BOSTON BOROUGH COUNCIL NOTICE OF DECISIONS TAKEN BY CABINET ON 5 SEPTEMBER 2018 DATE OF PUBLICATION: FRIDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2018 DEADLINE FOR CALL-IN: FRIDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2018 NOTES: A COPY OF THE CABINET AGENDA HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY CIRCULATED TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. IF YOU REQUIRE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION ON ANY ISSUE PLEASE CONTACT, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER OR OFFICER NAMED IN THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN. MEETING OF THE CABINET 5 September 2018 Present: Councillor Michael Cooper, in the Chair Councillors Aaron Spencer, David Brown, Martin Griggs, Claire Rylott, Paul Skinner and Nigel Welton In attendance: Councillor Paul Gleeson, Chairman of the Corporate and Community Committee Officers – Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Director & Monitoring Officer), Head of Place and Space, Head of Environmental Operations, Head of Corporate Services, Accountancy Manager (Revenues and Systems), Transformation and Governance Manager, Communications Manager and Senior Democratic Services Officer 22 MINUTES The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 27 June 2018 were received and signed by the Chairman. 23 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STANDING ITEM)* The Markets Review report had been considered by the Environment and Performance Committee on 17th July and its recommendations appeared in the report. The Leisure, Guildhall and Sport – Future Operational Arrangements report had been considered by the Corporate and Community Committee on 30th August and the Committee’s recommendation was circulated to the meeting. 24 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE BOSTON TOWN AREA COMMITTEE (BTAC) (STANDING ITEM) There were no recommendations from the Boston Town Area Committee. 25 QUARTER 1 REPORT - PERFORMANCE, RISK AND FINANCE Portfolio DECISION Holder and 1. That the quarterly monitoring information for Q1 be noted. Officer 2. That the specific finance recommendations, summarised below, be Cllr agreed: Spencer F1: That the increase in plannng fees and the amendments to SR/TS the Homeless Hostel weekly rent schedule (section 5) be noted F2: That the reserve movements detailed in table 6 (section 6) be approved F3: That the updated capital programme as detailed in table 8 (section 8) be approved F4: That five irrecoverable Housing Benefit Overpayments totalling £41,317.58 (section 10) be written off F5: That the supplementary estimates in respect of Flexible Homelessness Support Grant, new burdens payment and VEP funding (section 11) be approved Councillor Spencer introduced a report setting out the performance, risk and financial monitoring information for quarter 1, covering April to June 2018. Performance information was set out in Appendix A and the following key points were highlighted: Areas of success / improvement: Number of businesses visited to support business growth (CP1) Empty homes (CP2) Benefit and Council Tax Support processing times (CP2) Compliant food businesses (CP2) Swim sessions at GMLC (CP2) Household waste reused, recycled, composted (CP3) Car parking income against monthly profile (CP3) Time taken to respond to FOI / EIR / Subject Access Requests (CP4) Sickness absence (CP4) Areas of concern / watching brief: Planning performance (CP1) – action taken and improvement already made in July Food safety inspections (CP2) – already addressed in Q2 Residual household waste per household (CP3) – Lincolnshire Waste Strategy currently in development Cabinet 5 September 2018 Market income (CP3) – impact of bad weather in Q1 Switchboard (CP4) – impact of staff shortages; already addressed and performance had improved in July Other items of note: Housing Standards (CP2) – proactive work to begin in Q2 Commercial waste increase in income and number of customers (CP3) 936 fixed penalty notices had been issued since the service started in April 2017 to the end of Q1 (CP3) Inclusive Boston Project reporting (transformation projects) There were no new strategic risks to report in quarter 1. The Corporate Management Team had completed their in-depth review of the strategic risks and the outcome for each risk was set out in Appendix B. Financial management information was set out in Appendix C and the main headlines were: The projected outturn position for this year for revenue and capital spending, and reserves; plus other finance-related information Revenue – projected spend to the end of the year was expected to be slightly above the budget, mainly due to projected income in some areas being below the budgeted amounts. Tables 1, 2 and 3 showed the position by service area, portfolio holder, and the Council’s priorities The detailed variances that made up the projected outturn position were shown in part 3; main areas of difference from the budget related to planning and leisure income, the receipt of monies from Government to support initiatives in housing and housing benefit, and changes to the capital programme Trading income overall was anticipated to be £47,000 below the budget. There were pressures on planning and leisure income, although commercial waste was expected to deliver above the budget Fees and Charges – recommendation this quarter to note the implementation of the 20% uplift in Planning fees and slight changes in homeless hostel fees in Housing Reserves – the position at the year end, as shown in table 6, showed a slightly lower than anticipated level of reserves being held, mainly to do with the capital programme, the timing of spend from the housing reserve, and the controlling migration fund. There was a recommendation to approve the movements set out in the table Despite the ongoing low bank base rate, Treasury Management returns were set to achieve the budget figure, due mainly to the performance of the Property Funds where the returns to date were very encouraging, as shown in graph 2 Capital – the projected spend for this year was £26.2m including slippage from 2017/18. There was a recommendation to note and approve the revised capital programme, with the addition of two schemes reviewed by the Capital Working Group (upgrade of Bartec software and accommodation at St John’s Depot). Consultancy spend for the quarter was £17,000 Debt collection – there were some write-offs in the quarter under Section 151 Officer delegation, as set out in section 10 of the appendix, and there was a recommendation for the write-off of five Housing Benefit Overpayment cases above £5,000, where all available recovery actions had been pursued. This would be funded from the provision already set up for this purpose. Supplementary estimates – the Council had received notification of three amounts since the budget was set, for specific initiatives as set out in the report. There was a recommendation to approve them. Insurance – positive news, with only three claims received in the quarter Business rates – concerns continued regarding the level of outstanding appeals and other decisions to reduce Rateable Values by the Valuation Office Agency, although the positive outcomes from the work of the Business Rates Assurance function were noted Council Tax Support – regular monitoring was undertaken and at this stage the projected spend for this year was expected to be within the budgeted sum. Reference was made to the issue of pressure on high street rentals with respect to property funds investments. In response, Councillor Spencer assured Members that the Council’s property fund investments were monitored regularly and any effect would be mitigated due to the long-term nature of the investments. 26 TASK AND FINISH GROUP - MARKETS REVIEW Portfolio DECISION Holder and That: Officer 1. The amended Markets Policy at Appendix E be adopted with the Cllr amendment of paragraph 17.1 by deleting the words “but shall Welton determine the application having due regard to the currently adopted tenant mix” and the deletion of paragraph 9.5; PP 2. Investigations into the possibility of implementing a Welcome Archway at the entrance to the market place from Narrow Bargate be agreed, with a report being returned once the investigations are completed; 3. The introduction of a ‘Cultural’ offer supporting the markets be agreed; 4. The consideration of providing stalls for students to trade on during school holidays to encourage potential future Traders be supported; 5. An increase to the size of the existing signage to provide larger scale signs, in particular showing direction from the Market Place to Bargate Green Market and vice versa be agreed; 6. The importance of the contribution of the four schools within the consultation process and the quality of their reporting at Appendicies A,B,C and D be recognised and agreed. The Head of Place and Space presented a report from the Markets Review Task and Finish Group. The review had been carried out to look at improving the offer of Boston’s Markets by a Task and Finish group convened from the Environment and Performance Committee. Cabinet 5 September 2018 The groups’ remit was to look at ways to maintain Boston’s historical market and its unique selling offer, in an ever changing world of consumer buying. The review was carried out over a period of 8 months whereby 5 meetings of the group took place with an additional meeting being held to receive reporting from the local students who had taken part in the consultation process. By way of background, this review followed the conclusion of a substantial task and finish review which had scrutinised many service areas across Boston with a view to improving the offer of Boston as both a