Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To record the names of apologies given.

Apologies were received from Councillor Thompson as noted above.

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.

</AI2>

<AI3>

– 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). 

Patrick Davies spoke regarding report CAB3457 and his comments are summarised under the relevant minute below.

Ian Tait spoke during public participation and referred to comments he had made at Cabinet on 23 May 2023 and 14 March 2024 regarding Section 21 no-fault eviction notices.  He was grateful for the Leader’s comments at the time that the use of such notices was not appropriate.  However he repeated concerns in relation to a particular situation regarding a tenant in a council owned property which was leased to a third party housing provider which were seeking a Section 21 eviction notice.  He believed that the council was supporting the eviction notice and requested that this support end and measures be put in place to re-home the tenant.

Councillor Tod stated that he did not agree with some of the statements made by Mr Tait but that he was prevented from discussing the individual case raised.  He stated that the council was an organisation that supported people when they are served section 21 notices.  This was the situation here and the council’s commitment to ensuring that the residents of Winchester do not undergo homelessness and wherever possible avoid the use of temporary accommodation, which it was certainly intended to avoid in this case, remained absolute.  He advised that senior Housing Officers were available to assist the tenant with any paperwork and offer any other advice.

RESOLVED:

          That the minutes of the previous meeting held 14 March 2024 be agreed as a correct record.

Councillor Becker made the following announcements:

• Work had begun on the new 3G pitch for Winchester Football club;
• The new KGV pavilion was scheduled to officially open on 30 May 2024;
• The council was working with Winchester Ramblers group to support the first “Winchester Walking Weekend” from 14 to 16 June 2024;
• The council was working with the Ukrainian community in Winchester to host the “Home is another country” photo exhibition at the Nutshell.
• The Winchester Community Safety Partnership were leading on a new project to help tackle violence against women and girls in Winchester (The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy).

1.       That the progress achieved during Q4 of 2023/24 be noted and the contents of the report CAB3457 be endorsed.

2.       That the performance measures in Appendix 4 of report CAB3457 be adopted as the strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress against the Council Plan 2020 to 2025 from 1 April 2024.

Councillor Cutler introduced the report and highlighted that the next financial and performance monitoring report would be produced in a shorter, more concise format.  He stated that all councillors had been invited to comment on the existing set of strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) and to propose any new ones and to date, no comments had been received.

Patrick Davies spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

He reiterated concerns raised at previous meetings that he believed that the council was taking too many decisions in private rather than at public meetings.  He referred to the Appendix 3 of the report which listed progress on the council’s major projects, including Central Winchester Regeneration, Station Approach, the Local Plan and the Movement Strategy and believed that there had been a lack of information available at public meetings on such projects.

Councillor Tod thanked Mr Davies for his comments which would be addressed during discussions below.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Horrill and Lee addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Horrill

She highlighted that the report would usually have been considered by Scrutiny Committee prior to Cabinet and emphasising the importance role of scrutiny, she requested assurances that any comments by Scrutiny Committee on this report would be considered by Cabinet at a later date.  She raised two areas of concern, namely the failure to meet annual targets on both the retrofit programme and the level of complaints responded to within 10 working days, and asked what measures would be introduced to address this.  She also believed that, aside from the proposed changes in relation to the fly-tipping KPI the proposed changes to KPIs outlined in Appendix 4 did not reflect feedback from Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Lee

He suggested that alternative methods should have been utilised to canvas all councillors on the proposed changes to KPIs to ensure better engagement and asked whether there would be another request for input into refreshed KPIs for 2024/25?  He welcomed the proposed change to the KPI on fly-tipping but believed measures should be introduced to ensure incidences were dealt with in a more timely manner.  He suggested additional indicators were required on a number of matters including the introduction of electric vehicle charging points and the “greening” of procurement processes and supply chains.  He welcomed the introduction of more streamlined reports which focussed on quantitative measures.

Councillors Cutler, Porter, Learney, Westwood and Tod responded to comments made, as far as they related to their Cabinet Member responsibilities.  Their response included emphasising that updates on the various projects and programmes raised had been considered in public at the appropriate meetings of Cabinet Committee: Regeneration, Health and Environment Policy Committee and Cabinet Committee: Housing.

Cabinet noted that the appropriateness and relevance of KPIs would continue to be reviewed.  Councillor Tod confirmed the important role of Scrutiny Committee and that Councillor Cutler would attend the next meeting and report any comments back to Cabinet.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Horrill and Lee addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below (their comments related to both this item and report CAB3456 considered in the minute below).

Councillor Horrill

She welcomed the recent meeting with Councillor Tod to informally discuss the appointments to be made in advance of the meeting and highlighted that this impacted on which bodies her group had put forward nominations for.  She emphasised the importance of the commitment in the revised constitution that councillors appointed to key external bodies report regularly to council.

Councillor Lee

He concurred with the points made by Councillor Horrill in relation to the meeting with Councillor Tod and the importance of receiving reports from councillors to full Council.

Councillor Tod thanked the councillors for their comments.  He advised that an addendum containing nominations received from the three political groups had been circulated to those present.

In relation to the Carbon Neutrality Open Forum, Councillor Learney confirmed that all members were invited to all meetings.  However the expressions of interest from the conservative and green political groups would be noted.

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

RESOLVED:

1.             That the following appointments to Cabinet Committees, informal group and fora be made for the 2024/25 Municipal Year:

(a)         Cabinet Committee: Local Plan

Cabinet Member for Place and Local Plan (Chairperson), Councillors Learney and Tod

Non-voting invited councillors: Councillors Brophy, Horrill, Lee, Rutter & Williams, (deputies: Godfrey, Laming and Wallace)

(b)         Cabinet Committee: Regeneration

Leader and Cabinet Member for Asset Management (Chairperson), Councillors Cutler, Learney and Thompson

Non-voting invited councillors: Councillors Aron, Bolton, Godfrey & Reach (deputies: Horrill & Laming)

(c)         Cabinet Committee: Housing

Cabinet Member for Housing (Chairperson), Councillors Becker and Cutler

Non-voting invited councillors: Councillors Horrill, Power, Scott and White (deputies: Batho, Lee and Miller)

Non-voting TACT representatives: Two representatives to be nominated by the TACT Board (names to be confirmed)

(d)           TACT Board

Councillors Westwood and Horrill

(e)           Carbon Neutrality Open Forum

Councillors Learney (Chairperson)

(f)            Equality, Diversion and Inclusion Forum

Councillors Becker (Chairperson), S Achwal, Bennett, Brook and White (deputies permitted from any group with the agreement of the chair)

(g)           Winchester Sports and Leisure Park Advisory Board –

Councillors Becker(Chair), Aron, Horrill and Reach

(h)           Central Winchester Regeneration (CWR) Project Board –

Councillors Tod and Cutler

(i)             Strategic Asset Purchase Scheme Board

Councillors Tod, Cutler and Thompson

(j)             Treasury Investment Group

Councillors Tod, Cutler and Thompson

(k)           Kings Barton Forum

Councillors: Cramoysan (Chairperson), Batho, Cunningham, Eve, Godfrey, Morris and Porter, (Deputies: Horrill, Learney and Rutter)

(l)             West of Waterlooville Forum –

Councillors: Cutler  (Chairperson), Bennett, Chamberlain and Langford-Smith (Deputies: Brook, Clear and Porter)

(m)         North Whiteley Development Forum –

Councillors: V Achwal (Chairperson), S Achwal, Lee, Miller, Porter and Small (Deputies: Bolton, Chamberlain and Latham)

2.             That the following roles be appointed to (paragraph 4.3 refers):

a)       Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Member Champion – Councillor Bennett

b)       Lead Cabinet Member for Equality, Diversity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

In relation to comments made by Councillors Horrill and Lee under the previous minute above, Councillor Tod confirmed that he would ensure reports from relevant councillors on their outside body appointments would be submitted to council.

Councillor Tod advised that an addendum containing nominations received from the three political groups had been circulated to those present.

In relation to the Southampton International Airport Consultative Committee, it was agreed to investigate whether interested members could attend committee meetings, in addition to the formal appointments set out below.

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

RESOLVED:

1.             That the following appointments to external bodies be made for the 2024/25 Municipal Year (unless stated otherwise):

                    i.         Central Hampshire Road Safety Council – Councillor Greenberg

                   ii.         Citizens Advice Winchester District (until May 2027)

– Councillor Becker

                 iii.         Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) Hampshire Planning & Policy Committee (until May 2027) – Councillor Small

                 iv.         Hampshire & IOW Local Government Association (HIOWLGA) – Leader and Deputy Leader (Councillors Tod and Cutler)

                v.            Hampshire County Council Annual Meeting with Parish & District Councils regarding public transport issues – Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transport (Councillor Learney)

               vi.            Hampshire Cultural Trust – Cabinet Member with responsibility for Culture (Councillor Thompson) (Trustee) and Councillor Porter (Observer)

             vii.            Hampshire Homechoice Board – Cabinet Member with responsibility for Housing (Councillor Westwood)

            viii.            Hampshire Rural Forum – Cabinet Member with responsibility for the Economy (Councillor Thompson)

               ix.            Hospital of St Cross and Almshouses of Noble Poverty (until May 2029) - Councillor Clear (Nominative trustee)

                x.            Unit 12 CIC (formerly Integr8 CIC) – Cabinet Member with responsibility for the Community (Councillor Becker )

               xi.            Local Government Association – Leader and Deputy Leader (Councillors Tod and Cutler)

             xii.            Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) Joint Committee – Leader and Deputy Leader (Councillors Tod and Cutler)

            xiii.            PATROL (Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London) Adjudication Joint Committee – Cabinet Member with responsibility for transport/parking – Councillor Learney

            xiv.            Police and Crime Panel (until May 2025, confirmed annually) – Councillor V Achwal (Councillor Williams)

             xv.            Project Integra Management Board – Cabinet Member with responsibility for Waste (Councillor Learney) plus Councillor Tod (deputy)

            xvi.            River Hamble Harbour Management Committee (until May 2025, confirmed annually) – Councillor V Achwal and Councillor Williams (deputy)

          xvii.            South East England Councils (SEEC) – Leader and Deputy Leader (Councillors Tod and Cutler)

         xviii.            South East Employers – Chair of Audit & Governance Committee (Councillor Morris)

            xix.            Southampton International Airport Consultative Committee – Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transport (Councillor Learney) and Councillor Bennett (deputies Councillors Reach and Pett)

             xx.            Tourism South East – Cabinet Member with responsibility for Tourism (Councillor Thompson)

            xxi.            Venta Living ltd (the Council’s housing company) – Councillors Batho & Pett (company directors)

          xxii.            Welborne Community Forum – Councillor Chamberlain (deputies Councillor Cutler and Clear)

         xxiii.            WinACC – Observer - Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment (Councillor Learney)

         xxiv.            Winchester Business Improvement District (BID) – Cabinet Member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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

He queried whether the forward plan included items beyond the legally required 28 days, for example the proposals for decisions on the local plan were not listed.  He also requested further clarification on the delegation of treasury management decisions and in particular relating to any climate and social governance approach being adopted by the county council.

Councillors Cutler and Tod clarified which council meetings were responsible for agreeing the Treasury Management Strategy and monitoring decisions, emphasising that there was opportunity for members to make comments then.  In addition, it was confirmed that the new format forward plan did include items beyond the 28 day legally required timetable where dates were known.

RESOLVED:

That the list of future items as set out in the Forward Plan for June 2024 be noted.