Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 7^th March 2018 were submitted.

Councillor Taylor highlighted that on Page 2 of the minutes, the final bullet point actually referred to private larger vehicles and not businesses and confirmed that this was the responsibility of Worcestershire County Council and that officer would make them aware of the concerns raised.

RESOLVED the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 7^th March 2018 were approved subject to the pre-amble above.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 26^th March 2018 were noted.

Councillor B. Cooper, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling, introduced the report and in so doing reminded Members that this had come about following a resolution which had been made in January at Worcestershire County Council (WCC), in respect of those young people leaving care and paying Council Tax. The mechanism to be put in place would address this until they reached the age of 25.  This was an interim measure until the full review of the Council Tax Support Scheme took place later in the year.

The Head of Customer Access and Financial Support added that in order to enable this to happen, the addendum to the Council Tax Support, Hardship Policy needed to be included as this would be funded from monies already available.  Details of care leavers would be provided by WCC or if approached directly clarity would be sought from WCC.

Following presentation of the report Members raised the following points which were discussed in more detail:

·         What would happen should a young person from outside of the District move into the area and whether they would be covered.  Officers confirmed that currently this only applied to those from the Worcestershire area.

·         Members discussed the difficulties young people faced during the transition from care to independent living and whether the support should go further.  The Portfolio Holder advised that this was an area which would be included within the review.  The Leader also confirmed that he would ensure this was included on the agenda for the next meeting of the Worcestershire Leaders Board.

RECOMMENDED to Council that the addendum to the Council Tax Support hardship Policy ‘Support for Care Leavers’ be agreed.

The Leader reminded Members that this was something which Councillor M. Thompson had raised as an urgent item at the full Council meeting held on 21st February and as such Councillor Thompson was given the opportunity to speak to the item.

Councillor Thompson thanked the Leader and advised that following the discussions which had taken place at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting which had been held immediately before this meeting, he was grateful for the opportunity to protect the market and for Members to work together to ensure this happened, in conjunction with the market traders.

Councillor K. May, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Regeneration and the Town Centre, thanked officers from NWEDR and the market traders for attending and in light of the extensive discussions which had been held at the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting so proposed that the recommendations be considered.

Councillor L. Mallett, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board thanked the Leader for the opportunity to speak at the meeting and confirmed that the report had been considered in detail at the meeting and the market traders had been given the opportunity to put forward their views and ideas.  The unanimous view had been that the operation of the market be brought back in house, in line with option 2 of the recommendations, with a clear recommendation to explore whether there was an option to work directly with the market traders.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that she was happy to accept option 2 of the recommendations and to explore the feasibility of working with the market traders.

RESOLVED that

a)    the management and operation of Bromsgrove Town Centre Outdoor Market be brought back ‘in-house’ with authority to be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Regeneration and Town Centre to determine where a new markets team sits within the Council and/or NWEDR structure; and

b)    Officers explore whether there was an option to work directly with the market traders.

Councillor B. Cooper, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling introduced the report and explained that this contained the Revenue and Capital position for Quarter 3.  As detailed within the report there was a projected modest underspend and it was hoped this would be maintained for the year end.

It was highlighted that there were 2 recommendations for Council which covered a retrospective increase in the Capital Programme in respect of the Disabled Facilities Grants and a retrospective virement for the vehicle replacement to the infrastructure work at the Bromsgrove depot.

The Financial Services Manager responded to a number of questions from Members, including in respect of the virement for the depot work and the improvements to the car park, which it was confirmed that in future would not occur.  It was also confirmed that that services provided by Lifeline appeared in a number of the Council’s Strategic Purposes.

RESOLVED that the current financial positions for the period April – December 2017 be noted.

RECOMMENDED:

a)    that a retrospective increase in the 2017/18 Capital Programme of £78k for the Disabled Facilities Grants be approved (to reflect the recent funding received from the DCLG for the provision of adaptations); and

b)    that a retrospective capital virement of £100k 2017/18 from the vehicle replacement to the infrastructure work at the Bromsgrove depot be approved (due to improvements undertaken in relation to Phase 1 of the depot car park resurfacing).