Venue: Council Chamber, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services 01732 227165 Email: democratic.services@sevenoaks.gov.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
To agree the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 July 2024, as a correct record
Minutes: Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 September 2024, be approved and signed by the Chairman as correct record. |
|
Declarations of interest Any interests not already registered Minutes: There were none. |
|
Questions from Members (maximum 15 minutes) Minutes: Members took the opportunity to ask questions of the Cabinet.
In response to question regarding the delay to the publication of the next part of the Local Plan 2040, and the opportunity to further engage with public, the Portfolio Holder for Development & Conservation advised that there was a process followed, and the timings of regulation 19 was put back, which had been communicated through Cabinet in July through the LDS timetable, as well as delays caused by further changes proposed to the NPPF by Government. Until these changes and decisions were fully known, it was not possible to say when the different stages would be delivered. Up to this stage, the Council had only been at regulation 18 which was testing out the various theories for various sites and was still on going. Infrastructure was developed once sites were known to be going forward and ran in parallel with the infrastructure delivery plan. All households in the district received InShape which also notified of the Regulation 18 and 19 consultations, alongside social media and online platforms and ensuring the hard to reach groups had the opportunity to comment through leaflets at stations with QR codes, visiting 6th form students and visiting Gypsy and Traveller site. All Town and Parish Councils were aware and had hard copies of the consultations. The Council had a statement of community involvement which was a set format which followed how consultations should be undertaken.
In response to other questions raised regarding responses to consultations. The Portfolio Holder for Development and Conservation advised that consultation responses had thorough input from Cabinet Members, and were cross organisation through officers to ensure full responses were provided. Due to timings of responses it was not possible for them to be discussed at Advisory Committee as the committee process was a long lead in period and responses would be missed if they were left for Advisory Committee discussion. It was always hoped that that responses provided through Portfolio Holder decisions would be published before any consultation deadlines to allow Members to see the Council’s response in case it assisted with their own responses.
In response to a question regarding waste and recycling it was hoped that the new waste and recycling strategy would be discussed at the November meeting of Cleaner & Greener. The InShape magazine again, presented lots of information regarding waste and recycling but there were holds ups due to difficulties with getting further information from DEFRA, and the delay to the Statutory Instrument which advised how action should be taken, which had still not come out.
|
|
Matters referred from Council, Audit Committee, Scrutiny Committee, CIL Spending Board or Cabinet Advisory Committees Minutes: There were none. |
|
Sevenoaks District Health and Wellbeing Action Plan 2023-24 Quarter 4 update Additional documents:
Minutes: The Health and Communities Manager presented the report which provided the quarter 4 update on the Sevenoaks District Health and Wellbeing Action Plan 2023-24. The plan had 49 actions around the three priorities which were: wider detriments of health, health behaviours and place and communities. The plan finished with 48 actions being green and one being amber following one target being unable to be completed through the year. Housing & Health Advisory Committee had fully considered the report and discussion took place regarding the health checks, as well as on how the targets were classed as green, amber or red.
The Health and Communities Manager further advised that this week, she had been involved in conversations with other local authorities around best practice for the Council’s health and wellbeing partnership, with the quarterly monitoring meetings and how the health and wellbeing action plan was achieved.
Resolved: That the report be noted.
|
|
Financial Monitoring 2024/25 - to the end of July 2024 Additional documents:
Minutes: The Portfolio Holder introduced the report which set out the financial position of the authority and the forecast to March 2025. The Committee were advised that as of the end of July 2024, the position was a forecast year end unfavourable variance of £317,000. Officers were currently looking at how this could be improved and the budget process had started, with may address some of the issues in this year. The Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report but had not made any additional recommendations.
He informed Members that the pay award for 2024/25 had not yet been agreed and the current offer was below the 4% budgeted increase. The current union request was 10% or £3,000 which ever was greater, which would represent a significant overspend against budget. There were a number of staff vacancies, with the larger variances in Revenue and Benefits, Direct Services, Audit and Building Control. The savings forecast from these staff vacancies were partly being used to offset agency costs and consultants to cover the vacancies. The Leisure operator cost was still expected to come within the £1.8m budget over the two years.
In terms of favourable variances, he advised that the Council’s investment strategy continued to perform well, as well as the leisure contract forecasting a favourable variance of £124,000 due to the cost of borrowing to fund the White Oak Leisure Centre capital scheme being less than allowed for in the revised budget.
Members were informed that there were some key unfavourable variances including those affecting Direct Services due to the cost of running the service at current waste levels, increased cost of trade waste disposals and reduced income; and vehicle repairs. Other areas also affected were building control, due to income being lower than expected and contractors covering vacant posts. The Swanley Meeting Point was also reporting an unfavourable variance of £90,000 due to an overspend of salaries and lower than budgeted income levels.
The Cabinet discussed the report. The Portfolio Holder for Development and Conservation explained that it was hoped the changes to the NPPF would allow for charges for planning permission to be at a level which covered the cost of running the service and so, although an area within her portfolio was performing at less than expected, it was hoped this would be changed soon.
The Chairman used his discretion and allowed a visiting Member to ask a question regarding staff vacancies and the impact it was having, noting the number of agency staff. In response, Members were advised that a Scrutiny Working Group was looking into the retention and recruitment of staff.
Resolved: That the report be noted.
|
|
Treasury Management Annual Report 2023/24 Additional documents:
Minutes: The Portfolio Holder presented the report which provided a review of investment strategy and borrowing activity during 2023/24 including the outturn performance, and the capital programme. The Finance & Investment Advisory Committee had considered the same report.
The Senior Principal Accountant further advised that a cautious investment approach was continued as in previous years and that no institutions to which the Council had lent money to had difficulty in repaying the principal and interest due.
Members attention was brought to paragraphs 37 to 42 of the report. Due to increased interest rates during 2023/24, investment receipts were greater than budgeted. In addition, the multi-asset income funds continued to perform well following placement of those investments in May 2022. Overall interest income of £901,000 was achieved, at an average interest rate of 5.12%. On the debt side there was an additional loan taken for Quercus Housing for the provision of affordable housing. This was a medium-term, three-year loan, with all the costs covered by Quercus Housing.
Resolved: That the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2023/24, be approved.
|
|
Financial Prospects and Budget Strategy 2025/26 and Beyond Additional documents:
Minutes: The Portfolio Holder
for Finance & Investment set out the report which was of the
2025/26 budget setting process. The annual budget gap in this was
£297,000 which was significantly less than the £1.4m
gap at this stage last year due to the range of actions agreed in
the last budget process. There were a number of unknowns at this stage but it was intended that once again the Council used the 10-year financial planning approach and financial strategy which had proved successful to date and put the Council in a much stronger financial position than most other Councils. However, some additions had been made to the approach following on from the responses received to the member survey. These were: · Members will be able to put forward their suggestions at the relevant Advisory Committees and engage in the debate even if they are not a member of that committee. · Suggestions not supported by Advisory Committees will be included in an additional appendix to Cabinet in December. · All email suggestions will receive a response from the Finance Team. The Portfolio Holder further advised that the assumptions would be updated if more accurate information became available. The major messages in this report were that the intention remains that this Council was aiming to continue to have a balanced 10-year budget, and that Members would be required to play a major role in reaching a successful outcome by putting forward their ideas during the process and accepting that some difficult decisions may be required.
He advised that Finance & Investment had considered the same report and there was discussion around KCC budget impacts and climate change which would be considered alongside the Service Impact Change Assessments (SCIAs).
The Chief Officer Finance and Investment further advised that the annual budget gap in this report was £297,000, as detailed in appendix D. It was highlighted to Members that were was still a number of unknowns at this stage, which included the April 2024 pay award, with negotiations for the April 2025 pay award not yet commencing; any changes by the new government to Local Government Finance, the new leisure contract, and financial impact of any changes to domestic waste and recycling collection methods. During the budget process it was expect that these would become more certain. He stressed the importance that Members engaged in the budget process as due to the unknowns at this stage it would be very useful if a range of options were agreed on, should they be required later in the budget process. Members considered the report, thanking Officers and the Portfolio Holder for the work already undertaken on this and discussed the importance of Member involvement. Resolved: That
a. the ten-year financial planning approach and principles set out in this report, be endorsed and the financial strategy, be adopted;
b. Advisory Committees, be requested to review the Service Dashboards and advise Cabinet of possible growth and savings options;
c. Officers, be requested to continue to review the assumptions in this report and ... view the full minutes text for item 30. |
|
IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS This notice was published on 23 September 2024. The decisions contained in Minutes 27, 28, 29 and 30 take effect immediately. |