Agenda and decisions

RESOLVED

That the Executive noted the performance of the Council as measured by the available indicators at Period 6 (September / Quarter 2) 2023/24, set out in the appendices to this report.

Reason for Recommendations: to better understand the Council’s performance as measured by Key Performance Indicators as at Period 6 (September / Quarter 2) 2023/24.

Alternative Options Considered: Reporting performance data on a less frequent basis is an option, but monthly reporting is considered useful at this stage of the Council’s existence, reporting alongside budget information.

RESOLVED

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive, having regard to the conditions within S.59 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, approved the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) (Appendix A), to continue to provide ongoing powers to enforcement officers to tackle dog fouling and other forms of irresponsible dog ownership across North Northamptonshire.

RESOLVED

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

a)    Supported the content of the Part 2 Local Plan Council, (as set out in Appendix A to the report) in advance of its progression to adoption by Full Council;

b)    Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Assistant Director for Growth and Regeneration, to make any minor alterations to the Plan, or its accompanying Policies Map, that relate to factual updates or typographical errors for the purposes of publishing the Plan to presentation standard; and;

c)    Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Assistant Director for Growth and Regeneration, to prepare and publish the Local Plan Adoption Statement (Appendix B to the report) and the Sustainability Appraisal Statement (Appendix C to the report) and to fulfil any other duties, as required by Regulations 26 to 36 of the Town and Country (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

Reasons for Recommendation

·     The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that the planning system should be genuinely plan-led. Succinct and up-to-date plans should provide a positive vision for the future of each area and a framework for addressing housing needs and other economic, social, and environmental priorities.

·     The Plan prepared by the Council was subject to thorough examination and has been modified as a result of the recommendations made by the Inspector, as set out in her report (Appendix D refers). The Council has previously consulted on a schedule of these Main Modifications (Appendix E) and has also made non-substantive modifications to the plan during the examination, which are set out at Appendix F to this report. Corresponding changes to the Policies Map are also set out in Appendix G.

·     Subsequent to the adoption of the East Northamptonshire Local Plan Part 2, it will supersede all the saved policies from the 1996 Local Plan for East Northamptonshire, along with the extant policies from the 2011 Rural North, Oundle and Thrapston Local Plan.

Alternative Options Considered – The options considered are either to adopt the Local Plan incorporating the recommended modifications, or to resolve not to adopt the Plan.

Adoption of the Plan would provide full coverage for Part 2 Plan policies across the whole of North Northamptonshire. If the Plan was not adopted this would put at risk the delivery of key policies guiding future, sustainable development proposals across East Northamptonshire area.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

a)      Approved the procurement of Care & Support provision within Independent Living Schemes to ensure North Northamptonshire remains compliant in its statutory responsibilities.

b)      Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Executive Director of Adults, Health Partnerships and Housing (DASS), to take any further decisions and/or actions required to conclude the procurement and award of the contract.

c)      Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Executive Director of Adults, Health Partnerships and Housing (DASS), to take any decisions in relation to future call-off and mini-competitions from the agreement.

Reasons for Recommendations:

·        A Framework will ensure that the Council can efficiently source specialist care and support in Independent Living settings in a timely fashion when responding to new scheme developments.

·        The provision of high-quality care and support within Independent Living settings offers a beneficial and impactful alternative to residential care when Home First is no longer a sustainable long term accommodation option for individuals

·        Commissioning of Care & Support provision within Independent Living settings, ensures the Council fulfils its statutory duty under the Care Act 2014 to provide care and support whilst preventing and influencing the delay of increasing need of ageing individuals.

The recommended approach maximises outcomes and value for money by supporting individuals with care and support needs to remain living independently for as long as they are able, delaying the need for residential care solutions. The Council is also better able to engage with contracted providers to support quality improvement and the shaping of services to meet the needs of people in North Northamptonshire. Furthermore, the Council is able to make informed decisions about its medium-term financial plan due to the reduction in need to source delivery with rates negotiated on a scheme-by-scheme basis.

Alternative Options Considered:

·        Making use of the Homecare Framework to source care and support provision – acknowledged not recommended due to absence of non-specialised support conducive to Independent Living settings. This would mean we could not influence the development of services tailored to the provision of extra care and would limit opportunities to target care and support in a way that maximises independence in these settings.

·        Negotiating individual contracts for each scheme on a non-framework agreement basis - acknowledged equally not recommended due to likelihood of higher cost impact in doing so. This also reduced our oversight of quality and safety and abilities to stimulate an efficient and effective market and service model.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive approved the Corporate Property Leasehold Policy at Appendix A of the report for adoption.

Reasons for Recommendations:

i)        The Council has fiduciary responsibilities to ensure all leasehold agreements it enters represent value for money. The Corporate Property Leasehold Policy supports this outcome.

ii)       Progressing leasehold transactions in a co-ordinated way will contribute to the Corporate Plan and the commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030.

iii)      The Corporate Property Leasehold Policy supports a timely and professional process, which will help manage costs and assist the Council to achieve income targets from its commercial estate.

iv)     The Policy supports centralised current record keeping; a requirement of the constitution.

Alternative Options Considered: The Council could choose not to adopt a co-ordinated leasehold policy, but this would lead to uncertainty and increased risks of agreements being entered into without full consideration.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

i)    Approved the relocation of Wilby CEVA Primary School to the Glenvale Park site

ii)   Approved the continuation of the statutory process relating to the transfer of a school to another site in line with the Department for Education (DfE) guidance ‘Making a Significant Change to a Maintained School.

Reasons for Recommendations:

·     To support children and young people and their families to access high quality sustainable education facilities that enable the achievement of the best outcomes.

·     To progress the relocation of the school in accordance with legislative requirements and Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance.

·     To ensure the delivery of sufficient suitable school places that meet the needs of the community now and in the future.

·     To make effective and efficient use of the education estate to meet the needs of all pupils.

Alternative Options Considered: Alternative options were considered in section 5 of the ‘Primary Education Provision at the Glenvale Park Development Wellingborough North’paper presented to Executive on 8^th June 2023.  The options were shared along with accompanying risks and advantages.  A summary of the options thatwere outlined in the previous paper to Executive were:

·     Option 1: Mothball the school build until demand for places increases

·     Option 2: Repurpose the school building to meet an existing educational need

·     Option 3: Relocate a local school into the newly built school at the Glenvale Park Development

The preference was to progress Option 3. This preference was approved by the Executive on 8^th June 2023.  Colleagues leading on the project then progressed to the initial stages of the relocation process.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

RESOLVED

That the Executive:

a)      Approved the proposed process and noted the timeline for the setting of the budget and that this may be subject to change in line with Government announcements or other factors.  In particular:

·       the proposed budget setting and scrutiny arrangements for the Children’s Trust as set out in this report, see particularly paragraphs 5.7 to 5.11 of the report.

·       the overall indicative timeline for the budget setting as set out under paragraph 5.13.

b)      Noted that the process has been to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee for comment, and that the approach outlined in this report was approved.

Reason for Recommendations –To inform Executive of the indicative budget setting timeline for 2024/25 and the arrangements for the scrutiny of the budget by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee.

Alternative Options – There are no alternative options under consideration, due to the need to meet approval deadlines and consultation requirements.  The Corporate Scrutiny Committee considered the proposals as set out in section 6 of this report regarding the scrutiny arrangements and were agreed to proceed on the basis as outlined.  Some dates of the scrutiny committee work group meetings remain subject to finalisation, as outlined in the report, and others may be affected by further Government announcements.

RESOLVED

That the Executive:

a.    Noted the draft capital outturn position as at period 6 for the General Fund (GF) Capital Programme and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme for 2023/24.

b.    Noted the new schemes that have been approved since 1^st April 2023.

Reasons for Recommendations: This is in line with the Council’s constitution and financial regulations in relation to governance.

Alternative Options Considered: This report is on the forecasted out-turn and therefore alternative options are not proposed.

RESOLVED

That the Executive:

a.    Noted the activity undertaken during the first half of the financial year ended 30^th September 2023 and the performance achieved set out in Appendix A to this report: and

b.    Noted that all treasury activities were undertaken in line with the approved Treasury Management Strategy/Annual Investment Strategy.

Reason for Recommendations: The Council’s TMSS is underpinned by the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management (“the Code”) which requires that members are informed of treasury management activities at least twice a year.  Full Council has delegated the formulation and monitoring of the Council’s treasury management strategy, policy and activity to the Executive Committee.

Alternative Options Considered - This report is for information and there are no alternative options for consideration.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

i)      Approved the following changes into the capital programme:

a.             Smart Equipment for Long Covid (SELC) - budget approval for £158k, in 2023/24 which is to be funded from the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) grant.

b.             Kettering Library Roof replacement and associated work to the roof of the Art Gallery – budget approval for £6.807m in 2023/24 which is to be funded from borrowing.

ii)     Recommended to Council to approve borrowing for the costs associated with the restoration and preservation work required for the Kettering Library Roof and associated work relating to the roof of the Art Gallery.  This is in accordance with the Council's Constitution to approve all borrowing requests.

Reasons for Recommendations: These are set out in greater detail within section 5 of the report, but can be summarised as:

·        To meet corporate plan objectives, specifically “active, fulfilled lives”.

·        To enable the Council to continue to deliver its library functions within Kettering town centre.

Alternative Options Considered:

·        Schemes in this report which are grant funded are in accordance with the requirements of the grant conditions so there is no alternative option proposed in this report. 

·        Where individual schemes are over £0.5m, separate reports are included elsewhere on this agenda which set out the wider options that were considered before reaching the proposals put forward.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

a)    Noted the Council’s forecast outturn position for 2023/24 as summarised in Section 4, alongside the further analysis, risks and other considerations as set out in Section 5 to Section 7 of the report.

b)    Noted the assessment of the current deliverability of the 2023/24 savings proposals in Appendix A to the report.

Reason for Recommendations – to note the forecast financial position for 2023/24 as at Period 6 and consider the impact on this year and future years budgets.

Alternative Options Considered: The report focuses on the forecast revenue outturn against budget for 2023/24 and makes recommendations for the Executive to note the current budgetary position as such there are no specific choices within the report.