Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2016 were approved.

1.    Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

2.    Other Interests

There were no declarations of interest made.

DECISION:      That the Minutes of Meeting of the Local Joint Employees Consultative Committee held on 26 January 2017 be received and the recommendations contained therein approved.

DECISION:   That the Forward Plan for the period February 2017 to April 2017 be approved for publication.

The purpose of the report is to inform members of the Council’s overall performance and financial position for the period ended 31st December 2016 (“Third Quarter 2016/17”).  The position was summarised as follows:

Options Considered:

Detailed Analysis was contained within the main body of the Report.

DECISION:            That the Third Quarter 2016/17 financial, procurement and performance position detailed in Appendices A, B and C and summarised at 3.3 of the covering report be noted.

The purpose of the report was to present the proposed Budget for 2017/18, updated Medium-Term Financial Plan 2017/18 – 2020/21 and proposed Fees and Charges for 2017/18.

Options Considered:

A number of options had been considered throughout the financial planning process. Any changes to the provisions made would have to be self-financing.

DECISION:            That the COUNCIL BE RECOMMENDED as follows:

(a)          Approves the General Fund Budget for 2017/18 as detailed in Appendix A (section 8)

(b)          Approves the revised Medium-Term Financial Plan (2017/18 to 2020/21) as detailed in Appendix A, including the revised Capital Programme (attached at Annex A)

(c)          Approves the proposed Efficiency & Rationalisation Strategy for 2017/18 – 2020/21 as detailed in Appendix B

(d)       Approves the proposed Fees and Charges for 2017/18 as detailed in Appendix C

(e)       Approves a Band D Council Tax of £142.18 for 2017/18 (an increase of 1.9% from 2016/17)

(f)        Approves a Band D Council Tax of £49.05 for Leek and £9.86 for Biddulph for 2016/17 (an increase of 1.9% from 2016/17) in respect of Special District Expenses

(g)       Notes the Chief Finance Officer's view that the level of reserves is adequate for the Council based on this budget and the circumstances in place at the time of preparing it (Appendix A section 7)

The report provided an update on progress of the Northern Gateway Partnership (‘the Partnership’) and the work done to date. This updated the report to Cabinet on the 1^st December 2015. It sought Cabinet endorsement of proposed additional work, to define a cross-border Growth Strategy for the region to maximise the potential growth and increased connectivity resulting from HS2. The report also included a governance structure for the Partnership in which Staffordshire Moorlands District Council would be represented. Members of the Service Delivery Overview and Scrutiny considered the report on 1 February 2017.

Options Considered: 

Detailed options were shown in section 5 of the report.

DECISION:            (a)          That the progress made by the Northern Gateway Partnership to date be noted and that the proposed work programme to further develop the regional Growth Strategy for the Northern Gateway Development Zone (NGDZ) be approved.

(b)          That the emerging Vision for the Partnership be endorsed.

(c)          That Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s role within the Governance structure as proposed by the Northern Gateway Board be endorsed -  Appendix A of the report.

(d)          That the Leader be authorised, in consultation with the Chief Executive, to enter into a formal Collaboration Agreement for the Northern Gateway, in accordance with the draft Heads of Terms at Appendix B of the report.

(e)          That the Executive Director Place be authorised to approve and execute all legal documentation he considers necessary to give effect to the above.

The report sought to prepare a consistent approach to quantifying the economic benefits of development (housing, employment and visitor economy) in order to comply with s155 of Housing and Planning Act 2016 and provide relevant information towards consideration of ‘planning balance’ for determination of planning applications. The report outlined a range of economic assumptions and established a method for calculating the impact of each of them to inform the business cases for key corporate priorities and to estimate the impact of investing Council’s resources on the short, medium and long term financial plans.

Options Considered:

Options for consideration were provided in section 5 of the report.

DECISION:                 (a)     That the approach to quantifying economic impact as outlined in this report be noted.

(b)     That the approach be approved as the Council’s preferred method for quantifying economic growth.

            It was reported that the area around the Millennium Gardens/Sainsbury’s in Biddulph attracted a relatively high level of anti-social behaviour that continued to have a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality. Following partnership work with Staffordshire Police, it was considered that a Public Spaces Protection Order would assist in stopping individuals or groups committing anti-social behaviour in the area.  The report was considered by the Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 13 February 2017.

Options Considered:

None at this stage – the report requested authority to consult on the proposed Order. Analysis of options would take place when the outcome of any consultation is known.

DECISION:            That officers be instructed to carry out formal consultation on a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order to prevent on-going anti-social behaviour in and around the Millennium Gardens in Biddulph.

The area around Leek Bus Station had historically attracted relatively high levels of anti-social behaviour that continued to have a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality. The District Council had consulted on a proposal to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order to assist in stopping individuals or groups committing anti-social behaviour in the area.  The report presented the responses from the consultation and proposed that the Council proceeds to make a Public Spaces Protection Order.

Options Considered:

§  Leek Bus Station met the two conditions required for the Council to introduce a Public Spaces Protection Order. The activities that had taken place have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the area. Secondly, the activities had been of a persistent, on-going nature.

§  Cabinet may choose to approve the proposed Order attached at Appendix A (Recommended).

§  Alternatively, Cabinet may choose not to make a Public Spaces Protection Order (not recommended).

DECISION:            That a Public Spaces Protection Order be introduced to prevent on-going anti-social behaviour in and around Leek Bus Station/Smithfield Centre.

Cabinet considered an application from Rushton Parish Council to designate a Neighbourhood Area for the Parish of Rushton.  The report also proposed an amendment to the scheme of delegation to enable future designations of Neighbourhood Areas, in those circumstances where the Council must exercise its powers of designation to designate the neighbourhood area applied for, to be made by the relevant Portfolio Holder with responsibilities for planning, in consultation with the ward members who represent the proposed neighbourhood area.

Options Considered:

The options available were considered in section 5 of the report.

DECISION:            (a)          To approve the designation of the whole of the parish of Rushton as a Neighbourhood Area.

(b)          To amend the Scheme of Delegation to delegate authority to the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Development & Property to act in accordance with the protocol for decision making by an individual executive member and in consultation with the ward members who represent the proposed neighbourhood area, to designate neighbourhood areas in those circumstances where the Neighbourhood Planning (General) and Development Management Procedure (Amendment) Regulations 2016 apply.

The Chair to Move:-

“That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100 I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.”

RESOLVED  -  That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100 I (1)  of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.

The Cabinet approved a report which provided an update of the detailed business case that had been developed for the establishment of a joint venture partnership for the provision of waste collection, street cleansing, grounds maintenance and fleet management services.

The Cabinet approved the award of a construction contract for highway completion works at Victoria Business Park, Biddulph.