative of not reviewing the Local Development Scheme had been discounted, as failing to keep the Local Development Scheme up to date would contravene the statutory requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Planning Act 2004 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011) and Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 12.
Reasons for decision
The reason for the recommendation was to ensure that the Council was providing an up-to-date position and an accurate timeline for the production of the Local Development Scheme. This way the Council would be acting in accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended).
It was important to establish and maintain a robust timetable for the Local Plan review. Supporting the continuity of the planning function in South Kesteven would aid the recovery of the local economy and the economic resilience of the district by providing greater certainty and confidence for future investment and development.
The Council had a legal duty to ensure the Local Development Scheme was kept up to date. As the current Scheme was out of date, it was necessary to update it to reflect the changes. This was important because the local community, and others with an interest in the district, needed to be aware of the timetable.
Several factors had contributed to the published Local Plan timetable becoming out of date. It was worth noting that several Local Authorities had delayed their local plans pending the publication of new legislation.
More recently, there had been a delay in the consultants working on some of the evidence base, pending the publication of the most recent census data in July 2022. Work could have progressed using the previous evidence base, however that would have potentially resulted in abortive work or evidence that was already out of date.
Following the adoption of the South Kesteven Local Plan in January 2020, the Council embarked on a Local Plan review which addressed South Kesteven’s development need until 2041. This review was originally due to be submitted to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities by December 2023; however, submission was now expected by March 2024. There were risks associated with this delay, but they were considered minor.
The Council was obligated to keep the Local Development Scheme up to date; the Council had reviewed the Scheme to make sure that the new Local Plan was realistic.
Public consultation on the draft South Kesteven Local Plan was expected to commence in early 2023.
Following publication of the Scheme, the Council would notify the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. All Town and Parish Councils would also be notified.
The following points were noted during discussion: ... view the full minutes text for item 46. |
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Key and Non-Key Decisions taken under Delegated Powers
This report provides an overview of decisions taken by individual Cabinet Members since the last meeting of the Cabinet on 22 September 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet noted Key and Non-Key Decisions taken under delegated powers since the previous meeting, as set out in the report. |
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Cabinet's Forward Plan
This report highlights matters on the Cabinet’s Forward Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet noted its Forward Plan.
It was noted that the deferred item from today’s proceedings would be added to the Forward Plan for November.
Meeting closed at 2:30pm. |