60.1 There were no apologies for absence.

61.1 There were no declarations of interest.

It was Resolved:-

That the Minutes from the meeting held on the 13 September 2018 be confirmed as a true record.

63.1 There were no petitions received.

64.1 There were no questions received.

65.1  The Forthcoming Decisions List was noted subject to the following changes:-

1)           CAB42 -  Report to be deferred until further notice.

66.1    There were no matters referred by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or the Joint Audit and Standards Committee.

Cabinet Member for Finance.

It was RESOLVED:-

1.1    That funds be earmarked to the schemes as detailed in Appendix A of the report.

1.2    That delegation be given to the Strategic Director, in consultation with the Finance Cabinet Member and other relevant Cabinet Members and Suffolk County Council, to change the approved projects or identify new projects for earmarked funds to a limit of £20,000 per project.

Reason for Decision: To enable the specific identified projects to be progressed and the conditions of the pilot status to be complied with.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Option 1: Earmarking of funds as set out in the report.

Option 2: Funds remain unearmarked within a reserve.

Both options above have been considered and the recommended option within the report is Option 1, to allocate funds to specific projects. The reason the other option has not been recommended is because a condition of the pilot status being awarded is that the additional retained money should be invested in further growth initiatives. Leaving the funds within a reserve will not achieve the key aim of the pilot.

Any Declarations of Interest declared: None

Any Dispensation Granted: None

67.1Councillor Ward introduced the report and informed Cabinet that the report presented proposals for the use of the funds that Babergh would receive from Suffolk’s 100% Business Rates Retention Pilot for 2018-19.

67.2 An estimated total of 11.2 million would be allocated across the County with Babergh getting about 1.1 million. The figures were based on an estimate of business rate collection for this year. The actual collection may differ and so the actual amount received might differ slightly as well.

67.3 Councillor Ward went on to say that there was still an estimated £90,000 to be earmarked which would be decided upon soon. One of the criteria set by Government was that the additional monies retained should be invested in growth initiatives to increase the business rates base in the district. Each project had a summary pro forma and these have been submitted to Suffolk County Council. They will be developed into full business cases and these will be submitted for approval.

67.4 Councillor Ward detailed a very brief introduction to each of the pro forma. 

67.5 Firstly for Belle Vue and Hamilton Road. These 2 projects were key to the regeneration of this part of Sudbury. These schemes would be difficult to deliver but both have unique opportunities to develop the retail, leisure and cultural offering and support the growing economy through additional jobs and skills.

67.6 Secondly the Delphi site in Sudbury - the money earmarked here will go towards supporting the South Suffolk Task Force in the undertaking of work to progress opportunities for the reuse of this site following the closure of the Delphi factory. Its remit was broad, to look strategically at the whole of South Suffolk’s economy. The Task Force would determine what work needed to be done going forward and these funds would support all of this work, along with match funding opportunities and public and private sector collaborative investment. Initially Babergh has commissioned an options appraisal and viability study which would present its findings to the Task Force next month. In parallel the new Anglia LEP in partnership with Delphi and government departments had produced a marketing brochure for international circulation to market the site to potential investors interested in maintaining the existing industrial use and particularly the workforce there.

67.7 The next two schemes are being done in conjunction with Mid Suffolk District Council. The first of these is the setting up of a central Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and the funds to be earmarked there were to provide seed funding to set up a self-sustaining Chamber of Commerce in central Suffolk affiliated to the Suffolk Chamber. This is the part of the County that currently doesn’t have coverage and consequently there is a lack of business representation, lobbying and intelligence sharing in the area. There is a launch window this year, but it does need support to get started and the Council have been asked to provide £15,000 towards support costs for each of the 3 years it’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

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.

It was Resolved:

That pursuant to Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the business specified in the report on the grounds that if the public were present during that item, it is likely that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.  

69.1 Councillor Maybury requested that the exact percentages for the clawback figures be included in Minute 59.3. In response the Strategic Director confirmed that there was still some negotiation around the clawback figures and therefore these could not be confirmed at this time therefore the Minute as read should stand.

It was Resolved:-

That subject to the grammatical errors being corrected, the confidential Minutes from the meeting held on 13 September 2018 be approved as a true record.