Agenda and draft minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting of Cabinet held on 28 February 2024 were agreed.

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Min 166. Devon Place Board.

Councillor Paul Hayward, Affects Non-registerable Interest, his role as Axminster Town Clerk is mentioned in the report.

Min 167. Leisure and sports pitches requirements.

Councillor Matt Hall, Affects Non-registerable Interest, works for Exeter City Council.

 Min 167. Leisure and sports pitches requirements.

Councillor Paul Hayward, Affects Non-registerable Interest, has family members living in Cranbrook.

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There were no members of the public registered to speak.

Information on matters of urgency is available online

There were none.

To agree any items to be dealt with after the public (including the Press) have been excluded. There are two items which officers recommend should be dealt with in this way.

There were two items dealt with in the way which are recorded at Minutes 172 and 173.

Members agreed to note the Minutes and recommendations of Strategic Planning Committee held on 5 March 2024.

Minute 77: East Devon Playing Pitch Strategy

That Strategic Planning Committee recommend the Council should play a role in the delivery and enhancement of the playing pitch provision within the district and that resources should be put in place to enable this work.

The Project Manager - Place and Prosperity provided an update on the work of the Regeneration Forums (Project Groups), established as part of the Devon Place Board project work for Seaton and Axminster. It covered the on-going requirements to monitor the projects set out within the respective Strategy documents and proposed that an officer-led group was established for taking forward the monitoring and reporting via quarterly meetings.

RESOLVED:

That the existing Axminster Renewal Forum and Seaton Project Group be replaced with one officer-led Project Monitoring Group in order to monitor outputs and outcomes of the projects listed within the Regeneration Strategies, previously completed for each town, be agreed.

REASON:

To enable the continued monitoring of the projects identified in the Axminster Renewal Strategy and Seaton Regeneration Strategy and to offer support and advice to stakeholders in delivering projects ensuring effective and efficient use of resources.

The Assistant Director – Countryside & Leisure informed Members that Full Council and Cabinet had formally adopted the Leisure and Built Facilities Strategy 2021-31 and its Action Plan. There were currently significant challenges in meeting the completion deadlines for each priority within the Action Plan. There were also requests for support to help deliver new sports pitches in Honiton and hosting and taking forward the Cranbrook Local Delivery Pilot programme funded by Sport England.

There had been no identification of additional resources both in terms of staffing capacity and new budget allocations. Therefore, it was recommended to carry out a high-level options appraisal of the actions within the Leisure Strategy to develop a costed Implementation Plan with possible options for affordable delivery. This would provide the Council with the necessary financial information to make strategic decisions on what it may wish to deliver from the Strategy going forward. This was one of the recommendations from the recent Peer Review undertaken in conjunction with the Local Government Association.

The Deputy Leader wished to thank the district’s MPs Simon Jupp and Richard Foord for their continued support and efforts for making sure East Devon gets the government funding it was entitled to and not to lose out on any. He hoped that they were fully behind the council in doing what they could for sports and recreation for East Devon residents and asked them to carry on supporting the council to deliver these vital amenities.

Discussions on recommendations 2 and 5 were debated confidentially in the private part of the meeting.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

1.     Approves the appointment of Strategic Leisure to carry out a high-level options appraisal of the Leisure & Built Facilities Strategy 2021-31 with an Implementation Plan, and possible options for delivery to inform decisions on the affordability of the Council’s current and future leisure provision.

2.     Approves the request to create posts for the 2024/25 financial year for the Community Connector, Community Builder and Project Manager posts to support the Sport England Local Delivery Project within Cranbrook, whilst seeking ongoing funding for the three posts to widen the programme to other areas of East Devon to help deliver the wider priorities within the Leisure & Built Facilities Strategy 2021-31.

3.     Approves the request to create a post for a Strategic Leisure Enabler Lead role for the District, to take forward the strategic options for leisure provision in conjunction with wider partners and stakeholders.

RECOMMENDED to Council:

4.     To approve funding from the Council’s General Fund Revenue budget of £85,000 to help support the Estates team with the priority 1 actions identified within the Leisure Strategy action plan on stock condition surveys and renegotiating existing dual use facility agreements.

5.     The provision of a budget of up to £76,974 for the 2024/25 financial year to fund the Community Connector, Community Builder and Project Manager posts, subject to there being a review of future provision and funding. That delegated authority be given to the S151 officer in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 167.

The Licensing Manager sought approval of the combined Regulations for the Management and Control of the East Devon District Council Cemeteries and to include the proposed amendments to the combined regulations following public consultation.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

Approve the introduction of combined Regulations to include proposed amendments for the Management and Control of East Devon District Council Cemeteries.

REASON:

To combine Regulations for the Management and Control of EDDC Cemeteries subject to proposed amendments following a public consultation. EDDC currently had three sets of regulations for the managed cemeteries within the district.

The Monitoring Officer was seeking approval for a draft Protocol in relation to the introduction of Councillor basic Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) checks and consideration of any safeguarding issues.

RECOMMENDED to Council:

That the Councillor DBS Checks and Safeguarding Protocol to form part of the Council’s Constitution, be agreed.

REASON:

The Council had decided as part of its Safeguarding Policy to undertake DBS checks for members. It was important that a process was put in place for undertaking those checks and introducing a risk assessment process should any convictions and safeguarding concerns be identified.

The Building Control Manager’s report explained that in accordance with the provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022, the Council was obliged to confirm its hourly charging rate for Building Control consultancy services to the new HSE Building Safety Regulator (BSR) in relation to High-Risk Buildings. This had been calculated to be £97.41 per hour + VAT.

RESOLVED:

That the hourly rate used to calculate external recharges for consultancy services to the Building Safety Regulator set at £97.41 per hour + VAT, be agreed.

REASON:

1.     To ensure that BC service could adequately recover incurred costs associated with providing this consultancy service to the BSR.

2.     The proposed revisions were in line with the methodology set out in Appendix A of the DLUHC circular letter.

3.     Charges rates were to be reviewed annually and adjusted as appropriate to ensure cost recovery.

The Vice Chair to move the following:

“that under Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting as exempt information, of the description set out on the agenda, is likely to be disclosed and on balance the public interest is in discussing this item in private session (Part B)”.

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting as exempt and private information (as set out against each Part B agenda item), is likely to be disclosed and on balance the public interest is in discussing the items in private session (Part B).

The Feniton Flood Alleviation Scheme was progressing and the previous sub order to deliver detailed design and updated modelling had increased due to an increase in scope.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

Agree to extend the existing contract to enter a contract to deliver the construction of Feniton Flood Alleviation Scheme.

REASON:

The designer/safety/environmental specialists were already in contract, via a framework agreement. Due to scope increase, including site supervision provision, the council wished to extend the contract.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

Approve the amended recommendations as outlined in the report.