Agenda and minutes
PDF 126 KBVenue: Council Chamber - South Kesteven House, St. Peter's Hill, Grantham. NG31 6PZ
Contact: Democratic Services
Note: Decision implemented date (provided no call-in) - 24 November 2022.
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Register of attendance and apologies for absence
Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Annie Mason and Councillor Nick Robins.
The Leader of the Council welcomed everyone to this meeting of Cabinet and took the opportunity to thank the South Kesteven District Council officers who were involved in the by-elections being held on 10 November in Grantham St.Wulfram’s and Bourne East wards. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting
Minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 October 2022 were confirmed as a correct record.
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Disclosure of Interests
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interests. |
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Statement of Licensing Principles 2023-2026
The Council is required to review its Gambling Statement of Principles every 3 years. This report presents the draft Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 for comment and the feedback from the required consultation. Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
The Council was required to review its Gambling Statement of Principles every 3 years. This report presented the draft Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 for comment alongside the feedback from the required consultation.
Decision
That Cabinet:
1. Notes the proposed updates to the Gambling Statement of Principles and consultation feedback.
2. Recommends, with the amended text at Appendix One of the report, that the revised South Kesteven District Council Gambling Statement of Principles 2023-2026 is suitable to be presented to Full Council for adoption.
Alternative options considered and rejected
Failure to undertake a review of the Statement would have meant that this aspect of the Licensing Authority’s operation was not compliant with legislative requirements.
Reason for decision
The development of the revised Statement had been overseen by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on 11 October, with the involvement of the Licensing Committee. Public consultation had demonstrated support for the revised document. This decision would ensure that that the Council met its obligations under Section 349 of the Gambling Act to review the Statement every 3 years.
The Council issued a range of permits to authorise gambling facilities across the district. The current Statement of Principles dated from 2020; the Gambling Act required local authorities to prepare an updated Statement of Principles every three years.
The Statement set out the general approach that the Council would take with regard to its regulatory role within the Gambling Act. This included adhering to the three objectives of the Gambling Act, which were:
Updates had been made to the Statement in order to reflect the current local profile and guidance whilst ensuring it was fit for purpose. The draft Statement, with revisions was included as Appendix One to the report. Appendix Two to the report outlined the changes to the Statement in more detail.
A statutory consultation took place from August 2022 and garnered thirteen responses. The feedback from this consultation was included at Appendix Four.
The agreed amendment to the draft statement was as follows:
‘Social responsibility code provisions - Provisions describing arrangements which should be made by persons providing facilities for gambling for the purpose of - (a) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way. (b) protecting children and other vulnerable persons form being harmed or exploited by gambling; and; (c) making assistance available to persons who are or may be affected by problems related to gambling. Compliance with these is a condition of operator licences; therefore, any breach of them by a licensed operator may lead the Commission to review the operator’s licence with a view to suspension, revocation or the imposition of a financial penalty and would also expose the operator to ... view the full minutes text for item 52. |
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Housing Compensation Policy
Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
In common with all social landlords, the Council was obliged in some circumstances to make payments to tenants or leaseholders to compensate them for loss or inconvenience. The Housing Compensation Policy was intended to provide clarity of the circumstances, both discretionary and statutory, where it was appropriate that such payments be made.
Decision
That Cabinet:
1. Notes the content of the report.
2. Approves the Housing Compensation Policy.
3. Delegates authority to the Director of Housing and Property, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property, to make minor amendments to the Housing Compensation Policy as required by changes to regulation or legislation.
Alternative options considered and rejected
Doing nothing would leave the Council without a compensation policy in place. This had not been recommended due to the risk of non-compliance with statutory obligations; it also increased the likelihood of a service failure becoming a formal complaint.
Approving and implementing the Housing Compensation Policy was the preferred option, as the policy provided clear guidance on the Council’s arrangements for the payment of compensation.
Reason for decision
The Housing Compensation Policy provided clear guidance and consistency:
• on the payment of statutory compensation • on situations where the payment of discretionary compensation was appropriate • by reducing the likelihood of a challenge through the courts and the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) • by recognising the Council’s commitment to putting things right where there was a service failure.
The Policy also outlined which claims could not be considered for compensation; for example those claims for personal injury, for damage caused by circumstances beyond the Council’s control, issues caused by a third party not working for the Council, and problems resulting from a failure of the tenant to act reasonably.
Compensation could take the form of money, or work to repair damage, for example, repairs needed due to flooding. Compensation payments by the Council for service failure, loss and disrepair had increased in 2021/22 compared to the figures seen in 2020/21.
The Cabinet Member for Housing and Property highlighted that there had been an error when drafting the Policy. Due to best practice being followed from North Northamptonshire Council, their name had mistakenly appeared within the draft policy. This would require correction to clarify that South Kesteven District Council were the owners of the Policy.
Cabinet Members thanked the Housing team, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property, and other officers involved with the Policy for their work in bringing this report to Cabinet. |
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Housing Services Domestic Abuse Policy
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 has introduced a new statutory definition of domestic abuse, which legally requires Council’s to implement it as part of their strategic housing responsibilities. The draft Domestic Abuse Policy sets out how the Council will respond to reports of domestic abuse, including both as a landlord and when people approach as homeless and for housing advice. Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced a new statutory definition of domestic abuse, which legally required Councils to implement it as part of their strategic housing responsibilities. The draft Domestic Abuse Policy set out how the Council would respond to reports of domestic abuse, including both as a landlord and when people approach as homeless and for housing advice.
Decision
That Cabinet:
1. Notes the content of the report, the consultation responses and Equality Impact Assessment.
2. Approves the Domestic Abuse Policy.
3. Delegates authority to the Director of Housing and Property, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Property to make minor amendments to the Domestic Abuse Policy as needed by changes to regulation or legislation.
Alternative options considered and rejected
Not implementing the new policy and instead operating within the framework of the Lincolnshire Preventing Domestic Abuse Strategy 2021 – 2024 and the Council’s Safeguarding Policy – this was rejected.
Reason for decision
Implementing a new Housing Services Domestic Abuse Policy would set out how the Council would meet their statutory responsibilities to their tenants, members of their household and people approaching for housing advice and homelessness assistance if they were affected by domestic abuse.
The Council would respond to reports of domestic abuse both as a landlord and within their remit as a housing provider. The Policy would ensure that the Council took steps to ensure support for any individuals suffering domestic abuse.
The Policy would assist the Council to meet the aims within the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership. This was the single multi–agency forum for addressing community safety issues across Lincolnshire. Within the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership there was a Core Priority Group focusing specifically on domestic abuse.
Funding for domestic abuse support work had been sourced and these practices would form part of daily business for teams going forward.
The Council was committed to the white ribbon campaign which would take place on 25 November 2022, coinciding with 16 days of action against domestic violence. On adoption of the policy the Council intended to deliver training via the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) to upskill all front-line staff.
The following points were raised during discussion:
· This policy supported two Corporate Plan priorities and would become ‘business as usual’ work of the Council. · Domestic abuse affected all members of society including children. Anyone who was the victim of domestic abuse should reach out to the Council or the Police. · The Policy was available in other languages. · Domestic abuse cases rose during the pandemic, and 6% of all victims were men. · Staff would be upskilled to enable them to become ‘Domestic Abuse Champions’. This was industry best practice across Housing Services. |
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Contract Award in Relation to Social Landlord Services
Following a fully compliant procurement process, the Council is now in a position to award a contract for the surveying and analytical services in relation to Asbestos within the council’s housing stock. This report seeks Cabinet approval to award the contract to the successful contractors. Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
Following a fully compliant procurement process, the Council was now in a position to award a contract for the surveying and analytical services in relation to asbestos within the Council’s housing stock. This report sought Cabinet approval to award the contract to the successful contractor.
Decision
That Cabinet approves the Council entering into a contract for Asbestos Surveying and Analytical services with Tersus.
Alternative options considered and rejected
Continuing with the current contractor was not recommended as there were no contract extension options and asbestos management was a key housing compliance theme.
Reason for decision
A fully compliant procurement process had resulted in the identification of a supplier that met the Council’s requirements.
The report outlined a key contract which enabled the Council to fulfil its regulatory duty to its tenanted properties.
There had been a compliant procurement process behind the award of the contract, started in the summer of 2022, through the Fusion 21 framework.
The report met the Corporate Priority of ‘Housing that meets the needs of all residents’.
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Grantham Park Tennis Courts
To support a new generation of tennis players at grass roots level and revive public use, the purpose of this report is to ensure tennis court provision is available at Wyndham Park in Grantham, with agreement to call upon Grantham’s Special Expense Area to set aside money to cover gate maintenance and a three-year sinking fund.
Additional documents: Minutes: Purpose of report
To ensure that a tennis court provision was available at Wyndham Park in Grantham, which in turn would support a new generation of tennis players at grass roots level. This was supported by the agreement to call upon Grantham’s Special Expense Area to set aside money to cover gate maintenance and a three-year sinking fund. It was recommended that refurbishment of the tennis court at Dysart Park was subject to consideration by Cabinet at a future meeting.
Decision
That Cabinet:
1. Provides delegated authority to the Director of Growth and Culture to enter into a 15-year leasehold agreement with Grantham Tennis Club in relation to the two tennis courts at Wyndham Park Grantham.
2. Provides delegated authority to the S151 Officer to accept the offer of 100% grant funding, in the sum of approximately £57,000, from the Lawn Tennis Association to refurbish the two tennis courts in Wyndham Park Grantham.
3. Provides delegated authority to the S151 Officer to utilise money from the Grantham Special Expense Area to cover the sinking fund and gate maintenance costs for a three-year period amounting to £8,428.
4. Requests a review after twelve months from completion of the refurbishment at Wyndham Park Grantham, before proceeding into an agreement to refurbish the one tennis court in Dysart Park Grantham should match funding be made available.
Alternative options considered and rejected
The Council could have provided the capital investment to undertake remedial work to the courts and continue to manage them as part of the parks service. However, given the current financial challenges the Council was facing, the opportunity to attract grant funding, and work in partnership with Grantham Tennis Club, was fiscally more prudent.
If no investment had been made into the two tennis courts in Wyndham Park, it may have been necessary to take these out of use in the near future. A removal of community facilities would have a reputational impact on the Council. It was for this reason that the ‘do nothing’ option had been discounted.
Reason for decision
The two tennis courts in Wyndham Park were coming towards the end of their operational life and could pose a health and safety risk soon if they were not refurbished. The refurbishment works identified represented a significant improvement and would provide enhanced opportunities for local residents and visitors which aligned with the Council’s Sport and Physical Activity Strategy (2021-2026). It was also a key requirement in the Council’s investment plan to improve parks and open spaces.
In order to access the funding proposed from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), it would be necessary to enter a leasehold arrangement for the two tennis courts in Wyndham Park with Grantham Tennis Club.
The proposal from the LTA to fully fund the refurbishment investment required for the two courts at Wyndham Park as part of a phased approach would provide much needed investment for the two courts most in need of renewal. The funding provided by the LTA would help with the upgrade ... view the full minutes text for item 56. |
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Cabinet's Forward Plan
Report of The Leader of the Council. Additional documents: Minutes: Cabinet noted its Forward Plan.
Meeting closed at 2:29pm.
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