Minutes:
The Deputy Leader noted that the Orchards Shopping Centre has let a further two units and discussions are underway to let the remaining unit. She noted that it is possible for independent retailers to take on new units and would like to see that replicated in Burgess Hill. She acknowledged a Member’s concern that units in Burgess Hill are in a dilapidated state, noting that the Orchards is owned and managed by the District Council whereas the Martlets is not, however she agreed that shopping centres need to be kept updated and attractive and the Council will continue use whatever measures it can to help Burgess Hill.
Cabinet Member for Economic Growth
The Cabinet Member noted that park and display usage continue a slow recovery with September transaction numbers 22% down on September 2019 figures compared with 24% the previous month. Council car parks continue to support the national mobile Covid testing programme. He noted that a current and new initiative is the West Sussex Retail Hub which is an online training platform that will run until 2023 and 30 Mid Sussex-based businesses have already signed up. The Council has further promotion work in train to encourage more to take up this opportunity.
He also acknowledged how closely the Economic and Revenue and Benefits teams have worked on the Covid grants programmes and this has been enhanced with regular joint meetings with local Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Job Centre officials. This has facilitated a useful exchange of data and contextual evidence to help understand sectors where there may be unfulfilled vacancies or where higher levels of redundancies are emerging and so inform activities that the Council can take by way of things like retraining programmes to mitigate these dynamics.
Cabinet Member for Customer Services
The Cabinet Member noted that the Council is contacting businesses to alert them to the chance of applying for the retail and nursery discount, noting that the Chancellor announced that this will continue. She confirmed that test and trace applications have been extended to end of March 2022 and the number of applications has increased.
She confirmed that the Council is looking to extend the ‘Tell Jo’ project to understand the impact at the end of furlough. As at the end of September there were 3600 people on furlough, and it is important to understand the impact to offer help to those who have not found new jobs. She reiterated that the joint outreach hubs with the DWP are going well and there are exciting initiatives coming up on these. The Council is also awaiting details of the discretionary covid business rates relief scheme which should be available by end of the fiscal year.
In terms of Communications, the Cabinet Member confirmed that the next edition of Mid Sussex Matters is due out imminently and the Council has a social media campaign related to COP26. The Digital Infrastructure Programme is progressing well, and the Council is working with Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI) to support the commercialisation of the scaffold network. A website is being developed that will also allow suppliers to track service requests. A digital workshop is being planned for Members in the new year to provide more information. She also noted that as part of the many social value projects delivered through the capital programmes Balfour Beatty ran college engineering STEM challenges. One was with Hurstpierpoint College which won a CREST gold award. Balour Beatty have also worked with a local primary school and on request, the Cabinet Member agreed to provide a written response with further details on this work.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery
The Cabinet Member noted that the fuel shortage issue has been resolved and ID Verde have caught up with verge cutting that had previously been impacted by the shortage. He recently attended the opening of a new play area and MUGA (Multi Use Games Areas) at Maple Drive and the recent public consultation on Brooklands in East Grinstead, noting that this parks consultation is complimented by conservation and enhancements to the park and wetlands area as well as the play area. A return of a water-based amenity is not ruled out either, but it would require further work and a business case before it can be brought forward.
He noted that initial consultation of the London Road recreation ground in Hassocks has just finished and he looks forward to attending a further meeting on this at the right time. In response to a Member’s query on taking on the open green space in Pease Pottage he confirmed that this is forecast for the first tranche of parks coming forward in next fiscal year.
The Cabinet Member noted that the Council is responsible for removing fly-tipping and noted that whilst it has increased over past years, based on 2019/2020 figures there has been 391 instances in Mid Sussex compared to Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, and Arun who each had over 1000 instances. This is based on the total number of instances, not a per capita basis. The Council’s response is to remove them quickly and given the rise in cases the Council will enforce cases where there is evidence to secure a successful outcome. Following training to Officers, a training session will be provided to Members as to the Council’s enforcement processes. In response to a Member’s query, he agreed to follow up with Officers and provide a written response to several individual fly-tipping queries. He also acknowledged the request of the Scrutiny Committee for Cabinet to include fly tipping in quarterly performance statistics.
With regards to COP26 he noted that the Council’s social media campaign highlights its aims for the future. As part of this he is happy to announce that details of a potential food waste pilot will be presented to a Scrutiny Committee later this month.
Cabinet Member for Community
The Cabinet Member provided an update to a question asked at the last Council meeting regarding plans for a Women’s Refuge in Mid Sussex to comply with the Government’s requirement that all Local Authorities provide a refuge. He noted that it was a critical issue which effects men, women, and children. Under the new duty, Tier 1 Authorities (in this case West Sussex County Council, WSCC) are required to convene a Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board, complete a needs assessment, prepare and publish strategies, commission support to victims of domestic abuse and report back to Central Government that they have met this. WSCC have been allocated funds to meet their obligations and are in the process of setting up a partnership board. He noted that if a resident of Mid Sussex were seeking refuge, the overriding priority is that they are accommodated in safe accommodation which could be in the District, but the closest at this time is in Crawley.
In addition, three Tier 1 Sussex Authorities commissioned the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office to undertake a pan-Sussex needs assessment and strategy on supported accommodation. A draft has been produced and is out for consultation and the Cabinet Member urged residents to take part and have their say on this consultation.
He also noted that as a Tier 2 Authority, Mid Sussex District Council was given modest funding to support the Tier 1 Authority. It was agreed at the West Sussex Strategic Partnership Group that the funds would be pooled and managed by WSCC for projects that covered all Boroughs and Districts.
Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning
The Cabinet Member noted that the Development Management team continue to maintain reliable performance and workload is up 11% which gives a positive budget performance as well. Planning Appeals are running at 80% dismissal by the Inspector which is an exceptionally good result. He noted that Freeks Lane development is coming on at pace which is positive as it has 50% affordable housing. He also noted that the Council is awaiting the Inspector’s letter on the Sites DPD.
He confirmed that there are currently 113 individuals or families in temporary accommodation and the Council is in the process of examining the viability to extend its temporary accommodation stock by 11-13 units. He also noted a request from the Scrutiny Committee for a trend line on temporary accommodation acknowledging that it is driven by the economy. Currently, the trend line is likely to be linked to a steep curve as businesses remodel and redundancies may replace furlough, so this may affect housing needs for those residents.
A Member raised a question on a statement of Common Ground that the Council agreed with, relating to site SA22 of the Sites Selection DPD and the Cabinet Member agreed to respond in writing.