Agenda and minutes

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;

76/16              

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting, but there were none made.

77/16              

A report was considered that sought approval of the proposed Treasury Management and Investment Strategies for 2017/18, together with their associated prudential indicators.

In the subsequent discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)    the limits to borrowing activity.  In respect of the relationship between the limits and the Council’s proposed Commercial Property Investment Strategy, it was confirmed that external advice was currently being sought with a view to a report being presented to the Executive in June 2017.

For clarity, the additional borrowing allowances had been built in following the decision to undertake prudential borrowing of £6.337 million in light of the Leisure contract award to the preferred bidder, Fusion Lifestyle (Minute 33/16 refers).  Furthermore, it was also noted that an additional £1.5 million of borrowing was subject to a business case;

(b)    the requirement for this Special Council meeting.  Some Members expressed their concerns at the need for this special meeting to be held at such short notice for such a seemingly light agenda.  In response, the Leader informed that advice had been received from the Council’s external treasury management advisors (Capita) that the Council needed to approve its Treasury Management Strategy before the start of the 2017/18 Financial Year.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.   That the prudential indicators and limits for 2017/18 to 2019/20 (as contained within Appendix A of the presented agenda report) be approved;

2.   That the Minimum Revenue Position (MRP) statement (as contained within Appendix A of the presented agenda report) that sets out the Council’s policy on MRP be approved;

3.   That the Treasury Management Strategy 2017/18 and the treasury prudential indicators 2017/18 to 2019/20 (as outlined in Appendix B of the presented agenda report) be approved; and

4.   That the Investment Strategy 2017/18 (as outlined in Appendix C of the presented agenda report) and the detailed criteria (as detailed in Appendix D of the presented agenda report) be approved.

* Indicates Minutes containing recommendations to Council

78/16              

(a)   Development Management Committee – 15 February 2017

(b)   Salcombe Harbour Board – 20 February 2017

(c)   Overview and Scrutiny Panel – 23 February 2017

O&S.70/16: Devon and Cornwall Housing – Annual Update

When questioned, the Chairman of the Panel confirmed that a standalone agenda item relating to Section 106 Contributions would be presented to the Panel in June/July.

O&S.74/16: Quarterly Performance Measures

In response to a Member reiterating his concerns over the planning enforcement service, the Panel Chairman advised that an update on the Planning Peer Challenge Action Plan would be considered by the Panel at its next meeting on 6 April 2017.

(d)   Council Tax Setting Panel – 23 February 2017

(e)   Executive – 9 March 2017

E.69/16: Community Reinvestment Project Fund Grant Allocation

A Member asked for her objections to be noted regarding the decision that had been taken whereby no monies had been allocated to Dartington related projects. 

E.71/16: Revenue Budget Monitoring 2016/17

RESOLVED

1.     That the funding of £160,000 be transferred from the Business Rates Retention Earmarked Reserve into the Consolidated Income and Expenditure Account in 2016/17; and

2.     That income received from Access Agreements and Land and Property Investments be reviewed at the end of the financial year to assess if it can be transferred into the Capital Programme.

E.72/16: Capital Programme Monitoring

RESOLVED

1.     That the capital budget for Burke Road, Totnes and Admirals Court, Dartmouth be increased by £200,500 (as set out in Exempt Appendix B of the presented agenda report); and

2.     That the £200,500 be financed by capital projects of £160,000 and a contribution from the Land and Development Reserve of £40,500.

E.74/16: Homelessness Strategy 2017/22

Whilst commending the Strategy for approval, a Member did nonetheless feel that the recommendation to retain an ongoing joint monitoring SH/WD Member Task and Finish Group was unnecessary.  The Member was of the view that the monitoring role was an Overview and Scrutiny function and it should be reviewed by the Panel on an approximate six monthly basis.

Following a brief discussion, there was widespread support expressed for these comments.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the Homelessness Strategy 2017/22 and the 2017 Action Plan be approved and considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel for ongoing monitoring.

E.76/16: Community Housing

RESOLVED

That the Community Housing Strategy (as set out in the presented agenda report) be endorsed, specifically approving:

-     the apportionment of the £1.88 million Community Housing Fund (CHF) as per Section 3 of the presented agenda report, including the forward funding of 3 full-time employees for a period of two years; and

-     the delegation of acquisition for sites up to £250,000 for the delivery of community housing from the CHF grant be granted to the COP Lead for Assets, in consultation with the lead Executive Member for Assets, the Section 151 Officer and the local Ward Member(s).

79/16              

As this was anticipated to be the last Council meeting of the 2016/17 Municipal Year, the Chairman thanked all Members for their respective contributions during his year of office.  Furthermore, the Chairman stated how much he had enjoyed the role and it was his lasting impression that the Council was held in high regard by the local community.