Eastleigh Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

Councillor House declared a non-pecuniary interest on item 6a as being a member of the National Joint Committee on behalf of Local Government.

RESOLVED -

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024 be agreed as a correct record.

There was no public participation on this occasion.

Issues

Committees can refer items to Cabinet under the Council’s Constitution. (Paper 5)

Considerations

Cabinet must consider any recommendations made by Committee’s as part of their decision-making process.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet noted the recommendations from Policy and Performance Scrutiny Panel.

Issue

The Council’s public realm Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) estate is no longer fit for purpose, and the current costs of operation are not sustainable. As such the system needs to be decommissioned. (Paper 6)

Consideration

The primary agency for community safety in Eastleigh is the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. The Council has some community safety responsibilities, which it discharges as a member of the Eastleigh Community Safety Partnership. In the past, the Council has deployed CCTV in Eastleigh town centre as a discretionary tool for supporting the work of other agencies, especially the Police, and to a limited extent the Council’s own services. CCTV is not a statutory responsibility for local government and the Council has a policy of not backfilling other public services.

RESOLVED –

Following the recommendations from the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Panel on 17 October 2024, the following was proposed, seconded and approved:

(1)  approved (subject to funding) the installation up to 15 new public realm cameras to cover targeted problem areas and delegates authority to the Chief Executive to approach the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office to seek funding of up to £50,000;

(2)  approved a capital budget of up to £27,500 funded by revenue savings achieved in 2025/26 for the decommissioning of the existing public realm infrastructure for CCTV;

(3)  approved a review of options for management and operation of all the Council’s remaining standalone CCTV systems and control room arrangements, and delegates implementation in line with the outline in this report to the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and the Leader of the Council; and

(4)  subject to a business case review with implementation delegated to the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and the Economy and the Leader of the Council, approved a capital budget of

a.  up to £124,000 funded from borrowing to upgrade the pay-on-foot parking systems at The Swan Centre car park with revenue growth of £20,330 funded from increased income, and

b.  £82,000 funded from borrowing to upgrade the pay-on-foot parking systems at Mitchell Road multi storey car park (MSCP) with revenue growth of £14,200 funded from increased income.

Issue

Following the announcement on 22 October 2024 that the national pay award for 2024/25 has been agreed, the Head of Human Resources is delegated authority under the Council’s Constitution to implement these changes subject to report to Cabinet. (Paper 6a)

Consideration

As agreed by Council, November 2022, the basic allowance and special responsibility allowances for Councillors is indexed linked to national pay awards pay awards and is uplifted based on the average increase across pay bands. 

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet:

(1)  noted the salary increases for 2024/25 are within the budget which was presented to Council in February 2024; and

(2)  asked the Head of Human Resources to implement these changes to be paid in November 2024 and backdated to 1 April 2024.

[NOTE: (A) The Leader thanked Payroll and HR for their hard work. (B) Councillor House declared a non-pecuniary interest as being a member of the National Joint Committee on behalf of Local Government.]

Issue

Eastleigh Borough Council currently owns over 238 hectares of mitigation land as part of the Council’s Nutrient Offset Scheme. The land is comprised predominantly of former arable and pasture farmland and is managed on a low-intervention basis within the terms of agreed legal agreements for the land to remain out of agriculture and comply with nutrient input budgets. (Paper 7)

Consideration

The Council has the opportunity to enter into an agreement with the Environment Bank to deliver a strategically important habitat bank on the Council-owned existing nutrient offset site in Botley. The Environment Bank would lease the land and undertake all capital works to set up the Habitat Bank in order to sell Biodiversity Units, which will allow developments to meet their obligations for Biodiversity Net Gain. The Environment Bank would pay the Council a rental fee and the land would be sub-leased back to EBC for habitat management by EBC’s Green Spaces Team with an appropriate management payment.

RESOLVED –

That Cabinet:

(1)  approved the principle of the Council entering into a 33-year lease with the Environment Bank to create 23.5 hectares of woodland, grassland, hedgerows and scrub on council-owned land at Church Lane in Botley subject to agreement of outstanding matters between relevant parties; and

(2)  granted delegated approval to the Head of Green Spaces (in consultation with the Head of Property) to agree final terms of the lease, sublease and management agreement with the Environment Bank.

RESOLVED -

(1)  That, in pursuance of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they are likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act; and

(2)  That, in pursuance of the public interest test, the public interest in disclosing the information contained in the following item of business was outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption.