Decisions

The meeting of the Environment & Leisure Services Working Group held on 7 November 2019 had recommendations at Minute 11, Safer Arun Partnership Annual Review and Minute12, Climate Change for Cabinet to consider.

Following consideration of the Minutes, the Cabinet

Minute 11 – Safer Arun Partnership Annual Review

RESOLVED – That

1.  The work of the Safer Arun Partnership be endorsed and the importance of partnership working in contributing to reducing anti-social behaviour and addressing crime and disorder in Arun be recognised; and

2.  Recognition be given to the work of the Safer Arun Partnership in contributing to the delivery of the Council’s strategic priority “supporting you if you need help”.

Minute 12 – Climate Change

RESOLVED - That

1.    Arun District Council declares a Climate Emergency;

2.    the impact and mitigation of climate change is considered and incorporate into all policy and key decision making;

3.    officers work through the Environment & Leisure Working Group to produce an action plan with milestones to make the activities of Arun District Council carbon neutral by 2030.

This report provides an update on the modernisation of the Housing Service and the financial implications of ensuring it is a fit for purpose service that meets its statutory duties and complies with regulatory requirements.

The Cabinet

RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL - That

1.     a general fund supplementary estimate of up to £172k (which equates to a Band D equivalent of £2.81) for the potential redundancy and pension strain costs to meet the Council’s statutory homelessness duties, which will result in growth to the base budget of up to £260k (which equates to Band D equivalent £4.26) be approved;

2.     a housing revenue account supplementary estimate of £294k (which equates to a weekly rent of £1.69 per dwelling) for the potential redundancy and pension strain costs associated with the Housing Revenue Account, which will result in growth to the base budget of up to £67K (which equates to a weekly rent of £0.39 per dwelling) be approved; and

3.     the competency Framework “Arun Cares” which was introduced in September 2018 and which sets out expectations for service delivery (Appendix 1 to the report) be noted.

This report seeks Cabinet approval for the adoption of Risk Based Verification in the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction claims.

The Cabinet

RESOLVED – That

1.  the use of Risk Based Verification and the Risk Based Verification Policy in the administration of new claims and changes in circumstance for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction from 13 January 2020 be approved; and

2.  delegated authority be granted to the Group Head of Corporate Support (Section 151 Officer) and Group Head of Residential Services to make minor amendments to the Risk Based Verification Policy following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support and Cabinet Member for Residential Services

This report presents the new Arun Economic Development Strategy 2020-2025, Creating our Future, and the Economic Profile for Arun 2019 (the evidence base).

The Strategy priorities are based on  the conclusions and findings of the evidence base,.  The document identifies a range of opportunities for each priority that will support and progress economic development in Arun.

The Cabinet

RESOLVED – That

1.  the vision, themes, priorities and opportunities identified in the Arun Economic Development Strategy 2020-2025 be supported; and

2.   the preparation of an action plan to progress the delivery of the strategy, priorities and opportunities be supported.

This report seeks approval of the West Sussex Disabled Facilities Grants Policy which has been developed in Partnership with West Sussex County Council and all the West Sussex District and Borough Councils to utilise the Better Care Funding; more flexibly improve consistency; and enable residents to live more independently within their own home.

The Cabinet

RESOLVED – That

1. the Disabled Facilities Grant Policy, as appended to the report, be adopted; and

2. authority be delegated to the Group Head of Technical Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Technical Services, to make any future amendments and updates to the Policy.

This report asks Members to note Arun’s membership of a new West Sussex business rates pool from April 2020 and to grant delegated authority to the Group head of Corporate Support, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, to agree the detailed arrangements for the pool.

The Cabinet

RESOLVED – That

1.    Arun’s membership of a new West Sussex business rates pool from April 2020 be noted; and

2.    Delegated authority be granted to the Group head of Corporate Support, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, to agree the detailed arrangements for the pool.

The Budget Monitoring Report sets out the Capital, Housing Revenue and General Fund Revenue budget performance to the end of September 2019.

The Cabinet

RESOLVED – That

1.   Appendix 1 be noted;

2. the significant anticipated overspend in relation to nightly paid accommodation be noted; and

3.    the overall performance against budget is currently on track

With the increased use of digital technology in our society there is a requirement to establish the network infrastructure is fit for purpose ensuring that, as a District, we are not digitally disadvantaged. Initially this work began with the Gigabit project in conjunction with West Sussex County Council (WSCC); this proposal is to further extend this full fibre network to a further 100 public sector assets within the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton areas.

Increasing the amount of gigabit capable fibre within the District will enable it to be future-ready, ensuring that it is not left behind. Signalling our commitment to full fibre is an ambition for Arun and the wider county also increasing the possibility of accelerating the investment from commercial organisations to lead to a roll-out of fibre to the premise. This would enable homes and businesses to realise the benefits of ultra-fast connectivity.

It is intended to fully fund this offer from the West Sussex Business Rate Pilot for 2019/20, approval for this is via the West Sussex Leaders’ Board meeting and the decision has now been postponed until their meeting in January 2020. However, this offer is only available until the end of December 2019, therefore requiring the costs to be initially underwritten by the Council whilst we gain approval for the external funding after the contracts have been signed.

The Cabinet

RESOLVED – That

1.    an agreement be entered into with CityFibre for an extension of the Council’s full fibre connectivity using the West Sussex County Council’s framework based on the seven year revenue model offer;

2.    authority be delegated to the Group Head of Corporate Support, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Technical Services, for final approval of sites and contract detail; and

3.    the cost of the contract be underwritten whilst funding approval be sought to meet these costs from the Business Rates Pilot for 2019/20, these costs will be up to a maximum of £1,486,000 over a seven year period starting no earlier than September 2021.

This urgent report is presented at the request of the Chairman, Councillor Dr Walsh so the Cabinet can be updated on the actions being taken to respond to serious concerns raised with the recent   webcasting of Council meetings.

In accordance with Part 3 (Responsibility for Functions) section 2.0, paragraph 2.3 of the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet may consider items of an urgent nature where special circumstances apply.  The circumstances for presenting this report as a matter of urgency are to ensure that Members are aware of the steps being taken with the Council’s supplier ahead of the next round of meetings due to be webcast in January 2020 and can raise any further actions they wish officers to take.

This is not a key decision and therefore the agreement of the Chairman of the Overview Select Committee is not required.  However, Councillor Coster has been informed of the report being presented.

The Cainet

RESOLVED – That

1.  the update provided be noted; and

2. the further actions the officers are taking be supported to:-

    a. cease the live webcasting of meetings and instead publish the live recording of meetings for ‘on demand’ viewing the following day until an alternative solution has been identified; and

    b. continue to explore a procurement exercise to meet the Council’s future webcasting needs.

In accordance with Part 3 (Responsibility for Functions), Section 2.0, paragraph 2.3, this decision shall not be subject to the call-in procedure.

The Committee received a report from the Internal Audit Manager outlining that the Council’s Strategic Risk Register (SRR) had been reviewed and updated to reflect changes since its last update in November 2018.

In relation to the current document, the highest (red) risks remained the same as those last year.  However, the Local Plan risk was removed by the Director of Place as it had been adopted in 2018 and the Littlehampton Leisure Centre risk was also removed as the building has been commissioned and opened last year.

It should be noted that the SRR is a ‘point-in-time’ document (although the risks would be on the radar of Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Officers).  In order to meet Committee timescales, it was reviewed and updated by the Governance & Risk Group (chaired by the Director of Place) in late September and considered by CMT in October 2019.

Since that time, it would be noted that there has been a Snap General Election called and also an extension to the target date for Brexit.  In addition, a report on additional Council strategic targets was presented to Full Council on 13 November 2019. In light of these, it has already been decided to conduct an interim Officer review in January so that a further updated SRR can be brought back to the Committee at its February 2020 meeting. In view of the revised targets proposal, it was also anticipated that the Local Plan would be brought back on to the SRR, along with a new risk on Climate Change. By that time, the outcome of the General Election would be known, and the result will then impact the direction and progress of Brexit.

Members had a full discussion on the SRR, the key points were:

§  Item 6a Homelessness as there were a host of issues on this topic it was suggested that should a review of the Local Plan take place, it considered the need to house those in temporary accommodation and to cut waiting lists as a  priority.

§  Item 17 Elections it was suggested that the Fixed Term Parliament Act was not working and that this risk should be given a higher priority. The Internal Audit Manager agreed to feed this into the January 2020 review.

The Committee then noted and approved the revised Strategic Risk Register.