Decisions Made

Use the below search options to find information regarding recent decisions that have been taken by the council’s decision making bodies.

Alternatively you can visit the officer decisions page for information on delegated decisions that have been taken by council officers.

Decisions published

10/08/2023 - Signing of the Grant Funding Agreement for the DLUHC Towns Fund Project: Invest in Skills for Crawley (1B) ref: 602    Recommendations Approved

Following Cabinet approval on 10th March 2021, Crawley Borough Council signed a Heads of Terms for the Crawley Towns Fund on 24th March 2021 with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (now the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, DLUHC), confirming that the Government would provide Crawley with up to a total of £21.1 million from the Towns Fund, subject to submission of robust project business cases.

The business case summary for the Invest in Skills for Crawley project has recently been endorsed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This follows Cabinet approval of the Crawley Towns Fund project business cases on 16th March 2022 and Full Council approval on 30th March 2022 of the capital programme allocations for the Crawley Towns Fund Projects.

The overall objective of the Invest in Skills for Crawley project is to deliver a programme of investment in infrastructure for vocational skills training and higher education to benefit local residents. More specifically, the project involves the development of venues, specialist equipment and facilities with the appropriate quality specifications to accommodate the design and delivery of new training programmes in green tech construction, professional services, engineering and digital. These will empower Crawley’s local workforce and boost local businesses in these sectors by helping them to locally recruit people with the correct skills.

The Invest in Skills for Crawley programme will comprise three principal schemes:
1. Infrastructure and facilities for new university-level training provision.
2. Additional F.E. infrastructure to enable Level 2 and 3 training pathways for Crawley residents’ access into employment in the above sectors.
3. A green construction skills hub venue equipped with green construction skills training facilities.
The programme aims to create a compendium of new vocational and higher education training interventions.

The amount of Towns Fund monies allocated to this project, as approved by Full Council is: £4.5 million.

A legal agreement with Chichester College Group has been drawn up through the Council’s Legal Services Team and sets out the delivery of this work, in accordance with the project business case and guidance from DLUHC.

The decision to approve the funding agreement was taken following consultation with Atif Nawaz, Deputy Leader of the Council & Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development.

On 10 August 2023, the Head of Economy and Planning under generic delegation 3, took the decision to approve the Council signing of the Grant Funding Agreement for the DLUHC Funded Project: Invest in Skills for Crawley (1B) between Crawley Borough Council and Chichester College Group. This allows Chichester College Group to progress delivery of the project through Crawley College.

Decision Maker: Head of Economy and Planning

Decision published: 19/09/2023

Effective from: 10/08/2023

Decision:

Approve the Council signing the Grant Funding Agreement for the DLUHC Funded Project: Invest in Skills for Crawley (1B) between Crawley Borough Council and Chichester College Group.

 

Lead officer: Clem Smith


06/09/2023 - Review of the Community Warden Service and Creation of Community Protection Team ref: 607    Recommendations Approved

To review a proposed restructure of the Community Warden Service, including the Straying Dogs provision.

Decision Maker: Cabinet

Made at meeting: 06/09/2023 - Cabinet

Decision published: 07/09/2023

Effective from: 13/09/2023

Decision:

Exempt Paragraphs 1 & 4 –

Information Relating to an Individual; and

 

Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under the authority.

 

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Cabinet:

 

a)      approves Option 2 for the Community Warden Service, as set out in Section 6 of the report and to note the Community Protection Team – Proposed Service Model and Structure (Appendix A of report HCS/064)

 

b)      delegates authority to the Head of Community Services to conduct the necessary consultation arrangements, fulfil the changes and decisions on all human resources matters, subject to the appropriate guidelines and procedures, as set out in the Constitution.

(Generic Delegation 11 will be used to enact this recommendation)

 

c)      delegates authority to the Head of Community Services to conduct a tender process and procurement exercise in accordance with the Council’s Procurement Code, for the straying dogs service to be delivered by a specialist provider.

(Generic Delegation 3 will be used to enact this recommendation)

 

d)      delegates authority to the Head of Community Services, in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member and Head of Governance, People and Performance to approve the contract award of the straying dogs service following an appropriate procurement process.

(Generic Delegation 3 will be used to enact this recommendation)

 

e)      delegates the negotiation, approval, and completion of all relevant legal documentation, following the awarding of the contract, to the relevant head of service, Head of Governance, People and Performance, and Head of Corporate Finance, in consultation with the appropriate Cabinet Member.

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

 

 

 

Reasons for the Recommendations

 

The conclusion of the review is that the current service model is, in parts, no longer fit for purpose and is not designed to meet the increased level of demand for more complex enforcement activity.

 

Revising the role profiles and salary scale as recommended is critical to ensuring the Council can attract and retain staff with the required specialist skills, qualifications and experience to deliver a high performing and quality service.

 

The proposed revised Community Protection model (attached as Appendix A) will modernise the service in order to meet the identified demands namely, providing local residents with an enhanced enforcement response to anti-social behaviour, low level public-space crime and environmental crime.  

 

The straying dogs service continues to face challenges related to the size, breeds and behaviour of dogs, and Crawley is facing a similar national trend of an increase in abandoned dogs, rather than lost pets. To successfully address this service requirement, the recommendation is to procure and enter into a contract with a specialist provider for the straying dog service to fulfil this function. 

 

The recommendation is to refresh the Community Wardens Service including all associated functions, processes and procedures and relaunch it as the Community Protection Team which will deliver enhanced enviro-crime and ASB investigation and enforcement activity.

 

Wards affected: (All Wards);

Lead officer: Dan Carberry