Decisions

There has been significant growth in the numbers of SEND pupils needing Home to School Transport. As a result the SEND transport budget is £450k overspent. Traditional methods of home to school transport have been reviewed and new methods of offering transport can be introduced that will reduce the pressure on this budget and offer a wider range of options to parents.

The Cabinet Member is asked to approve the new principles and proposed changes and approaches that will be incorporated into our new SEND transport policy.

Approval is sought to draw down a further £300,000 from the provisional capital budget to provide continued support for the study to improve access to Bath and remove through traffic from the city.  The original budget was approved by the November 2014 Cabinet report on the Getting Around Bath Transport Strategy.

The Cabinet Members agree to release a further £300,000 to support continued study work.

The Decent Homes Policy describes how the Council will provide assistance, including financial assistance, to help more vulnerable people carry out essential repairs, improvements and adaptations to their home.

The Cabinet Member agrees with the Decent Homes 2016 Policy update.

The Council’s Public Protection and Health Improvement Enforcement Policy has been reviewed to ensure that it is relevant and up to date. Following changes in legislation, including the introduction of the Regulators Code 2014 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 , the  Enforcement Policy has been reviewed and updated .

The Cabinet Member agrees to the adoption of the amended Enforcement policy.

Approval to proceed to purchase land adjacent to Whitchurch Primary. Whitchurch Primary is to expand by 105 places to accommodate pupils from housing development in the area. In order to expand a piece of adjacent land needs to be purchased.

The Cabinet Member agrees to approve a capital budget of £30,000 from S106 developer contributions received to purchase the land from the Whitchurch Royal British Legion.

The capital programme for 2016/17 currently has £5.9m fully approved and a further £5m provisionally approved for property acquisitions. This report seeks to move an element of the £5m provisionally approved budget to a full approval in order to fully fund an acquisition of a property interest in Bath. 

The decision is urgent as a result of the owner of the property requiring a completion date within 10 working days of exchanging Heads of Terms which were agreed on 12 October 2016. Appropriate due diligence will be undertaken prior to completion.

The Cabinet Member agrees that £1,861,650 of the £5million funding provisionally approved by Council in February 2016 for property acquisition be fully approved.