Agenda and minutes
Venue: King Edmund Chamber, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich. View directions
Contact: Jan Robinson 01473 296472
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS BY COUNCILLORS Minutes: Before the meeting commenced, the Chairman held a Minute’s silence for Mr Philip Gibson, who recently passed away, Mr Gibson was a past Babergh councillor, who served on the Council from 2007 to 2011.
95.1 The Chairman announced he was amending the Order of Business so that Item 8 (Joint Capital and Investment and Treasury Management Strategies 2019/20) was considered after Item 11 (Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget and Four- Year Outlook).
95.2 The Monitoring Officer had granted dispensations to all members in respect of Report Numbers BC/18/39 and BC/18/40. |
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BC/18/35 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 18 DECEMBER 2018 PDF 408 KB Minutes: It was Resolved:-
That subject to Minute 85.6 being clarified to say “in response the Chair of Scrutiny stated that from a scrutiny point of view they were glad to hear that it was funded for as much as two years”, Councillor Plumb being added to the list of attendees and Councillor Rose being added to the list of apologies the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2018 be confirmed and signed as a true record. |
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BC/18/36 ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND LEADER PDF 24 KB In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/18/36 attached, detailing events attended by the Chair and Vice-Chair.
Minutes: 97.1 The Chairman presented his report for noting and highlighted the Civic Dinner at Wherstead park. He praised the venue and told Council that the food had been excellent and the Brass Band had been extremely professional. Nearly £800 had been raised from the evening for the Bumblebee Charity and he thanked Councillors for their support.
97.2 The Chairman then invited the Leader to present his report.
97.3 Councillor Ward presented his report and informed Council that the end of term of report, Your Council, had now been distributed to all residents in the district. This report highlighted the key achievements for the past four years, in a clear, concise and informative way and was part of an ongoing communications programme to ensure that the public was better informed about Babergh and what it was doing. The report was entirely factual in content. The Leader reminded Members that firstly people had told the Council that they wanted to know what the Council was doing and in precisely this kind of format. All Babergh Members had been asked to make contributions, but unfortunately not many had contributed. The report didn’t tell the whole story, as there simply wasn’t enough space to cover everything that had been achieved. However, the Leader felt that this was a very good succinct list of the most important. things.
97.4 The Leader reported that he and the Chief Executive had met with Gavin Edwards, the National Officer for Community at Unison regarding the End Violence at Work Charter. It was a very useful meeting where the reasons for the Charter were discussed along with a campaign to extend a number of organisations that have signed up and other aspects of the Charter’s implementation. The Charter had three asks, firstly that the Council looked at its own processes, secondly that the Council asked existing service contractors to sign up and thirdly, that the Council makes charter compliance a condition of its procurement process. The Leader was happy to report that a paper would be brought to both Councils next month to adopt the Charter.
97.5 The Chairman thanked the Leader for his report.
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TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 10, the Chief Executive will report the receipt of any petitions. There can be no debate or comment upon these matters at the Council meeting.
Minutes: 98.1 There were no petitions received. |
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QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES The Chairmen of Committees to answer any questions by the public of which notice has been given no later than midday three clear working days before the day of the meeting in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 11.
Minutes: 99.1 There were no questions received. |
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QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES The Chairman of the Council, the Chairmen of Committees and Sub-Committees and Portfolio Holders to answer any questions on any matters in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affect the District of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 12.
Minutes: 100.1 There were no questions received. |
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BC/18/37 OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE REPORT PDF 304 KB Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Additional documents: Minutes: 101.1 The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee introduced his report and apologised for the length of it, largely due to the backlog of work that had built up since Christmas.
101.2 The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny informed Council that there had been eleven separate items of scrutiny listed in the report, which detailed the reviews and the outcomes. The Chair highlighted the addendum that had been tabled. Included in the addendum was a review of outside bodies, the Committee had spent a considerable amount of time on this and the Chairman was aware that this was an area that had previously to some extent been overlooked. Many Members served on those outside bodies and the Committee have found that it actually benefited both the Council and the community in a two-way partnership. Also, the disabled facilities grant had been an area of particular interest, this was a Suffolk wide problem, and the Council were not alone in finding that the current system did not work and with an underspend in the budget, the Council was potentially not using money which was available for the benefit of the community. The Chairman of Scrutiny stated that the Committee believed that this should be addressed, and he believed it was being addressed in the proposed changes to the DFG’s Disabled Facilities Grants which was illustrated on the third page of the addendum. Finally, the Committee had looked at the implementation and the impact of Universal Credit with particular emphasis on its effect on housing services. As was stated in the report with only a 20% roll out it was difficult to draw a hard and fast conclusion, however, the Committee had seen some early trends that could be of concern. But, the Committee had felt quite strongly, that the Housing Team were very well prepared and flexible enough to deal with that.
101.3 The Chairman thanked the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny for his report.
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BC/18/39 GENERAL FUND BUDGET 2019/20 AND FOUR YEAR OUTLOOK PDF 575 KB Cabinet Member for Finance
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 18.3, immediately after any vote is taken at a budget decision meeting of the Council the names of Councillors who cast a vote for the decision or against the decision or who abstained from voting shall be recorded in the Minutes of that meeting.
At its meeting on 6 February 2019, Cabinet considered Paper BCa/18/62, together with amendments to the General Fund Budget. Paper BC/18/39 now includes all the relevant updated information, together with the necessary recommendations, with the exception of one Parish precept notification which remains outstanding. Further details will be reported at the meeting.
Additional documents:
Minutes: 102.1 Councillor Ward presented the 2019/20 General Fund Budget and four- year outlook report to Council.
102.2 In his opening speech, he informed Council that the first draft of the report was considered at Cabinet last month and the finalised position was approved at Cabinet earlier this month. Unlike in previous years, the report did not combine both the General Fund and the HRA Budgets. Councillor Ward thought that it was proper that the Housing Revenue Account was examined and debated separately, therefore this year the HRA had its own separate budget report.
102.3 Councillor Ward told Council that the General Fund budget setting should never be seen as just a short-term exercise. Rather, it must be part of producing a medium-term outlook for the Council’s finances which were both sensible and sustainable. That was why, during the lengthy budgeting process, the Council had spent a considerable amount of time working on projecting the four-year outlook. The projections for this were detailed in Section 8 of the report. The cumulative deficit at the end of this period was £954k if all the NHB receipts were used and £2.976M excluding these.
102.4 Councillor Ward informed Council that the General Fund budget in front of them, required all of the anticipated 2019/20 New Homes Bonus (NHB) receipts of £683k and reliance on reserves amounting to £615k to achieve a balanced budget. However, given the uncertainties regarding future NHB cashflows, the Council must continue with its efforts to become self-sufficient through maximising income streams, continuing to make efficiencies and productivity savings and continuing to find new ways of working. It also behoves the Council to have a strong core council tax base and so, from the perspective of the four-year outlook through to 2023, the numbers produced a compelling case for the need for council tax increases each year. The Council would continue to do this at the maximum level allowed without requiring a referendum, i.e. £5 per year for a Band D property for the next two years and 3% for the following two years. This should be seen in the context of an average CPI inflation rate of 2.5% for 2018. Along with a 1.64% growth in the Band D equivalent number of properties for 2019-20 and 1.5% p.a. thereafter, this will ensure that the Council can grow its council tax revenues to help offset the ongoing cost pressures that it faces.
102.5 Commenting further, Councillor Ward said as already mentioned, the Council was reliant on reserves to balance the budget and that it would need to take action during 2019/20 to replace this funding with more sustainable options because the reserves were declining. The reserve levels were detailed in paragraph 7.5 table 3 of the report. The figures had improved from the initial assessment in the Autumn, due to a number of factors, including the provisional finance settlement of £273k outlined in paragraphs 4.9 to 4.11 of the report so that the Council had now been able to leave the ... view the full minutes text for item 102. |
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BC/18/40 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (HRA) BUDGET AND FOUR YEAR OUTLOOK PDF 291 KB Cabinet Member for Housing
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 18.3, immediately after any vote is taken at a budget decision meeting of the Council the names of Councillors who cast a vote for the decision or against the decision or who abstained from voting shall be recorded in the Minutes of that meeting.
At its meeting on 6 February 2019, Cabinet considered Paper BCa/18/63, together with amendments to the Housing Revenue Account. Paper BC/18/40 now includes all the relevant updated information.
Minutes: 103.1 Councillor Jan Osborne introduced the report and informed Council that the Housing Revenue account presented a positive financial picture over the longer term, but there were short to medium term challenges with a continuation of the 1% rent reduction required by the Welfare Reform and Work Act. However, the Government had announced last year that local authorities could increase rents by a maximum of consumer price index plus 1% for 5 years from 2020/21, this additional income would support the Housing Revenue Account going forward. A further announcement from the Government included the removal of the debt cap in October 2018 and the High Value Asset Levy would no longer be introduced, this would also help the Housing Revenue Account in the long term. Councillor Osborne went on to say that the Council experienced lower than anticipated right to buy sales in 2017/18, but these have remained as predicted during the current financial year. The Council was currently forecasting a deficit in the 2019/20 housing revenue budget of £193K a balanced budget had been achieved by using strategy reserves to fund the budget deficit, the good news for the Council’s housing tenants was that they would see a further reduction in their rent of 1% from April 2019, an average of 90p per week. Garage rents would also remain the same level as last year, but the Council would be implementing a project this year to reduce the number of vacant garages. Sheltered tenants would also receive a 1% reduction in their rent and service charges would remain at the current levels. However, the Council was recommending a small increase in utility charges of 5%, which was an average increase of 61p per week. This followed an average 8.4% increase in energy prices in 2017 and 7.6% in 2018, which resulted in Babergh subsidising utility charges in 2017/18. The Investment and Development team continued to move the housing programme forward and the Council was anticipating the supply of 178 new homes over the next three years. This would enable Babergh to increase its rental income for the HRA as well as provide much needed affordable homes.
103.2 Councillor Osborne then MOVED the recommendations in the report which Councillor Simon Barrett SECONDED.
103.3 Councillor Beer raised the issue of anti-social behaviour around housing developments across the district?
103.4 In response Councillor Osborne informed Council that the Housing Solutions Team regularly worked with tenants on some of the issues of anti- social behaviour, obviously parking was a situation that will partly resolve the issue when civil parking enforcement came into place. The Team was also currently looking at introducing estate rangers to carry out regular visits to see whether there were any problems and look to see how these could be resolved.
103.5 Councillor Kemp asked when the rent reduction would cease and also asked if there had been any changes to the legislation with regard to Right to Buy?
103.6 In response Councillor Osborne informed Council that the reduction in ... view the full minutes text for item 103. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FROM CABINET / COMMITTEES |
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BC/18/38 REPORT FROM CABINET REGARDING MODERN SLAVERY MOTION PDF 203 KB
For noting.
Additional documents:
Minutes: 104a.1 Councillor Ward introduced the report and informed Council that following the Council meeting on the 25th September 2018, when Councillor Cresswell had moved a Motion relating to modern slavery, in agreement with Mid Suffolk, it was resolved that a joint policy on modern slavery be drafted for both Cabinets to consider. Paper BC/18/38 provided the details of the motion and the recommendation that the Council made to Cabinet. Councillor Ward was pleased to announce that the policy was drafted, then adopted by Mid Suffolk Cabinet on the 10th December 2018 and Babergh Cabinet on the 13th December 2018. |
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BCa/18/64 JOINT CAPITAL, INVESTMENT AND TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 2019/20 PDF 607 KB Cabinet Member for Finance
At its meeting on 6 February 2019, Cabinet considered Paper BCa/18/64 and accepted the recommendations as set out in the report:
Recommendations to both Councils
That the following be approved:
The Joint Capital Strategy for 2019/20, including the Prudential Indicators as set out in Appendix A.
The Joint Investment Strategy for 2019/20, as set out in Appendix B.
The Joint Treasury Management Strategy for 2019/20, including the Joint Investment Strategy, as set out in Appendix C.
The Joint Treasury Management Indicators as set out in Appendix D.
The Joint Treasury Management Policy Statement as set out in Appendix G.
The Joint Minimum Revenue Provision Statement as set out in Appendix H.
That the key factors and information relating to and affecting treasury management activities set out in Appendices E, F, and I be noted.
Minutes: 104b.1 Councillor Ward introduced the report as approved by Cabinet earlier this month. Councillor Ward informed Council that following consultations last year, CIPFA published its 2017 editions of the Treasury Management Code of Practice and the Prudential Code and MHCLG published its 2018 Investment Guidance. The Council was now required to determine separate Capital, Investment and Treasury Management Strategy statements and Prudential Indicators annually before the start of each financial year. Both the Capital Strategy and the Investment Strategy were new this year.
104b.2 Councillor Ward then explained each appendix to Council as follows:-
Appendix A - The new Capital Strategy – summarised the capital expenditure and financing requirements of the full capital programme, for both GF & HRA, the details of which were in the Budget Report. This appendix sets out capital expenditure and capital investment decisions and the associated risks and rewards along with how risk is managed for future financial sustainability. It included Prudential Indicators which demonstrated that the investment plans the Councils had were affordable, prudent and sustainable, and decisions were made according to good practice. It also illustrated that capital expenditure planned for 2019/20 was £51.88m for Babergh [and £43.27m for Mid Suffolk] (table 1 of the report) and most of it will be funded by borrowing (table 2 of the report).
Appendix B - The new Investment Strategy – this detailed those expenditure items in the capital programme that were specifically related to assets bought/owned by the Councils to generate a return, for regeneration or development of the local area. In this context “Investments” meant those non-treasury management activities.
There were 2 types of these “Investments” - · Service Provision – where the Councils lend to or buy shares in organisations that provide a service · “For profit” Commercial Investments which generated a return – such as the council owned companies CIFCO and Gateway 14 It explained how each investment contributed to the Councils’ priorities, and their security, liquidity and risk. Both Councils were now developing their property and commercial portfolios either by purchasing them directly or through the Councils’ investment companies.
Appendix C – Treasury Management Strategy 2019/20, sets out the Councils borrowing requirement, and borrowing and treasury management investment strategies. This also included the list of Approved Investment Counterparties and limits.
Appendix D – Treasury Management Indicators, which were used to measure and manage the Councils exposure to treasury management risks.
Appendix E – Economic update and interest rate forecast, there was still a lot of uncertainty around the decision to leave the EU, affecting the value of the pound, growth and inflation, as well as changes overseas. Arlingclose, the Council’s treasury advisors, were forecasting the UK bank rate was likely to rise two more times during 2019 taking the rate up to 1.25% in the medium term (1-2 years).
Appendix F –Current investment and debt portfolio, reflected the position at 30th November 2018. The borrowing for Babergh sat at £95.05m, of which £86.05m was PWLB and £9m ... view the full minutes text for item 104b |
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BC/18/41 POLLING DISTRICT REVIEW PDF 217 KB Electoral Registration Officer Additional documents:
Minutes: 105.1 The Corporate Manager for Democratic Services introduced the report and informed Council that the report was seeking approval from Council to adopt the polling districts and polling places as listed in Appendix A of the report. This followed a review of the South Suffolk parliamentary constituency that falls within the boundary of Babergh District Council.
105.2 Also contained in the report were details of the Electoral Registration Officers proposals for polling stations. These were for Council to note only, as it was the responsibility of the Acting Returning Officer to allocate polling stations at each election.
105.3 The review had been undertaken as a statutory requirement from the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013. Furthermore, the changes to the polling districts and polling places were required to take into account the changes to the Babergh District Council Changes Order 2018 following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
105.4 Councillor Maybury MOVED the recommendations in the report which Councillor Holt SECONDED.
105.5 Councillor Cresswell asked how much was spent under the last boundaries and how much will be spent in terms of polling stations for the new ones?
105.6 In response the Monitoring Officer stated that she did not have that information as it would very much depend on any increases in charges for the polling stations that were levied for this year’s hire charge. Previously the Council had 85 polling stations, the recommendations were to reduce this as some only served a very small electorate where the turnout was really low, but she was not able to provide a comparator cost at this point in time.
105.7 Councillor Hurren asked how the consultation was undertaken as his residents had informed him, they knew nothing about the consultation.
105.8 In response the Corporate Manager for Democratic Services informed Council that all parish councillors were written to, all councillors and MP’s were informed and it was published on the web site with an on line survey that could be undertaken.
105.9 Councillor Arthey asked why the new village hall at Monks Eleigh was not being used, as being new, the village hall had ample parking, disabled facilities and was very accessible. He also asked at what point local democracy was outweighed by costs?
105.10 In response The Monitoring Officer stated that she would take away the points that had been raised and would ask the Acting Returning Officer to reconsider. As to the price of democracy, the Monitoring Officer as an elections professional said that democracy should come at any cost, however the Council did have to be realistic as each polling station could cost £1000 to run and when you had an electorate of 98 and you were looking at less than 50% turnout the cost per head did need to be taken into account. What was important was that the Acting Returning officer complied with the Electoral Commission’s Guidance, which talks about accessible polling stations that are reasonably located for electors, the guidance ... view the full minutes text for item 105. |
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BC/18/42 JOINT STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: PLANNING MATTERS PDF 244 KB Cabinet Member for Planning
Additional documents: Minutes: 106.1 Councillor Ridley introduced the report and informed Council that the Joint Statement of Community Involvement Planning matters was part of the overall planning policy, which needed to be reviewed at regular intervals. The last one was published in March 2014. This document was presented to Council in April 2018 and underwent public consultation for four weeks. The document had been reviewed as a result of greater emphasis on the use of the Council’s website and also to reflect the move to Endeavour House, the opening of the two customer access points and the two pop up sites in Hadleigh and Shotley. Amendments also included the introduction of CIL in 2016 and the introduction of charges for preapplication advice in 2017.
106.2 Councillor Ridley informed Council of the twenty- four responses received many of them had particular concerns relating to the planning system rather than the Statement of Community Involvement. These responses were included on pages 19 and 20 of the report together with the Council’s response.
106.3 Councillor Ridley then MOVED the recommendations in the report.
106.4 Councillor Maybury seconded the report and informed Council that this document was particularly important to our communities as the Council need to make sure that it was listening to them, taking notice and consulting with them as appropriate.
106.5 Councillor Busby queried why the Council had to consult with the coal authority?
106.6 In response the Corporate Manager for Strategic Planning confirmed that this was a requirement of the legislation.
106.7 Councillor Hinton raised a point relating to the lack of consultation with neighbouring North Essex Councils.
It was Resolved:-
(i) That the updates to the finalised Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Statement of Community Involvement: Planning Matters (February 2019), which updated the March 2014 adopted version be noted.
(ii) That the finalised Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Statement of Community Involvement: Planning Matters (February 2019) be adopted and published.
(iii) That the Corporate Manager – Strategic Planning be authorised to make minor technical and formatting amendments if necessary to the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Statement of Community Involvement: Planning Matters (February 2019) prior to adoption and publication. |
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COUNCILLOR APPOINTMENTS To appoint the following Councillors to the Haven Gateway Partnership:
Councillor Simon Barrett, Cabinet Member for Economy (replacing Councillor Ward)
Councillor Ward to replace Councillor Patrick as substitute.
Minutes: It was Resolved:-
(i) That Councillor Simon Barrett replace Councillor Ward on the Haven Gateway Partnership. (ii) That Councillor Ward replace Councillor Patrick as substitute on the Haven Gateway Partnership. |
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MOTION ON NOTICE To consider the Motion on Notice received from Councillor Cresswell:
To scrap the £55.00 subscription charge for garden waste (brown) bins and provide them free of charge to Babergh residents.
To establish a weekly collection of household food waste throughout the district.
Proposer: Councillor Luke Cresswell Seconder: Councillor Tony Bavington
Minutes: 108.1 Councillor Cresswell MOVED the following Motion :-
“To scrap the £55 subscription charge for garden waste (brown bins) and provide them free of charge to Babergh residents.
To establish a weekly collection of household food waste throughout the district”
108.2 In his introductory speech Councillor Cresswell informed Council that his proposal was to scrap garden waste charges as he felt that it was strange that residents were taxed for doing the right thing, he also felt that it was important that these issues were discussed and changes made to the Council’s recycling policies. Much of the changes were behavioural but the Council need to play a bigger role. At the moment pretty much everything went into the black bins but that had got to change. As for the brown bin Councillor Cresswell stated that we lived in a rural district with a high population of elderly people that had no choice but to pay the brown bin tax as they could not easily access alternative means of disposing their garden waste. Councillor Cresswell went on to say that national government may push for this to be introduced soon any way and the Council should be prepared, indeed the Council could be seen as progressive if this was done before the Government made it mandatory. Finally, Councillor Cresswell said that unless we all do more to save the planet, our environment and our future it would soon be too late and the effects will be devastating.
108.3 Councillor Nunn seconded the Motion.
108.4 The Chairman then referred the Motion to Cabinet without debate.
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