Gosport Borough Council Policy and Organisation Board Meeting

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Councillor Philpott declared that as a Hampshire County Councillor he was a representative on PUSH with regard to agenda item 15 and 16.

Councillor Hylands declared that he had a pecuniary interest in agenda item 8 and would leave the room and take no further part in the discussion or voting thereon.

A Member sought clarification that the report and appendix could now be published and this was confirmed by the Borough Solicitor.

A Member advised that as a result of this they believed the resolution and the recording of some individual votes to be misleading in its presentation of the outcome of the discussion on the 30 September 2024 and wished to present and amendment to the recorded minutes to state that the resolution was for an amended recommendation. This was proposed and seconded, and subsequently not agreed.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 30September 2024 be signed as a true and correct record.

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A presentation was given by Citizen Advice Gosport on their work in the Borough over the last year.

Members welcomed the work undertaken and recognised the support provided to Gosport residents. They were advised that funding would remain in place as part of the proposed budget.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Electoral Services and Electoral Registration Officer advising the Board of the responses to the consultation on the proposals from the Electoral Task and Finish Group on the Parliamentary Constituency Polling Districts and Polling Places review.

The Board was advised of a proposed addendum the report and some minor corrections.

The Board was advised that at paragraph 2.1.3 the reference should be to appendix 3 and not appendix 2 and that the reference to all stakeholders being consulted confirmed the stakeholders to be group leaders and affected ward councillors.

In addition there was an addendum that roads and properties highlighted on the map, be relocated into Peel Common Ward polling district 2 from Peel Common polling district 1. These were properties in Brookers Lane 66-76, Heron Way, Teal Walk and Tern Walk. It was requested by Members that Fulmer Walk and Curlew Walk also be included.

It was recognised that there would always be situations in which properties could be located close to a polling station that wasn’t allocated to them but that there was no ideal solution.

RESOLVED: That the changes as set out in this report be recommended to the Full Council Meeting on Wednesday 11 December 2024 to approve subject to the amendments identified in Peel Common and the correction of typographic errors.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Electoral Services and Returning Officer advising the Board of the responses to the consultation on the proposals from the Electoral Task and Finish Group on the Parliamentary Constituency Polling Districts and Polling Places review.

Councillor Hylands left the room and took no part in the discussion or voting thereon.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Environmental Health detailing the draft Statement of Principles, together with the consultation responses, to this Board for approval, so that it can subsequently be adopted at full Council. 

The Board was advised that there was a minor typographical error on page 37 and that the period covered was from March 2025- Feb 2028 as the current document expired in February 2025.

It was also corrected that the most common health issues were obesity, lack of exercise and cardiovascular disease.

RESOVLED: That

i)      Recommends the final draft Statement of Principles as amended for adoption by full Council.

Consideration was given to a report of the External Auditor setting out the status of their 2022/23 external audit. It includes the messages arising from the audit of the arrangements put in place to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources.

The report includes only matters of governance interest that have come to attention in performing the audit under the requirements of the National Audit Office’s Code of Audit Practice and International Standards of Auditing (ISAs).

This is an important report that is a requirement of ISA 260 and must be presented to the Board in its role as those charged with governance, before approval of the financial statements.

The Board was advised that the report was being presented before the backstop date of 13 December 2024 for any unfinished audits for 2022/2023. The issues had been with national capacity issues and regulatory pressure.

The 2023/24 working paper had been presented and good progress was being made.

An overall conclusion was now able to be submitted with an overall conclusion and the recommendations for improvement had been accepted by management.

A Member advised that they were grateful for the inclusion of consultations and press releases and welcomed the recommendations as a result.

A Member questioned that the report stated that it could not be shared without written authority but that the report was available widely, including online. This was to be noted and considered.

The report was noted.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Finance requesting members approve the Statement of Accounts for 2022/23, the year impacted by the national audit backlog. 

The Board was advised that page 246 of the report would include the now confirmed letter.

RESOLVED: that :

      i.        The Board approves the Statement of Accounts for 2022/23 at  Appendix A

     ii.        The Board approve the Letter of Representation at Appendix B

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Finance requesting the consideration and approval of the amended fees and charges.

Members recognised that the report was being presented to Full Council.

The Board was advised that the figure quoted in paragraph 2.2 as an average of 5.00% should in fact be closer to 6% and it was requested that the report presented to Council be amended to reflect that.

Members were advised that it was the lowest average for three years and recognised that the Council Tax increase was limited to 2.99% without a referendum and fees and charges were a source of income to the Council.

Members were advised that the Council’s priority was to protect frontline services but that that came with a cost. Other council’s were choosing to cut services to balance books.

Members sought clarification around statutory charges, particularly as some had not been increased in 20 years.

It was also noted that there had been a proposal to increase charges for land hire and that hire no longer included the provision of water or electricity.

A Member advised that there were often significant electric charges as a result of events, running into thousands of pounds and that it was wrong for the public to pay for them. But that should events require support the grant process was open to them.

Members advised that whilst they understood the reasoning, the cost of hire, now excluding water and electric had been raised by either 153.7% or 161.1% depending on the event size.

Members advised they felt the charges were fair in the same way it was appropriate to levy damage charges and that most smaller events did not require Temporary Event Notices.

RESOLVED:

The Board approves the fees and charges referred to in the report and appendix for recommendation to Council, for implementation from 1 January 2025.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Commercial Property setting out the background and proposals following discussions with the Gosport D-Day Foundation for the installation of a D-Day Memorial Garden close to the Promenade and adjacent to Stokes Bay Sailing Club

The Board welcomed the report and recognised that a grant had been pledged for £5,000 to support the project.

Due diligence had been undertaken and the DDay Fellowship would be responsible for maintenance and insurance after handover, noting that the grounds maintenance team would maintain the planting.

It was noted that the Canadian Memorial would not be moved and that planning permission for the Memorial had been granted. The significance of the proposed location was noted.

It was recognised that this was the missing piece of memorials for Gosport and welcomed it particularly with the significance of Stokes Bay to the launch of the DDay craft.

RESOLVED:

That the Board approve:

i)      The grant of a licence to the Gosport D-Day Memorial Fellowship to approve the proposed works, and to permit use of the land as a memorial garden for a period of 50 years (subject to further renewal) at a peppercorn rent, noting that the Canadian Memorial situated near to Pebbles Café will not be relocated.

ii)     The grant of delegated authority to the Borough Solicitor & Monitoring Officer and in conjunction with the Head of Commercial Property, Gosport to conclude negotiations and complete the licence.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Commercial Property sets out the background and proposals following discussions with the Ministry of Defence/Secretary of State for Defence (“MoD”), for their purchase of the freehold interest of the above site which is currently vacant following the forefeiture of the previous lease by the Council in February 2024.

Members welcomed the proposal and recognised the gain to the Council from the sale.

It was understood the MOD had no plans to build on the site, but that it would support extending their blast zone.

It was believed that the purchase permission was nearly at completion on the MOD side and recognised the facility was dated and costing the Council money.

In answer to a Member’s question, the Board was advised that the family had requested access to the site to secure any personal belongings.

Members sought clarification if the site would be fenced off in isolation, or if it would include the access across the road and were advised it would be determined in due course.

RESOLVED:

That the Board approve:

i)      The disposal of the freehold interest of the demised land and buildings to the Ministry of Defence on the terms set out below. 

ii)     Grant delegated authority to the Borough Solicitor & Monitoring Officer and in conjunction with the Head of Commercial Property, Gosport to conclude negotiations and complete the disposal.

Consideration was given to a report of the Economic Development and Regeneration Manager providing an update on the public realm project's objectives, current progress, and the planned next steps. It outlines key milestones achieved and details the strategies in place to ensure successful project delivery. The report also highlights upcoming actions to achieve the overall project goals.

Members welcomed the news that the funding would remain and the progress that was being made. The report focused on the public realm element and explained the UK docks support for the Rum Store project.

The entire project would open up the waterfront and include the People’s park as well as the rooftop terrace and work at the rum store.

Members welcomed the approval of a consultation and it was highlighted that the publics support and ownership for the project was crucial.

Members welcomed the restoration of heritage and recognised that this was an important factor of that.

Members unanimously expressed disappointment at the vandalism of the new bus interchange.

The report was noted.

Consideration was given to a report of the Planning Policy Manager to consider and approve the revised Bird Aware Strategy, following a required 5 Yearly Review in order to continue providing a mechanism for the mitigation of recreation disturbance on the internationally important habitats to enable house building to continue within the Borough.

Members were advised that this latest scheme included provision for summer birds but there would be no additional cost for developers.

Members expressed concern at the additional level of properties required, particularly on a peninsular.

Members were advised that schemes already in place included utilisation of the Alver Valley to encourage dog walkers away from the beach.

RESOLVED: That this Board:

·         Approves the Bird Aware Partnership's revised strategy for planning purposes (Appendix 1).

·         Approves the Council’s updated Gosport Bird Disturbance Mitigation Protocol to reflect the new strategy (Appendix 5).

Consideration was given to the report of the Planning Policy Manager advise Members on the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) for the Solent Nutrient Fund and what actions are proposed.

The Board was advised that there had been 9 authorities that had granted approval to the proposals but it was unsure if any had refused. The importance of working together was recognised.

Members supported the proposal, recognising that it was not ideal, but presented the best option.

·         RESOLVED: That authority is delegated to the Planning Policy Manager, in consultation with the Council’s Section 151 Officer and the Leader of the Council, to sign the proposed Inter-Authority Agreement, including any minor amendments.

Agree that the Council is a Benefitting Authority for the ‘land at Stubbington’ scheme and agree the principle that it is the Monitoring Authority for this scheme. 

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