Decisions

Fees and Charges 2018/19

(1)        That the value of the Consumer Prices Index as at November 2017 of 3% be used as a guide for any proposed increases of the Council’s Fees and Charges for 2018/19;

(2)        That the proposed Fees and Charges for 2018/19, as set out in the Appendices to the minutes of the meeting of the Finance & Performance Management Cabinet Committee held on 16 November 2017, be approved;

(3)        That the proposed schedule of Housing Revenue Account Fees and Charges for 2018/19 be approved;

(4)        That the Council’s fee for a MOT vehicle test be increased to the maximum permitted VOSA charge, currently at £54.85;

(5)        That the discount rate of 50% for Council’s fees for bulk waste be applied to residents on housing benefits and those of pensionable age; and

(6)        That the long stay car parking charges in the Council-owned car parks be reviewed, in light of the changes to the charges levied by Transport for London at their car parks within the District.

Options to consider for the Council providing a Police or uniformed presence for the District.

A further report on a proposed SLA with Essex Police, to fund 3 additional Police Officers within the District by the Council.

(1)        That further discussion be undertaken with Essex Police to fully determine the options and implications of the Council funding two Police Officers as part of a hybrid model of operation to improve levels of policing in the District;

(2)        That, as a short term measure, Parkguard security company be appointed to provide regular uniformed patrolling of the District during the period 2 January 2018 to March 31 2018, subject to further review, and that Sections 5 and 10 of the Council’s Procurement Rules be waived accordingly;

(3)        That a District Development Fund supplementary estimate in the sum of £25,000 for 2017/18 be recommended to the Council for approval to cover the costs of the appointment of Parkguard security company; and

(4)        That appropriate budget provision be made for the commissioning of a service on a longer-term basis from 2018/19.

(1)        That a bid in the sum of £25,000 to the Local Government Association for a Behavioural Insights Programme be supported by match funding from the ‘Invest to Save’ fund; and

(2)        That, in the event the bid to the Local Government Association was unsuccessful, the full sum of £50,000 for the Behavioural Insights Programme be funded from the ‘Invest to Save’ fund.

To seek approval for the revised 5 year Capital Programme and funding forecast.

(1)        That the latest five-year forecast of capital receipts be noted;

(2)        That the intention to spend all usable capital receipts in their year of receipt, where possible, be approved;

(3)        That external borrowing of an estimated £28,382,000, necessary to support the General Fund Capital Programme, be noted;

(4)        That the following amendments to the Capital Programme be recommended to the Council for approval:

            (a)        a supplementary capital estimate in the sum of £741,000 for the       Epping Forest Shopping Park development;

            (b)        a supplementary capital estimate in the sum of £52,000 for the         surrender of a lease by Glyn Hopkins Ltd in Waltham Abbey; and

            (c)        a supplementary capital estimate in the sum of £20,000 for the         installation of CCTV systems in Council-owned car parks during 2017/18;

(5)        That the following additional amendments to the Capital Programme be approved:

            (a)        an additional allocation in the sum of £161,000 for Grounds Maintenance vehicles in 2018/19;

            (b)        an additional allocation in the sum of £13,000 for Flood Alleviation   schemes in 2018/19;

            (c)        an additional allocation in the sum of £350,000 for further investment           in the superfast broadband network in 2019/20, subject to a further report to   the Cabinet upon completion of the tender process;

(d)        the identified savings in the sum of £308,000 for 2017/18 and in the sum of £24,000 for 2018/19 for General Fund projects;

            (e)        virements in 2017/18 in respect of:

                        (i)         £48,000 within the General Fund car parking allocation to                 upgrade to LED lights from the Lee Valley Car Park and 4G Pay-and-                      Display installation budgets; and

                        (ii)        £15,000 to CCTV systems from Planned Maintenance and              Flood Alleviation Schemes budgets;

            (f)         the identified additional allocations, savings and virements in respect           of the Council’s Housebuilding and Conversion programme and other Housing Revenue Account capital schemes;

            (g)        carry forwards totalling £1,956,000 from 2017/18 to 2018/19 in respect        of the General Fund Capital schemes listed below:

                        (i)         Planned Maintenance                         £583,000;

                        (ii)        General ICT                                        £101,000;

                        (iii)       Hillhouse Development                       £130,000;

                        (iv)       Town Mead Depot                               £130,000;

                        (v)        Car Parking Schemes                         £161,000;

                        (vi)       NWA Vehicle Compound                    £12,000;

                        (vii)      Flood Alleviations Schemes                £19,000;

                        (viii)     CCTV Systems                                   £57,000;

                        (ix)       Housing Estate Parking Schemes      £510,000; and

                        (x)        Parking Review Schemes                   £253,000;

            (h)        carry forwards totalling £5,553,000 from 2017/18 to 2018/19 in respect        of the Housing Revenue Account Capital schemes listed below:

                        (i)         New Housebuilding                             £3,207,000;

                        (ii)        Structural Schemes                             £475,000;

                        (iii)       Housing Estate Parking Schemes      £431,000;

                        (iv)       Oakwood Hill Estate                            £200,000;

                        (v)        Oakwood Hill Depot                            £1,090,000; and

                        (vi)       Front Door Replacements                   £150,000; and

(i)         in respect of Ground Maintenance vehicles within the General Fund, a sum of £10,000 to be brought forward to 2017/18.

To consider the provision of a crèche extension at Loughton Leisure Centre.

(1)        That, given the level of ongoing subsidy required for a relatively small number of customers and the alternative new opportunities being provided by Places for People, the provision of a crèche at Loughton Leisure Centre be not supported; and

(2)        That provision be made in the Capital Programme in the sum of £324,000 for 2018/19 to fund the refurbishment of the Changing Village at Loughton Leisure Centre.

(1)        That a District Development Fund bid in the sum of £8,000 be made to enable the Epping Forest Youth Council to deliver targeted projects during 2018/19, including the MiLife emotional health & wellbeing programme, refresher workshops and assemblies in all local secondary schools within the District.

To agree staff resources for the continuing development of the Local Plan.

(1)        That the establishment of a Strategic Sites Implementation Team be agreed to ensure the effective delivery of the required growth in housing and employment with supporting infrastructure, as proposed in the new Local Plan;

(2)        That a District Development Fund bid be made for two years in the sum of £278,010 per annum for 2018/19 budget, subject to review in 2019/20 for the 2020/21 budget once the ongoing revenue requirements were fully established, taking into consideration income streams realised;

(3)        That suitable Job Descriptions be developed and Job Evaluation undertaken to enable recruitment to commence for the new roles as soon as possible after resourcing agreed, in order to demonstrate commitment and progress at the Examination in Public; and

(4)    That the location of the new Strategic Sites Implementation Team within the Council’s management structure be determined as part of the Council’s new People Strategy.

To establish the Council’s new Common Operating Model as part of the People Strategy.

To consider further details for the implementation of the Council’s People Strategy.

(1)        That a provision of £2 million be included in the Budget for 2018/19 for redundancy and pension strain costs to facilitate the implementation of the Common Operating Model;

(2)        That a provision of £34,000 be included in the Budget for 2018/19 for the programme of ‘recruit to stay’ activity for Officers at Director and Assistant Director level in the new Common Operating Model;

(3)        That a provision of £35,000 be included in the Budget for 2018/19 for outplacement services;

(4)        That Section 10 of the Council’s Procurement Rules be waived to enable Aylesbury Vale District Council to be the Council’s nominated supplier for the provision of advice on the ‘recruit to stay’ process and necessary assessments;

(5)        That Solace be appointed as the Council’s nominated supplier for the provision of recruitment advice to the Senior Management Selection Panel;

(6)        That Section 10 of the Council’s Procurement Rules be waived to enable Hays to be the Council’s nominated supplier for the provision of outplacement services; and

(7)        That a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Cabinet by the Chief Executive on the details of the Council’s new Common Operating Model.

(1)        That, as part of the Council’s Corporate Plan for the period 2015/16 – 2019/20, the progress made with the achievement of the Council’s Key Action Plan for 2017/18 at the end of Quarter 2 be noted.

Review of the Scheme for 2018/19:

1…Consider amendments.

2…Finalise Scheme.

3…Approve Scheme.

(1)        That the responses to the consultation on the scheme for 2018/19 be noted;

(2)        That the scheme be amended to set six-monthly fixed period assessments for people receiving Universal Credit;

(3)        That the scheme be amended to disregard Bereavement Support Payments in line with other welfare benefits and the Local Council Tax Support scheme for people of pension age;

(4)        That the scheme be amended to allow a decision made by the DWP concerning other benefits to be disregarded when it was clear that their decision was incorrect; and

(5)        That the amended Local Council Tax Support scheme for 2018/19 be recommended to Council for approval.

Use of Flexible Homelessness Support Grant.

Further use of Flexible Homelessness Support Grant.

(1)        That in order to assist with meeting the additional duties introduced under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, a new Post of (1 FTE) Homelessness Strategy Officer be created on a temporary contract for 2 years and 8 months from April 2018 at cost of around £134,000 (£50,300 per annum) based on Grade 9 of the Council’s Pay Structure at mid-point subject to Job Evaluation including on-costs, funded from the total amount of the Government’s Homelessness Reduction Act Grant.

To monitor the progress of the Transformation Programme, including the definition of the People Strategy.

To monitor the progress of the Transformation Programme.

(1)        That the progress of the Projects and Programmes within the Transformation Programme for October 2017 be noted, alongside the planned actions for November 2017;

(2)        That a District Development Fund bid in the sum of £135,000 be made to support process mapping and organisational redesign activity within Transformation projects;

(3)      That a Continuing Services Budget growth bid in the sum of £20,000 be made to commission the annual customer satisfaction survey, with the understanding that appropriate compensatory savings within the Continuing Services Budget would be found;

(4)     That a District Development Fund bid in the sum of £59,000 be made to re-establish the Senior Project Improvement Officer, 24 months fixed-term at Grade 9, if an internal secondment exercise was not successful at filling the forthcoming vacancy; and

(5)        That the Council’s Invest to Save fund be brought within the auspices of the Transformation Programme and realigned to match the aims and objectives of the Corporate Plan.

The Assistant Director of Neighbourhoods (Neighbourhood Services) presented a report outlining the results of a consultation recently undertaken on Taxi Tariffs.

The Assistant Director reminded the Committee that some members of the taxi trade requested the Sunday tariff be lowered to bring it into line with the tariff in operation during other days of the week. Any change in tariff required the Council to carry out a consultation exercise, which was subsequently undertaken and the results had been attached as an Appendix to the report. It appeared that there was no consensus within the trade regarding the proposed change to the Sunday tariff, in fact there were many who felt that the tariff should be increased on all days throughout the week. A further Appendix had been attached to the report illustrating the tariffs in operation at other local authorities; this indicated that the tariff operated by this Council was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive. The Council could propose new tariffs and consult again with the taxi trade, or leave the current tariffs in situ.

The Committee noted that the taxi trade had differing views on the current levels of the tariffs, and that the current tariffs were in the middle of the range of tariffs implemented by other local Authorities. Therefore, it was probably best to keep the tariffs at the current levels for the time being. The Assistant Director added that the current tariffs were set three years ago and that the Committee could review them at some point in the future. Cllr Sartin suggested that the current tariffs be retained but that they be reviewed in twelve months time as there could be a possible rise in fuel charges during that period; this was agreed by the Committee.

Additionally, the Assistant Director requested that the Committee considered the abolition of the charge for exempting vehicles from displaying the Licence plate. The Council could no longer justify this charge, and generally it was only the more prestigious Private Hire vehicles who did not wish to display a Licence Plate. The Committee agreed that this charge should be abolished.

Resolved:

(1)        That the results of the recent consultation on taxi tariffs throughout the District be noted;

(2)        That the current taxi tariffs be retained and reviewed in twelve months time; and

(3)        That the charge for exempting vehicles from displaying the Licence Plate be abolished.