Hart Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 June 2023 were confirmed as a correct record unanimously by all those present at the last meeting, and signed by the Chairman.

Councillors Bailey, Neighbour and Oliver were not present on 1 June.

Proposed by Councillor Quarterman; seconded by Councillor Collins.

No apologies received.

Councillor Radley queried if he needed to declare an interest in Item 11, The Swan, as he is also a Member of Planning Committee. The Chief Executive confirmed as long as Planning Committee Members kept an open mind they did not need to declare an interest in this item.

No announcements.

None.

Cabinet received an update on Edenbrook’s Parkrun by Darren Wood, one of the event’s organisers. 

The report presented to Members provided details on two areas of initial concern originally raised at Cabinet on Thursday 5 August 2021; notably issues related to participant numbers and parking in residential areas.  

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The report was also to seek permission to continue the lease establishing the Parkrun event at Edenbrook Country Park for a further 5-years.  

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Members questioned: 

·         What the largest number of attendees at a single Edenbrook Parkrun event could be. It was confirmed that the average was 269 people with the maximum in rare cases being around 400. 

·         The type of complaints residents may have about this event currently or in the future.   

·         How the event can cover its costs and be and remain a free activity for all participants. 

·         How the event is insured and the role of its sponsors. 

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Mr Wood explained that to date the group had received one complaint about the event from a resident. This involved querying the potential noise concerns and timings of the event set up.?  

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The Leader of the Council thanked Mr Wood and the Countryside team for their ongoing efforts with the Parkrun event and its continued success. This is despite the course being on a floodplain and occasionally because of this some events needing to be cancelled at short notice.  

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The Leader of the Council also highlighted that parking, which was potentially considered a possible issue, seemed to be fine and the event was well contained and supported.  

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It was agreed that any future issues that may arise regarding this event be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.?  

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Members debated: 

·?????? Why the lease had been proposed to be for five years only and the possibility of extending this. 

·?????? What the get out clause would be if the Council or the organisers decided to end the event at any time.?  

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The Chief Executive asked Mr Wood to send him an example of a lease that other Parkruns use that are indefinite.  

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Mr Wood thanked the Council for trusting him and the team to run the Parkrun event at Edenbrook.  

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DECISION 

 
Cabinet agreed for the Chief Executive and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Direction and Partnerships to work on a lease agreement with the Parkrun team to run the event indefinitely at Edenbrook Country Park. There would be a one-week notice period for each party.  

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Proposed by Councillor Neighbour; seconded by Councillor Clarke. 

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change introduced the item and highlighted that the presentation was the same one presented to the Climate Change Working group and Overview and Scrutiny Committee. A summary of the comments from both groups is however included and the team will respond to these going forward.?  

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He thanked all those involved in preparing the information and confirmed it is still a work in progress, with more detail on timescales and costs required. 

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The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change also highlighted that the Council declared a Climate Change Emergency in April 2021 not September 2019 as stated in the officer’s report.  

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Nathan Wicks from Local Partnerships summarised the Climate Action Plan, which included the Corporate Plan Objectives, Carbon Neutral Pathway and three key focus areas: Buildings, Energy and Transport. He also highlighted that there may be potential for solar panels on the Hart Leisure Centre and other buildings in the Hart district in the future.??  

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Members questioned: 

·         The Carbon impact category and how it would be measured. 

·         Decarbonisation schemes and if these should be secured by the owner of the property, the leaseholder, or tenants.??  

·         Whether Decarbonisation schemes will be available for properties the council owns that are outside of Hart district or properties the council leases. 

·         Grants and external funding that could be applied for, to enable change projects. 

Members queried why the report said £200,000 for general operational budget for climate change functions when the original figure agreed by Cabinet in April 2023 was £250,000. The Executive Director for Corporate confirmed that this £50,000 had been diverted to cover staff costs.  

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Members discussed: 

·         How the district wide elements of the Climate Action plan will be communicated and if the Council had enough resource and budget to provide this effectively.  

·         The staffing that is currently in place for Climate Change projects and if future staffing resources would be required.  

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The Executive Director for Corporate and the Sustainability and Climate Change Officer reassured Members that the Council is monitoring the situation and is working with stakeholders, Hampshire County Council, parishes and other external groups on Climate Change projects and initiatives.??  

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Members debated: 

·?????? The number of items in the report that carry ‘high-resource complexity’ and that this needs to be carefully monitored. 

·?????? Whether the council is fully resourced for this Action Plan as a whole; it was considered by several Members it was not, but that this element is still a work in progress.  

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The Chief Executive and the Portfolio Holder for Climate Change discussed when updates should be presented to Full Council; it was agreed that its meetings in July and January would be most appropriate.  

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Members proposed that these updates to Council should also include achievements and work that has already been completed, not just work that’s still ongoing.  

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DECISION 

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Cabinet reviewed the draft Climate Action Plan and having regard to the views of the Climate Change Working Group and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, unanimously approved it. 

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Proposed by Councillor Quarterman; seconded by Councillor Oliver.

The Contracts and Procurement Manager updated Cabinet on the Council’s performance indicator results for Quarter 4 of 2022/2023 (1 January 2023 – 31 March 2023). This report had already been presented to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.?  

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Members questions on the data for Corporate Services included: 

·         The definition of a missed bin in this report and that the text used for CP10 and CP11 may need to be reworded.  

·         If CP10 and CP11 in the report on missed (bin) collections, could contain more detail in future to enable the number of expected bin collections to be compared to the number that were out.?  

·         If raw data could be provided in future quarterly performance reports better compare Hart’s missed (bin) collections against other local authorities. 

·         Why there is no explanation in the report as to why some targets have not been met and if this could be added or explained in future ones. 

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The Portfolio Holder for Communities queried if the staff turnover issue in Community Services had been resolved; this was agreed to be discussed with the Executive Director – Community.  

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There were no questions from Members on the data for the former Environmental and Technical Services.  

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The Leader of the Council highlighted that some figures in the report are missing due to awaiting Government information; it was also raised that the most recent figures for CCTV downtime are still being prepared by the new provider.?  

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The Chief Executive stressed that we need to evaluate some of the criteria when preparing next year’s report. Some recordings have no specific targets, and some are some numbers only with no targets. For example, targets cannot be set for things like fly-tipping.?  

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Members also queried if the Council is meeting its budget expectations and what these were.??  

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DECISION  

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The performance report for Quarter 4 2022/23 was noted by Cabinet. 

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It was highlighted by the Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy and Place that there was an error in the Cabinet Work Programme regarding the Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) scheduled for Cabinet in November. ? 

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The Work Programme should say that the SPDs will go to Cabinet for adoption, not for comment. (Overview and Scrutiny Committee will see them for comment prior to Cabinet). 

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The Chief Executive confirmed that he would speak to the Senior Leadership Team to ensure the Work Programme continues to reflect all ongoing work. He will also speak to Committee Services to ensure both Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny Work Programmes are tailored further to their specific audiences. ? 

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The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change asked for a Climate Change update to be added for January 2024. 

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The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Development Management queried the Review of the CCTV service item and whether an item on the Urban Capacity study could be added; the Chief Executive to check this.  

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Cabinet noted the Work Programme.  

The Leader of the Council proposed that the item be dealt with in an Exempt session, and this was seconded by Councillor Quarterman.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance queried the reason in keeping a potential selling price of The Swan Inn a secret before it had been sold. The Chief Executive confirmed this is best practise in a competitive world. 

A Member asked if the property was advertised for sale, and it was confirmed by the Chief Executive that a public session to go to market had been held.

The Member also asked if the property had had more than one offer and it was confirmed there had been additional interest but only one offer to date. 

DECISION

Cabinet undertook a recorded vote to discuss this item in an Exempt session and the results were:

For: Bailey, Clarke, Cockarill, Collins, Quarterman, Oliver and Neighbour

Against: Radley

Abstention: None

It was therefore agreed that the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information for the following item.

It was agreed that, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded during the discussion of the matters referred to, on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.