Agenda and minutes

DECISION:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11 June 2024, be approved as a correct record.

1.    Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

2.    Other Interests

None were declared.

DECISION:

That the Forward Plan be approved for publication, subject to, the inclusion of an item on the Housing Growth Strategy for the meeting in October.

The purpose of the report was to present the Council’s Annual Report for 2022/23, which compared Staffordshire Moorlands performance and costs with local authorities in the West Midlands region and nationally. 

Options considered:

Not applicable

DECISION:

That Cabinet;

1)    Noted the Annual Report 2022/23;

2)    Noted the main issues, threats and opportunities for the Council which were summarised in Section 9 of the report;

3)    Noted the findings of the benchmarking exercise which were summarised in Section 10 of the report.

4)    Identified any other areas that it considered should be considered for future action.

The purpose of the report was to provide members with an opportunity to scrutinise the draft Performance Framework and associated targets for 2024/2025.

Options considered:

Members were asked to consider the proposed targets and to make amendments if they considered that they were necessary.

DECISION:

Cabinet approved the:

1)    Changes to the Performance Framework as detailed in Section 9 of the report;

2)    Proposed set of performance indicators and targets as set out in Appendix A and suggested any required changes;

3)    Details of the performance measures that were linked to the Corporate Plan priority outcomes set out in Appendix B;

4)    Development of the Oflog performance metrics as detailed in Appendix C;

5)    Ongoing development of an annual delivery plan including the development of milestones for the Corporate Plan priority actions as detailed in Appendix D.

The purpose of the report was to inform members of the Council’s overall performance and financial position for the period ended 31st March (“Fourth Quarter 2023/24”).

Options considered:

Detailed analysis was contained within the main body of the report.

DECISION:

That Cabinet:

1)    Noted the Fourth Quarter 2023/24 financial, procurement and performance position detailed in Appendices A, B and C and summarised at 3.3 of the report;

2)    Approved the proposal of reserve movements in Appendix A (Paragraph 2.15);

3)    Approved the proposals to carry forward unspent capital budget as set out in Appendix A (Paragraph 5.6);

4)    Approved the inclusion of our Decision Notice fee within our Fees and Charges document. (Paragraph 8.1).

The purpose of the report was to update the following polices;

-        Business Rates Relief Policy

-        Council Tax Discounts, Disregards and Exemption Policy

-        Empty and Second Home Premium and Exception Policy

-        Corporate Recovery Policy

-        Recovery Flowchart

-        Enforcement Agents Code of Conduct

-        Civil Enforcement Fees

Options considered:

The recovery of Council debt was statutory with some areas of discretion. There were no options in regard to mandatory reliefs and discounts available set by Government. However, Government allowed authorities to make discretionary decisions in respect of the amount of Business Rates and Council Tax due.

DECISION:

Cabinet approved the updated policies.

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.”

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

Consideration was given to a report on the implications of the ‘Simpler Recycling’ reforms to Local Authority waste collection services and depot provision in the District.

The Cabinet approved the write-off of balances which were deemed non recoverable.