Test Valley Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor T Swain.

There was no public participation.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no urgent items.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 7 June 2023 were proposed by Councillor P North and seconded by Councillor Flood.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2023 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The minutes of the Scrap Metal Dealers Hearings Sub-Committee held on 22 June 2023 were proposed by Councillor Drew and seconded by Councillor P North.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the Scrap Metal Dealers Hearings Sub-Committee meeting held on 22 June 2023 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no recommendations to consider from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Consideration was given to the report of the Leader which presented the Corporate Action Plan (CAP) which is the delivery document for the Council’s Corporate Plan.

The CAP sets out in detail how the Council intended to make progress against its strategic priorities over the four-year period. The CAP for year one contained eleven projects which would be monitored through the Council’s performance management framework.

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, the recommendation was proposed by Councillor P North, seconded by Councillor Adams-King and Cabinet agreed to the following:

Resolved:

That the Corporate Action Plan 2023-27 (Year one), annexed to the report, be approved.

Consideration was given to the report of the Finance and Resources Portfolio Holder which reviewed the Council’s revenue spending for the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year and provided a Treasury Management update.

The report examined the main differences between the original estimate and actual spend to 30 June 2023, providing an explanation for significant variances.

Overall, the net expenditure to 30 June 2023 was £769,000 lower than budgeted. The favourable variance comprised additional income and savings of £498,000 due to service-related activities and £271,000 more income from the Council’s investing and borrowing activities.

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, the recommendations were proposed by Councillor Flood, seconded by Councillor P North and Cabinet agreed to the following:

Resolved:

1.  That the financial position for each Service and the key revenue areas contained in the Annex to the report be noted.

2.  That the Treasury Management Update in paragraph 4 in the report be noted.

Consideration was given to the report of the Democracy and Governance Portfolio Holder which presented details of the Andover Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID).

The Andover Town centre BID was established in 2019 with the first five-year term due to expire in March 2024. The Bid had prepared proposals which they wished to apply from 1 April 2024 with a ballot necessary for the BID to continue for a second five-year term.

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, the recommendations were proposed by Councillor Lodge, seconded by Councillor P North and Cabinet agreed to the following:

Resolved:

1.  That the Head of Finance and Revenues be given delegated authority to instruct the Chief Executive (as Ballot Holder) to hold the BID Ballot on receipt of the formal request, as set out in 3.2 of thereport.

2.  That the Council will not seek reimbursement of the cost of holding the Ballot from the Proposer as set out in 3.5 of the report.

3.  That the statement of existing baseline services contained in Annex 2 to the report be noted.

4.  That Cabinet agree that the draft BID Proposals neither conflict with an existing policy nor proposes a disproportionate burden on particular businesses by an unfair levy charge on a certain class of business, as set out in paragraph 3.13 of the report and that delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive to make a final determination on this when the BID Proposals are published.

5.  That delegated authority be given to the Head of Finance and Revenues in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources and the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, to agree the terms of the Operating Agreement in the event that the BID Proposals proceed as set out in 4.3 of the report.

6.  That the BID Proposer be charged £35 per hereditament or 3% of the annual levy income, whichever is lower towards the Council’s costs of collecting the BID levy as set out in 4.4 of the report.

Consideration was given to the report of the Finance and Resources Portfolio Holder which set out the Valley Housing Outturn 2022/23 and Business Plan Update for 2023/24 to 2025/26.

Since the incorporation of Valley Housing Limited, the Council had purchased a number of properties and developed one of its own sites to deliver market-rent housing within the borough. The company now has 23 properties in its portfolio with no additional properties purchased in the 2022/23 financial year, in-line with its business plan. Net profit for the 2022/23 year before tax was £37,686.

Having considered the options and for the reasons set out in the report, the recommendations were proposed by Councillor Flood, seconded by Councillor P North and Cabinet agreed to the following:

Resolved:

1.  That the Directors’ annual report, as shown in Annex 1 to the report, be noted.

2.  That the updated Business Plan for 2023/24 to 2025/26, as shown in Annex 2 to the report, be approved.

3.  That approval be given to appoint the Head of Strategy and Innovation as a Director of the company.

There was no reference made to the information contained within the exempt annexes and therefore no exclusion of the public was required.