Decisions

(Report LR518 refers)

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting:

Representing the Applicant – Colden Common Football Club

·         Mr Stephen Twamley

·         Ms Karen Davies  

Other Interested Parties:

·         Mr Richard Emery (also representing the following people who had made written representations: Mr James Gilbert, Mr and Mrs Fisher, Mr and Mrs McCosker and Mr Keith Smith)

Miss Appletree introduced the Report which set out the details of the application.  In summary, she explained that an application for a new club premises certificate for Oakwood Park Recreation Ground, Oakwood Avenue, Otterbourne had been made by Colden Common Football Club under Section 71 of the Licensing Act 2003.  The application was to specifically licence the pavilion building on the Oakwood Park Recreation Ground site (as shown in Appendix 3 of the Report) and the purpose of the application was to provide regulated entertainment and the supply of alcohol to members and their guests only.

However, it was noted that since the initial application, the applicant had removed live music from the application and had reduced the proposed terminal hour for the supply of alcohol on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve from 0030hrs to 2300hrs, in an effort to minimise disturbance to local residents. The application was set out in Appendix 1 to the Report.

A representation had initially been received by Hampshire Constabulary relating to the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective but this representation had since been withdrawn after conditions were agreed with the applicant, as set out on Pages 14 and 15 of the Report. It was reported that Environmental Health had received no recent record of any noise complaints relating to this premises.

18 valid representations had been received from local residents and other members of the public, and all raised objections to the application.  These representations related to the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm, as set out in Appendix 2 to the Report.

No further representations had been received from any other responsible authorities.

In response to questions, Miss Appletree clarified that, the premises had been previously licensed by Otterbourne Sports Club for the supply of alcohol and regulated entertainment since November 2006. This licence was surrendered in November 2016.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr Twamley, speaking on behalf of the applicant, Colden Common Football Club, addressed the Sub-Committee and outlined the background to the new club premises certificate for the provision of regulated entertainment and the supply of alcohol to members and their guests only.  Mr Twamley clarified that it was not the Club’s intention to use all the licensed hours that had been applied for from Monday to Saturday, as set out in the application and that on days of use,  club members and their guests would usually have left by 9pm as the ground would usually be cleared by 6.30pm.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr Emery, one of the other interested parties who had submitted a relevant representation to the application, addressed the meeting, also speaking on behalf of a number of other residents who had submitted written representations (details set out above).  A summary of his comments are outlined below.

Mr Emery queried the licensable area of the application and raised concerns regarding the consumption of alcohol outside of the premises and the disturbance this would cause to the local community. In addition, Mr Emery expressed concerns regarding the loss of public amenity of the pavilion building and specifically the recreation ground which was utilised by children and the wider community and the existing parking concerns in Oakwood Avenue and the single track entry into the premises, which could cause an accident and be further exacerbated over longer periods of time.

In response to the points raised by Mr Emery, the Sub-Committee were reminded that road safety, parking and drink driving offences were not a material consideration under the Licensing regime and were issues to be addressed with the appropriate authority.

To address the concerns raised regarding the consumption of alcohol outside of the building, Miss Appletree confirmed that the application was for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises  only and not  outside the curtilage of the pavilion building, as  outlined in red on the plan in Appendix 1 and the map in Appendix 3.

In summing up, Mr Twamley stated that he had endeavoured to engage with the community and would continue to do so to allay concerns. Parking issues had been taken on board and alternative ideas to move traffic away were being investigated. In conclusion, Mr Twamley, welcomed a representative of the local community to participate on the Football Club committee meetings, particularly to address matters surrounding the licence going forwards.

The Sub-Committee retired to deliberate in private.

In her closing remarks, the Chairman stated that the Sub-Committee had carefully considered the Application and the representations made by interested parties,  including those related to the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm. It had taken into account the duties under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the rights set out in the Human Rights Act 1998.

The Sub-Committee noted that the applicant had agreed conditions with Hampshire Constabulary to promote the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective and offered to comply with the Challenge 25 policy to protect children from harm.

To promote the prevention of public nuisance objective, the applicant had reduced the original opening hours applied for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to 2300hrs

In regard to the matters raised in relation to parking, drink driving and road safety, these matters are covered by other legislation and cannot be considered by the Licensing Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee concluded that the application should be granted, with the conditions agreed between the applicant and Hampshire Constabulary, set out in Pages 11 to 15 of the Report. The Chairman advised that any breach of the licence conditions could lead to a review of this licence in future years.

The Chairman thanked all those present for attending the meeting and explained to all parties that they would be formally notified of the decision in writing in due course and of their right to appeal to the Magistrates’ Court within 21 days from the date of the decision letter.

         RESOLVED:

1.         That the application for a new Club Premises Certificate for the provision of regulated entertainment and the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises only to members and their guests at Oakwood Park Recreation Ground, Oakwood Avenue, Otterbourne, be granted to Colden Common Football Club, subject to the amended conditions agreed by the applicant with Hampshire Constabulary, set out in Pages 11 to 15 of the Report.

REASON 

The applicant had addressed the licensing objectives and  taken reasonable steps to mitigate the concerns of persons making relevant representations, including the prevention of public nuisance and protection of children from harm objectives..

The Chairman stated that the report had been considered by The Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 28 January 2019. 

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

RESOLVED:

That the progress achieved during the third quarter of 2018/19 be noted and the content of the report be endorsed.

Councillor Brook introduced the report, emphasising that the Development Plan Document (DPD) had been subject to extensive consultation previously.  However, in order to progress the DPD to statutory adoption, the Council must accept the Inspector’s Main Modifications as contained as Appendix 1 to the report.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Porter addressed the Committee as summarised below.  She did not challenge the DPD but queried whether there was adequate Council  capacity available to ensure effective enforcement of the DPD once adopted and also the quality of living accommodation on offer on sites (particularly on sites which were being sub-divided).

Councillor Brook acknowledged the importance of adequate enforcement measures, both in terms of mitigating the impact on local residents and also ensuring the provision of adequate accommodation on sites for those living there.  She confirmed that the Council would take action as appropriate.

In response to questions, the Head of Strategic Planning advised that acceptance of the Inspector’s recommended Main Modifications were required to ensure the DPD was sound and could proceed to adoption.  The key change related to the insertion of a new criteria based  policy for the Council to consider additional sites that might come forward in the future.

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

RESOLVED:

That authority be delegated to the Head of Strategic Planning, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Built Environment, to undertake minor updating and amendments in order to incorporate the Modifications and consequential changes to the Plan, including to correct errors and format text, without altering the policy intentions of the Plan.

The detail of this report had been considered alongside the General Fund Budget report (CAB3132) as set out above.

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

RESOLVED:

That the medium term financial strategy be approved, as set out in the report.

The detail of this report had been considered alongside the General Fund Budget report (CAB3132) as set out above.

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

The detail of this report had been considered alongside the General Fund Budget report (CAB3132) as set out above.

Cabinet also noted the Leader’s announcement regarding the proposal to award £50,000 towards the Winchester Hospice appeal and this would be subject to a further Portfolio Holder Decision Notice.  Cabinet agreed that this additional £50,000 be included in the recommendation to Council.

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

RESOLVED:

5.         That under Financial Procedure Rule 6.4 expenditure for the following budget items be approved:

a)    the IMT equipment and software expenditure (£240,000 in 2019/20) as detailed in paragraph 11.8.6;

b)    expenditure of £500,000 for the refurbishment of the West Wing as detailed in 11.2.3; and

c)    expenditure of £50,000 for preliminary works in respect of the development of small business units at the Goods Shed, Barfield Close as detailed in 11.2.4.

6.         That the requirement to ensure Members have the right knowledge and skills to undertake their governance role as detailed in 11.12 of the report be noted.

Councillor Ashton gave a presentation on the overall Council budget and finances for 2019/20.  His presentation referred to the above report, together with:

• General Fund (CAB 3132)
• Medium Term Financial Strategy (CAB3131);
• Capital Investment Strategy (CAB3134); and
• Treasury Management Strategy Statement (CAB3133).

It also included some consideration as of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget (Report CAB3111(HSG) refers).

The presentation was available on the Council’s website from the following page:

https://democracy.winchester.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=136&MId=176&Ver=4

In summary, Councillor Ashton highlighted the following elements of the proposals. 

• recommendation to freeze the Council Tax levels for 2019/20 (noting that other precepting authorities were recommending increases of differing levels);
• Maintaining and improving Council services and infrastructure to meet its strategic aims;
• taking an entrepreneurial approach to increasing income streams;
• concentrating on improving effectiveness and efficiency of Council services;
• Mitigating the impact of Government grants which were set to reduce to zero or negative;
• Proposed new policies regarding Council Tax on vacant dwellings and for care leavers;
• Strategic Asset Purchases would be required to produce a “double win” of furthering the Council’s strategic aims and a financial return;
• The Council’s accounts had been delivered on time against shorter timescales;
• The Council had a healthy level of reserves and a low level of liabilities

compared to assets.

• The contents of the reports had been considered by The Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meetings on 28 January and 4 February 2019 which had not made at recommendations to be considered by Cabinet.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillors Weir and Thompson addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

As Chairman of the Winchester Town Forum, Councillor Weir drew attention to comments that had been made about the Forum’s decision to increase the precept on the Town Account by 3% for 2019/20 and she offered Cabinet Members the opportunity to ask any questions they might have regarding the Forum decision.

Cabinet Members had no questions to ask at this point and the Chairman requested that they contact Councillor Weir directly should any be forthcoming.

Councillor Thompson raised the following points, in summary:

·         expressed concern that the budget proposals did not include any detailed plan to reduce the predicted funding gap; 

·         The Medium Term Financial Strategy included reference to high level options to meet the challenge but did not specify that the options were.  If there were difficult choices to be made it was important that all Councillors were made aware;

·         Support additional policies regarding empty homes but this would not achieve significant increases in income;

·         Where were the ambitions regarding improving the environment or reducing carbon footprint?

·         Believed it was unacceptable to include the proposed funding for the new leisure centre as one line within the budget report without further justification or explanation;

·         Concern about the impact of proposed funding for the leisure centre on other budgets;

·         In response to a request that the Liberal Democrat group offer alternative suggestions for the budget, she emphasised that this was the role of the administration.

Councillor Ashton responded to Cabinet Members’ questions on his presentation and the contents of the four finance reports listed above.  In addition, the Strategic Director: Services (Interim) advised that the proposal to remove the one month exemption for empty dwellings would have a minor impact on the Housing Revenue Account but it would be minimised by the Council’s good record on void turnaround (the void average was 15 days).  The Strategic Director: Resources confirmed that the Council compared favourably to others on financial resilience.

Cabinet thanked the Finance Team and other Council Officers involved in preparation and administration of the Council’s finances.

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

Cabinet noted that due to an administrative error, the above report had not been notified on the agenda within the statutory deadline.  The Chairman agreed to accept the report onto the agenda as a matter requiring urgent consideration to allow the recommendations to be considered prior to Council on 28 February 2019.

The Leader introduced the report and highlighted key elements, including further financial commitment for fire safety provisions and to mitigate the impact of universal credit.

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

Councillor Brook introduced the report and highlighted the recommendation to allocate £1.8m of CIL funding to the new Leisure Centre project (including £0.8m towards the cost of the access roundabout and associated facilities).  A full review of CIL would be undertaken alongside the upcoming Local Plan review.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillor Porter addressed Cabinet as summarised below:

·         Disappointment that the programme for parishes and community groups had not been published;

·         Some confusion amongst parish councils about how they could access CIL funding;

·         Disappointment that proposals to address flooding in Littleton and The Worthies had not been included;

·         Some concern regarding the capacity of the County Council to deliver highway schemes;

·         Query regarding whether education was included on the Regulation 123 list and whether provision for children with special needs could be increased.

·         Suggested that the Regulation 123 required amending with regard to the Watercress Way item regarding possible extension to Wonston (rather than South Wonston).  In general, how could amendments to the Reg 123 be made?

The Corporate Head of Regulatory confirmed that parishes were currently being given the opportunity to bid for a share of CIL funds and further clarification could be provided to parish councils if required.  The report proposed a light touch revision of the Reg 123 list as the Government had indicated its intention to replace the list in the near future.  He would clarify further with Councillor Porter any amendments required regarding the Watercress Way.

Cabinet agreed that the report’s recommendations be amended to include delegation to the Strategic Director: Services (Interim) to make minor amendments to the Reg 123 List.

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

RESOLVED:

1.         That, subject to any minor amendments required in relation to matters raised above to be agreed by the Strategic Director: Services (Interim), the revised Regulation 123 List attached at Appendix 1 be agreed and published.

2.         That £1.8m of CIL funding be allocated to the Sport and Leisure Park at Bar End given its compliance with several criteria for allocating CIL funding.

Mr Mathers from EY presented this item.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Report 2017/18 attached to the Report as Appendix 1 be noted.

The Finance Manager and Kevin Suter from Ernst and Young (EY) introduced the Report.

Mr Suter answered questions from Members on the timetable for the audit of accounts and how Winchester’s audit would be accommodated by EY.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the Council’s Statement of Accounts for 2018/19 be noted.

2.         That the amendments to the disclosure of accounting policies be approved.

3.         That the Audit Planning Report be noted.

The Corporate Business Manager introduced the report.

RESOLVED:

That the Local Code of Corporate Governance as set out in Appendix 1 to the Report be approved

Mr Harvey from the Southern Internal Audit Partnership presented this item.

RESOLVED:

That the Internal Audit Charter for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1 to the Report be approved.

The Committee noted that the Report had not been notified for inclusion on the agenda within the statutory deadline.  The Chairman agreed to accept the item onto the agenda as a matter requiring urgent consideration to enable consideration of the item at this meeting.

Councillor Godfrey introduced the Report.

Members asked questions on the information presented and the officers’ responses given are summarised below:

              i.                A Member commented on the gender pay gap and comparisons made in 2017/18 with the national average; those of other public sector bodies and other Councils.  It was stated that the pay gap had increased.

The Head of Human Resources (Interim) replied that the Council was driven by the need to publish figures on 31 March 2018 and the gap had narrowed after that date with a number of female appointments to senior positions in the Council.  The Strategic Director: Resources added that Winchester’s position was better than the national average but that further improvement could be made.  Councillor Godfrey commented that the method of measurement could also be improved upon as it did not look at comparators within scales, between full time and part time staff and types of role undertaken, which were generally equal at Winchester.

A Member suggested that further information for Members with a gender pay comparison within quartiles would ease understanding going forward.

The Strategic Director: Resources added that an external website provided details on gender pay and guidance on fulltime equivalent pay.  The City Council was near average for all organisations that had reported to date and a further update would be made at the next Personnel Committee meeting when all organisations had reported.

            ii.                The Council was proactive in managing sickness.  Although the figures for sickness had increased, the Human Resources Department was working with Occupational Health and Departmental Managers to address issues.  There was good liaison with the Health at Work Group and with Unison.  Mental health was a priority within the Council’s Wellbeing Strategy, and the Head of Human Resources (Interim) had recently qualified to be a Mental Health First Aider.

           iii.                A Member commented on the 15 per cent level of staff turnover.  The Strategic Director: Resources stated that the figure was acceptable as turnover of staff could be viewed as a positive and the turnover figure was also beginning to fall. 

A Member commented that a running total on staff turnover would be beneficial to Members in order to identify trends.

           iv.                Staff briefings were held quarterly.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the Quarter 3 2018/19 Performance Monitoring figures for Organisational Development be noted.

2.            That no items of significance be drawn to the attention of the Portfolio Holder or Cabinet arising from the Performance Information.

RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 14 January 2019, less exempt minute, be approved and adopted.

Mr Harvey from the Southern Internal Audit Partnership presented this item.

Mr Harvey answered Members’ questions as follows:

(i)         There was regular contact with City Council officers to ensure that priority areas were identified for audit and that these reflected the needs of the organisation and addressed significant developments.  Common themes were looked at across organisations, for example, bank account mandate fraud.

(ii)        The Planning and Open Spaces audit would consider the effective utilisation of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and developer contributions from Section 106 agreements.

The future audit of Human Resources and Absence Management and issues in relation to personal and workplace stress were welcomed by the Committee.

The Chairman commented that workshops on training and awareness organised by the Southern Internal Audit Partnership (SIAP) for Audit Committee Chairs and Members would be of benefit.  Mr Harvey stated that he would take up this suggestion with the Head of Partnership at SIAP (Mr Pitman) and with the Strategic Director: Resources.

RESOLVED:

That the Internal Audit Plan for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1 to the Report be approved.

The Strategic Director: Resources and Mr Harvey from the Southern Internal Audit Partnership presented this item.

Mr Harvey updated the meeting that 54% of Audits were now finalised and a further eight (from 13) audit reviews were at or near draft report stage and would be published in the next week.  This gave confidence that the remaining audits would be completed and would inform the annual internal audit report and opinion.

The Strategic Director: Resources and Corporate Business Manager answered questions from Members as summarised below:

i.          The signing of leases by the Hampshire Cultural Trust was progressing and they had now appointed a new member of staff who would take responsibility for completion of the leases.

ii.         The overdue actions on Information Governance related to implementation of the Records Management Policy for the Council, which included a review of the Council’s retention schedule for documents.  As this involved automatic deletion of records that were older than set in the retention schedule, the Council was being cautious so as not to lose key documents in any disposal.

iii.        The eight pending actions for Business Continuity would be removed when the review of business critical functions took place.  This was imminent, and the actions would be completed before the next meeting of the Committee.

iv.        Officers responded to questions relating to Appendix 3 – LGA Peer Challenge – Follow up Action Plan, No1 – Develop evidence based approach to the Council’s understanding of the views and needs of the whole community – and how could it be demonstrated that resident’s views were actioned.  It was stated that Council did have a long tradition in responding to consultations and endeavoured to keep its website up to date by publishing the results of surveys and any action taken thereafter.  There was the Citizens Hub, the Residents Survey and the Young Persons Survey to inform the Council Strategy and it did take time to populate these pages on the website.  The Corporate Business Manager would also give this matter further consideration.

Councillor Ashton also referred to the ‘You said, We did’ initiative and communication involved on the output from consultation on the major projects, for example on the new Sport and Leisure Centre.  A solution to the points raised could be improved indexing on the website to indicate where to search for the outputs from consultation.

RESOLVED:

That the content of the Report and the progress against the Internal Audit Plan and Annual Governance Statement as set out in Appendices 1 and 2 of the Report be noted.

RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 November 2018 be approved and adopted.