Agenda and minutes

For information, disclosable pecuniary interests and registrable interests relate to entries that are included, or should be included,  on a councillor’s register of interests. Non-registrable interests relate to any other matters.

Disclosures were made as follows:

(i)            by Councillor A. Gray – interests in respect of item 6 on the agenda (Charnwood Grants) as a trustee of The Arc and having had some involvement with the African Oasis project.  Noted that Councillor Gray abstained from voting on this item;

(ii)          by Councillor Miah – an interest in respect of item 10 on the agenda (Local Plan) as a member of Leicestershire County Council.

No announcements were made.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1st June 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

The deadline for questions is noon on Monday, 3rd July 2023.

A.      Councillor Bokor  – Corporate Plan

“As the new Labour/Green alliance are aware, their election manifesto promises have to form the basis of a new Corporate Plan & associated Service Delivery Plans, which have to deliverable, affordable & timely over the next 4 years. This is what Administrations are judged on. When can we expect the new Corporate Plan to be published with proposed actions and timescales?”

The following response had been published prior to the meeting:

The Corporate Strategy will follow the usual 4 year process, therefore a new Strategy will be developed for publication in April 2024 – this will cover the period 2024-2028.

The Strategy will be presented to Cabinet on the 11th January 2024 and Full Council on the 26th February 2024.

Councillor Bokor asked a supplementary question/made a statement as follows:

“Councillor Miah pledges in his interview in the Echo on the 7th of June that he will cap any rise in Council Tax to 3% and he also pledges not to use reserves, after criticising the Conservatives for doing so during the extensive costs of the Covid pandemic. That is what reserves are for, to survive during a crisis.

However, his manifesto also commits him to expensive objectives which he seems to believe can somehow be achieved just through unspecified cost savings. For instance, Councillor Miah proposes to streamline Charnwood’s Housing Service, but how will he do that? He also has a manifesto commitment to scrap choice-based letting housing system but fails to say with what he will replace it with and he also intends to build more council houses over the next four years. On what land and with what pot of money?

Labour also promised other expensive spending commitments in their manifesto. These include amongst many: more money in community grants; funding a residents’ energy efficiency scheme; providing direct help to people struggling with energy bills (and I underline “direct help”); freezing bin garden charges; ending void council properties; investing in solar and wind power on council property; providing car-charging points in all council car parks and so on and so on. I believe Labour and their Green allies have taken control of Charnwood based on unrealistic promises to the electorate. All I can see now is an ever increasing need to raise Council Tax beyond 3%, especially in Loughborough, and the extensive use of our limited reserves, until there is nothing left.

So, can the Chief Executive via the Leader please confirm that we have or will have the money to deliver all these promises without using reserves or increasing Council Tax? And how will this be achieved? Will it be by service reductions and/or staff reductions? And, has any of the Manifesto promises been costed out yet?”

The Leader thanked Councillor Bokor for her supplementary question/ statement, stating that he had taken note of what she had said and would respond back accordingly.

B.      Councillor Snartt – Local Plan

“The responses from the Conservative position statement agenda item 8.1 Council meeting 19th  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

A report of the Director Housing and Wellbeing.

Key Decision

Considered, a report of the Director Housing and Wellbeing to consider applications received for funding in round one of the Community Facilities and Community Grants programme for 2023/24 (item 6 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

RESOLVED

1.         that the following Community Facilities Grants be awarded:

•           £3,409 to Anstey St Mary’s Parochial Church Council towards church rooms roof and heating refurbishment;

•        £2,500 to Barrow upon Soar Community Association towards ramp and railings for Library to comply with DDA regulations;

•        £8,700 to Burton on the Wolds Village Hall Renovations towards installation of new toilets and kitchen;

•           £5,000 Loughborough Lawn Tennis Club towards improving disability access;

•           £1,750 to Newtown Linford Tennis Club towards improving disability access;

•           £7,500 to South Croxton Village Hall towards improving community facility accessibility;

2.         that the following Community Grants be awarded:

•           £2,000 to St Mary’s Grub Club towards school holidays club including free meals. £1,000 awarded through Community Grants (Loughborough) and £1,000 from Cost of Living Grant;

•           £2,500 to The Walk & Talk Group towards mental health & wellbeing social group;

•           £2,500 to Charnwood Ukrainian Community Association towards Ukrainian community social & educational group;

•           £2,400 to The Arc Community Hub towards young person's social & life-skills support;

•           £3,000 to Love4Life towards young person’s social & life-skills support (Awarded from Loughborough Grant);

•           £3,000 to African Oasis towards Shelthorpe community garden & aquaponics project (Awarded from Loughborough Grant);

•           £1,500 to The Baldwin Trust towards canal boat communications system;

•           £3,600 to Charnmac towards face to face debt counselling & support. £2,100 awarded through Community Grants and £1,500 from Cost of Living Grant;

•           £3,000 to Passion towards young person’s social & life-skills support;

•           £2,500 to Age Concern Syston towards information & social support for the elderly;

•           £2,500 to PACE towards mental health counselling;

•           £2,500 to Shepshed Toy Library towards healthy eating & recycling project for children;

3.         that the following Community Grant applications be declined as unsuccessful:

•           The Rectory Wildlife Gardeners request for gardening equipment;

•           Charnwood Arts request for dementia arts project;

•           Upstarts Gymnastics Club request for Gymnast's coaching training;

•           Loughborough Town Rugby Club request for girl’s participation project;

•           Ulverscroft Camera Club requests for camera equipment;

•           Falcon Support Services request for mental health first aid training;

•           Spectrum Sensory Sports request for activities coaching & delivery;

•           Arthritis Support Leicestershire request for arthritis information & social support;

•           Charnwood Eco Hub request for a sustainability event;

•        St John Ambulance request for first aid training for young people;

4.         that the Director of Housing and Wellbeing be given delegated authority to finalise the terms and conditions of the awarded Community Grants.

Reasons

1.         To provide financial support to organisations which meet the criteria of the

Community Facilities Grants programme.

2.         To provide financial support to organisations which meet the criteria of the

Community Grants programme.

3.         To decline to provide financial support to organisations which do not meet the criteria for the award of a grant under the Community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

A report of the Head of Finance, for recommendation to Council.

Key Decision

Considered, a report of the Head of Finance to consider expenditure on the Capital Plan for the year 2022/23, the schemes that required carry forward of budget to 2023/24 and the financing of the Capital Plan, for recommendation to Council (item 7 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

RESOLVED

1.         that the outturn position for 2022/23 be recommended to Council and that slippage of capital budgets totalling £9,755,421 being General Fund £6,080,121 and Housing Revenue Account £3,675,300 be carried forward into 2023/24 and added to the Capital Plan;

2.         that the financing of the Plan set out in Table 2 to the report be recommended to Council.

Reasons

1.         To enable projects to be completed.

2.         To indicate how the Plan is to be financed.

A report of the Head of Finance.

Considered, a report of the Head of Finance to consider the Revenue Outturn position of the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for 2022/23 compared with original budgets (item 8 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

RESOLVED that the Revenue Outturn positions of the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account for 2022/23 be noted. There are no carry forward budgets for General Fund and HRA.

Reason

To enable the information to be used when considering future budgets and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

A report of the Head of Governance and Human Resources.

Considered, a report of the Head of Governance and Human Resources to consider a public record of the Council’s health and safety performance (item 9 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Head of Governance and Human Resources stated that there were some additional incidents not included in the report that the organisation had been aware of and had been recorded, these were a few additional slips and trips.  The numbers would be updated and sent to members of the Cabinet.

RESOLVED that the Council’s health and safety performance over the preceding year be noted, as set out in the Appendix to the report (and noting that there had been additional incidents as referenced above).

Reason

It is considered good practice by the Health and Safety Executive, the Institute of Directors and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for public bodies to publish an annual report on health and safety performance. The Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations 1999 require all employers to review their health and safety management system. Since 2015 the Council has employed BS OHSAS 18001: “Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems” as its base system for managing health and safety.

A report of the Chief Executive.

Considered, a report of the Chief Executive to consider the Borough Council’s commitment to moving the draft Local Plan forward to a position where it can be considered by full Council for adoption and a further commitment to working with the County Council in developing and implementing the three Area Transport Strategies and in implementing the Interim Transport Strategy for Charnwood through the Development Management process, to mitigate the impact of growth on infrastructure (item 10 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Leader made the following statement:

“This Cabinet report seeks to provide further reassurance to Leicestershire County Council in relation to securing appropriate infrastructure contributions from developers. To be clear, once the County Council has completed the three Area Transport Strategies and the Local Plan has been adopted, the three Area Transport Strategies will become part of the Local Plan evidence and they will be used to secure appropriate infrastructure contributions in planning decisions. In relation to the Interim Transport Strategy for Charnwood, it is not necessary or appropriate for Charnwood Borough Council to adopt the Interim Strategy for us to implement it. As stated in the report, Charnwood Borough Council are ready to do so as soon as the County Council begin to implement it. Our current understanding is that the County Council have paused its implementation. The Chief Executive has had a further letter from the County Council as of yesterday I believe, and I have asked the Chief Executive to draft a response on behalf of the Cabinet back to the County Council”.

RESOLVED

1.         that Cabinet confirms its support for the draft Local Plan to be progressed to a stage where full Council can consider its adoption;

2.         that Cabinet confirms its support for Leicestershire County Council in the

implementation of the Interim Transport Strategy for Charnwood including

through the collection of developer contributions as appropriate via the planning process, ahead of the adoption of the Local Plan;

3.         that Leicestershire County Council be advised of the Borough Cabinet’s commitment to supporting it in the preparation of evidence for the identified three area transport strategies and its incorporation into the Local Plan framework to help guide development and secure developer contributions.

Reasons

1.      To provide a formal response to Leicestershire County Council Cabinet report of 23 June 2023, setting out the Cabinet’s commitment to the Local Plan.

2.      To ensure that the Borough Council can support Leicestershire County Council to secure contributions where appropriate to do so, to mitigate the

impact of growth on infrastructure ahead of the adoption of the Local Plan.

3.      To ensure that evidence is available to inform the mitigation of growth in Charnwood and that supports the policy framework against which developer contributions may be sought.