Decisions Made

The Full Council considered report FIN/484 of the Head of Corporate Finance which had been previously considered by the Cabinet on 27 November 2019 and Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 November 2019. Councillor Lamb, as the Leader of the Council, presented the report and recommendations.

Councillors Crow, Lanzer, Lunnon, Purdy, Ayling, Jaggard and McAleney also spoke on the item.  The discussion focused on the proposed change to the Council’s Ethical Investment Policy, regarding companies that generate more than 10% of their revenue from the extraction of fossil fuels.

Councillor Lamb moved the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor P C Smith.

The recommendation was carried by 17 votes in favour and 16 votes against with no abstentions.

RESOLVED

That Full Council be recommended to the approval of an amendment to the Ethical Investment Policy within the Council’s Annual Investment Strategy (see section 5.3 of report FIN/484).

The Full Council considered report PES/336 of the Head of Economy and Planning which had been previously considered by the Cabinet on 27 November 2019 and Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 November 2019. Councillor P C Smith, the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, presented report PES/336 of the Head of Economy and Planning which set out the proposed submission of Crawley Local Plan 2020 – 2035 and its supporting documents, for public consultation and submission to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination.

Councillors Jaggard, McCarthy, Purdy, and Irvine also spoke on the item and the recommendation. Councillor P C Smith used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate.

Councillor Lamb moved the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor P C Smith.

RESOLVED

That Full Council:

a)           approves the submission draft Local Plan and Local Plan Map for Publication consultation (a statutory six-week period of public consultation).

b)           approves the submission draft Local Plan for Submission to the Secretary of State for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector, subject to amendments deemed necessary following consultation and updated evidence for the purposes of clarity.

c)           notes that the final Local Plan will be brought back to Full Council following its independent examination for adoption.

The Full Council considered report FIN/483 of the Head of Corporate Finance which had been previously considered by the Cabinet on 27 November 2019 and Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 November 2019. Councillor Lamb, as the Leader of the Council, presented the report and recommendations, which set out the projected financial position for 2020/21 to 2024/25 for the General Fund and the underlying assumptions, including working towards a balanced budget over a three year period.

The report also set the policy framework for the budget process, recognising that there were a range of options for capital investment, income generation, savings and Council Tax levels; none of which can be considered in isolation.

Councillor Crow moved the proposed Conservative amendment to the Cabinet recommendation, which was seconded by Councillor Guidera. The amendment proposed kept the original recommendation unchanged but added an additional section namely:

(h) - Undertake a review of the Council's neighbourhood parade rents policy taking into account and balancing the requirements to:

(i)      Support a mixed range of trades to meet local needs

(ii)      Ensure a sustainable and viable business presence

(iii)     Recognise the importance of the neighbourhood parades as community assets

(iv)    Maintain a revenue stream to support the provision of council services

Councillors Lanzer, Lunnon, Sudan, McCarthy, McAleney, B Burgess, Jones, T Belben, Irvine, Burrett, Millar-Smith and P C Smith all spoke during a lengthy debate on both the recommendation and the proposed amendment.

Councillor Lamb used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate and in doing so moved the recommendation which was formally seconded by Councillor P C Smith.

The Mayor then called for a recorded vote on the proposed Conservative amendment, following a request during the debate:

Voting in Favour: A Belben, T G Belben, B J Burgess, R G Burgess, R D Burrett,

D Crow, C R Eade, F Guidera, K L Jaggard, R A Lanzer, K McCarthy, J Millar-Smith, M Mwagale, D M Peck, A Pendlington, J Purdy (16)

Voting Against: M L Ayling, R S Fiveash, M Flack, J Hart, I T Irvine, G S Jhans, M G Jones, P K Lamb, T Lunnon, S Malik, T McAleney, C J Mullins, T Rana, R Sharma, B A Smith P C Smith, and K Sudan (17)

Abstentions: None. (0)

The Mayor declared that the Conservative Amendment had fallen – votes in favour 16, and 17 votes against with no votes of abstentions.

The Mayor then called for the vote on the substantive Recommendation (Budget Strategy 2020/21 – 2024/25), which was carried.

RESOLVED

That Full Council approves the Budget Strategy 2020/21 to 2024/25 and 

a)      notes, for the purpose of projections, the current budget surplus of £489,200 for 2020/21, on the basis of a Council tax increase of 2% which is £4.08 on a Band D in property 2020/21. This surplus is due in the main due to the extension of the four year financial settlement and the delay in the fairer funding review and unexpected New Homes Bonus. However the fair funding review and the changes to Business Rates Retention will result in future significant budget gaps which will need to be addressed.

b)      works towards balancing this over a three year period, including putting back into reserves when the Budget is in surplus which is the case in 2020/21.

c)      instructs Corporate Management Team to take action to address the long term budget gap and to identify policy options for consideration by Cabinet Members and the Budget Advisory Group, which will include areas where additional resources need to be redirected.

d)      notes that items for the Capital Programme are driven by the need for the upkeep of council assets and environmental obligations and schemes will also be considered that are spend to save or spend to earn but that such prioritisation should not preclude the initial consideration of capital projects that could deliver social value.

e)      notes that the Budget is aligned to the Council’s Corporate Priorities.

f)       approves the updates to section 5.1 in the Capital Strategy in Appendix A of report FIN/483.

g)      approves an increase in the capital programme of £500,000 for the purchase of an investment property as outlined in section 8.3 of report FIN/483.

The Council considered the Notice of Motion 1 ‘Fireworks’ as set out in the Full Council’s agenda. The Motion was moved and presented by Councillor Guidera and seconded and supported by Councillor Crow.

During the debate Councillors Lamb, R Burgess, Mullins, P C Smith, Irvine, Rana, Jhans and Sharma all spoke in support of the Notice of Motion. Councillor Guidera used his right to reply to speak at the end of the debate.

The Mayor then called for a vote on the Notice of Motion, which was carried unanimously.

RESOLVED

That the Council:

·                requires all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries to be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people

·                actively promotes a public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including the precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks

·                will write to the UK Government urging them to introduce legislation to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays

·                encourages local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public display.

The Leader of the Council presented report FIN/486of the Head of Corporate Finance which sought a delegation to the Leader of the Council for the awarding of the Council’s insurance contract and its Commercial Property insurance contract. It was noted that the Council was currently undertaking a procurement exercise for insurance placements using the Yorkshire Procurement Organisation (YPO) framework to ensure that the Council achieves the best value for money.

Councillor Crow was invited to speak on the item and in response to queries raised the Leader confirmed that the proposed delegation of the contract was a one-off delegation and ongoing change. He also confirmed that the reason for following this approach was that the local government mutual insurance scheme, of which the Council was a founding member, was not fully ready to trade and as such provide the Council with the required insurance provision. The Council therefore had to go out to tender for the two insurance contracts.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet

a)         notes the current work taking place on the Council’s insurance contract and the Commercial Property insurance contract.

b)         delegates the one-off decision to award the contracts for the provision of insurance to the Leader of the Council, following the evaluation of the tender process.

Reasons for the Recommendations

In line with the Constitution, Cabinet would normally award any contract with a total value over £500,000. Due to tight implementation timescales, the report recommends that the best approach in order to meet the contract start date is to seek approval to delegate the contract award decision. It is therefore recommended that the Leader of the Council makes the award decision.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development presented report PES/341 of the Head of Economy and Planning which sought approval to commence a period of public consultation on the draft Crawley Transport Strategy (Appendix A of report PES/341). The draft strategy was acknowledged as an aspiration document, as the Council did not hold responsibility for transport, but it did set out some clear direction that the Council and its partners should be working toward for the betterment of the Borough.

Councillor Crow was invited to speak on the item, commenting that he welcomed the intention of the document.

Councillors Irvine and Mullins spoke as part of the discussion in support of the report and the associated draft strategy.

It was noted that there would be some clerical corrections made to the draft strategy prior to it being released for consultation.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet

a)         review “New Directions for Crawley”, the borough’s new draft Transport Strategy (attached as Appendix A to report PES/341), and approve the draft for public consultation.

b)         delegates authority to the Head of Economy and Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, to make minor amendments to the Crawley Transport Strategy in response to the consultation. (Generic Delegation 7 will be used to enact this recommendation).

Reasons for the Recommendations

To commence the process of establishing a Transport Strategy for Crawley, which:

·         Seeks to provide a vision, rationale and framework to enable an integrated approach to improving access and transport throughout Crawley.

·         Includes issues and options on how Borough wide transport provision can be improved and how the Council can respond in relation to its own service delivery

·         Presents priorities for scheme delivery as the first phase towards delivery of the strategy’s vision

·         Seeks to make the case for further external funds to invest in Crawley’s sustainable transport infrastructure.

To Agree The Rent Increase/Decrease For 2020/21 For Properties Held In The Housing Revenue Account