Agenda, decisions and minutes

To record the names of apologies given.

No apologies were received.

To give consideration to the approval of alternative arrangements for appointments to bodies set up by Cabinet or external bodies, or the making or terminating of such appointments.

a)    St John’s Winchester Charity – nomination of director (until February 2026)

Cabinet was asked to consider the appointment of a director to the St Johns Winchester Charity.  Two nominations had been received from Councillors Horrill and Learney.

RESOLVED:

          That Councillor Learney be appointed as a director/trustee to the St John’s Winchester Charity until February 2026.

To receive any disclosure of interests from Members and Officers in matters to be discussed.

Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and/or prejudicial interests in accordance with legislation and the Council’s Code of Conduct.

Councillors Porter and Tod declared personal (but not prejudicial) interests in respect of various agenda items due to their role as County Councillors.

– to note the names of members of the public wishing to speak on general matters affecting the District or on agenda items (in the case of the latter, representations will normally be received at the time of the agenda item, after the Cabinet Member’s introduction and any questions from Cabinet Members).

NB members of the public are required to register with Democratic Services three clear working days before the meeting (contact: democracy@winchester.gov.uk or 01962 848 264). 

David Chafe (TACT) addressed Cabinet regarding report CAB3401 as summarised below.

Councillor Tod announced that the previous week he, along with Leaders from Southampton City Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council, had signed a Civic University Agreement with the University of Southampton.  The agreement was intended to improve the quality of life for people in the city and surrounding areas by connecting communities through culture, education and enterprise.

Councillor Learney announced that working alongside Stagecoach, the Council would be trialling an all-electric bus on Park and Ride routes for a four week period.

Councillor Thompson provided an update on plans to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III which included working with the Winchester BID.

1.      That the proposed draft shareholder agreement as at Appendix A of report CAB3401 be agreed.

2.      That the proposed draft memorandum of articles be agreed as at Appendix B of the report.

3.      That in consultation with the Strategic Director: Resources (Monitoring Officer), Corporate Head of Asset Management and the Corporate Head of Finance (S.151 Officer), the Strategic Director (with housing responsibility) be authorised to establish a council owned housing company for the purposes set out in report CAB3366.

4.      That the company name be approved as Venta Living.

5.      That the following be appointed as company directors:

a)  Strategic Director (non-housing responsibility).

b)  Two councillors with nominations to be reviewed after one year.

6.      That the Corporate Head of Housing be authorised to advertise and recruit up to two independent and remunerated directors with the requisite skills to the board of the company.

7.      That the Strategic Director (with housing responsibility) be authorised to enter into a resourcing contract with the local housing company subject to an agreed business plan to provide services to the company.

8.      That the Strategic Director (with housing responsibility) be authorised in consultation with the Strategic Director: Resources (Monitoring Officer) and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community and Housing to finalise details of the draft articles of association, and shareholder agreement.

9.      That it be noted that full Council will consider and agree the reserved matters in the shareholder agreement.

Councillor Ferguson introduced the report which set out a number of matters for decision to enable timely progress of the project prior to the consideration of the strategic and final business case at the Cabinet Committee: Housing and full Council in July 2023.

David Chafe (TACT) spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

Mr Chafe stated that the TACT group had been briefed on the report and fully supported the proposals as set out which he was keen to see progressed as soon as possible.  He noted that the main benefit would be assisting people who might not qualify for housing under the usual categories.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Horrill addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Horrill welcomed the proposal to establish a housing company and asked a number of questions regarding the detail of the report.

Councillor Ferguson, together with the Strategic Director and Corporate Head of Housing provided a response to all the questions asked.

The Strategic Director and the Interim Head of Legal Services also responded to questions from Cabinet Members, including confirming that discussions had taken place with other local authorities to gain previous experience of establishing a housing company.  In addition, the proposed draft shareholder agreement was drafted by external solicitors and of a standard form.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.        That the proposed draft shareholder agreement as at Appendix A of the report be agreed.

2.        That the proposed draft memorandum of articles be agreed as at Appendix B of the report.

3.        That in consultation with the Strategic Director: Resources (Monitoring Officer), Corporate Head of Asset Management and the Corporate Head of Finance (S.151 Officer), the Strategic Director (with housing responsibility) be authorised to establish a council owned housing company for the purposes set out in report CAB3366.

4.        That the company name be approved as Venta Living.

5.        That the following be appointed as company directors:

a)   Strategic Director (non-housing responsibility).

b)  Two councillors with nominations to be reviewed after one year.

6.        That the Corporate Head of Housing be authorised to advertise and recruit up to two independent and remunerated directors with the requisite skills to the board of the company.

7.        That the Strategic Director (with housing responsibility) be authorised to enter into a resourcing contract with the local housing company subject to an agreed business plan to provide services to the company.

8.        That the Strategic Director (with housing responsibility) be authorised in consultation with the Strategic Director: Resources (Monitoring Officer) and the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community and Housing to finalise details of the draft articles of association, and shareholder agreement.

9.        That it be noted that full Council will consider and agree the reserved matters in the shareholder agreement.

That, subject to changing the heading within section 8 of the Policy to “Assessing Risk against Risk Appetite”, the Risk Management Policy for 2023/24, its Risk Appetite Statement for 2023/24 and the updated Corporate Risk Register be approved.

Councillor Power introduced the report and stated that following discussion at Audit and Governance Committee on 2 March 2023, section 8 of the policy had been amended to clarify the assessment of risk against the risk appetite.  .

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Godfrey addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Godfrey supported the risk management strategy and welcomed the development of the approach towards risk.  However, he highlighted the concerns raised at Audit and Governance Committee that the policy wording causing confusion.  He also questioned the wording used in paragraph 12.9 of the report which appeared to imply that it was an officer decision to agree the council’s risk appetite.

Councillor Power responded to the comments made and confirmed that the policy did stipulate that officers assessed identified  risks against the agreed risk appetite (agreed by Cabinet).  However, it was agreed that the wording of a heading within section 8 of the Policy would be rephrased to clarify this point.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to changing the heading within section 8 of the Policy to “Assessing Risk against Risk Appetite”, the Risk Management Policy for 2023/24, its Risk Appetite Statement for 2023/24 and the updated Corporate Risk Register be approved.

That the progress achieved during Q3 of 2022/23 be noted the contents of report CAB3380 be endorsed.

Councillor Tod introduced the report which had previously been considered by Scrutiny Committee on 27 February and the Performance Panel on 15 February 2023 (the notes of which were attached as Appendix 5 to the report).

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Horrill addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Horrill thanked the Leader for attending the Performance Panel meeting and responding to questions there.  At Scrutiny Committee, the following two matters had been requested for consideration by Cabinet:

(a)     To examine the possible inclusion of one or two additional key performance indicators.

(b)     To review the process for the submission of questions prior to each Performance Panel.

She stated that progress on both items was underway.

The Leader thanked both the Panel and Scrutiny Committee for their work scrutinising the report.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

That the progress achieved during Q3 of 2022/23 be noted the contents of the report be endorsed.