Agenda item

To consider the recommendations from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19^th January 2022.

 

 

Bromsgrove Response to South Staffordshire Preferred Option Local Plan

 

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulatory Services presented the Council’s proposed response to South Staffordshire Council’s Preferred Option Local Plan. 

 

South Staffordshire Council had identified that there would be a need for a total of 4,000 houses to be developed in the Greater Birmingham and Black Country Housing Market Area (GBHMA).  Whilst the figure was welcomed, Bromsgrove District Council would adopt a different method to calculate this figure when the Council’s approach to the Bromsgrove Local Plan was published later in the year.

 

During consideration of this item, reference was made to the outcomes of the discussions that had been held with representatives of other Councils in the GBHMA area on 15^th December 2021.  Council was informed that there had been no further representations made as a result of that meeting and this had been reported for Members’ consideration at a meeting of the Strategic Planning Steering Group.

 

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor P. Thomas and seconded by Councillor K. May.

 

RESOLVED that the Council endorse the officer response to the South Staffordshire Local Plan and that it is confirmed with South Staffordshire Council as such.

 

Bromsgrove District Council Car Parks – Adoption of Cashless Payments and Operational Procedures for Recreation Road South Car Park and Churchfields Multi-Storey Car Park

 

The Leader presented a report on the subject of the adoption of a cashless payment system and operational procedures for this system in Council owned car parks in Bromsgrove.  The residents who had taken part in the Council’s survey on this subject were thanked for their time and contributions.  Based on the feedback that had been received, a cash payment system would remain available to customers alongside a cashless option at all of the car parks except for Churchfields multi-storey car park, due to concerns about the potential for a machine to be the target of anti-social behaviour.

 

Reference was made to the potential for signage to be situated in the car parks to enable customers to locate the cash payment machines where required.  Council was informed that clear signage would be made available in the car parks for this purpose.

 

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor K. May and seconded by Councillor G. Denaro.

 

RESOLVED that a reduced Budget, as shown in 3.1 - Budget Comparisons Table, be amended as part of the medium-term financial plan review.

 

Council Tax Empty Homes Discount and Premiums

 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling presented a report on the subject of Council Tax Empty Homes Discounts and Premiums.  Members were advised that the recommendation was proposing changes to the level of Council Tax discount, and the implementation of premiums for long-term empty properties.  There were three areas where the Council had discretion, and the recommendation would determine the level of discount for each of these classes of property from 1^st April 2022.

 

There were properties classified as second homes, which were dwellings which were furnished and which were no one person’s sole or main residence.  There were two classes of second home; Class A and Class B.  No changes were proposed for second homes, and the Council would continue to apply a zero per cent discount, as had been the case since April 2013.  However, the recommendation had been amended at Cabinet to reflect a typographical error in the report and to clarify that Class B referred to second homes with no planning restrictions.

 

Vacant Homes were those properties which were unoccupied and substantially unfurnished.   There were two classes of vacant home – Class D which were properties that required major repair works to make them habitable and Class C which were all other vacant dwellings. 

 

Under the proposals, Class D properties would continue to receive a 100% discount.  However, the level of discount for Class C properties would be amended.  The current discount applied to these homes was 50% for six months followed by zero per cent thereafter.  For new homes, a graduated discount was applied of 100% for three months, followed by 50% for the following three months.  Under the proposals, the graduated discount for new homes would be removed and these properties would receive the standard vacant home discount.  The discount for vacant homes would be set at 100% for the first 30 days the property was empty. This recommendation was amended at Cabinet from 14 days to 30 days, following discussions at a meeting of the Finance and Budget Working Group, where concerns had been raised about the relatively short length of time available to property owners if 14 days applied.  After 30 days, the discount would be zero per cent.  A discount of 100% would be applied to vacant homes owned by a local housing authority and used for the provision of social housing.

 

The final area for which changes were recommended was the level of premium applied to long-term empty homes.  Long-term empty homes were those which had been vacant for two years or longer.  It was recommended that the full premium should be applied for these properties from April 2022.

 

Following the presentation of the report, Members noted that this subject had previously been raised in a Motion on Notice at Council.  Members agreed that this was an area of concern because of the demand for housing in the District and Members agreed that it was important to provide as many housing options as possible to meet the needs of local residents.  There were over 400 properties in the District that were empty and therefore any action that could be taken to release these properties for housing would be welcomed.

 

During consideration of this item, Members noted that there had been a typographical error in the list of recommendations circulated in the supplementary pack for the Council meeting in relation to the discount for vacant homes. However, Members noted that Cabinet had agreed at a meeting held on 19^th January 2022 that the discount should apply for 30 days and not 14 days.

 

Reference was made to the length of time that long-term vacant properties would need to be vacant in order for a premium to start to apply and questions were raised about whether it should be specified that a premium of 100 per cent would apply to properties that had been vacant for between two and five years.  Members also suggested that a definition could be provided in the resolution in respect of what constituted a “long-term vacant property”.  However, Officers explained that the legislative requirements with respect to both Council Tax discounts and premiums were very specific and technical.  For this reason, it was suggested that the wording should remain as printed in the Cabinet minutes.

 

Consideration was also given to the types of properties that were classified as Class C vacant dwellings.  It was suggested that people who owned properties in Class C might need to spend time making those properties fit for habitation and that the removal of a Council Tax discount after 30 days could disincentivise landlords from taking this action.  However, it was also commented that a 100 per cent discount up to 30 days was more generous than the previous scheme.

 

Concerns were raised about the proportion of affordable houses available to residents living in the District.  Whilst action to tackle vacant homes was welcomed, Members commented that further action needed to be taken to increase the availability of affordable homes in the District to meet demand.

 

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor G. Denaro and seconded by Councillor K. May.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1)         From 1^st April 2022 the level of Council Tax discount to be applied under Section 11A (4) and Section 11A (4A) for each class of dwellings as defined by The Council Tax (Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (England) Regulations 2003 (as amended) will be:

 

     Class A [“second homes with a planning restriction”] 0%: no discount

 

     Class B [“second homes without a planning restriction”] 0%: no discount

 

     Class C [“vacant dwellings”]

 

a.          Where the dwelling has been unoccupied and unfurnished for a continuous period of not more than 30 days - 100% discount

 

b.          Where the dwelling has been unoccupied and unfurnished for more than 30 days - 0%: no discount.

 

c.          Where the dwelling is

 

                                    i.       unoccupied and substantially unfurnished; and

                                   ii.       the owner of the dwelling is a local housing authority; and

                                  iii.       when next in use the dwelling will be occupied under the provisions of the Housing act 1985

           

                     100% discount.

 

Owner will be defined by reference to section 6(5) and 6(6) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992   .

 

For the purposes of Class C when considering whether a dwelling falls within the description any period of occupation, not exceeding 6 weeks, during which it was not unoccupied and substantially unfurnished shall be disregarded.

 

          Class D [“dwellings requiring major repair works”] - 100% discount

 

2)         From 1^st April 2022 the additional council tax premium applied under section 11B of the LGFA ’92, for long-term empty dwellings will be

 

i)               For a dwelling that has been a long-term empty dwelling for less than 5 years – 100% premium

ii)             For a dwelling that has been a long-term empty dwelling for 5 years or more, but less than 10 years – 200% premium

iii)            For a dwelling that has been a long-term empty dwelling for at least 10 years – 300% premium

 

3)         The Head of Financial and Customer Services on a case-by-case basis may consider a reduction to the long-term empty premium.

 

(Prior to consideration of this item, Councillor P. Whittaker declared a pecuniary interest as he owned a property that had been or would have been vacant for two or more years by 1^st April 2022.  He left the room and took no part in the debate or vote thereon.)

 

Worcestershire Regulatory Services Board – Budget Recommendations

 

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regulatory Services presented recommendations that had been made at a meeting of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) Board held in November 2021 on the subject of the service’s budget in the 2022/23 financial year.

 

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor P. Thomas and seconded by Councillor G. Denaro.

 

RESOLVED that the following be approved for 2022/2023:

 

a)          the 2022/23 gross expenditure budget of £3,891k.

 

b)          the 2022/23 income budget of 634k.

 

c)          the revenue budget and partner percentage allocations for 2022/2023 onwards:

 

Council	£’000	Revised %
Bromsgrove District Council	475	14.55

 

d)          the additional partner liabilities for 2022/2023 in relation to unavoidable salary pressure:

 

Council	£’000
Bromsgrove District Council	12

 

e)    the additional partner liabilities for 2022/2023 in relation to hosting costs:

 

Council	Increase in Rent    £000	Increase in ICT Hosting                  £000	Increase in Support Hosting  £000
Bromsgrove District Council	1	2	1

 

f)            the additional partner liabilities for 2022/23 in relation to three Technical Officers.

 

Council	Tech Officer Income Generation £000	Tech Officer Animal Activity                 £000	Tech Officer Gull Control £000
Bromsgrove District Council	5	7

 

Fees and Charges 2022/23

 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling presented the Fees and Charges report 2022/23.  In general, an increase of 5 per cent had been proposed for most of the Council’s fees and charges, although there were some exceptions to this.  The Finance and Budget Working Group were thanked for their hard work in scrutinising the proposed fees and charges.  The group had interviewed Officers about the proposed fees and had made useful suggestions which had been taken into account.

 

Following the presentation of the report, reference was made to the fees and charges for gambling licenses and questions were raised about how these fees were set and whether this funding was allocated to the Council or directly to WRS.  Council was informed that many of the fees for services provided by WRS were statutory and therefore the Council could not determine the level at which these were set.  In addition, Members were informed that the income was allocated directly to WRS as part of Bromsgrove District Council’s financial contribution to the shared service.

 

Consideration was also given to the fees for car parking and questions were raised about whether consideration had been given to phasing in these fees in order to encourage visitors to stay for longer in town.  Council was advised that the fees for car parking had not been increased since 2010 and this would help to encourage people to continue to visit Bromsgrove.

 

Concerns were raised about increasing the Council’s fees and charges by 5 per cent at a time when residents’ household bills were also increasing.  However, it was also noted that the income generated from fees and charges was reinvested in Council services and this benefited local residents.

 

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor G. Denaro and seconded by Councillor K. May.

 

RESOLVED that the proposed fees and charges 2022 – 23 be approved.