Hart Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

The minutes of 6 April 2023 including the exempt minutes, were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies had been received from Cllrs Neighbour, Bailey and Oliver.

Cllr Cockarill arrived at 7.01pm.

No declarations were made.

There were no announcements.

There were none.

The Council maintained a corporate risk register which was revised by management on a regular basis. It had been considered by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee. It provided assurance that appropriate arrangements were in place to mitigate the risks identified.

Members noted:

• The risk register had been discussed in detail at the April Overview & Scrutiny meeting, and key comments from that meeting had been incorporated into the covering report for Cabinet
• Some areas of risk, such as staffing, would be monitored by various Committees
• There were no significant or unexpected issues

Members discussed:

• The risks to the Council through cyber security, and that the Council were working with consultants to ensure that systems were as secure as possible, whilst not being complacent about potential future attacks
• That the report was produced on a six-monthly basis and would come back to Cabinet via Overview and Scrutiny

DECISION

Cabinet noted the corporate risk register and the current mitigation that was in place.

This item was to consider the draft Hart Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) and approve it for public consultation.

Members noted:

• Other local councils were also producing LCWIPs, which were at different stages of development
• The draft document had been produced by consultants Sustrans and was a joint document with Hampshire County Council
• The draft plan will go out to consultation and then would come back to Cabinet via Overview and Scrutiny.  As the plan progresses Cabinet would get further updates
• The document was a high level framework which would allow for bids to be made for funding from Government and other organisations for different schemes

Members discussed:

• Which Portfolio Holder was responsible for the LCWIP.  This was the Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy at present but would transfer to the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Development Management when specific schemes began.  A list of Portfolio Holder responsibilities would be published shortly.
• That Sustrans report was produced from an information gathering exercise and that feedback from all stakeholders would be considered before the final report was published later in the year
• Why some schemes had not been included.  This was because there was an aim not to duplicate existing projects that already had funding allocated
• How far neighbouring Councils had got in developing similar proposals
• How the consultation would be run, with a request that this was not just online but with copies in key locations, such as libraries etc
• The need to seek the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including schools (Cllr Forster declared an interest as the HCC Portfolio Holder with responsibility for schools)
• The need for secure cycle storage in town centres and other key locations to encourage people to take their bicycles rather than cars.  This would be looked at as part of the review of the responses to the consultation.
• The possibility of having charging points for e-bikes.

Proposed by:  Cllr Cockarill;  Seconded by: Cllr Collins

DECISION

Cabinet:

• approved the draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for public consultation

• delegated authority to the Executive Director – Place, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders, to make any final changes to the draft LCWIP document prior to consultation in light of further comments from Hampshire County Council

To seek nominations to Hart’s approved list of Outside Bodies for the coming year.

Members considered the proposed representatives put forward by the Group Leaders for 2023/24.

A full list of the agreed appointments is attached at Appendix 1. 

Proposed by:  Cllr Collins; Seconded by:  Cllr Clarke

DECISION

Cabinet agreed the representatives for each of the Outside Bodies as identified in Appendix 1  

The Cabinet work programme was considered and agreed without any amendment.

In the absence of the Leader, and with the Deputy Leader attending remotely, Cllr Quarterman was elected Chairman for the meeting.

Proposed by Cllr Clarke; Seconded by Cllr Collins