Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Baxendale, Bennett, Brine, Bullingham, Crews, Edmunds, Evans, Fryer, Gray, Hurst, Job, Mossman, Oxley, Pearson, Prenter and Ryder.

To receive declarations of interest.

There were none.

To receive announcements from the Chair of Council, Leader of Council or Chief Executive.

The Chair asked everyone to stand for a minute silence to remember a previous Councillor, Charlie Burling. Councillor Ross paid tribute to Charlie Burling.

Councillor Tipper raised concerns regarding the length of the document pack and asked that budget reports in future years were published at least 2 weeks before the meeting.

The Chief Executive updated Members about Storm Eunice, the Council had been making emergency planning preparations and had been advised that the storm was due to hit at 7am which would coincide with the spring tide. 40 staff from the Council and 20 police staff had delivered letters to 1,400 properties which were at potential risk of flooding from Sharpness to Epney. Anyone who was not able to stay out of the risk area with family and friends would be able to access one of the rest centres that had been set up from 7am. It was confirmed that the threat period was between 7am and 12 noon and that waste collections across the District had been suspended.

To receive a verbal report on the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge taking place in March.

Councillor Cornell provided a verbal update on the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Review. She stated that in 2019 the Council had participated in an extensive Peer Challenge Review from the LGA and the completed report highlighted both the Councils strengths and some areas of development. The LGA had been invited back to evaluate the Council’s progress, they would be holding meetings with Members and Officers beginning the week of 7 March 2022.

The Chief Executive confirmed that 4 of the recommendations from the LGA Peer Challenge were short term and had been achieved. The other 4 recommendations were medium to longer term objectives some of which had now been completed whereas others had been included in the Council Plan and Fit for the Future Programme. They thanked those Members and staff who would be taking part in the Peer Challenge Review and confirmed that the outcomes would be reported back to Members in due course.

The Chair confirmed that an urgent report had been added to the Agenda and had been circulated to Members, as per section 3 paragraph 5.3 of the Constitution, the Chair, in Consultation with the Monitoring Officer, is able to allow urgent items which have arisen since the dispatch of the agenda. The report had been added to the agenda for the meeting following the urgency procedures.

Councillor Stephen Davies confirmed that Councillor Mossman was on dialysis and therefore was part of the vulnerable group, he hoped that as Covid subsided he would be able to join more regularly and therefore a six month extension had been requested. The Monitoring Officer confirmed the reason for urgency was that the last meeting Councillor Mossman had attended was the 9 September 2021 and unless he attended a meeting before the 9 March 2022 he would cease to be a Member. There were no further Council meetings before the 9 March 2022 and council was the only place where a dispensation could be granted thus it required an urgent report to be added to the Agenda.

Councillor Kay offered his good wishes to Councillor Mossman.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

The Council is required under the Localism Act 2011 to approve and publish a policy statement on Senior Pay.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, introduced the report and highlighted the following key points:

• The council was required under Section 38 of the Localism Act 2011 to have a pay policy statement for each financial year.
• The lowest paid employees were on the Apprentice grade and the highest paid employees were on Stroud 12. 
• The ratio between the highest and lowest paid employees was calculated at 1:10, Government guidance was that the ratio in the public sector should not exceed 1:20, so the council was well within the guidelines. 
• The report detailed the current levels of remuneration for staff. The council paid spot salaries and there were no bonuses, annual increments, or performance related payments. 
• A comparison with the figures for 2021 on the number of staff within each Stroud grade showed that there had been some movement at the Stroud 2 and Stroud 3 grades. This was due to vacant posts being filled. There had been an overall increase in the headcount numbers and again this was mainly due to filing vacant posts rather than the creation of new posts.

Councillor Hall requested a copy of the report also be sent to GMB and Unite the Union. The Strategic Director of Resources confirmed that he would speak with the HR team and if appropriate would send it to the other unions.

Proposed by Councillor Cornell and seconded by Councillor Hall.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To set a Council Tax Support Scheme for the period 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, introduced the report and highlighted the following key points:

• On 3 February 2022 the Government had announced a £150 Council Tax rebate to households in Council Tax Bands A-D, this payment was to be disregarded as income for the purposes of calculating eligibility for both working age and pensioner local Council Tax support schemes in 2022/23. The scheme would be updated to reflect this once the regulations were in place.
• Since 2013/14 the Council had adopted the Governments default scheme which had meant no changes or reduction in the support provided.
• The pandemic had reinforced the need to support the most vulnerable residents of the District.
• The recommended change would stop any small monthly changes to universal credit having an impact on the Local Council Tax Support Scheme. This would simplify the process for both the claimant and the authority.
• Changes were highlighted in Appendix B.

Councillor Laurie Davies supported the changes and confirmed that it would be important not only for the Officers but also for people in receipt of it.

Councillor Stephen Davies asked Members to note the Governments assistance and confirmed that they would be supporting the continuation of the scheme at this time.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, paid tribute to the Revenue and Benefits team for all their fantastic work throughout the pandemic.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To approve the Council’s Capital Strategy.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, introduced the report which had been recommended from Strategy and Resources Committee and drew Members attention to the following key points:

• The Capital Strategy is required to be approved annually by the CIPFA Prudential Code.
• The CIPFA Prudential Code was revised on 20 December 2021 and guidance notes were published in January 2022.
• Due to the recent changes to the Prudential Code some of the required changes may not be added to the Strategy until 2023/24
• The Capital Strategy main revision could be found on page 32, item 3 of the principals of the Capital Strategy.

Councillor Hurst stated that it was public money that they were dealing with and it was everyone’s duty to ensure the best possible return on that money was achieved.

Councillor Braun reminded Members about the Capital priorities and their links to the Council Plan. She urged all Members to support the Capital Strategy.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried.

To consider the Council’s financial position over the medium term and set a budget requirement and the level of council tax for 2022/23.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, confirmed that the budgets had been through Committees and Strategy and Resources Committee. Councillor Cornell identified the key areas of the report as follows:

·         The final settlement had now been agreed by government therefore some certainty on funding could be provided for the coming year.

·         The provisional settlement received was better than anticipated and this had been used to help stabilise the financial position and invest in Council priorities.

·       The current Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) would require saving decisions to be made.

·         Inflation was a major factor in the budget.

·         There had been an increase in business rates funding.

·         An additional year of New Homes Bonus grant had been awarded.

·         The details of Council Tax levels were included as an Appendix.

·       A Council Tax increase of £5 was proposed at Band D, an increase of less than 10p per week.

·       The District had seen a 1.9% increase in properties and 34% decrease in the number of long-term empty properties.

·       There was no certainty in terms of staffing costs as the pay award had not been agreed.

A new table had been included to show the changes to the Ubico Contract.

Councillor Cornell passed on her thanks to the Finance team for all their work.

In response to questions from Councillor Stephen Davies the following answers were provided:

• The £68k in Table 2 referred to the running costs of the vehicles for Ubico. The amounts for the fleet programme for Ubico could be found in appendix C.
• Councillor Cornell confirmed that training in bio-diversity could be included for Councillors.
• A Monitoring Officer was being jointly recruited with Cheltenham Borough Council and would be going out to advert shortly.

Proposed by Councillor Cornell and seconded by Councillor Braun.

Councillor Stephen Davies proposed an amendment around the car parking charges to add “h) That all Car Parking charges for the first hour in Stroud Car Parks are frozen for 2022/2023 and that any resulting deficit in car park income be made up from Council reserves.” Councillor Stephen Davies stated that an increase of 10p from 80p to 90p was excessive and was an attack on businesses. He advised that Stroud Chamber of Commerce and Stroud Town Council were opposed to the increase in the parking charges also.

Councillor Housden seconded the amendment.

Councillor Laurie Davies stated that there were bigger issues impacting the highstreet such as increased heating costs, food costs and the cut to Universal Credit.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy stated that a full review of car parking should be carried out as the increase in cost fell heavily on Stroud town.

Councillor Fenton confirmed that the average increase across all of the car parking charges in Stroud District was 3% which was fairly moderate. Councillor Brine and Hall echoed the comments of Councillor Fenton.

Councillor Housden asked Members to listen to businesses on the high street, shoppers and workers who ask the Council not to increase the cost of car parking. He drew Members attention to the imbalance  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.038

To present to the committee the revised budget estimates for 2021/22 and the original estimates for 2022/23.

Councillor Ross, Chair of Housing Committee, introduced the report which had been taken to Housing Committee and Strategy and Resources Committee. She highlighted the following points:

• Rents and charges were proposed to be increased by 4.1%
• Shared Ownership rents would increase in line with the individual lease agreement.

·         The forecast for the MTFP on page 189 showed that in 2025/26 the HRA general balances were expected to be lower than the minimum recommended balance.

·         Major works was revised to include the retrofit programme.

·         New build programme had been reprofiled based on the current programme.

·         Independent Living was revised to three schemes in 2022/23.

Councillor Davies asked how many net new homes were built last year by the Council and how many did the budget predict to build next year. Councillor Ross advised that there were 22 currently under construction in Nailsworth, 7 in Minchinhampton and some being built in Eastington, She further confirmed that a more detailed answer could be provided outside of the meeting.

Councillor Davies asked whether there had been any savings from moving property care in-house. Councillor Ross advised that because of the Pandemic it had been a difficult year. Councillor Davies asked whether the retrofit programme could be accelerated if further funding was made available. Councillor Ross confirmed that the Retrofit Task and Finish Group would look at any opportunities to accelerate the scheme and Housing Committee would need to make any decisions.

Councillor Kay asked whether figures were available as to how many council homes had been sold through Right to Buy. Councillor Ross advised that she did not have those figures to hand.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy asked whether the appropriation of May Lane in Dursley was complete. Councillor Ross advised that the agreement had not been signed but the process had begun.

Proposed by Councillor Ross and seconded by Councillor Jockel.

Councillor Patrick stated that she was unable to support an uplift in rent without an uplift in efficiency in response to repairs and maintenance of properties.

Councillor Hall was pleased to see that progress was being made at May Lane and stated he would be supporting the report.

Councillor Miles drew Members attention to section 3.15 on page 193 which highlighted an additional independent living modernisation scheme and stated that the last 2 schemes had been delivered on time and underbudget.

Councillor Housden expressed concerns over the loss of income due to void properties and the lengthy turnover time.

Councillor Davies stated that there were good points within the budget however, there was a larger issue surrounding voids and declared that the budget did not meet the claims laid out by the Labour Party in terms of building new homes. He confirmed that he would not be supporting the budget. Councillor Cornell confirmed that the pledge they made was to build 200 affordable and social rented homes each year in partnership with registered providers and developers of community led schemes and that they had exceeded their manifesto pledge that year.

Councillor Schoemaker stated that  ...  view the full minutes text for item CL.039

Council is asked to consider the recommendations from Audit and Standards Committee and the Constitution Working Group for the addition of a reference to ‘Gifts and Hospitality’ in the Members Code of Conduct.

Councillor Brine left the meeting.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy, Chair of Audit and Standards Committee, presented the report and highlighted the following points:

• In October 2021 Council noted that Audit and Standards Committee would be asked to consider Gifts and Hospitality at their next meeting.
• When the Code of Conduct was last reviewed provision for the recording of Gifts and Hospitality was not included.
• The Constitution Working Group had considered the matter and recommended the inclusion of wording in the Code of Conduct to cover Gifts and Hospitality.

Proposed by Councillor Studdert-Kennedy and seconded by Councillor Pearcy.

Councillor Pearcy offered his support to the motion and commended the good work of the Constitution Working Group.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To agree the arrangements for the provision of external auditors to review the Council’s Statement of Accounts and Value for Money Arrangements.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy, Chair of Audit and Standards Committee, introduced the report and advised that the purpose was to agree the arrangements for the provision of external auditors to review the Councils’ statement of accounts and value for money arrangements. The report highlighted the benefits of bulk purchase, using a bigger organisation would be cheaper than doing the work on our own. Regulations required that the decision on whether to be an opted-in authority or not was made by full Council.

Councillor Kay advised that he had asked the Strategic Director of Resources regarding the diversity aspects of this organisation in their recruitment, and he confirmed he would be happy to pursue this with them.

Proposed by Councillor Studdert-Kennedy and seconded by Councillor Pearcy.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

This report outlines the Council’s prudential indicators for 2022/23 – 2024/25 and sets out the treasury strategy for this period. It fulfils three key reports required by the Local Government Act 2003:

·        reporting prudential indicators required by the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities;

·        a treasury management strategy in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management;

·        an investment strategy in accordance with the DLUHC investment guidance.

It also fulfils the statutory duty to approve a minimum revenue policy (MRP) statement for 2022/23.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy, Chair of Audit and Standards Committee, identified key areas of the report as follows:

• Treasury Management training had been provided for Members in January 2022.
• The CIPFA Prudential Code was revised in 2021 and guidance notes were published in January 2022.
• Full implementation was expected in 2023/24.
• Changes identified on page 242 with regards to non-specified investment.
• Page 246 set out the Councils ethical investment policy.
• Page 244 showed investments maturing.

Proposed by Councillor Studdert-Kennedy and seconded by Councillor Pearcy.

Councillor Pearcy stated that he was pleased to see the inclusion of the ethical investment policy and commended the Strategy.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To establish a Standards Sub-Committee as required by Article 7.3 of the Council’s Constitution which was agreed by Council on 21 October 2021.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy, Chair of Audit and Standards Committee, introduced the report and confirmed that there was a requirement of Article 7.3 of the Councils Constitution to establish a sub-committee of the Audit Committee.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy suggested that the word ‘proven’ be added after ‘allegations are found’ to the wording in the decision box. Discussions over the correct word to be used took place. The Monitoring Officer suggested the use of the word ‘proved’ to replace the word ‘found’.

Councillor Layfield asked what powers the Council had to enforce sanctions on a Parish Council. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the District Council was the enforcing authority for the Code of Conduct.

Councillor Ross questioned whether all Town and Parish Councils had been consulted on the membership of the sub-committee. The Monitoring Officer advised that due to the timings a full consultation of Town and Parish Councils had not been undertaken but Gloucestershire Association of Parish and Town Councils (GAPTC) had been consulted as a representative for Town and Parish Councils.

Councillor Hurst asked for the amended word ‘proven’ to be changed to ‘substantiated’. The Monitoring Officer advised that the word proved was suitable and asked if Members wanted to propose a further amendment. Councillor Patrick proposed the word ‘proven’ and Councillor Green seconded the amendment. Councillor Studdert-Kennedy as proposer of the motion agreed to accept the amendment as a friendly amendment.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

Councillor Studdert-Kennedy highlighted the membership of the sub-committee and asked the Council to vote on the appointments for the sub-committee.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

The Chair asked Members if they were happy to continue the meeting given that the time was approaching 10pm and in accordance with the Councils’ Constitution section 3 paragraph 7, Members needed to take a vote to continue the meeting.

After being put to a vote, the Motion was carried.

To consider a request to extend the operation of the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Joint Committee (GEGJC) until 31 March 2023 and to delegate authority to the Head of Paid Services to amend the Inter - Authority Agreement (dated 4th September 2014) accordingly.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, presented the report and stated that now they were waiting for the results of the Levelling Up White Paper and that an extension to the GEGJC was recommended so that they could take the time to discuss how to proceed.

Councillor Turner asked whether the Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee would continue. Councillor Cornell was unsure but advised that this would be under consideration.

Councillor Cornell proposed and Councillor Braun seconded.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.

To agree a timetable for the civic year 2022/23.

The Leader, Councillor Cornell, presented the Civic Timetable to Members and advised that attempts had been made to avoid school holidays.

Councillor Davies asked for changes to the Civic Timetable to be kept to a minimum and that if changes were needed they were made as early as possible.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.