Agenda, decisions and minutes

Cabinet - Wednesday, 15th January, 2025 7.00 pm

Venue: Committee Rooms A and B - Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: democratic.services@crawley.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Disclosures of Interest

In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, councillors are reminded that it is a requirement to declare interests where appropriate.

 

Minutes:

No disclosures of interests were made.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 120 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet held on 27 November 2024.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 27 November 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader of the Council.

3.

Public Question Time

To answer any questions asked by the public which are relevant to the functions of the Cabinet.

 

Public Question Time will be concluded by the Chair when all questions have been answered or on the expiry of a period of 15 minutes, whichever is the earlier.

Minutes:

There were no questions from the public.

4.

Further Notice of Intention to Conduct Business in Private and Notifications of any Representations

The Monitoring Officer will report on any responses to representations received in relation to why item(s) 11: Disposal of General Fund parcel of land to raise a capital receipt should not be held in Part B Business – (Closed to the Public).

 

Minutes:

It was reported that no representations had been received in respect of agenda item 11 – Disposal of General Fund Parcel of Land to Raise a Capital Receipt.

5.

Matters referred to the Cabinet and Report from the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission pdf icon PDF 32 KB

To consider any matters referred to the Cabinet (whether by a scrutiny committee or by the Council) and those for reconsideration in accordance with the provisions contained in the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, the Budget Procedure Rules and the Policy Framework Procedure Rules set out in Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

 

Minutes:

It was confirmed that no matters had been referred to the Cabinet for further consideration.

 

6.

Housing Policies: (Compensation, Short-term Alternative Accommodation, Stock Condition, CCTV) pdf icon PDF 56 KB

Housing Portfolio

 

To consider report CH/211 of the Head of Crawley Homes, which was referred to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 13 January 2025.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)        approves Crawley Homes policies in respect of

·         Compensation 

·         Short-term alternative accommodation 

·         Stock Condition 

·         CCTV

as detailed in (Appendices A-D of report CH/211) for adoption and subsequent publication.

 

b)        Delegate authority to the Head of Crawley Homes, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to make amendments to these policies as further changes to legislation and statutory guidance are introduced or following a subsequent review.  (Generic Delegation 7 will be used to enact this recommendation).

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

To fulfil regulatory requirement to provide information to tenants about our service, processes and operations, ensuring transparency and accountability.

 

To ensure that Crawley Homes staff and representatives operate within the law and best practise during the course of their work.

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented report CH/211 of the Head of Crawley Homes.  The report requested approval for the following draft Crawley Homes policies to be adopted to comply with regulatory requirements: •  Compensation,  Short-term alternative accommodation, •  Stock Condition, and •  CCTV. It was noted that many of the proposed policies had in practice been in used but never formally ratified and were in line with the guidance from the regulators and the Housing Ombudsman.

 

Councillor Ayling presented the Overview and Scrutiny Commission’s comments on the report to the Cabinet following consideration of the matter at its meeting on 13 January 2025, which included clarification over the benchmarking work that had been undertaken to help devices the policies. It was recognised that the CCTV policy was for the purposes of protecting the environment, property, assisting in investigating ASB and preventing crime.  The Commission noted that registered housing providers consider compensation as part of complaint handling and the proposed policy offered appropriate compensation in a fair and justified way and that the Tenants and Leaseholders Action Panel had been consulted and endorsed the proposed policies.

 

Councillors S Mullins, C Mullins and Jones spoke as part of the discussion on the report. 

It was also confirmed that each of the policies would have a review date, normally 3 years, within it to ensure that the policies remain up to date with legislation and fit for purpose.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)        approves Crawley Homes policies in respect of

·         Compensation 

·         Short-term alternative accommodation 

·         Stock Condition 

·         CCTV

as detailed in (Appendices A-D of report CH/211) for adoption and subsequent publication.

 

b)        Delegate authority to the Head of Crawley Homes, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to make amendments to these policies as further changes to legislation and statutory guidance are introduced or following a subsequent review.  (Generic Delegation 7 will be used to enact this recommendation).

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

To fulfil regulatory requirement to provide information to tenants about our service, processes and operations, ensuring transparency and accountability.

 

To ensure that Crawley Homes staff and representatives operate within the law and best practise during the course of their work.

 

7.

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Strategic Infrastructure Strand Review pdf icon PDF 156 KB

Planning and Economic Development Portfolio

 

To consider report PES/470 of the Head of Economy and Planning.

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)             approves the proposed CIL strategic infrastructure spend priorities for 2025-29. 

 

b)             approves that the amount of CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand monies ringfenced for the Three Bridges Station Improvement scheme be increased from £1,100,000 to £2,050,000. 

 

c)             approves that £432,000 CIL Strategic Infrastructure monies be committed to the A23/ Manor Royal junction project in order for the Highway Authority to draw down the CIL funds.

 

d)             approves the removal of the Saxonbrook Medical Centre and Pound Hill Medical Group projects from the CIL strategic infrastructure strand priority list of projects for 2025-2029, subject to final confirmation from the NHS that the projects are no longer forthcoming.

 

e)             delegates authority to the Head of Economy and Planning, in consultation with the Head of Corporate Finance and the Head of Community Services to allocate any unspent Neighbourhood Improvement Fund monies and subsequent CIL Neighbourhood Improvement Strand receipts to enable the delivery of the Unsupervised Play Improvement Programme and noting that funds will then need to be committed to individual projects within the programme through a separate approvals process.

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

a)             To provide clarity on the way forward for Crawley’s Infrastructure Business Plan and the priority schemes for the CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand spend.

 

b)             To increase the amount of CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand monies ringfenced for the Three Bridges Station Improvement scheme in recognition of the need for additional budget to deliver the scheme arising from the station change procedure led by the railway authorities and due to increased construction / materials costs.

 

c)             Approval of £432,000 of CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand monies for the A23 / Manor Royal junction project will allow the Highway Authority to offset the expenditure incurred and to complete the project.

 

d)             The Saxonbrook Medical Centre and Pound Hill Medical Group projects have previously been listed amongst the CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand priority projects.  However. these schemes appear no longer to be considered to be a priority by the NHS – therefore it is proposed they are removed from the priority list, pending alternative project proposals to be brought forward by the NHS.

 

e)             The delegation of authority to officers to allocate subsequent CIL Neighbourhood Improvement Strand receipts to the ongoing delivery of the Unsupervised Play Improvement Programme will allow a seamless continuation of the phases of delivery of the programme and it’s roll out across the Borough.  Allocations of monies to individual project schemes will still be subject to the required approvals process. Further information is provided in section 12.2 of this report.

 

f)               In November 2022, Cabinet approved the implementation of a new “hybrid” model for the Neighbourhood Improvement Strand (NIS), which retained £75,000 from the CIL NIS, to maintain the Neighbourhood Improvement Fund with an annual contribution of £25,000, from the CIL NIS, until March 2025.  It is proposed that any unspent CIL NIS monies from the Neighbourhood Improvement Fund at the end of March 2025 be reallocated to the Council’s Unsupervised Play Improvement programme.

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development presented report PES/470 of the Head of Economy and Planning.

 

The report provided Cabinet with an update on the collection and administration of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) monies. It also sought Cabinet approval for the proposed CIL strategic infrastructure spend priorities to the end of March 2026, presented in the Infrastructure Business Plan (IBP).

 

Councillors Irvine, S Mullins and Jones spoke as part of the discussion on the report. Clarity was sought, with the likely changes to Local Government on the horizon, would many of the proposed project likely to continue. In response Cabinet were informed that now  that the Local Plan had been adopted, the CIL funds were therefore to facility the growth in population identified with the Local Plan and the initiatives/ projects within the CIL report were designed for the betterment of the Town now and in the future.

 

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)             approves the proposed CIL strategic infrastructure spend priorities 2025-29. 

 

b)             approves that the amount of CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand monies ringfenced for the Three Bridges Station Improvement scheme be increased from £1,100,000 to £2,050,000. 

 

c)             approves that £432,000 CIL Strategic Infrastructure monies be committed to the A23/ Manor Royal junction project in order for the Highway Authority to draw down the CIL funds.

 

d)             approves the removal of the Saxonbrook Medical Centre and Pound Hill Medical Group projects from the CIL strategic infrastructure strand priority list of projects for 2025-2029, subject to final confirmation from the NHS that the projects are no longer forthcoming.

 

e)             delegates authority to the Head of Economy and Planning, in consultation with the Head of Corporate Finance and the Head of Community Services to allocate any unspent Neighbourhood Improvement Fund monies and subsequent CIL Neighbourhood Improvement Strand receipts to enable the delivery of the Unsupervised Play Improvement Programme and noting that funds will then need to be committed to individual projects within the programme through a separate approvals process.

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

a)             To provide clarity on the way forward for Crawley’s Infrastructure Business Plan and the priority schemes for the CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand spend.

 

b)             To increase the amount of CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand monies ringfenced for the Three Bridges Station Improvement scheme in recognition of the need for additional budget to deliver the scheme arising from the station change procedure led by the railway authorities and due to increased construction / materials costs.

 

c)             Approval of £432,000 of CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand monies for the A23 / Manor Royal junction project will allow the Highway Authority to offset the expenditure incurred and to complete the project.

 

d)             The Saxonbrook Medical Centre and Pound Hill Medical Group projects have previously been listed amongst the CIL Strategic Infrastructure strand priority projects.  However. these schemes appear no longer to be considered to be a priority by the NHS – therefore it is proposed they are removed from the priority list, pending alternative project proposals to be brought forward by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Exempt Information – Exclusion of the Public (Subject to Agenda Item 5)

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:-

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act by virtue of the paragraphs specified against the item.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act by virtue of the paragraph specified against the item.

 

 

9.

Disposal of General Fund Parcel of Land to Raise a Capital Receipt

The Leader’s Portfolio

 

Exempt Paragraph 3

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

To consider report FIN/681 of the Head of Corporate Finance.

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)             considered the options as set out in section 5 and approve option 3 as detailed in Section 5.3 of report FIN/681.

 

b)             delegates authority to the Head of Corporate Finance in consultation with the Leader of the Council to approve the sale of the land on the site in order to achieve the preferred outcome as detailed in sections 5.3 and 6.3 of report FIN/681, and accept the outcome of the land receipt.

(Generic Delegation 7 will be used to enact this recommendation).

 

 

c)             delegates the negotiation, approval and completion of all relevant documentation, including legal paperwork to the Commercial Asset Manager.

(Generic Delegations 2 and 3 will be used to enact this recommendation) 

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

The Council’s Capital Strategy, as approved by Budget Council 21 February 2024, FIN/642, sets out the objectives of the effective and efficient management of the Council’s property assets.  This includes consideration of disposal of assets that no longer support the corporate objectives or deliver value for money. 

 

Any disposal by way of sale should realise best value achievable.  The disposal of this land asset provides an opportunity to obtain an above market value price for the land.

 

 

Minutes:

Exempt Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

The Leader presented report FIN/681of the Head of Corporate Finance.  The report sought approval to dispose of a parcel of land within the General Fund in order to raise a capital receipt, which was deemed of ‘good value’ for the Council.

 

Councillors S Mullins, C Mullins and Rana all spoke as part of the discussion in support of the purposed disposal.  

 

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)             considered the options as set out in section 5 and approve option 3 as detailed in Section 5.3 of report FIN/681.

 

b)             delegates authority to the Head of Corporate Finance in consultation with the Leader of the Council to approve the sale of the land on the site in order to achieve the preferred outcome as detailed in sections 5.3 and 6.3 of report FIN/681, and accept the outcome of the land receipt.

 

(Generic Delegation 7 will be used to enact this recommendation).

 

c)             delegate the negotiation, approval and completion of all relevant documentation, including legal paperwork to the Commercial Asset Manager.

 

(Generic Delegations 2 and 3 will be used to enact this recommendation) 

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

The Council’s Capital Strategy, as approved by Budget Council 21 February 2024, FIN/642, sets out the objectives of the effective and efficient management of the Council’s property assets.  This includes consideration of disposal of assets that no longer support the corporate objectives or deliver value for money. 

 

Any disposal by way of sale should realise best value achievable.  The disposal of this land asset provides an opportunity to obtain an above market value price for the land.