Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Nimmo-Smith had sent his apologies for absence. 

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 3 August 2017. 

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 August 2017 as a correct record and agree that the Chairman signs them as such.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting. 

None

To receive notification of any matters which the chairman determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chairman. 

None

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

None

To consider the report of the interim head of development, regeneration and housing. 

Following the public consultation on the proposed delivery plan, the document has been updated to take into account feedback received.  The updated documents can be found here.   

Cabinet considered the report of the head of development, regeneration and housing.  The report set out the consultation response to the Didcot Garden Town draft delivery plan and set out proposed changes.  Cabinet was asked to approve the delivery plan.  

Cabinet recalled that Didcot had been granted garden town status by the government, following a joint bid by the council, Vale of White Horse District Council, Oxfordshire County Council, and the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.  The delivery plan document had been produced to set out actions to transform Didcot into a garden town, to detail the funding required for key projects, and to act as a prospectus to government to justify the need for funding to establish a delivery team, provide support for the governance arrangements, and initiate and deliver key projects.  The options before Cabinet were to approve the delivery plan as amended or to require further changes.  Scrutiny Committee had commended the report and supported the delivery plan.  

Cabinet considered that the approval of the delivery plan would be positive for Didcot and would address many of the negative impacts affecting economic and population growth in the area.  Didcot Garden Town was a high priority for the council and had attracted significant financial support to improve infrastructure.  Approving the plan would allow the actions to be implemented.  Cabinet agreed to approve the delivery plan and embed it as council policy.  Officers were asked to ensure planning decisions did not conflict with the Didcot Garden Town delivery plan. 

Cabinet welcomed the appointment of Elizabeth Paris as chair of the Didcot Garden Town Board and noted that the Board’s first meeting would be held in early November. 

RESOLVED: to 

(a)      approve the contents of the Didcot Garden Town Delivery Plan, set out in appendix 1 to the head of development, regeneration and housing’s report, and adopt it as a corporate policy document that sets out the council’s aspirations for managing Didcot’s future economic, housing and population growth;

(b)      require officers to incorporate the delivery plan into the council’s planning policy framework, through the production of a Didcot Garden Town development plan document and/or appropriate supplementary planning documents;

(c)       agree to appoint Elizabeth Paris, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, as the Chair of Didcot Garden Town Board for a period of up to four years;

(d)      agree that sub-groups operating under the auspices of the Didcot Garden Town Board are governed by an agreed set of operating guidelines, similar to those set out in appendix 2 to the head of development, regeneration and housing’s report, and that determining the final nature of these be delegated to the Didcot Garden Town Board, in consultation with the council’s head of legal and democratic services and lead Cabinet members;

(e)      agree that the Places for People “Placemaking Hub Framework Contract” (appendix 3 to the report) will be used to appoint future technical advisers to the Didcot Garden Town Board, in all areas apart from Lot 4 (Engineering Consultancy) where a wider competition should  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

To consider the head of corporate service’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of corporate services’ report on the implementation of a local lottery scheme.  The introduction of this scheme was in the corporate plan as a priority to raise funds that could be redistributed to benefit local community groups and charities and generate funding for the local voluntary and community sector.  The scheme would allow charities and community groups to advertise their events and would provide people with a choice on how the lottery money should be spent. 

Cabinet noted that the options were to deliver a local lottery scheme through either an external lottery manager or manage it in-house.  Cabinet preferred to seek an external lottery manager that had experience of running such operations. 

Cabinet agreed to introduce a local lottery scheme but recognised that there would need to be further discussion on how the income was allocated. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)      approve the business case for the establishment of a local lottery scheme and authorise the head of corporate services, in consultation with the relevant Cabinet member, to determine the operational and management processes for the scheme;

(b)      approve the appointment of Gatherwell Ltd as the external lottery manager;

(c)       agree that the head of corporate services and the policy & partnership manager be the licence holders and authorise them to submit the necessary application to the Gambling Commission;

(d)      agree the eligibility criteria for groups who are able to sign up to the lottery, attached to the report of the head of corporate services; and

(e)      agree that the ongoing costs, capped at £2,000 per annum, should be met from the general income received. 

To consider the head of finance’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of finance’s report, which monitored the outturn of the council’s treasury management function in 2016/17.  This showed that the council had achieved a higher rate of return than the target income for the year.  The returns had also exceeded the market benchmarks. 

The Joint Audit and Governance Committee had welcomed the report and was satisfied that the treasury activities had been carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy.  Cabinet concurred but asked officers to review the treasury management strategy to assess whether the council should be taking more risk and getting a better rate of return. 

RECOMMENDED: to

(a)      approve the head of finance’s treasury management outturn report for 2016/17; and 

(b)      approve the actual 2016/17 prudential indicators within the head of finance’s report. 

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report regarding the Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Neighbourhood Plan.  The report confirmed that the plan had met legal requirements and had received a majority vote in favour at a local referendum.  Cabinet welcomed the neighbourhood plan. 

RECOMMENDED: to 

(a)      make the Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Neighbourhood Development Plan so that it continues to be part of the council’s development plan; and

(a)      authorise the head of planning, in agreement with the Qualifying Body, to correct any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors, together with any improvements from a presentational perspective. 

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report regarding the Chinnor Neighbourhood Plan.  The report confirmed that the plan had met legal requirements and had received a majority vote in favour at a local referendum.  Cabinet welcomed the neighbourhood plan. 

RECOMMENDED: to  

(a)      make the Chinnor Neighbourhood Development Plan so that it continues to be part of the council’s development plan; and

(b)      authorise the head of planning, in agreement with the Qualifying Body, to correct any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors, together with any improvements from a presentational perspective.

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report regarding the Long Wittenham Neighbourhood Plan.  The report confirmed that the plan had met legal requirements and had received a majority vote in favour at a local referendum.  Cabinet welcomed the neighbourhood plan. 

RECOMMENDED: to 

(a)      make the Long Wittenham Neighbourhood Development Plan so that it continues to be part of the council’s development plan; and

(b)      authorise the head of planning, in agreement with the Qualifying Body, to correct any spelling, grammatical, typographical or factual errors, together with any improvements from a presentational perspective.