Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ayling (no substitute).

The following interests were declared at the meeting:

(a) Councillors Mulroney, Terry and Woodley (Cabinet Members) - interest in the referred items; attended pursuant to the dispensation agreed at Council on 19^th July 2012, under S.33 of the Localism Act 2011;

(b) Councillor Davidson – Agenda Item No. 6 (Draft Housing Revenue Account Budget 2020/21 and Rent Setting) (Minute 773) – Non-pecuniary interest: Non-Executive Director of South Essex Homes; and

(c) Councillor Mulroney – Agenda Item No. 5 (Council Tax Base) (Minute 772) and Agenda Item No. 7 (Draft Prioritising Resources to Deliver Better Outcomes 2020/21 to 2024/25) (Minute 774) – Non-pecuniary interest: Member of Leigh Town Council.

The Committee noted the responses to questions that had been submitted by Mr Webb to the Leader of the Council.  Copies will be forwarded to him as he was not present at the meeting.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 28^th November 2019, be confirmed as a correct record and signed.

Minute 690 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 4 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 690 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources), concerning the calculation of the Council Tax Base for 2020/21 and the submission of the National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR1) form to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) by 31^st January 2020.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“In respect of the Council Tax Base:

In accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (as amended by the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2003) and Local Government Finance Act 2012 (Calculation of billing authority’s council tax base section 15):

1. From 1^st April 2020 the premium for properties (empty for 5 years but less than 10 years) will be increased to 200%.

2. The amount calculated by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council as its Council Tax Base for the year 2020/21 shall be 58,680.94.

3. That the amount calculated by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council as the Council Tax Base in respect of Leigh-on-Sea Town Council for the year 2020/21 shall be 8,845.24.

4. That the new Care Leavers Council Tax Relief Policy set out at Appendix A to the submitted report be endorsed and the subsequent impact on the Council Tax Base, be noted.

In respect of the Non-Domestic Rates Base (NNDR1 Form):-

5. The NNDR1 form attached at Appendix D to the report, be approved for submission to MHCLG.

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert

Minute 691 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 5 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 691 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources), setting out the Housing Revenue (HRA) budget for 2020/21, together with the information necessary to set a balanced budget as required by legislation.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“1. That an average increase on secure tenancy rents of 2.7%, be endorsed.

2. That an average rent increase of 2.7% on shared ownership properties, be endorsed.

3. That an increase of 2.7% for garage rents to £12.02 per week for tenants and £14.42 for non-tenants (being £12.02 plus VAT), a rise consistent with the proposal for the main rent increase (all variants on a standard garage will receive a proportionate increase), be endorsed.

4. That the proposed rent charges in 1-3 above be effective from 6^th April 2020.

5. That the South Essex Homes core management fee at £5,971,000 for 2020/21, be endorsed.

6. That South Essex Homes proposals for average increases of 6.36% in service charges and 16.69% in heating charges to reflect the actual costs incurred, be endorsed.

7. That the following appropriations, be endorsed:

·         £60,000 to the Repairs Contract Pensions Reserve;

·         £5,319,000 to the Capital Investment Reserve; and

·         £8,708,000 from the Capital Investment Reserve.

8. That subject to 1-7 above, the HRA budget for 2020/21, as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report, be endorsed.

9. That the value of the Council’s capital allowance for 2020/21 be declared as £57,261,000 as determined in accordance with regulation 16 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations.

Note: This is an Executive Function save that approval of the final budget following Cabinet on 11^th February 2020 is a Council Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert

Minute 692 (Cabinet Book 1, Agenda Item No. 6 refers)

Referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees

The Committee considered Minute 692 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees, together with a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources) presenting the draft General Fund Revenue Budget for 2020/21.

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet, be noted:-

Minute 693 (Cabinet Book 2, Agenda Item No. 7 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 693 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources) and the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director (Housing and Growth) providing an update on the work underway on the pipeline of housing and development opportunities across the Borough.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“1. That the progress on the Acquisitions Programme for Council Housing as set out in sections 3.5-3.8 to the submitted report, be noted.

2. That the progress of the first phase of housing and development pipeline sites currently in delivery as set out in section 3.12 to the report and the progress with PSP Southend LLP in section 3.14-3.16 to the report, be noted.

3. That the progress of the Allocations Policy as set out in sections 3.18-3.21 to the report, be noted.”

Note: This is an Executive Function.

Cabinet Member: Cllrs Gilbert and Woodley

Minute 702 (Cabinet Book 3, Agenda Item No. 15 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 702 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services) responding to the Notice of Motion, presented at the last meeting of the Council, requesting that consideration be given to extending webcasting to the Council’s Scrutiny Committees and enhancing the use of social media in conjunction with live recorded meetings.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“1. That webcasting of meetings of the Cabinet and the three scrutiny committees (to be held on the Council chamber) be trialled during the June/July 2020 cycle of meetings, subject to the Chairs of the scrutiny committees being content for the trial to be applied to meetings of those committees.

2. That officers be requested to consider ways of enhancing the use of social media in conjunction with the webcasting arrangements.

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert

Minute 704 (Cabinet Book 3, Agenda Item No. 18 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 704 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services), proposing revisions to the governance arrangements of the SELEP in the light of the central government requirement for Local Enterprise Partnerships to set up a company.

Resolved:

That the following recommendations of Cabinet, be noted:-

Note: This is a Council Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert

Minute 708 (Cabinet Book 4, Agenda Item No. 22 refers)

Referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees

The Committee considered Minute 708 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Chief Executive presenting the Outcome Success Measures report that provides an update on the Council’s progression on the 23 Southend 2050 outcomes.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“That the Outcome Success Measures report, be noted.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert

Minute 709 (Cabinet Book 4, Agenda Item No. 23 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 709 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources) on the corporate budget performance (Period 8).

Resolved:

That the following recommendations of Cabinet, be noted:-

Note: This is a Council Function

Cabinet Members: Cllrs Gilbert and Woodley

Minute 709 (Cabinet Book 4, Agenda Item No. 24 refers)
Referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees

The Committee considered Minute 708 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Chief Executive, outlining the 2019/20 Corporate Risk Register mid-year update.

Resolved:

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“That the 2019/20 Corporate Risk Register and the mid-year updates outlined in Appendix 2 to the submitted report, be noted.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Woodley

Minute 711 (Cabinet Book 4, Agenda Item No. 25 refers)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 711 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020, which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, together with a report of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources), on the above matter.

Resolved:

That the following decisions of Cabinet, be noted:-

“1. That the current outstanding debt position as at 30^th November 2019 and the position of debts written off to 30^th November 2019 as set out in Appendices A & B to the submitted report, be noted.

2. That the write offs greater than £25,000, as detailed in Appendix B to the report, be approved.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Gilbert

Minute 712 (Cabinet Book 4, Agenda Item No. 26 refers)

Referred direct to all three Scrutiny Committees

The Committee considered Minute 712 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020 which had been referred direct to Scrutiny, in connection with the action taken with regard to the provision of passenger transport.

Resolved:-

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“That the submitted report be noted.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: As appropriate to the item

Resolved:-

That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the item of business set out below, on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Minute 714 (Cabinet Agenda Item No. 28, report circulated separately)

Referred direct by Cabinet

The Committee considered Minute 714 of the meeting of Cabinet held on 16^th January 2020 which had been referred direct to Scrutiny concerning action taken under Standing Order 46 – Confidential sheet.

Resolved:-

That the following decision of Cabinet, be noted:-

“That the SO46 confidential sheet, be noted.”

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Cllr Woodley