Agenda, decisions and minutes

None.

The minutes of the meetings that took place on 20^th and 27^th May 2020 were agreed by the Leader.

The Leader noted that Councillor Beardsworth had registered to speak on items 7, 8 and 11.

None.

None.

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Cabinet:

1.     Noted the provisional outturn for the general fund and HRA for the financial year 2019/20 as set out at appendix 1 and appendix 5

2.     Approved the proposed revenue budget carry forwards detailed in appendix 2

3.     Approved the use of and contributions to general fund revenue earmarked reserves as shown in appendix 3

4.     Approved the net movement in HRA reserves and working balances as set out at appendix 6

5.     Noted the outturn for the Council’s general fund and HRA capital programmes for 2019/20 and how the expenditure was financed as set out at appendix 4 and appendix 7

6.     Approved the proposed capital carry forwards into 2020/21 set out in appendix 4 and appendix 7

7.     Agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer to agree any retention of underspends by NPH

Councillor Eldred, as the relevant Cabinet Member, submitted his report and reported a general fund overspend of £0.383m, noting that the predicted overspend in the previous Cabinet report of £.887m and thanked everyone for their contributions in keeping the overspend down. He noted that the most significant variances related to housing, specifically the increased demand and cost of temporary accommodation, as well as the external auditor, which was proposing an increased audit fee of approximately £200,000; officers were working to identify areas in which the costs of the external audit could be reduced. Councillor Eldred advised that COVID-19 had a minor impact on the 2019 budget; it would have a more significant impact on the 2020 budget and a more in-depth report would be prepared for the Cabinet meeting in July.

Councillor Beardsworth questioned whether the government had contributed towards the Council’s £4m reserve. In response, Councillor Eldred stated that the Council had received approximately £2.3m from central government, however the £4m had been carried over from the previous year’s reserves.

RESOLVED:

1.     Cabinet noted the provisional outturn for the general fund and HRA for the financial year 2019/20 as set out at appendix 1 and appendix 5

2.     Cabinet approved the proposed revenue budget carry forwards detailed in appendix 2

3.     Cabinet approved the use of and contributions to general fund revenue earmarked reserves as shown in appendix 3

4.      Cabinet approved the net movement in HRA reserves and working balances as set out at appendix 6

5.     Cabinet noted the outturn for the Council’s general fund and HRA capital programmes for 2019/20 and how the expenditure was financed as set out at appendix 4 and appendix 7

6.     Cabinet approved the proposed capital carry forwards into 2020/21 set out in appendix 4 and appendix 7

7.     Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer to agree any retention of underspends by NPH

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Cabinet:

1.     Reviewed the contents of the Performance report (Appendix A).

Councillor Larratt, as the relevant Cabinet Member, submitted his report and noted that more than 76% of performance measures had reached, or were performing within agreed tolerances of their targets, outperforming the same quarter for 2019. He noted that COVID-19 related issues had begun to affect the Council’s performance from the beginning of March. He noted that there were fewer KPIs performing as “red” compared to the same quarter in 2019. Councillor Larratt reported that the number of sick days taken by staff continued to fall, although this did not factor in 3 member of staff who had been set up incorrectly on the system, at least one of which had taken time off due to sickness. This would be reflected in the next performance report. With regard to EC09 (fly tipping), Councillor Larratt explained that issues around fly tipped hazardous waste were keeping the KPI from performing “in the green”. It would be split from 1^st April 2021 to reflect a truer understanding of fly tipping issues. Issues relating to environmental services were being addressed through Veolia. Regarding PP16 (off-licence checks), Councillor Larratt advised that whilst the KPI was red, it showed that officers were identifying non-compliant off-licences.

Councillor Beardsworth expressed concern in relation to 3 indicators:

EC09 (fly tipping) – Councillor Hallam explained that this was a national problem, however the Council were doing lots to address this, including freezing the bulky waste charge for a second year and increasing fines for fly tippers when caught.

HML01 (temporary accommodation) – Councillor Hibbert explained that figures on temporary accommodation had stabilised and pointed out that a very small number of people were residing in hotels.

RESOLVED:

1.     Cabinet reviewed the contents of the Performance report (Appendix A).

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Cabinet:

1.     Noted the application in Appendices 1 and 2, and designated the area proposed by Great Houghton Parish Council for the purposes of neighbourhood planning.

Councillor Hill, as the relevant Cabinet Member, submitted a report. He advised that Great Houghton Parish Council contacted the Council in March with a view to designate a Neighbourhood Plan Area.

RESOLVED:

1.     Cabinet noted the application in Appendices 1 and 2, and designated the area proposed by Great Houghton Parish Council for the purposes of neighbourhood planning.

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Cabinet:

1.     Approved the new Northampton Borough Local Development Scheme.

Councillor Hill, as the relevant Cabinet Member, submitted a report and noted that as part of the next agenda item (Northampton Local Plan Part 2 – Submission Draft Consultation (Round 2)), the Local Development Scheme had to be fully updated before the Council could proceed with its second round of consultation for the Local Plan. Consultation would not take place in the usual ways due to COVID-19; instead there would be an increased social media presence in terms of communications alongside the usual press releases.

RESOLVED:

1.     Cabinet approved the new Northampton Borough Local Development Scheme.

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Cabinet:

1.     Approved the revised Submission Draft of the Local Plan Part 2, Policies Map and Sustainability Appraisal for publication under Regulation 12 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Authorities) (England) Regulations 2012 as amended

2.     Approved the Consultation and Engagement Strategy for this consultation

3.     Agreed to delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Sustainability with the Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning to make minor spelling, formatting, mapping and other amendments to the consultation documents and the Consultation and Engagement Strategy where they do not alter the intent of those documents.

Councillor Hill, as the relevant Cabinet Member, submitted a report. Comments received from Historic England, Public Health England, land owners and developers following the original submission led to further work being carried out, including the addition of (but not limited to) fast food and green policies. Councillor Hill informed Cabinet of a correction on Plan A, chapter 7: housing delivery projection figures for 2027-28 – graph 1 would be amended, the difference between the planned target and total delivery had been increased to 3,394. Consequently, the housing delivery trajectory for 2019-24 would be reduced to 1,130 per year and 1,609 for the remaining years in the period. These changes would have no impact on the sites allocated within the document. Public consultation would follow, should Cabinet approve the revised submission draft, starting on 13^th July.

Councillor Beardsworth commented that the Liberal Democrat group expressed concern in 2018 regarding progress on the Local Plan taking a backseat in place of local government reorganisation. Not having a Local Plan in place left communities open to unwanted development, and it was hoped that a new Local Plan would be in place by the time the unitary authority took over. The fact that delays were due to the need to get things right was a positive one and Councillor Beardsworth welcomed renewed emphasis on green issues.

Councillor Hill reassured Members that the Local Plan would not be curtailed by unitary preparations.

The Director of Planning and Sustainability confirmed that consultation would take place between July and August, the Council would look to submit the Local Plan in December 2020, the Council would then push for an early public examination in April and adopt the Local Plan Part 2 in September 2021.

RESOLVED:

1.     Cabinet approved the revised Submission Draft of the Local Plan Part 2, Policies Map and Sustainability Appraisal for publication under Regulation 12 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Authorities) (England) Regulations 2012 as amended

2.     Cabinet approved the Consultation and Engagement Strategy for this consultation

3.     Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Sustainability with the Deputy Cabinet Member for Planning to make minor spelling, formatting, mapping and other amendments to the consultation documents and the Consultation and Engagement Strategy where they do not alter the intent of those documents.