Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mark Wilkinson.

Councillors’ declarations of interest (if any) in relation to any items on the agenda.

None.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2020.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2020 are agreed as a correct record and signed by the Leader.

Any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

To receive any questions from members of the public in accordance with Rule 10 of the Council Procedure Rules.

The questions, together with the answers, are appended to the minutes.

To receive any questions from Councillors in accordance with Rule 11 of the Council Procedure Rules.

To consider any petitions that have been referred to the Cabinet under the Council’s Petition Scheme.

Petition from Mr Alldridge:

“We, the residents and signatories, reject your current proposal to amend the waste collection at Mercers, Harlow. Having given considerable time to review your letter, we feel your proposed is unsatisfactory based on the following reasons;

·         We understand the implementation costs are covered by Harlow Council, however, the costs for service and maintenance will increase our current service charges.

·         Increasing the number of waste collection points on the estate will attract vermin and raise environmental and health concerns.

·         Adding additional waste collection points will increase the number of areas that need to be swept, cleaned, washed and disinfected on a regular basis, which will result in additional service charge costs.

·         The position of the newly proposed bin stores is sporadic and unsightly. We are disturbed with the impact this will have on future house prices, this is unacceptable.

·         The location of the newly proposed waste collection is too close to people’s homes. It is unreasonable to have another person’s rubbish outside their homes. These bins smell vulgar and attract flies. This is alarming for all of us as Harlow Council has received numerous emails, regards to contamination and environmental dangers, covering maggots and fly’s in the past.

·         Your proposed solution does not resolve the issue where a small minority of residents choose to ‘dump’ items that can not be taken in waste collection. Therefore, we feel the proposal does not solve all the problems currently facing Mercers.

Our alternative solution is to recommend Harlow Council issue each resident, who lives on the ground floor, with a wheelie bin, as they have control and responsibility over their own waste. Residents who live on the top floors can continue to use the bin chutes. This will mean that considerably less waste will collate at the bin chutes due to less people using them. In turn, we feel, this will significantly reduce the impact around environmental dangers as mentioned above.

In addition, we feel our solution is vastly more cost effective as Harlow Council will not incur costs for constructing the proposed bin stores, as an alternative, spend significantly less on installing CCTV in order to determine who is ‘dumping’ items that can not be collected.”

RESOLVED that the petition was rejected with the proviso that Councillors Danny Purton and David Carter would meet with Officers and residents at Mercers to discuss other potential solutions.

To note the Forward Plan, which lists all upcoming Cabinet decisions and provides notice of key decisions and those expected to be taken in private session.

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan is noted.

To note recent decisions taken under delegated/emergency powers, as attached:

RESOLVED that the following decisions are noted.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

A     Acknowledged the outturn position set out in within the report in respect of General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Capital Programmes for the year ending 31 March 2020.

B    Noted working balances at 31 March 2020 of £15,751,000 in respect of the HRA and nil in respect of the Major Repairs Reserve (MRR).

C    Approved:

             i)        The carrying forward of £162,720 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the General Fund as set out in Appendix B to the report.

            ii)        The transfer to reserves of £1,104,000 as set out in Appendix C to the report.

           iii)        The contribution of £150,000 into a Covid-19 Earmarked Reserve as set out in Paragraph 17 of the report.

           iv)        The carrying forward of £180,172 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the Housing Revenue Account as set out in Appendix E to the report.

            v)        The carrying forward of £1,739,197 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the Non Housing Capital Programme as set out in Appendix I to the report.

           vi)        The carrying forward of £6,894,672 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the Housing Capital Programme as set out in Appendix J to the report.

         vii)        the acquisition of properties up to the value of £12.6 million for inclusion in the Housing Revenue account to ensure that retained receipts are utilised for the provision of social housing.

Cabinet received a report which summarised the Council’s financial year end performance for 2019/20, proposed carryovers into 2020/21 and contributions to reserves.

Councillor Mike Danvers proposed the following additional wording at the end recommendation C of the report “the acquisition of properties up to the value of £12.6 million for inclusion in the Housing Revenue account to ensure that retained receipts are utilised for the provision of social housing.” The amendment was accepted by the proposer, Councillor Mark Ingall, and became part of the substantive motion.

Proposed by Councillor Mark Ingall (seconded by Councillor Mike Danvers) it was:

RESOLVED that:

A     Acknowledged the outturn position set out in within the report in respect of General Fund, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Capital Programmes for the year ending 31 March 2020.

B    Noted working balances at 31 March 2020 of £15,751,000 in respect of the HRA and nil in respect of the Major Repairs Reserve (MRR).

C    Approved:

                             i)        The carrying forward of £162,720 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the General Fund as set out in Appendix B to the report.

                            ii)        The transfer to reserves of £1,104,000 as set out in Appendix C to the report.

                           iii)        The contribution of £150,000 into a Covid-19 Earmarked Reserve as set out in Paragraph 17 of the report.

                           iv)        The carrying forward of £180,172 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the Housing Revenue Account as set out in Appendix E to the report.

                            v)        The carrying forward of £1,739,197 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the Non Housing Capital Programme as set out in Appendix I to the report.

                           vi)        The carrying forward of £6,894,672 of budgets from 2019/20 to 2020/21 in respect of the Housing Capital Programme as set out in Appendix J to the report.

                         vii)        the acquisition of properties up to the value of £12.6 million for inclusion in the Housing Revenue account to ensure that retained receipts are utilised for the provision of social housing.

RESOLVED that:

A     Cabinet acknowledged the outturn position for the first quarter (April – June) of 2020/21 as follows:

             i)        Financial – The forecast as currently predicted is for an in year pressure of £513k driven as a result of the Covid crisis and the impact it has had mainly on the Councils income streams but also as a result of additional costs incurred as a result of the crisis. This will be managed through the year and further updates provided to Cabinet in the normal way.

            ii)        Risk -The report highlights the key corporate risks facing the Council at the current time and inevitably this includes the Covid 19 Crisis and the ongoing impacts it has and continues to have on the Council and the wider town.

           iii)        The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the completion of the Council business and operational performance planning for 2020/21.

Cabinet received a report which set out its financial performance, along with its performance against its own performance indicators, for the first quarter of 2020/21.

Proposed by Councillor Mike Danvers (seconded by Councillor Mark Ingall) it was:

RESOLVED that:

A     Cabinet acknowledged the outturn position for the first quarter (April – June) of 2020/21 as follows:

                             i)        Financial – The forecast as currently predicted is for an in year pressure of £513k driven as a result of the Covid crisis and the impact it has had mainly on the Councils income streams but also as a result of additional costs incurred as a result of the crisis. This will be managed through the year and further updates provided to Cabinet in the normal way.

                            ii)        Risk -The report highlights the key corporate risks facing the Council at the current time and inevitably this includes the Covid 19 Crisis and the ongoing impacts it has and continues to have on the Council and the wider town.

                           iii)        The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the completion of the Council business and operational performance planning for 2020/21.

RESOLVED that Cabinet noted:

A     The HRA Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring Report 2020/21 (attached as Appendix A to the report).

B    That the forecast HRA general working balance as at 31 March 2021 will be reduced to £11.873 million following the decision to finance part of the capital programme from revenue contributions.

Cabinet received a report which provided an update on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the first quarter of 2020/21 and asked that Cabinet noted variances in the HRA budget and the forecast of the HRA and Major Repairs Reserve.

Proposed by Councillor Mark Ingall (seconded by Councillor Mike Danvers) it was:

RESOLVED that Cabinet noted:

A     The HRA Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring Report 2020/21 (attached as Appendix A to the report).

B    That the forecast HRA general working balance as at 31 March 2021 will be reduced to £11.873 million following the decision to finance part of the capital programme from revenue contributions.

RESOLVED that:

A     Cabinet noted the progress in the delivery of the Council’s Housing and Non Housing Capital Programmes as at Quarter 1 (30 June 2020) as follows:

             i)        The Housing Capital Programme (HCP) current budget is £34.635 million which includes £6.896 million carried forward from 2019/20. Due to the delay in the start of capital work in 2020/21 it is anticipated that further re-profiling will be required with future reports detailing proposed programme changes into 2021/22 and subsequent years.

            ii)        The Non-Housing Capital Programme (NHCP) current budget is £14.129 million which includes £3.075 million carried forward from 2019/20. Due to the delay in the start of capital work in 2020/21 it is estimated that capital expenditure will be £13.685 million with the balance re-profiled into 2021/22.

Cabinet received a report which provided an update on the Council’s Housing and Non Housing Capital Programmes for the first quarter of 2020/21.

Proposed by Councillor Mike Danvers (seconded by Councillor Mark Ingall) it was:

RESOLVED that:

A     Cabinet noted the progress in the delivery of the Council’s Housing and Non Housing Capital Programmes as at Quarter 1 (30 June 2020) as follows:

                             i)        The Housing Capital Programme (HCP) current budget is £34.635 million which includes £6.896 million carried forward from 2019/20. Due to the delay in the start of capital work in 2020/21 it is anticipated that further re-profiling will be required with future reports detailing proposed programme changes into 2021/22 and subsequent years.

                            ii)        The Non-Housing Capital Programme (NHCP) current budget is £14.129 million which includes £3.075 million carried forward from 2019/20. Due to the delay in the start of capital work in 2020/21 it is estimated that capital expenditure will be £13.685 million with the balance re-profiled into 2021/22.

RESOLVED that:

A     Cabinet noted the annual Treasury Management Report for 2019/20 (Appendix A to the report), including that the Council operated within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement during 2019/20, and that the report is recommended to Full Council for approval.

Cabinet received a report of the Council’s treasury management functions in 2019/20.

Proposed by Councillor Mike Danvers (seconded by Councillor Eugenie Harvey) it was:

RESOLVED that:

A     Cabinet noted the annual Treasury Management Report for 2019/20 (Appendix A to the report), including that the Council operated within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement during 2019/20, and that the report is recommended to Full Council for approval.

To consider an instruction from the Cabinet Office at Essex County Council that the membership of the Harlow Highways Panel should reflect the political balance of the County Council.

The Leader said that this matter had now been withdrawn from the agenda.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

A     Approved the Covid-19 Recovery Working Group’s final Terms of Reference (attached as Appendix A to the report).

B    Agreed the Vision Statement and Corporate Themes, and Action Plan (attached as appendices B and C to the report).

C    Recommended to Full Council that a further Corporate Priority of ‘Resilience and Recovery’ is introduced into an amended Corporate Plan with the associated Action Plan.

Cabinet received a referral from the Covid-19 Recovery Working Group which recommended approval of an action plan, which set out the actions the four workstreams would take to facilitate the recovery, recommended approval for the Working Group’s terms of reference and the Vision Statement, and sought a recommendation to Full Council to amend the Corporate Plan to include an additional priority.

Proposed by Councillor Eugenie Harvey (seconded by Councillor Mark Ingall) it was:

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

A     Approved the Covid-19 Recovery Working Group’s final Terms of Reference (attached as Appendix A to the report).

B    Agreed the Vision Statement and Corporate Themes, and Action Plan (attached as appendices B and C to the report).

C    Recommended to Full Council that a further Corporate Priority of ‘Resilience and Recovery’ is introduced into an amended Corporate Plan with the associated Action Plan.

To note the following draft minutes of Cabinet appointed bodies. Minutes remain draft until approved by the relevant body.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the following meetings are noted.

Such other business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be received as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the minutes.

None.