Agenda, decisions and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2015 were submitted and approved and the chairman was authorised to sign them as a correct record subject to a correction to minute 47 (Devonshire Park project) in the respect of councillor Freebody’s comment at paragraph 47.1 to read as follows:

Councillor Freebody indicated his group’s support, acknowledged that the project was likely to benefit the town and endorsed the desire for external funding sources.

Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) by members as required under Section 31 of the Localism Act and of other interests as required by the Code of Conduct and regulation 12(2)(d) of the 2012 Access to Information Regulations.  (Please see note at end of agenda).

No declarations were made by members.  A declaration was made by the chief executive in respect of minute 67 (council investments) as he was a council appointed non-executive director of the subject company – he withdrew from the meeting for the item.

Report of Senior Head of Tourism and Enterprise.

Cabinet lead member: Councillor Margaret Bannister.

(1) Progress of scheme noted.

(2) Financial procedure rules waived to allow award of a 10-year lease to the University of Brighton for the café in Princes Park.

(3) Senior head, in consultation with lead cabinet member, authorised to take all necessary steps to complete the lease arrangements with the University of Brighton.

60.1 Councillor Freebody addressed the cabinet and welcomed the investment in the park.

60.2 Cabinet considered the report of the senior head of tourism and enterprise progress of CCF projects and a proposal for the café in Princes Park.  The council had been awarded a grant of £1.83m from the government’s Coastal Communities Fund in February 2015 following a successful bid.  The key criteria for receipt of the funding was the creation of 118 jobs (direct and indirect), through a mixed portfolio of capital and revenue projects, and to spend all funds by December 2016.

60.3 Delivery of projects began in March 2015 and all projects were at various stages.  The council’s partners; Towner Gallery, TechResort and Building Partnerships each had clearly defined targets/outcomes for jobs created, cash flow, individual projects, training and skills.

60.4 The improvements to the upper facades in Seaside Road were the first capital project to be successfully completed in October 2015.  Both the two commercial units being re-furbished would be complete by this summer.  Improvements to the plaza in Sea Houses Square, including new lighting, hard and soft landscaping and a community designed mosaic, would commence this month.

60.5 Over £900,000 of the CCF funds would be used to improve Princes Park in key areas; a new main entrance linked to the promenade by a new zebra crossing, a new central plaza would lead visitors from the new entrance to the café, which would be completely refurbished including new decking overlooking the lake.  Refurbishment of the café was one of the main CCF funded projects and work on this £395,000 scheme was scheduled to start this month.  The current operators of the café had agreed to surrender the lease in advance of the work commencing.

60.6 The University of Brighton had approached the council with a proposal to use the café as both an operating outlet and as a training venue for students and local people.  Heads of terms for the university’s lease had been agreed in principle; 10 years lease at a market valuation rent, 3 years rent free period, reflecting their capital investment of circa £280,000.  The university’s key requirements for the café could all be accommodated within the planned works with minimal contract variations to cover areas of overlap.  The university would separately procure and contract manage the fit out works, e.g. new kitchen, seating etc.

60.7 The report set out detailed legal advice concerning the council’s powers to enter into the proposed arrangements given that a competitive tendering process would not take place.  The council’s financial procedure rules gave cabinet the authority to waive its normal rules if there were good and objectively demonstrable grounds for doing so.  In reaching its decision, cabinet should have regard to its general fiduciary duty to its wider taxpayers and the duty to achieve best value from its procurement arrangements.  The senior head advised that the proposal offered some distinct advantages to the council and aligned with the overall regeneration ambitions being delivered through the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

Report of Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer.

Cabinet lead member:  Councillor Gill Mattock.

Full council, at meeting on 17 February 2016, recommended to approve:

(a) General fund budget for 2015/16 (revised) and 2016/17 (original) as set out in appendix 1 to report including growth and savings proposals for 2016/17 as set out in appendix 2 to report.

(b) Increase in the council tax of 1.9% resulting in an unaltered ‘Band D’ charge of £228.51 for 2016/17.

(c) General fund capital programme and financing 2015/19 as set out in appendix 3 to report.

(d) Regarding the government’s offer of a 4-year settlement, council be minded to accept offer subject to receipt of further detail and decision on whether or not to accept delegated to chief finance officer in consultation with lead cabinet member.

61.1 Councillors Ungar and Di Cara addressed the cabinet.  Councillor Ungar said he was pleased to see the inclusion in the proposed 2016/17 capital programme of 2 schemes in Old Town; £25,000 for Old Town recreation ground to achieve ‘Green Flag Award’ status and £50,000 for the Green Street public conveniences.  Councillor Di Cara queried the figure given in the report for reserves.  The chief finance officer said that the £4m figure included other reserves such as that for the Devonshire Park project.

61.2 Cabinet considered the report of the deputy chief executive and chief finance officer setting out the general fund revenue budget proposals for 2016/17 and a 3-year capital programme 2015/19.  The medium term financial strategy (MTFS) had been revised in July 2015 and the cabinet had agreed a draft 2016/17 budget proposal last December.  The MTFS and resulting draft budget had been subject to extensive consultation and previously reported to cabinet and members of the scrutiny committee. 

61.3 The budget was the product of various plans and strategies as part of an integrated and corporate planning process and was linked principally to:

·         The medium term financial strategy

·         Asset management plans

·         The corporate plan

·         Workforce strategy

·         Treasury management strategy

·         Service plans

·         Housing revenue account business plan

·         DRIVE corporate transformation programme

·         Sustainable service delivery strategy

61.4 The chief finance officer had a legal responsibility to give positive assurances on the robustness of the estimates used in the budget and the level of reserves.  He commented that if the recommendations in his report were agreed then these assurances would prevail.

61.5 The budget proposals included:

·         An increase in the council tax in 2016/ 17 of 1.9%; the first increase for five years.

·         Overall savings/new income totalling £0.6m (4% of the net budget).

·         Efficiency savings of £0.5 (5% of the net budget).

• Inflation and unavoidable costs of £0.8m (5% of the net budget).

·         Other recurring service growth of £0.1m.

·         Non recurring service investments of £0.6m.

·         General reserves averaging in excess of £4m (against a minimum recommended of £2m).

·         Capital receipts of £0.4m invested in new capital schemes.

61.6 The budget represented management of financial risks by:

·         Building on a favourable outturn position.

·         Balancing the base budget requirement without needing to use reserves for recurring expenditure.

·         Identifiable and deliverable savings with accountability and no general unidentified targets.

·         Reserves well above the minimum level.

·         Zero basing of minor reward grants.

·         Providing the funding required for the DRIVE change programme to deliver the future savings required by the MTFS via the strategic change fund.

61.7 The underlying methods of local government financing had changed significantly in recent years including the wrapping up of grants in the base “Standard Funding Assessment” notably:

·         The council tax freeze grants (2011-15)

·         Some new burdens grants

·         Homelessness grant

61.8 For Eastbourne the headline figures of the government settlement were:

·         A further reduction in revenue support grant of £0.9m (30%) to £1.8m (reduced from £10.4m in 2010).

·         Partially offset by new homes bonus and section 31 grants (additional £0.2m in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

Report of Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer.

Cabinet lead member:  Councillor Gill Mattock.

Full council, at meeting on 17 February 2016, recommended to approve:

(a) Treasury management strategy and annual investment strategy as set out in report;

(b) methodology for calculating the minimum revenue provision set out at paragraph 2.3 of report;

(c) prudential and treasury indicators as set out in report; and

(d) specified and non-specified investment categories listed in appendix 2 to report.

62.1 Cabinet considered the report of the chief finance officer seeking approval to the council’s borrowing and investment strategies in line with legislative and other regulatory requirements as described in the report.  The council was required to receive and approve, the prudential and treasury indicators and treasury strategy as part of the budget setting process each year. This covered:

·         The capital plans (including prudential indicators).

·         A minimum revenue provision policy (how residual capital expenditure was charged to revenue over time).

·         The treasury management strategy (how the investments and borrowings were to be organised) including treasury indicators.

·         An investment strategy (the parameters on how investments were to be managed).

* 62.2 Resolved (budget and policy framework): That full council, at their meeting on 17 February 2016, be recommended to approve the following:

(a) The treasury management strategy and annual investment strategy as set out in the report;

(b) the methodology for calculating the minimum revenue provision set out at paragraph 2.3 of the report;

(c) the prudential and treasury indicators as set out in the report; and

(d) the specified and non-specified investment categories listed in appendix 2 to the report.

Report of Senior Head of Community and Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer.

Cabinet lead members:  Councillors Alan Shuttleworth and Gill Mattock.

Full council, at meeting on 17 February 2016, recommended to approve:

(a) HRA budget 2016/17 and revised 2015/16, as set out in appendix 1 to report;

(b) social and affordable rents decreased by 1% in line with change in government policy;

(d) service charges for general needs properties increased by 1.06%;

(e) service charges for older persons’ sheltered accommodation decreased by 7.14% to reflect a reduction in actual costs as well as notification of a reduction in heating and water costs;

(f) heating costs set at a level designed to recover estimated actual cost;

(g) water charges set at a level designed to recover estimated cost of metered consumption;

(e) garage rents increased in line with RPI (as at September 2015) plus 1% at an average increase of 1.8%;

(f) scheme to move new garage tenancies to market rent values for 2017/18 financial year to be examined;

(g) delegated authority granted to senior head of community, in consultation with the lead cabinet members for community services and finance and the chief finance officer to finalise Eastbourne Homes’ management fee and delivery plan; and

(i) HRA capital programme as set out in appendix 2 to report.

63.1 Cabinet considered the report of the senior head of community and chief finance officer in respect of the rents, service charges and heating costs to be set for all of the council’s housing tenants.  The report outlined the revenue account budget proposals for 2016/17 and housing capital programme 2015/19 and arrangements for agreeing Eastbourne Homes Limited’s (EHL) management fee and delivery plan.

63.2 From 1 April 2012 the way that council social housing was financed had been changed and the HRA had become self financing.  This meant that expenditure had to be entirely supported from rental and other income. The main tool for the future financial management of the HRA was the 30-year business plan which had been approved by cabinet on 8February 2012.  A report had been submitted to the December cabinet meeting outlining the implications of the changes being introduced in the Housing and Planning and the Welfare Reform and Work Bills. Work is ongoing on updating the HRA 30-year business plan so that a long term sustainable plan could be set.  The proposals included in this report were based on this ongoing work. The report reflected the recommendations made by EHL in relation to the increases in rent levels, service and other charges. 

63.3 The HRA revenue budget (appendix 1 to the report) had been produced based on the policies set out in the HRA 30-year business plan and showed an overall surplus of £293,000 for 2016/17. The budget was performing better than expected due to various initiatives to control expenditure, including a reduction in the management fee payable to EHL, lower than anticipated interest rates, and efficiencies achieved through the council’s restructuring programme: Future Model 2.  The reduction on income earnings from rents and service charges were in line with the updated business plan.  The plan provided for a contribution into the housing regeneration and investment reserve of £784,000 for 2015/16 and £924,200 for 2016/17 to meet future major works demands and other strategic housing related outcomes.

63.4 The HRA debt outstanding at 31 March 2015 was £40.3m, rising to £43.0m by 31 March 2018, the majority of which would be external debt and at fixed interest rates.  The increase in borrowing was expected to be undertaken to support the housing and economic development programme (HEDP) programme.  Under the self-financing settlement the government set a cap on total HRA borrowing of £42.96m, additional borrowing permission was given for £322,400 during 2014/15 and 2015/16 increasing the cap to £43.3m. The original 30-year business plan had assumed that from 2016/17 to 2028/29 an average debt repayment of £2.8m per annum would be funded from the HRA.  This was no longer viable due the rent decrease and other government housing initiatives, however, if possible when opportunities arose consideration would be given to using any surplus funds for the repayment of debt or to be used to reinvest in housing properties in lieu of new borrowing.

63.5 The HRA outturn for 2015/16 was expected to deliver a £399,000  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

Report of Senior Head of Community.

Cabinet lead member: Councillor Alan Shuttleworth.

(See item 14 below for confidential addendum to this report.)

(1) Senior head given delegated authority to dispose of 7 properties and freeholds of the leasehold properties to existing occupiers where all have been sold as leasehold and to engage the use of external specialist advice, where necessary, to conduct homelessness reviews under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

(2) Council to provide a loan on market terms to Eastbourne Housing Investment Company Ltd to enable company to purchase certain properties.

(3) Representations to be made to local member of parliament seeking her support in challenging the government’s intention to reduce the stock of social housing through the forced sale of ‘high value’ council stock to fund housing association ‘right to buy’ sales.

(4) Full council asked to approve the amendment to the councils scheme of delegation to officers as set out at report.

64.1 Cabinet considered the report of the senior head of community providing an update on national policy changes for council housing arising from the Welfare Reform and Work Bill and the Housing and Planning Bill currently before Parliament.  Proposals were made for the sale of a number of housing properties; and in advance of the bills becoming law, approve changes to the delegation for disposal of assets to enable Eastbourne’s housing stock to be managed sustainably and in line with national best practice.  The report also sought authority to obtain external specialist advice to assist the review of homelessness decisions when considering applications for accommodation under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.

64.2 A separate addendum to the report comprising exempt information was circulated in the confidential part of the agenda (Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, reason 3 – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).)

64.3 The Welfare Reform and Work Bill would introduce of a 1% reduction in social housing rents for 4 years from 2016/17. This was detailed in the rent setting report at minute 63 above.

64.4 The Housing and Planning Bill proposed the sale of council housing high value assets and the mandatory introduction of higher rents for residents earning higher incomes (‘pay to stay’).  The intention was that monies raised from high value voids would be used to fund the ‘right to buy’ discounts given to housing association tenants, provide replacement affordable housing on a one for one basis, and establish a brownfield regeneration fund.  The council’s housing revenue account (HRA) business plan had now been remodelled to reflect the impact of 80 properties being sold over each year over the next 4 years.  High income was defined in the bill as household income of more than £30,000 outside of London.  The bill did not define what the rent levels would be; these were to be set out in future rent regulations.  The extra rent would be taken by the government less an element to cover the council’s administration costs. Pay to stay was expected to be introduced in 2017/18 and an increase in right to buy sales was anticipated as a consequence.

64.5 The council would need to make a payment to the government based on assumptions on the value of high value void properties arising from April 2017.  The payment was not likely to be dependent on actual vacancies and to give flexibility to retain properties within the stock in the future, it would be prudent to review the current vacant stock and how receipts from disposals now could be used to meet future demands.  On this basis, a number of current properties had been assessed for disposal.  Details relating to each disposal were listed in the exempt addendum.  Where properties had tenants the council would work closely with the occupants to make sure that they were offered appropriate alternative accommodation. 

64.6 It was now considered best  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

The Chief Executive considers that discussion of the following items is likely to disclose exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and may therefore need to take place in private session.  The exempt information reasons are shown beneath the items listed below or within the open summary of the confidential minutes.  Furthermore, in relation to paragraph 10 of Schedule 12A, it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. (The requisite notices having been given under regulation 5 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.)

(Note: Exempt papers are printed on pink paper).

Resolved:  That the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting as otherwise there was a likelihood of disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.  The relevant paragraphs of schedule 12A and descriptions of the exempt information are shown at paragraph 64.2 above and beneath the items below.  (The requisite notice having been given under regulation 5 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.)

Report of Senior Head of Community.

Cabinet lead member: Councillor Margaret Bannister.

Exempt information reason 3.  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Grants awarded to voluntary and community organisations in 2016/17 subject to council approval of budget on 17 February and priorities for small grants in 2017/18 be agreed as set out in report.

66.1 Cabinet considered the report of the senior head of community on the small grants element of the community grants programme.  It was proposed that a budget of £60,000 continue to be made available.  Given the financial constraints on the council at present, the proposed budget continued to protect the voluntary and community sector as a whole from significant reductions in spending on their activities by this council.

66.2 In addition to the small grants programme, cabinet had previously agreed major grants for the three years from 2016/17 to 2018/19 as follows:

66.3 It was reported that the council also supported voluntary and community organisations in a variety of other ways including:

·         The award of rent support grants to some organisations occupying council properties to the value of £139,570. 

·         Discretionary rate relief awards to voluntary and community sector occupying premises in the town with a budget in 2015/16 of £52,575.

·         Allocation of £90,000 each year to the council’s devolved ward budget scheme, with ward councillors were able spend up to £10,000 on quick fix one-off works or initiatives to improve the lives of local residents. Local residents could make suggestions on how this money should be spent by contacting their local councillor.

In total the council’s direct support to voluntary and community organisations amounted to over £575,358. 

66.4 The current community grants policy agreed by cabinet in 2015 set out the eligibility criteria for applications. These were designed to reflect the limited budget available and the wide demand for funding within the voluntary and community sector. The aim was to ensure that resources were spent where services were most needed and that robust arrangements were in place for managing any grant.  Applications for large capital items could not be considered.  Similarly applications for services which duplicated existing services and were available and funded elsewhere were ineligible. There must also be a clear financial need for funding and organisations with large unrestricted reserves or which made a significant surplus could not be funded.  The policy also excluded any organisation which itself awarded grants to other organisations.  Applicants are also required to have adequate governance and equality policies in place.  Applicants were also required to have adequate governance and equality policies in place.

66.5 The agreed priorities were:

·         Projects designed to promote inclusion and the needs of those communities and groups protected under current equality legislation.

·         Projects designed to promote digital inclusion.

·         Projects designed to promote emotional health and well-being.

·         Services to children and families.

66.6 Twenty-six expressions of interest had been submitted totalling £153,920.  Four were judged ineligible and a further 4 did not address the agreed priorities.  Of the 18 organisations invited to apply in full 16 applications were received totalling £106,533.

66.7 The following recommendations were made by the council’s grants task group:

Report of Senior Head of Community.

Cabinet lead member:  Councillor Gill Mattock.

Exempt information reasons: 3 - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and 5 (information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings).

Cabinet agreed the principle of disposing of all or part of the council’s financial interests in the subject asset and gave the senior head of community delegated authority to negotiate the sale in consultation with the leader of the council and the council’s chief finance officer.  A budget for legal work associated with the disposal was allocated.

Cabinet agreed the principle of disposing of all or part of the council’s financial interests in the subject asset and gave the senior head of community delegated authority to negotiate the sale in consultation with the leader of the council and the council’s chief finance officer.  A budget for legal work associated with the disposal was allocated.

Exempt information reasons: 3 - information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and 5 (information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings).