Venue: Virtual Meeting
Contact: Committee Services
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS BY COUNCILLORS Minutes: 217.1 Councillor Holt declared a non-pecuniary local interest as Director of CIFCO Capital Ltd.
217.2 Councillors Busby, Hinton, Holt and Malvisi declared local non-pecuniary interests, as Directors of BDC (Suffolk Holdings Ltd)
217.3 Councillor Maybury and Councillor Jan Osborne declared local non-pecuniary interests for Item 8, as Directors and Trustees for Sudbury and District Citizens Advice. |
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BC/19/39 TO CONFIRM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 26 FEBRUARY 2020 PDF 580 KB Minutes: It was RESOLVED:-
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2020 be confirmed and signed as a true record and would be signed at the next practicable opportunity.
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BC/19/40 ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND LEADER PDF 17 KB In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/19/40 attached, detailing events attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
Minutes: 219.1 Councillor Grandon, the Chair of the Council referred to Paper BC/19/40, which was for noting.
219.2 She then paid the following tribute to previous Councillor Nick Ridley:
It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing on the 31st March of our former colleague Nick Ridley, and due to the pandemic and lockdown, this was the first opportunity to pay tribute to Nick. Nick was one of Babergh’s most experienced and respected Councillors, having served the Council as the Conservative Member for Brook Ward for 16 years, from 2003 until 2019.
During his terms of office Nick served in senior roles including as Chairman of Strategy, which fulfilled the same role as the Leader. He was also the Chairman of the Council from 2012 to 2014 and served as Chairman again in 2015 to 2016.
Among the many Committees he led, he was Chairman of the Planning and the Regulatory and Licensing Committees; he was a Cabinet Member until 2019. He also served as the Council’s representative on many outside bodies.
Nick was a wise counsel and highly regarded by his peers. He gave many of us sound advice. He had a wealth of local government experience and his contributions to debates in the Council Chamber were always thoughtful and informed.
Many long-standing Councillors would have their own personal memories of Nick. I had great respect for Nick, he had strong and forthright views on many matters, and I can recall that on a couple of prominent planning issues, we disagreed, but fundamentally he used those forthright views and his in-depth experience for the good of our District.
I also recall once asking him what he enjoyed most about being the Chairman and I was amused to hear that he said attending the annual Colchester Oyster Feast and went on to regale me with the details of the occasion.
Nick was passionate about Suffolk. Nick’s dedication to the community and his achievements are awe-inspiring. His daughter Sarah told the Chair that he was most proud of the Millennium Project at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, which saw the Tower built and other major additions which changed Bury St Edmunds skyline. Nick masterminded this project.
To mention just a few of Nick’s other achievements: he was a former Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk, a Justice of the Peace for very many years and he was awarded the OBE in 2005 for his services to the community in Suffolk. He was previously Chairman of Suffolk Health Authority and a founding father of St Elizabeth Hospice, a charity he supported until his death. And yet he was a very modest man.
One of the many things that I will always remember Nick saying to me, was that “family comes first”; and our thoughts are with Nick’s wife Jessie and his family at this difficult time.
219.3 Councillor Grandon asked Councillors to observe one minute’s silence to pay respect to their friend and colleague Nick Ridley.
219.4 The Chair then invited the ... view the full minutes text for item 219. |
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TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULES In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 11, 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: 220.1 The Corporate Manager – Governance and Civic Office and Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that the following validated petitions had been received:
1. 162 valid signatures regarding planning application DC/20/01094 in Chilton, Sudbury.
2. 96 valid signatures regarding planning application DC/20/00330 in Boxford.
220.2 Both petitions would be dealt with through the usual planning process.
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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. 12.
Minutes: 221.1 The Chair informed Council that a question had been received from Mr. Young, who was not present at the meeting. The Chair of the Council then read out the question.
Question to the Cabinet Member for Assets and Investments from Mr. Young: “The Board of CIFCO Capital has lost over £8,000,000 since inception in 2017 until 31.03.20 according to the company's accounts. This is before COVID-19 really started to impact on property values. How much does the Board of CIFCO budget to lose in total impairments to 30.03.21 bearing in mind that at the March 2020 Rental Quarter Day 30% of tenants were experiencing payment difficulties and they expect the June 2020 Quarter Day to be more challenging?” Councillor Busby, Cabinet Member for Assets and Investments responded: The losses incurred by CIFCO to date have been in relation to the costs of setting up the portfolio- namely stamp duty and professional fees equating to approximately £3.5m and the reduction in the portfolio value. The acquisition of a portfolio of property assets will incur costs, such as stamp duty and professional fees. These are typically in the order of 6.75% per acquisition. It is therefore anticipated that costs in the region of £6.75m will be accumulated as part of the total £100m investment agreed jointly by Babergh DC and Mid Suffolk DC. To date, costs of £3.5m have been incurred in acquiring the 14 properties owned by CIFCO and as such it is anticipated that a further impairment of £3.25m will be incurred until the fund is fully invested. The portfolio was most recently valued on 31st March 2020 and as such this valuation reflects the high level of COVID uncertainty in the market at that point. Property values will fluctuate over time in line with the market and also as individual assets travel through the valuation curve-with the highest value being at the point that a new lease is granted, gradually reducing as the lease term reduces and then increasing again when a subsequent new lease is granted. It is not appropriate to predict property values in the future. The cumulative reduction in values since acquisition equates to approximately £4.7m, representing approximately 8%. Over this time CIFCO has collected £5.5m of rental income from its tenants, with circa £4.2m being repaid to the Councils as capital and interest charges for the loans. The board of CIFCO are carefully monitoring rent collection and have achieved high levels of rent collection in the market with over 75% collected in March and over 65% currently collected for the June quarter with further monthly payments expected over the remaining months of this quarter. In most cases CIFCO is expecting to receive the outstanding rental arrears however this may be over a longer period. The Board will continue to monitor this carefully to mitigate this impact and manage cashflow accordingly. Note: Councillor Hurren joined the meeting at 5:55pm 221.2 As Mr. Young was not present at the meeting the Chair of the Council ... view the full minutes text for item 221. |
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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. 13.
Minutes: 222.1 None received.
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BC/19/41 OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 PDF 217 KB Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee Additional documents: Minutes: 223.1 The Chair invited the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to present his report.
223.2 Councillor McCraw referred to agenda Item 8 on page 33 to 64 and said he was pleased to present the Annual Report, as Chair of the Babergh Overview and Scrutiny Committee, he continued:
That the 2020/21 Work Plan was made up of a varied range of topics to scrutinise but that the work was disrupted, first by the General Election and, then by the Covid - 19 pandemic. From mid- March all meetings were cancelled until suitable arrangements for virtual meetings could be made. Most of the meetings held during the year had been joint meetings with Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Keith Welham, Chair of Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Councillor McCraw had alternated chairing these meetings. The agendas had included pre-scrutiny of items prior to Cabinet or Council decisions, scrutiny of topics selected by the Committee or requested by Council, presentations of important matters by senior officers and witnesses from outside the two authorities, and Information Bulletins requested by the Committee. The Joint Committee set up a Task and Finish Group to work with Members and Officers from other Suffolk authorities to scrutinise the work of Citizens Advice and provide recommendations to the Scrutiny Committees of the authorities taking part. This work was particularly helpful in providing a better understanding of the breadth of work covered by Citizens Advice, as well as the pressures they are under and how they are funded. Due to its direct relevance to business on the agenda today, he drew attention to the June 2020 meeting, which examined the performance of CIFCO in 2019/20 and the business plan for 2020/21. This received heavy interest and a very large number of questions for witnesses from non-committee members. Questions and concerns were answered, and members would find many of them further addressed within the reports from CIFCO, they are considering today. In the final analysis, the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee endorsed these reports, as they had done in the previous two years, the entire lifetime of CIFCO. Throughout the year the Committee had acted as a critical friend to officers and Cabinet by working with them to investigate improvements to service delivery. The Committee had also continued to add value to the Council’s decision-making process. He thanked Henriette Holloway, Senior Governance Support Officer – Committee Services, and Jan Robinson, Corporate Manager – Governance and Civic Office, for their input and support throughout the year, also Councillor Adrian Osborne & his predecessor Sue Ayers, who have been the Committee Vice-Chairs during the year. He was grateful to members of the Committee for their commitment, and to officers for providing clear and concise responses to requests for information. He thanked Keith Welham, Chair of Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny, his Vice-Chair Keith Scarff and members of that Committee for working collaboratively with the Babergh Committee. Councillor McCraw was proud to have produced a draft work plan for ... view the full minutes text for item 223. |
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Chief Executive Additional documents: Minutes: 224.1 The Chair referred to report BC/19/42, which was for noting and invited the Monitoring Officer to present the report.
224.2 Emily Yule, Monitoring Officer, outlined the reason for the decisions taken under delegated powers, which were predominately taken in the early stages of the of lock- down to support early response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
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Leader of the Council Additional documents: Minutes: 225.1 The Chair invited the Leader to introduce report BC/19/43, which was for noting.
225.2 Councillor Ward detailed the decision taken by him under delegated powers for the Discretionary Grant Scheme. He advised Members that the Scheme had so far supported 35 businesses across the District with £165K grant funding.
225.3 Councillor Hinton queried the powers of delegation and the reasoning behind the decisions for the planning items. He asked for clarification on the process for determining which planning applications would be decided by officer delegation and which would be going to Planning Committee.
225.4 The Monitoring Officer responded that Decision Notices for decisions taken by officer delegation were published on the Council’s website and included the reasons for the decision. The Chief Planning Officer determined which applications were presented to the Planning Committees and which planning applications he could approve under his delegated powers. She advised that Councillor Hinton approach the Chief Planning Officer for further information.
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TO REPORT BACK ON COUNCIL MOTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE To receive an update from the Cabinet Member for Environment on actions taken by Cabinet regarding the Climate Change Motion agreed at Council on 23 July 2019.
For noting only.
Minutes: 226.1 Councillor Malvisi introduced the item and informed Council that Cabinet had unanimously approved a Carbon Reduction Management Plan at the Simultaneous Cabinet meeting on the 6th July 2020, following the Motion at Council in July 2019. The Action Plan was created by the Environment and Climate Change Task Force. She thanked the Councillors, who sat on the Task Force for their contributions and dedication in preparing the plan to tackle the negative impact of climate change within the District and the reduction Council’s Carbon footprint. She also thanked on behalf of the Taskforce, Cassandra Clements, Assistant Director for Environment and Commercial Partnerships and her team for putting the plan together during the Covid-19 pandemic lock-down.
226.2 She continued that the Cabinet would be focusing on driving the commitments made in the plan and relied on all Members to commit to this plan and make a difference to the environment and sustainability in the District.
226.3 Councillor Lindsay referred to Appendix E in the report, and the table and comments made before the Cabinet had met. He asked for clarity on why some of the decisions appeared to have been made before the Cabinet had officially met.
226.4 The Monitoring Officer clarified that the question was outside the scope for the item on the Agenda, but as the Chair had allowed the question, she would like to allay any concerns of pre-determination of the work of the Cabinet. However, there would always be an opportunity for Cabinet Members to work with officers on issues outside meetings. |
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BC/19/44 LOCAL DEVELOPMENT SCHEME UPDATE PDF 223 KB Cabinet Member for Planning Additional documents: Minutes: 227.1 Councillor Arthey was invited by the Chair of the Council to introduce Paper BC/19/44. He began by outlining the purpose of the Local Development Scheme (LDS), the key point in the report and tight timeline outlined in Appendix A, which set out the timescale for the adoption of Joint Local Plan.
227.2 Councillor Arthey PROPOSED recommendation 3.1 in the report which was SECONDED by Councillor Beer.
227.3 Councillor Hinton queried if there was anything built into the timetable to accommodate the change of how the Council kept control over the location of developments in the area. He referred to the new legislation published from central Government.
227.4 Councillor Arthey responded that there was nothing in the timetable to accommodate this as this had only been published very recently. He referred to paragraph 1.5 in the report and the caveat. The recent legislation might not require any change or delay to the current plan, as it was concerning development rights. He hoped this would not delay the work any further.
227.5 Councillor Ward assumed that there would be no change to the JLP, which would be brought to Council in November 2020.
227.6 Councillor Maybury referred to page 84 and asked if the timetable would be restricted any further due to the increase in dissension over the deferment of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments.
227.7 Councillor Arthey responded that the issues for CIL were about the charging of CIL and not about the grants and payments for CIL.
227.8 Councillor Maybury clarified that her question was about any dissension for deferment caused by developers being unable to pay CIL to Parish Councils when requested. She was concerned that the dissension from the Parish Councils would delay the timetable further.
227.9 Councillor Arthey responded these dissensions would not delay the timetable for LDS, as they would be included in the CIL framework review later this year.
227.10 In response to Councillors Davis’ question regarding the CIL review, Councillor Arthey explained that there were two different reviews; the CIL framework review, which was how the Council dealt with CIL and the CIL charging review, which reviewed how much the Council charged developers.
227.11 Councillor Arthey thanked the Chief Executive and Officers for their commitment to support the LDS and keeping to the timetable.
227.12 The recommendation was put to Members for voting and the vote was UNANIMOUS.
It was RESOLVED: -
That the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Local Development Scheme (July 2020) (Appendix A) be agreed to be brought into effect on 31st July 2020.
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COUNCILLOR APPOINTMENTS Minutes: 228.1 There were no Councillor appointments.
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MOTIONS ON NOTICE |
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Motion received from Councillor Jamieson To consider the Motion on Notice received from Councillor Jamieson:
Babergh Council endorses the Government's goal to ensure there is a permanent shift in the numbers of people choosing to cycle and walk.
Using this goal as a guide, the Council will ensure there is officer resource to produce a Cycling Strategy, in conjunction with Suffolk County Council as the Transport Authority, that will be reviewed at a predetermined timescale e.g. 3 yearly.
This strategy will include a prioritised, costed list of routes across the districts that include existing and proposed cycle routes and different types of cycle route provision. The officer will be an automatic cycling consultee on planning applications and will seek funding through section 106 money.
At the next review of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), the funding of cycle infrastructure will be included as an eligible project.
To support S106 and CIL bids, Council will work with partners on Supplementary Planning Guidance to seek developer contributions to link settlements to nearby towns and Key Service Centres with safe and sustainable active travel options.
The Strategy will also look to –
o Identify existing gaps in the cycle network. o Identify opportunities to work with partner organisations including parish councils, businesses, residents and local community groups. o Identify specific issues that require improvement to enhance the wider cycle network. o Improve facilities for cyclists to encourage greater cycling for leisure as well as commuting. o Ensure funds for walking and cycling routes and cycling infrastructure are agreed in the drawing up of new S106 agreements. o Provide high quality, secure and sheltered cycle parking facilities for our Leisure and Fitness Centres and ensure recreation grounds, car parks, shopping centres and open spaces have adequate cycle parking, including some e-cycle charging points.
Proposer – Cllr Leigh Jamieson (Green Party) Seconder – Cllr Derek Davis (Independent)
Minutes:
230.1 The Chair invited Councillor Jamieson to present and move his Motion.
230.2 Councillor Jamieson said that due to the Covid-19 crisis there had been a significant increase in the number of people that had either taken up cycling or returned to it. In May this year the Secretary of State for transport, had said “When the country gets back to work, we need them to carry on cycling, and to be joined by millions more”. To enable this, the government was expecting Local Authorities to facilitate this. “The government therefore expected local authorities to make significant changes to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians.”
Further to this, the Government released a paper earlier this year - ‘Decarbonising Transport’. In this paper the Government had set an aim to double cycling activity per person per year and had set an ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for short journeys.
With £1.2billion already invested in active travel and another £1.2billion of funding planned, the Council needed to take the active travel responsibilities seriously. At the moment Babergh still had no cycling strategy.
In fact, on the last Active Travel Survey published in 2019 the proportion of people cycling in Babergh once a week was only 9.7% which was the worst in Suffolk. He felt that a cycling strategy would help the Council meet these ambitions.
230.3 Councillor Jamieson then read out the Motion:
Babergh Council endorses the Government's goal to ensure there is a permanent shift in the numbers of people choosing to cycle and walk.
Using this goal as a guide, the Council will ensure there is officer resource to produce a Cycling Strategy, in conjunction with Suffolk County Council as the Transport Authority, that will be reviewed at a predetermined timescale e.g. 3 yearly.
This strategy will include a prioritised, costed list of routes across the districts that include existing and proposed cycle routes and different types of cycle route provision. The officer will be an automatic cycling consultee on planning applications and will seek funding through section 106 money.
At the next review of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), the funding of cycle infrastructure will be included as an eligible project.
To support S106 and CIL bids, Council will work with partners on Supplementary Planning Guidance to seek developer contributions to link settlements to nearby towns and Key Service Centres with safe and sustainable active travel options.
The Strategy will also look to –
· Identify existing gaps in the cycle network. · Identify opportunities to work with partner organisations including parish councils, businesses, residents and local community groups. · Identify specific issues that require improvement to enhance the wider cycle network. · Improve facilities for cyclists to encourage greater cycling for leisure as well as commuting. · Ensure funds for walking and cycling routes and cycling infrastructure are agreed in the drawing up of new S106 agreements. · Provide high quality, secure and sheltered cycle parking facilities for our Leisure and Fitness Centres and ensure recreation ... view the full minutes text for item 230. |
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Motion received from Councillor Lindsay To consider the Motion on Notice received from Councillor Lindsay: This Council resolves to:
Proposer: Cllr Robert Lindsay Seconder: Cllr Trevor Cresswell
Minutes: 231.1 The Chair of the Council invited Councillor Lindsay to move his Motion.
231.2 Councillor Lindsay said that a lot of money and time had been spent on CIFCO with the best of intentions by both officers and Councillors and that it therefore could be difficult to stand back and admit the Council was wrong in continuing to invest in CIFCO. Even if the Council had spent time and money, it did not make it right and he urged that the Council did not do that with CIFCO. He had no concerns of the way CIFCO had been managed and he recognised that the Council had earned some money from the investments pre-Covid-19. However, he was convinced that building property in the District would be better for the Council’s residents and provide for the genuine housing needs in the District. The profit from the sale of market homes could be used to build social housing in the District. By building locally the Council would put money back into the local economy. The additional housing would also count towards the Five-year Housing Land Supply and the Council would take charge of the Council’s own housing supply rather than leaving this to the private sector. Private developers build for profit and not for need. However, there were examples in the District of houses built with far better environmental standards and isolation than building regulations required, and he hope the Council would pursue this. The time and effort spent on CIFCO could be spent instead to identify sustainable sites for homes in the District. The Council already had the vehicle for doing this with Babergh Growth and the joint venture with Norse, which currently only focused on developing the old Headquarters in Hadleigh. Leaving house building entirely to the private sector was a mistake and he felt that the Council was shirking from its responsibility to its residents and he asked that the Council embrace change and supported the Motion.
231.3 Councillor Lindsay then referred to Motion 14b as detailed in the Agenda:
231.4 Councillor Lindsay PROPOSED the Motion, which was SECONDED by Councillor Cresswell.
231.5 Members debated the Motion including:
· That it was a good idea to invest in the District and that Babergh Growth was the vehicle for this. · That investing in the purchase of land ... view the full minutes text for item 231. |
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Cabinet Member for Assets & Investments Additional documents: |
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EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC (WHICH TERM INCLUDES THE PRESS) To consider whether, pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public should be excluded from the meeting for the business specified below on the grounds that if the public were present during this item, it is likely that there would be the disclosure to them of exempt information as indicated against the item.
The author of the report proposed to be considered in Part 2 of the Agenda is satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Minutes: 233.1 As Members had completed their discussion of Item BC/19/45 Capital Investment Fund Company (CIFCO Capital Ltd.) Business Trading and Performance Report 2019/20 including any question for the Appendices, the Chair refrained from going to the closed session of the meeting. |
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CONFIDENTIAL APPENDIX C CIFCO CAPITAL LTD BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT PLAN 2020-21 (Exempt information by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1) Cabinet Member for Assets & Investments
Minutes: 234.1 This item was discussed under the previous item.
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