Agenda and minutes

The opening prayer was read by the Vice-Chairman.

None.

The minutes of the meeting of Council held on 25 July 2018 was agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In relation to the Leader’s Report at item 9, the following Councillors declared an interest: Councillor Ash-Edwards declared a personal interest as Chairman of the Sussex Learning Trust. Councillor Bradbury declared an interest as a West Sussex County Councillor and part of the Sussex Learning Trust, and Councillor Jones declared an interest as a West Sussex County Councillor. Councillor Cherry declared an interest as Governor of a school operated by the Brighton University Trust and Councillor Knight declared an interest as a Haywards Heath Town Councillor.

None.

The Chairman provided an update on four recent events. He thanked Steve Trice of Haywards Heath Town Council and Lucinda Joyce for the joint organisation of a Victoria Cross Commemoration Service in honour of Sgt Arthur George Knight VC and he thanked the Officers involved in the organisation of the Community Service Awards in which 44 local residents were recognised for their outstanding voluntary contribution to the District. He thanked Councillor De Mierre and Councillor Wall for their involvement in the successful launch of this years’ STEM Challenge which involves a number of local schools designing a drone. He also drew Members attention to a recent community event; ‘River of Poppies’ which was held on Muster Green and was an excellent way for the town to remember the fallen soldiers of the First World War. In conclusion he reminded Members of the tickets available for the Chairman’s charity fund raising concert which is being held in October, raising funds for Sullivan’s Heroes.

Councillor Walker proposed the report as Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee for Community, Housing and Planning, noting that recent recommendations from the Local Government Association and a national consultation regarding convictions policies have highlighted the need for the Council to update its Conviction policy. The amendments have been made and endorsed at the Scrutiny Committee for Community, Housing and Planning, and has been the subject of an 8 week public consultation period which has now concluded. The report was seconded by the Deputy Leader.

As there were no questions, the Chairman took Members to the recommendation, which was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

That Council agrees to:

(i)               Approve the amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire        Licensing Conviction Policy, to take effect on 1 December 2018.

To be tabled

The Chairman introduced the tabled report and took Members to the recommendations which were agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

Council approved:

(i) that £26,039 be transferred to the IER Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraph 22 of the Cabinet report;

(ii) that £325 grant income relating to Flexible Homelessness Support Grant be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraph 23 of the Cabinet report;

(iii) that £39,200 be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraph 24 of the Cabinet report;

(iv) that £177,169 be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraph 25 of the Cabinet report;

(v) that £76,004 be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraph 26 of the Cabinet report;

(vi) that £472,000 be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraphs 27 of the Cabinet report;

(vii) that £68,699 be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraph 28 of the Cabinet report;

(viii) that £171,600 be transferred to Specific Reserve as detailed in paragraphs 29 of the Cabinet report;

(ix) the variations to the Capital Programme contained in paragraph 36 of the Cabinet report in accordance with the Council’s Financial Procedure rule B4.

The Leader noted that as the Council approaches the final 6 months of the administration it is confident and can look back at very significant achievements for the benefit of local communities.

He noted his recent meetings with the Lindfield and Cuckfield Rotary Club, The MidSussex Older Peoples Council and the planned meeting with the University of the Third Age which provides him the opportunity to share the work of the Council.

He noted that strategic partnerships continue to be vitally important and he recently attended the Transport for South East Shadow Board meeting, which continues to make good progress in formulating its case to Government. He has also met with Leaders from the Greater Brighton Economic Board prior to their next meeting and one of their main priorities is to establish its ambitions for the next 5 years.

With regard to the Homes England Masterplan work, he noted the significance and importance of recent decisions made by Cabinet. Work to bring forward detailed plans can progress at pace and it is another step in ensuring the delivery of the District Plan and underpinning the Land Supply position.

The Leader addressed the funding issues recently outlined by West Sussex County Council and acknowledged that saving £146m over the next 4 years is a challenging position. He noted that the proposals will potentially have an impact on Mid Sussex District Council’s budget and an element of cost transference is unavoidable and could possibly result in a negative impact on some of the most vulnerable in our communities.  He confirmed that the Council will look at the possibility of collaborative working, however the main issue is the scale of the savings required and the wider implications of Government funding for social care and other key support services.         

The Leader concluded his report with confirmation that he has today signed off a press release following the receipt of a letter from the Rt. Hon Anne Milton MP, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills agreeing the need for 6^th Form provision in Haywards Heath at the Harlands Road College site.  He drew Members attention to the instrumental work carried out by the Chief Executive and Assistant Chief Executive in making the case to government for the re-establishment of educational use on this site, and acknowledged that it would also not have succeeded without the support of the Rt. Hon. Sir Nicholas Soames MP who has         championed the case at the highest level. He recognised the support of West Sussex County Council, Jonathan Sharrock at Coast to Capital and Adam Tickell at Sussex University, with their support, the business case made a compelling argument.

With regard to the next steps he confirmed that there will be a competitive bid process whereby existing providers will be invited to put forward their proposals for running the site. This process will be led by the FE commissioners and should come to a conclusion by early 2019.

In response to a Member’s query regarding joint working and the support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Growth

The Deputy Leader began by adding his congratulations and thanks for all the work involved in securing the provision of a 6^th form college in Haywards Heath.

He drew Members attention to the work that is under-way on the A2300 to deliver The Hub Business Park. This is an important aspect to the Burgess Hill Growth Programme as it will include 50,000m2 of employment space and the potential creation of hundreds of jobs in the area.

He confirmed that on Thursday 27 September he was attending the launch of Refill Mid Sussex, a national campaign to encourage business to provide free drinking water to people with refillable bottles. The campaign aligned with the Council’s sustainability policy, in its aim to reduce the amount of single use plastics and their impact on the environment. 50 businesses are already committed to the scheme, and an App is available for people to identify those participating.

The Deputy Leader also confirmed that the Council continues to review its surplus assets to consider better use and three further sites at Paddockhall Road, Bentswood Crescent and Brighton Road, Handcross were agreed at the Cabinet meeting this week as possible areas to deliver affordable homes.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the Council has implemented a discretionary business rate relief scheme, as announced in the Governments Spring 2017 budget, which means that this council can continue to maximise financial assistance to qualifying local businesses from these reliefs. The Policy was amended in August so that the scheme is based on a banded award in order to reduce the administration involved in making a percentage award.

She noted that the Cabinet have now considered the service planning guidelines for 2019/20. The council is striving to maintain its financial independence and will be continuing to focus on managing growth and supporting economic development. However there are some uncertainties; for example surrounding the negative revenue support grant and the implications of the Fair Funding Review in 2020/21. Taking these factors into consideration, as part of the council’s prudent planning, consideration will be given to increasing Council Tax.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that Members will be involved in budget setting to produce a strong, sound and tightly managed budget to take the Council in to the next Administration. The budget will be put before the relevant Scrutiny Committee in January 2019 and to the Council in February 2019.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Customer Services

The Cabinet Member was not present at the meeting.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Service Delivery

The Cabinet Member was not present at the meeting.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Community

The Cabinet Member was not present at the meeting.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning

The Cabinet Member noted that the Northern Arc Masterplan has been agreed by the Scrutiny Committee and was agreed by Cabinet at their meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The following questions 1-5 were submitted by Councillor John Belsey. Questions 6-7 were submitted by Councillor Sweatman.

1)         In terms of prevention of future incursions could the leader please inform us          whether in light of the increased number of incursions this summer as a                 council we will be taking steps to accelerate our protection measures and at    what cost this will be to the council?

Response from the Leader of the Council:

Since 2013/14, the Council has spent £20k every year on improving security across its parks and open spaces. So that is a total of £130k on a range of measures to try to prevent incursions , like installation of height barriers, more robust vehicle gates, bollards and ditches. 

The £20k allocated for 2018/19 has already been spent on permanent and temporary security works.

In light of the recent spate of illegal incursions, Cabinet approved, at its meeting on earlier this week, to allocate over £170k in order to         accelerate the programme of security works over the winter in preparation for the next travelling season. This is a very significant increase in resources for the protection of sites in direct response to recent events.

2)         Can the council leader also confirm that we will review our strategy across the      District to ensure we have considered potential sites of incursion and what        protection, if any, is appropriate for each site - recognising that our towns and             villages are lovely places to live and there is a balance between complete protection and living in a place that looks more like Fort Knox than Mid                   Sussex.

Response from the Leader of the Council:

The Council has been taking the approach you outline since 2012. The Council identifies sites that may be at risk of incursions and uses the £20k allocated each year to undertake the works necessary on these sites.

The additional funding allocated by Cabinet on Monday will allow us to accelerate this work and further security measures will be implemented this winter.

However, I must emphasise that our public open spaces are just that and so they are, by their nature, difficult to protect entirely.

3)         Alongside the physical protections the council could put in place, many                  people have questioned why the council doesn't seek to ban either specific   people from the District or, copying Croydon Council, banning traveller                       incursions in their entirety from our District.  Please could you update us                whether these options have been considered and whether it is or is not                     possible to introduce them?

Response from the Leader of the Council:

The large scale injunctions you refer to are a new development this year. The test Courts will apply before granting such an injunction is fairly significant in terms of the number of incursions and the impact on local communities. But it is a development we will be following closely and may consider if we believe the Court will support our request.

4)         Regarding the process of dealing with the travellers and the process, one of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.