3. PART I DECISIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE PDF 115 KB
To consider the following Part I Decisions of the Executive taken on 16 December 2019.
Executive Page No.
Agenda
Item
2 Minutes of the Executive – 20 November 2019 5
3 Minutes of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Select 13
Committees
4 Co-operative Neighbourhoods 31
5 Community Centres Review 51
6 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) 79
7 Hertfordshire Growth Board Memorandum of Understanding 127
8 Developing a Town Fund Deal 141
9 Corporate Performance Quarter Two 171
10 Council Tax Base 2020/21 209
11 Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Medium Term Financial 215
Strategy (2019/20 – 2023/24) and HRA Business Plan Review
12 Draft Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Rent Setting 239
2020/21
Notice of Decisions to follow
PLEASE BRING YOUR AGENDA AND REPORTS FOR THE EXECUTIVE MEETING HELD ON 16 DECEMBER 2019
Decision:
The Committee considered the decisions of the following matters arising from the Executive meeting held on 16 December 2019:
Minutes of the Executive – 20 November 2019
Noted.
Minutes of the Overview & Scrutiny and Select Committees
Noted.
Co-operative Neighbourhoods
In reply to a series of Members’ questions, officers commented:
· The pre-2017 County Division boundaries were chosen as the 6 neighbourhood areas as they were more synchronised with the existing SBC ward boundaries;
· The St. Nicholas / Martins Wood prototype neighbourhood area was selected as some initial community engagement work and neighbourhood investment had already taken place or was being planned in the area as a consequence of the results of the most recent Residents’ Survey;
· The bringing together of teams across the organisation would enable issues to be tackled in a more streamlined and co-ordinated manner, with clear accountability within services for each area and engagement with local residents to build community capacity;
· Community Wealth Building (CWB) aimed to focus on social value, in endeavouring to “lock in” investment for local communities within those communities. CWB would be the subject of the Main Debate item at the 29 January 2020 Council meeting;
· CWB would increase the amount of money re-circulated within the local economy; and
The Committee felt that the roles of Members within the Co-operative Neighbourhood Management programme could perhaps form the topic for a future All-Member Seminar.
Community Centres Review
In response to Members’ questions, the Assistant Director (Communities and Neighbourhoods) advised:
· There would be potential additional capital costs for any additional community centre floorspace, but these would be unknown until any required works were scoped. However, there was provision in the Council’s Capital Strategy for a new Community Centre associated with the Kenilworth redevelopment;
· There was no list of which community centres would be hubs and which would be spokes. The principle of the hub and spoke model had been approved by the Executive, and further detailed work would be carried out in the 2020/21 Financial Year;
· The emphasis would be on providing a sustainable future model of community centre provision, both for existing and any proposed new centres. Community centres would not be considered in isolation, but rather as part of the Asset Management Strategy;
· Consideration would be given to the location of the hub community centres, in terms of accessibility from all parts of each hub and spoke area;
· In order to provide a level of sustainability, a balance would need to be struck between commercial and community based activities offered by each community centre;
· There was no expectation that Community Associations would be asked to divert from their defined geographical focus, although the hub and spoke model could provide an opportunity for them to operate as touchdown points for SBC staff and partner organisations in providing an outreach service to residents; and
· It was clarified that the additional Executive recommendation regarding the political neutrality of groups using the centres would not affect their use by local Members in conducting their regular Ward surgeries.