Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2013, and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 25 September 2013 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the following minor amendment:

Minute 79. The minutes incorrectly refer to “Dorking Walk.” This should be amended to read “Dorking Road.”

Cabinet:

1.      Noted the potential benefits of entering a pooling arrangement and to grant formal authority for officers to enter into discussions in forming a pool and prepare draft documentation for governance of the pooling arrangement.

2.      Delegated to the Group Director Resources, in consultation with the Leader, Cabinet Member for Value, and Chief Executive, authority to finalise details of any formal submission to DCLG.

3.    Noted that a further report would be brought before Cabinet, should approval be given to the creation of a pool.

Councillor Roger Ramsey, Cabinet Member for Value, introduced the report.

It was reported that the 2013/14 Local Government Finance Settlement had seen the launch of the Business Rates Retention Scheme as the main form of Local Government funding. Under the Retention Scheme, Councils were to be funded through a mixture  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Cabinet:

1.    Approved the draft Housing Strategy and in particular the proposed key priorities for tackling homelessness, promoting new affordable housing development, meeting older people’s housing needs, promoting quality in the private housing sector, and providing more supported housing to meet identified need – detailed in section 4 of this report –subject to further consultation within the Council, and with partner organisations and residents.

2.    Delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Housing to consider all of the consultation responses and to make amendments to the key priorities and/or the content of the Housing Strategy, unless any amendment has financial implications in which case further recommendations will be made to Cabinet.

Councillor Lesley Kelly, Cabinet Member for Housing & Public Protection, introduced the report.

The report introduced the Council’s draft Housing Strategy for 2013 – 2016 which comprehensively up-dated the previous Strategy. In particular, the new Housing Strategy had been drafted in the form a series of sub-strategies covering:

• homelessness
• affordable housing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.      To proceed to tender for the purchase of 6,000 LED lanterns and the conversion of 6000 sodium street lights, in residential roads.

2.      In principle, to apply for the maximum interest free loan available under the Salix Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (SEELS) of £770,000 to part fund this project.

3.      To add the funding of the scheme as set out in Appendix A to the Capital Budget 13/14, and to refer this recommendation to full Council.

4.      To delegate award(s) of the contract(s) set out at (a) above to the Group Director of Culture, Community and Economic Development.

Councillor Barry Tebbutt, Cabinet Member for the Environment, introduced the report.

The report before Cabinet set out a proposal to commence relevant processes in order to convert 30% (6000) of the Council’s sodium street lights to modern Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology. The proposal would bring significant longer term  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

Cabinet Agreed:

1.      That an allocation of £1,001,863 from the proceeds of right-to-buy council property sales accruing between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

2.      That an allocation of £3,399,936 resources from the HRA Business Plan, including £353,000 already approved for Hidden Homes works, be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

3.      That an allocation of £311,891 of section 106 commuted sums be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

4.      That an allocation of £110,000 from the Adult Social Care capital budget, from Department of Health grant, to enable the addition of assistive technology to a scheme specifically for Adult Social Care clients be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

5.      That a virement of £655,949 from unallocated capital resources held in the Housing General Fund previously earmarked to support vulnerable and/or disabled residents be agreed for this new build programme with onward referral to Council for approval.

6.      That the specific financial allocations from all sources be applied to the constituent schemes as detailed in an exempt appendix to the report.

7.      That authority to make variations to any of the schemes covered in this report deemed desirable following resident consultation and/or identified as a planning requirement is delegated to the Cabinet Member for Housing unless the variations would incur additional capital investment by the Council in which case Cabinet’s approval would be sought.

8.      That the estimated £1,300,000 proceeds from sale of the shared ownership element of this new build programme be earmarked for future shared ownership and/or affordable rented developments on sites such as the former Diana Princess of Wales hostel.

9.      That approval be given to commence the process of procuring the main contractors to deliver the schemes.

Councillor Lesley Kelly, Cabinet Member for Housing & Public Protection, introduced the report.

In line with the Council’s commitment to address the local need for good quality homes, a number of bids had been submitted to the Greater London Authority (GLA) to attract inward funding for new build housing schemes.  Although  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

Cabinet:

1.      Noted the potential benefits of entering a pooling arrangement and to grant formal authority for officers to enter into discussions in forming a pool and prepare draft documentation for governance of the pooling arrangement.

2.      Delegated to the Group Director Resources, in consultation with the Leader, Cabinet Member for Value, and Chief Executive, authority to finalise details of any formal submission to DCLG.

3.    Noted that a further report would be brought before Cabinet, should approval be given to the creation of a pool.

Councillor Paul Rochford, Cabinet Member for Children & Learning, introduced the report.

At the beginning of the current Council, ten Strategic Administration Projects were established to help deliver services more effectively and in new ways. The Projects were each to be driven by a Member of the Cabinet, working with a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.