Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2017 were approved.

1.    Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

2.    Other Interests

There were no declarations of interest made.

DECISION:   That the Forward Plan for February 2018 be approved for publication.

The purpose of the report was to inform members of the Council’s overall performance and financial position for the period ended 31st December 2017 (“Third Quarter 2017/18”).  The report was considered by the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 7 February 2018.  The position was summarised as follows:

Options considered:

Detailed analysis was contained within the appendices.

DECISION:

That the Third Quarter 2017/18 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 2018/19, updated Medium-Term Financial Plan 2018/19 – 2021/22, Procurement Forward Plan 2018/19 and proposed Fees and Charges for 2018/19. The report was considered by the  Resources Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 7 February 2018.

Options considered:

The report was a statement of fact. As such there were no options to consider.

DECISION:           

That the COUNCIL BE RECOMMENDED as follows:

1.            Approve the General Fund Budget for 2018/19 as detailed in Appendix A (section 8)

2.            Approve the revised Medium-Term Financial Plan (2018/19 to 2021/22) as detailed in Appendix A, including the revised Capital Programme (attached at Annex A)

3.            Approve the proposed Procurement Forward Plan for 2018/19, providing the authority to procure based on procurement activity detailed in Appendix B

4.            Approve the proposed Fees and Charges for 2018/19 as detailed in Appendix C

5.            Approve a Band D Council Tax of £146.30 for 2018/19 (an increase of 2.9% from 2018/19)

6.            Approve a Band D Council Tax of £50.47 for Leek and £10.15 for Biddulph for 2018/19 (an increase of 2.9% from 2017/18) in respect of Special District Expenses

7.            Notes the Chief Finance Officer's view that the level of reserves are 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 presented proposals for the Council to mark the centenary of the end of World War I during 2018.

Options considered:

§  That the Council created a £20,000 WW1 grants budget as proposed in the report. (Recommended)

§  That the Council created a budget of a different amount and/or a different mechanism for allocating the grant. (Not recommended)

§  That the Council did not create a WW1 grant budget. (Not recommended)

DECISION:           

1.            That the Council helps to enable parish and town councils to hold WW1 centenary events and activities to mark the ending of the war in November 2018.

2.            That a WW1 grant budget of £20,000 be established. Grants would be available to parish and town councils in Staffordshire Moorlands (as detailed in sections 7.9 and 7.10 of the report). 

3.            That a range of tools be used to promote the commemorations local and national and involvement by communities including: the use of the Council website, social media, Parish Assembly and direct participation in events.

The report advised the Cabinet of the revised Cemetery Regulations proposed for adoption in the Moorlands.  The report was considered by the Service Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 24 January 2018.

Options considered:

There were two options available to the Council:

1.         To adopt the revised regulations, which included the adoption of lawn cemetery status at Leek cemetery (recommended).

2.         To not adopt the revised regulations (not recommended).

DECISION:

1.    That the revised cemetery regulations set out in the Appendix to the report be adopted.   

2.    That lawn cemetery status at Leek cemetery be adopted.

The Council must comply with a number of different Acts and Regulations when processing information. Failure to process information properly can lead to a range of problems including poor decision making, inefficient business processes, inconvenience or harm to residents and others, reputational damage to the Authority, and/or enforcement action by the Information Commissioner’s Office.  The report introduced an information governance framework for managing information and the associated risks, and supporting regulatory, legal, and operational requirements. 

Options considered:

That Cabinet approved the outlined approach to Information Governance (recommended).

That Cabinet did not approve the outlined approach (not recommended).

DECISION:

1.    That the content of the report be noted and that the proposed approach to information governance be approved.

2.    That all Councillors would be registered with the ICO, and meet the registration costs, unless individual councillors wished to opt-out from registering.

A draft design guide had been completed for Staffordshire Moorlands and had been subject to consultation with the public and a regional organisation that promotes good architectural design.  The report sets out the results of the consultation exercise and recommended that the amended design guide be adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document. The report was considered by the Service Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Panel on 24 January 2018.

Options considered:

Option 1 - Do Nothing

Without the Design Guide, there would be a general lack of design guidance specific to Staffordshire Moorlands. There would be no mechanism by which the Council could raise the quality of design and determine applications for development within the area.  Not recommended

Option 2 – Adopt the Staffordshire Moorlands Design Guide

The adoption of the Staffordshire Moorlands Design Guide would offer supplementary design advice for developers, architects and agents when submitting proposals for development in Staffordshire Moorlands. The guide identified the local traditional characteristics of buildings in the area and offers advice on how to approach new development projects that enhances and responds to the local context. The guide and technical appendices that flow from it would improve and raise the standard of design across the area and could be used in the determination of planning applications and appeals. Recommended

DECISION:     

That the COUNCIL BE RECOMMENDED as follows:

1.    Note the consultation comments and officers’ responses to them;

2.    Recommend to approval of the amended version of the Staffordshire Moorlands Design Guide for adoption as a Supplementary Planning Document; and

3.    Delegate approval to officers to make any technical updates to the design guide, including the detailed appendices, as required.