Decisions

Pre-application advice is provided on a  fixed fee cost recovery basis. The current fees were set in May 2016. A fee review has been undertaken to make the charges fairer based on the time taken to provide advice.

The Cabinet Member agrees that changes to the pre-application charging schedule to revise categorisation, increase fees and introduce a new fee service level can be made.

Release of provisionally approved capital to support the planned public realm works and related activity to further enhance security.

The Cabinet Members agree to:

1)  Approve £200K of provisionally approved capital to be fully approved for this and related purposes subject to further delegated officer decisions to be carried out in consultation with the relevant cabinet member(s)

2)  Note that up to £50K of revenue budget contingency may in addition be required to fund revenue project costs.

This report invites the Cabinet to determine whether, and if so in what way, to continue DPPO restrictions on street drinking in Midsomer Norton  as a PSPO, following a consultation as required by new legislation.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Consider the outcomes of the consultation on the Public Space Protection Order to restrict street drinking in Midsomer Norton, as set out in Appendix 1

2)  Consider the legal criteria for adopting a PSPO, as set out in Paragraph 4 of this report, and particularly the test set out in paragraph 4.1

3)  In the light of 2.1. and 2.2  above make the Midsomer Norton Order as set out in Appendix 2 of the report

4)  Request the Head of Legal Services  or an authorised signatory on her behalf to sign and seal the Midsomer Norton Order

5)  Request the Divisional Director for Strategy and Performance to undertake further work to update signage and other publicity relating to any agreed Order and ensure the impact of the PSPO is kept under review

6)  Request the Community Safety Partnership to receive regular monitoring reports on the impact of the PSPO, including equalities impacts and updates on support available for people with alcohol problems including street drinkers

7)  Thank those who were involved in the consultation process, and in particular Midsomer Norton Town Council, and publicise the outcomes of the consultation

8)  Undertake consultation under Section 72 of the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 on extending the PSPO recommended in 2.3 to the areas identified in paragraph 5.11, and prepare a report to Cabinet with recommendations following this consultation.

The report will set out the challenges and some of the options to enable the Council to deliver a balanced budget over the next 5 years. The main focus will be on the financial constraints within which the Council is operating over the next 2 financial years – 2018/19 and 2019/20.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Approve the attached Medium Term Financial Strategy and the recommendations outlined in that strategy;

2)  Recommend approval of the Efficiency Strategy to Council.

Communities, Transport and Environment Panel (13^th November 2017) decision:

The call in of the decision E2999 (Modern Libraries Bath – Consultation Outcomes and Proposals) was heard by the Communities, Transport and Environment PDS Panel this afternoon. The call in was dismissed (5 for 4 against)

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Report will cover the outcomes from the consultation on the location of Bath Library/One Stop Shop and propose that Cabinet make a decision on that location.

Call in of Cabinet Member Decision E2999 “Modern Libraries Bath - Consultation outcomes and proposals” made by the Cabinet on 11^th October 2017.

The call in request is made in the public interest of full disclosure of the facts underpinning the decision to move the One Stop Shop to The Podium and for the following specific reasons:

a.  The need for public scrutiny of the Council’s expenditure on this project to date – no breakdown of the expenditure costs has been published – and of the proposed savings related to the investment.

b.  No open, public consultation has taken place on the issue of whether co-location of Bath Library and the One Stop Shop is desirable or accepted by service users.

c.  No evidence has been presented about the practicality of co-locating services at The Podium, nor whether this would benefit or disadvantage service users. No assessment has been made of the potential impact on both services. No assessment has been made of the needs of users for either the One Stop Shop or Bath Central Library. No benchmark example of comparable conversions of a small main city library into a co-located library and One Stop Shop has been given.

d.  It is unclear whether the project is deliverable or sustainable given the issues around The Podium lease arrangements, and the Police/Shopmobility lease arrangements at Lewis House, which have not been resolved.

On 11^th October 2017the Cabinet RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Note the outcome of the consultation.

2)  Approve The Podium as the chosen site for the central Bath integrated Library & One Stop Shop.

3)  Fully approve capital spending of £330K for the next phase of the project.

4)  Agree that the next phase will involve appointment of architects and a positive programme of user and partner engagement to enable detailed designs and costings, as set out in appendix B of the report.

5)  Note that once detailed costings have been produced, and final designs established, the total requirement for capital funding will be confirmed and relevant approvals obtained.

This report gives details of performance against the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy & Annual Investment Plan 2017/18 for the first three months of 2017/18.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed:

1)  The Treasury Management Report to 30^th June 2017, prepared in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Code of Practice, is noted

2)  The Treasury Management Indicators to 30^th June 2017 are noted.

This report presents the first monitoring information for the Authority as a whole for the financial year 2017/18 to the end of August 2017.  The report also includes a number of budget transfer requests for both revenue and capital.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Strategic Directors should continue to work towards managing within budget in the current year for their respective service areas and develop an action plan of how this will be achieved, including not committing any unnecessary expenditure and stringent budgetary control.

2)  This year’s revenue budget position as shown in Appendix 2 is noted.

3)  The actions agreed by Strategic Directors in paragraph 5.4 are noted.

4)  The mitigations that will be required paragraph 5.5, if the overspend cannot be reduced by the end of the financial year, are noted.

5)  The capital expenditure position for the Council in the financial year to the end of August and the year end projections detailed in Appendix 3 of this report are noted.

6)  The revenue virements listed for approval in Appendix 4(i) are agreed.

7)  The changes in the capital programme listed in Appendix 5(i) are noted.

This report invites the Cabinet to determine whether, and if so in what way, to continue DPPO restrictions on street drinking in Bath City as a PSPO, following a consultation as required by new legislation.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Consider the outcomes of the consultation on a Public Space Protection Order to restrict street drinking in Bath, as set out in Appendix 1

2)  Consider the legal criteria for adopting PSPOs, as set out in Paragraph 4 of this report, and particularly the test set out in paragraph 4.1

3)  In the light of 2.1. and 2.2 above make the Bath City Order as set out in Appendix 2 of the report

4)  Request the Head of Legal Services or an authorised signatory on her behalf to sign and seal the Bath City Order

5)  Request the Divisional Director for Strategy and Performance to undertake further work to update signage and other statutory publicity relating to any agreed Order and ensure the impact of the PSPOs is kept under review

6)  Request the Community Safety Partnership to receive regular monitoring reports on the impact of the PSPO, including equalities impacts, and updates on support and treatment available for people who misuse alcohol including street drinkers

7)  Thank those who were involved in the consultation process and publicise the outcomes of the consultation.

Release some of the provisionally approved capital to pump prime building of some solutions and to support business case development for this programme, which will deliver £3m annual revenue savings

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency approves the release of £0.5m of the £5m capital provisionally approved for the Digital by Choice programme.