Agenda and minutes

E.65/16           

Cllr Huntley to her first meeting of the Executive.  He also took the opportunity to welcome Cllr Dan Brown as an Executive Member.

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 2 February 2017;

E.66/16           

The minutes of the Executive meeting held on 2 February 2017 were confirmed as a true record and signed off by the Chairman.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

E.67/16           

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of this meeting and the following were made:

Cllr Bastone declared a personal interest in Item 15:  ‘Disposal of sites in Dartmouth’ (Minute E.78/16 below refers) by virtue of being the Ward Member.  He introduced the item and took part in the debate but abstained from the vote;

Cllr Tucker declared a personal interest in Item 12:  ‘Parking Enforcement for Dittisham Parish Council’ (Minute E.75/16 below refers) by virtue of being the Ward Member.  He took part in the debate but abstained from the vote;

Cllr Wright declared a personal interest in Item 6:  ‘Community Reinvestment Project Fund Grant Allocations’ (Minute E.69/16 below refers) by virtue of being a member of a Parish Council that was recommended to receive a grant.  He took park in the debate but abstained from the vote.

a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with questions submitted to the Council in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules;

E.68/16           

It was noted that no public questions had been received

E.69/16          

Members were presented with a report that set out the applications received and a summary that outlined the officer assessment and recommendations.

The Portfolio Holder for Customer First introduced the report.  Members from Totnes and Dartington expressed their disappointment that applications from their wards had not been successful, and suggested alternative proposals that would enable funds to be given to the projects they supported.  One proposal was to reduce the grants to all of the successful projects to enable funds to be shared amongst all of those who had applied.  Some Members questioned whether the criteria for the fund had been consistently applied, whilst others supported the recommendations.  One Member suggested that perhaps projects should not receive the full cost of the project and any grant should be capped to encourage fund raising activities in the community. 

The point was made that the fund was oversubscribed this year and, inevitably, some Members would be disappointed.  It was also explained how projects in the Totnes area had been successful in previous years.  Those Members who had supported projects that had been successful expressed their gratitude. 

It was then:

RESOLVED

That eight grant applications totalling £153,900 from the 2016/17 Community Re-investment Project Fund be approved.

E.70/16          

Members were presented with a report that proposed a commercial property investment strategy and asked for approval of funds to gain specialist advice in order to develop a full business case.

The Portfolio Holder for Business Development introduced the report and explained how the proposal was an outcome from the survey undertaken by Members earlier in the year.  Members praised the report for being succinct and self-explanatory.  Some Members asked for caution and felt the proposal was risky.  One Member stated that, with hindsight, she would remove her initially positive responses as, in the cold light of day, she was not so enthusiastic.

In response, the Portfolio Holder explained that at this stage the resolution was to gain bespoke specialist advice before proceeding with the project.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the proposed commercial property investment strategy and proposed direction of travel as detailed in Appendix A of the presented agenda report be noted;

2.     That the allocation of resources from the Innovation (Invest to Earn) Earmarked Reserve which has an uncommitted balance of £20,500 be approved, to gain specialist advice in order to develop a full business case for the commercial property investment proposals set out in the presented report, which would be brought back to Council for a final decision; and

3.     That officers commence an appropriate procurement process to commission a property agent to work on behalf of the Council in relation to the proposed commercial property investment strategy be agreed.

E.71/16          

Members were presented with a report that enabled them to monitor income and expenditure variations against the approved budget for 2016/17, and provided a forecast for the year end position.

The Portfolio Holder for Support Services introduced the report and he and the Finance Business Partner responded to questions.  An additional recommendation was PROPOSED, SECONDED and on being put to the vote declared CARRIED that would enable monies received from an Access Agreement and from Land and Property Investments to be assessed for transfer to the Capital Programme.

Members noted and discussed the budget pressures in Commercial Services.  The Portfolio Holder explained that the budget had been significantly reduced following advice from iESE that a refuse/recycling round could be removed.  However, in practice this had not been possible and therefore there was a resulting budget overspend.  Despite this, savings had been made within Commercial Services.  The Operations Manager (Waste) updated Members on the latest phase of the Commercial Waste project.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the forecast income and expenditure variations for the 2016/17 financial year and the overall projected overspend of £27,000 be noted; and

E.72/16           

Members were presented with a report that advised of the progress on individual schemes within the approved capital programme, including an assessment of their financial position.

The Portfolio Holder for Support Services introduced the report.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.   That the report be noted; and

E.73/16          

Members were presented with a report that recommended adoption of a number of elements related to the Treasury Management Strategy as detailed within the presented report.

The Portfolio Holder for Support Services introduced the report.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That Council be RECOMMENDED to approve:

E.74/16          

Members were presented with a report that sought to recommend to full Council the adoption of the Homelessness Strategy 2017-2022 and the 2017 Action Plan, and that the joint Member Task and Finish Group be retained as a Homeless Strategy Monitoring Group.        

The Portfolio Holder for Customer First introduced the report.  Members praised the Strategy and the work of the Task and Finish Group and officers who had been responsible.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That Council be RECOMMENDED that:

E.75/16          

Members were presented with a report that asked that consideration be given to take steps to allow South Hams District Council to undertake parking enforcement on behalf of Dittisham Parish Council in the Ham and the Level car parks.

The Executive Member for Commercial Services introduced the report.  The Group Manager Commercial Services advised that there were other examples across South Hams and West Devon where the Councils operated parking enforcement on behalf of third parties and the arrangements were always set up to ensure that costs were recovered.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.         That the South Hams District Council Off-Street Parking Places Order be amended to include the Ham car park in Dittisham;

2.         That the parking charges and permit information resolved by Dittisham Parish Council be added to the Off-Street Parking Places Order so that South Hams District Council may undertake enforcement in the Ham and the Level car parks on behalf of the Parish Council; and

3.         That South Hams District Council provide a parking enforcement service on behalf of Dittisham Parish Council.

E.76/16          

Members were presented with a report that set out how the Government had released details of the first year funding allocations to local authorities of the Community Housing Fund and that South Hams District Council had been awarded an allocation of £1,881,000 based largely on housing affordability and proportion of second homes in the district.  The report recommended how the fund should be utilised. 

The Executive Member for Customer First introduced the report.  One Member noted that there were other ways of providing affordable housing.  In response the Executive Member confirmed that all options would be considered.  Another Member remarked that the money was welcome but success would be measured on how many houses were actually built..

It was PROPOSED, SECONDED and on being put to the vote declared CARRIED, that Recommendation 3. be amended to include local Ward Members.

It was then:

     RESOLVED

     That the Executive RECOMMEND to Council:

and that Executive Resolves that a response be sent to DCLG ahead of the 10th March 2017 deadline, as per the Community Housing Strategy set out in the presented agenda report.

“That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in order to avoid the likely disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”;         

E.77/16          

RESOLVED

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Act is involved.

E.78/16          

Members were presented with a report that set out the detail of a proposal to dispose of sites in Dartmouth.

Members discussed the proposal and local Ward Members welcomed the report.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.    That the disposal of the site as set out in paragraph 1.2 of the presented agenda report be approved;

2.    That the disposal of the site as set out in paragraph 1.4 of the presented agenda report be approved;

3.    That authority be delegated for final negotiations to the CoP Lead for Assets, in conjunction with the S151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer.

4.    That the recommendation to re-invest the capital receipts towards the development of additional commercial units in Ermington be noted.

(NOTE: THESE DECISIONS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF E.71/16 (2 and 3), E.72 /16 (2), E.73/16 and E.74/16 (2) WHICH ARE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COUNCIL MEETING TO BE HELD ON 30 MARCH 2017, WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM 5.00PM ON MONDAY, 20 MARCH 2017 UNLESS CALLED IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCRUTINY PROCEDURE RULE 18).