Decisions Made

RESOLVED

That Cabinet requests Full Council approves that:

a)            the appropriation of all garages from the HRA to the General Fund as at 1 April 2021, with the exception of those garages that are included within a Crawley Homes’ tenancy agreement

b)            when any of the garages currently included within a Crawley Homes’ tenancy agreement falls outside of that tenancy, the Head of Corporate Finance in consultation with the Head of Crawley Homes be given delegated authority to use the powers under Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 to transfer such garages from the HRA to the General Fund.

Reasons for the Recommendations

Property has to be accounted for within the HRA if it is currently provided under Part II of the 1985 Housing Act.  Where property no longer meets that purpose, the Council should consider removal from the HRA.

The proposed transfer will reduce the debt on the HRA and fund the building of new homes.

The proposed transfer will reduce the budget gap in the General Fund as laid out in the Budget Strategy.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet

a)            approves that Crawley Borough Council provide procurement services on behalf of Mole Valley District Council from 1^st December 2020. 

b)            agrees to the cost sharing arrangements as set out in paragraph 6.3

c)            agrees to the provision of services under an Inter-Authority Agreement for a minimum period from 1^st December 2020 to 31^st March 2022 to align with the term of the existing Inter-Authority Agreement

d)            agrees to accept a delegation from Mole Valley District Council of their procurement functions under Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972.

e)            delegates authority to the Head of Corporate Finance to agree the terms of the Inter-Authority Agreement which reflects the principles outlined in the report.

(Generic Delegation 7used to enact this recommendation)

Reasons for the Recommendations

The trial arrangement with Mole Valley DC ends on 1^st December 2020 and therefore there is a need for Members to agree how procurement services will be provided in the future.

To approve a feasibility study and business case to move Crawley Borough Council’s IT infrastructure to the cloud.

Exempt Part B - By Virtue of Paragraph 3

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

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet

a)         approves Option 3 - the migration of IT infrastructure to a public cloud-based approach as set business case (set out in Appendix A of report DAT/03).

b)         requests that the revenue and capital implications be included within the Budget and Council Tax 2021-22 report going to Cabinet in February 2021.         

c)        delegates authority to the Head of Digital and Transformation to mobilise a project and sign the necessary contracts to move the IT Infrastructure to the public cloud, including regular update briefings to the Cabinet and Shadow Members with responsibility for IT.

(Generic Delegations 3 and 7 will be used to enact this recommendation).

Reasons for the Recommendations

The operational, financial and technical benefits that public cloud adoption would provide the Council, far outweighs retaining the status quo of a “do nothing” alternative.

Exempt Part B - By Virtue of Paragraph 3

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

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet

a)            Subject to Planning Permission being granted, approve the appointment of the preferred contractor 5 under a single stage Design and Build Contract for the development at the Breezehurst Playing Field site. The Contractor to work with the Council to undertake the detailed design and construction of the final scheme. 

b)         Delegate to the Head of Crawley Homes and the Chief Executive to complete and enter into the necessary contracts

(Generic Delegation 2 will be used to enact this recommendation).

The Cabinet requests Full Council to:

c)         Approve the expenditure stated in paragraph 6.5 of report CH/192 from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Right to Buy one for one receipts for the delivery of approximately 85 new affordable residential units at Breezehurst Playing Fields. 

Reasons for the Recommendations

To provide housing for Crawley residents in need from the housing register.

To continue the delivery of dwellings funded from the HRA as part of HRA business plan and the Council’s RTB Receipts (one-for-one) funding programme.

The Crawley Local Plan Review has been undertaken to ensure the borough's Local Plan remains up-to-date. The new Crawley Local Plan has been prepared based on the outcomes of monitoring the implementation of the 2015 adopted Local Plan, feedback from the early engagement consultation and updating the supporting technical evidence base.

Following Full Council held on 11 December which approved the Draft Local Plan for Publication and Submission, formal public consultation took place between 20 January and 2 March 2020. Since the close of this consultation, a number of key changes have been made to the draft Local Plan. On this basis, it is intended that the amended draft Plan will be considered again at Full Council. Following this, a further stage of Regulation 19 Publication Consultation will take place.

The Local Plan is supported by a number of statutory supporting documents (a Local Plan Map, a Sustainability Appraisal, a Habitats Regulations Assessment and a Consultation Statement).

Cabinet are asked to recommend to Full Council to approve the submission draft Local Plan for Publication consultation (a statutory six-week period of public consultation).

Cabinet are asked to recommend to Full Council to approve the submission draft Local Plan for Submission to the Secretary of State for Examination by an independent Planning Inspector, subject to minor amendments deemed necessary following consultation for the purposes of clarity.

Cabinet are asked to recommend to Full Council to approve the publication and submission of the supporting documents for the Local Plan: the Local Plan Map; the Sustainability Appraisal; the Habitats Regulations Assessment; the Consultation Statement; and the detailed technical evidence base documents necessary for supporting the Local Plan through Examination.

In order to ensure the adopted Local Plan is maintained as the up-to-date policy position for the borough whilst the new Local Plan progresses through its Examination to adoption, a policy-by-policy ‘review’ of the continuing relevance and soundness of the existing adopted Crawley Borough Local Plan 2015 policies has been undertaken. Cabinet are asked to endorse and recommend to Full Council to approve the Local Plan Five Year Policy Assessment to confirm that each adopted Local Plan Policy retains full weight for Development Management decisions.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet delegates the following to the Head of Economy and Planning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development (Generic Delegation 5 will be used to enact these recommendations), subject to recommendation 2.3 being agreed by Full Council:

a)            Factual amendments to the Local Plan necessary in accordance with national policy and updated evidence for the purposes of clarity.

b)            The approval of the supporting documents for the Local Plan and technical evidence base documents to support the Local Plan through Examination.

That Cabinet recommends to Full Council:

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

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

d)            Approve the Local Plan Five Year Policy Assessment to confirm that each adopted Local Plan Policy retains full weight for Development Management decisions.

Reasons for the Recommendations

National Government guidance expects local planning authorities to produce up-to-date Local Plans for their areas, setting out the strategic priorities for the area over a 15-year timescale and showing how development needs will be met. The Crawley Borough Local Plan was adopted by Full Council on 16 December 2015. It covers the period 2015 – 2030 and provides the borough’s full planning policies for the purposes of development management decisions. A review of this Plan is therefore required, to ensure the borough maintains up to date planning policies.  A full Local Plan Review has been undertaken, as well as an interim assessment of the adopted Local Plan policies to provide a strong planning policy position for the borough in the immediate future, and over the next 16 years. 

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet notes the report and the treasury activity for the first two quarters of 2020/2021

Reasons for the Recommendations

The CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) Code of Practice for Treasury Management recommends that members be updated on treasury management activities regularly (Treasury Management Strategy Statement, annual and mid-year reports).  This report, therefore, ensures this Council is implementing best practice in accordance with the Code.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet agreed the projected outturn for the year 2020/2021 as summarised in this report.

Reasons for the Recommendations

To report to Members on the projected outturn for the year compared to the approved

budget.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet recommends to Full Council the approval of the Budget Strategy 2021/22 to 2025/26 and to:

a)            Note the outlook for Government funding for the period 2021/22 and future years as explained in the report and in particular the delay in Local Government Funding reforms and a one year only spending review.

b)            Note the creation of a Covid-19 Support Reserve to provide resource cover for any ongoing impact of Covid-19 on the Council’s medium term financial position, should no further support from Government be received in future years.  This is from reviewing existing earmarked reserves.

c)            Note, for the purpose of projections, the current budget deficit of £2.250m for 2021/22 before use of reserves, on the basis of a Council tax increase of 2.37% which is £4.95 on a Band D in property 2021/22.  This is before any savings are identified.

d)            Work towards balancing this over a four year period, including putting back into reserves when the Budget is in surplus.  There may be a need to use reserves over the next 3 years to balance the budget together with ongoing savings.

e)            Agree that savings, efficiencies and increased income identified by officers are approved in order to reduce the budget gap.

f)             Note that savings agreed to be taken forward will be worked up and included in the Budget and Council tax report to Cabinet in February 2021.

g)            Note 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. That due to the pandemic new capital schemes will be standalone and will reported separately to Cabinet meetings.

h)            Approved the revised Crawley Homes capital investment plan in Appendix E which includes the financial year 2023/24.

i)              Note that the Budget is aligned to the Council’s Corporate Priorities.

Reasons for the Recommendations

To continue with the implementation of the Council’s budget strategy and to deal with the Council’s projected budget deficit which is higher than previously projected due to

the impact of the pandemic on future Council tax and Business rates income projections.