Agenda, decisions and minutes

When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (during office hours staff should proceed to their usual assembly point; outside of office hours proceed to the visitors’ car park). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.  

12.1          The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

13.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors S R Dove, D W Gray and J K Smith.  Councillors K Pervaiz, R J E Vines and M J Williams would be substitutes for the meeting.

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 24 January 2023 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 February 2023, as set out in Minute No. CL.72, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

14.1          The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 24 January 2023 and took effect on 1 February 2023.

14.2          The following declarations were made:

14.3          There were no further declarations made on this occasion,

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2023.

15.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

To receive any questions, deputations or petitions submitted under Rule of Procedure 12.

(The deadline for public participation submissions for this meeting is 6 July 2023)

16.1          There were no items from members of the public. 

To recommend to Council that the Local Development Scheme for Tewkesbury Borough be adopted as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, to take immediate effect and that authority be delegated to the Associate Director: Planning, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to prepare the Local Development Scheme for publication, correcting any minor errors such as spelling, grammar, typographical and formatting changes that do not affect its substantive content. 

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that:

i)                 the Local Development Scheme for Tewkesbury Borough (Appendix 1) be ADOPTED and takes immediate effect; and

ii)                authority be delegated to the Associate Director for Planning, in consultation with the Lead Member for the Built Environment, to prepare the Local Development Scheme for publication correcting any minor errors such as spelling, grammar, typological and formatting changes that do not affect its substantive content.

17.1           The report of the Interim Planning Policy Manager, circulated at Pages No. 7-15, asked Members to recommend to Council that the Local Development Scheme for Tewkesbury Borough, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, be adopted and take immediate effect; and that authority be delegated to the Associate Director: Planning, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to prepare the Local Development Scheme for publication, correcting any minor errors such as spelling, grammar, typological and formatting changes that do not affect its substantive content.

17.2           In proposing the report recommendation, the Lead Member for Built Environment advised that all local planning authorities were required to prepare and keep up to date a Local Development Scheme (LDS).  The LDS set out what development plan documents the Council was intending to prepare in the coming three year period and the proposed timetable for doing so.  It was, therefore, an important way for communities and developers to keep track of progress on plan-making.  As Members would be aware, local plans were vital in setting a vision for growth, co-ordinating infrastructure and protecting the environment and there were real consequences of not having an up-to-date plan under the National Planning Policy Framework.  It was vitally important that the Council update, or replace, the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) as quickly as possible given that it was already overdue.  She advised that Tewkesbury Borough Council already had an LDS which was adopted around 15 months ago and set out a commitment to prepare a Joint Strategic Plan with Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils to replace the Joint Core Strategy which was adopted in 2017; however, it had been recognised for some time that it was necessary to re-think the approach and resources required to replace the Joint Core Strategy – discussions over many months had recognised that the cycle of preparing strategic plans followed by district local plans, each of which was subject to independent examination by the government, was both costly and time-consuming.  On that basis, the report was proposing a revised LDS setting out a new way of approaching the task with the three councils moving to collaboratively preparing a single plan containing both strategic and non-strategic policies.  This would have several advantages, as set out in the report; principally, it was the most effective way of discharging the statutory duty to co-operate as well as saving time and money in terms of being able to hold a single public examination.  The Lead Member indicated that she was instinctively cautious about the approach and she was sure Members would agree it was vital that policies governing approaches to development in Tewkesbury town and the borough’s beautiful villages and rural areas should remain the discretion of Tewkesbury Borough Council and not get lost amongst a wider more general plan; however, that same principle was also important to Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils and she was reassured that Tewkesbury Borough Council’s “sovereignty” to draw up district or locality based policies could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To recommend to Council that a virement of £120,000 from the local pay review budget to the new Planning Partnership base budget be approved and the new Planning Policy Officer post (included in the 2023/24 budget as a growth item) be moved to the Planning Partnership budget (ca. £40,000). 

 That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

i.                 that a virement of £120,000 from the local pay review budget to the Planning Partnership base budget is approved; and

ii.                the new Planning Policy Officer post (included in the 2023-24 budget as a growth item) be moved to the Planning Partnership budget (ca. £40,000).

18.1           The report of the Planning Policy Manager and Associate Director: Finance, circulated at Pages No. 16-19, asked Members to agree an increased financial contribution to the new Planning Partnership in order to ensure sufficient resources were available to prepare a sound development plan for the borough.  Members were asked to recommend to Council that a virement of £120,000 from the local pay review budget to the Planning Partnership base budget be approved and that the new Planning Policy Officer post (included in the 2023/24 budget as a growth item) be moved to the Planning Partnership budget (ca. £40,000).

18.2          In proposing the report recommendation, the Lead Member for Built Environment advised that the Planning Partnership between Gloucester City, Cheltenham Borough and Tewkesbury Borough Councils had existed since 2008/09 and, since that date, all partner councils had contributed £60,000 per annum.  This had been regularly topped-up with one-off amounts due to the true cost of delivering the Joint Core Strategy.  As such, this report intended to ensure accurate budgeting for the full cost of preparing a development plan for the borough.  As she had mentioned in the previous Agenda Item, it was vital that plans were kept up-to-date; however, this was not easy and the replacement of the Joint Core Strategy was already overdue.  In particular, all local plans were tested by a government inspector to assess whether the duty to co-operate had been complied with, especially where housing needs arising in tightly constrained urban areas needed to be met in part in adjoining rural areas; to ensure the plan was based on robust evidence including assessment of alternative strategy options; and that the plan had been subject to statutory stages of public consultation.  Following a review in 2022 looking at the resources needed to produce the next joint and local plan, Deloitte LLP worked out that each district council would need to contribute £220,000 per annum going forwards.  Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils had already agreed the increased budgetary contribution and Tewkesbury Borough Council needed to do the same in order to ensure the partnership continued in the future.  The additional £160,000 per annum would be comprised of two parts; the new Planning Policy Officer post agreed in the 2023/24 budget would now transfer to the Joint Core Strategy budget, and the remaining £120,000 would be taken from the budget set aside to meet the outcomes of the local pay review – this review was complete and the balance of £126,425 was no longer required to fund further pay increases.  Making provision for sufficient funding at this early stage in the process would ensure the programme was fully resourced and fit for purpose. 

18.3           The proposal was seconded and the Chair invited questions.  A Member queried whether consideration was given to population when determining the appropriate contribution for each authority as Tewkesbury Borough had a lower population than the other two authority areas.  In response, the Chair indicated that certain elements of the preparation of the plan had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To receive and respond to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee‘s review of the 2022/23 quarter four performance management information. 

That the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s review of the quarter four 2022/23 performance management information be NOTED.    

19.1           The report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated at Pages No. 20-82, asked Members to review and respond to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s review of the quarter four 2022/23 performance management information.

19.2           The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee introduced himself and the Vice-Chair of the Committee and gave a short presentation during which he explained that the Committee’s ambition was to be an effective and intelligent mirror for the Borough Council and to act as a critical friend.  The Committee also recognised the breadth and depth of work faced by the Council and wished to support the Executive Committee in any way it could.  The Committee also recognised the requirement for constant learning and would be working with the Director: Corporate Resources and Democratic Services to create a programme of development to assist Members in carrying out their scrutiny role.  He made reference to the number of environment-associated issues which Members had picked up from the performance tracker such as the waste vehicle fleet, reduction in the recycling rate, grass cutting, the Grange Field and ‘greening’ in relation to the High Street Heritage Action Zone.  The Committee had also noted there was very little within the Executive Committee Forward Plan to reflect the Council’s recent motion declaring a climate and ecological emergency.  He went on to explain that, going forward, the Committee intended to be more selective in calling for briefings on particular topics as, historically, many of the presentations would have been relevant to the whole Membership.  On that basis, some of those which had been included within the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2023/24 had been removed and referred to the Director: Corporate Resources who was compiling a programme of briefings for all Members.

19.3           Moving to the performance tracker, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that the Committee had noted and applauded a number of positive outcomes including the solar canopy, supermarket vouchers, planning application tracker, national recognition, affordable housing, planning enforcement, freedom of information, High Street Heritage Action Zone payments, improvements to the Licensing service, visitor numbers to Tewkesbury and Winchcombe Tourist Information Centres, use of the Growth Hub and work with the Voluntary and Community Sector.  In terms of finance and resources, Members had been keen to continue to monitor the Trade Waste project, particularly in terms of the timeframe for exiting the service and how it was being communicated as there were a number of associated risks which needed to be monitored.  With regard to economic growth, the Committee looked forward to scrutinising the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy in September and he welcomed the Lead Member for Economic Development/Promotion attending the meeting for that item.  Members had discussed the business grants scheme and, in recognition of the fact that £100,000 which had been put aside was no longer needed and had been returned to the pot, had questioned the Executive Director: Resources and S151 about uncommitted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

To consider the Council’s general fund outturn for 2022/23, the financing of the capital programme and the annual treasury management report and performance and to approve the transfers to and from earmarked reserves.

1. That the General Fund outturn for 2022/23, the financing of the capital programme and the annual treasury management report and performance be NOTED.
2. That the transfers to and from earmarked reserves be APPROVED. 

20.1           The report of the Executive Director: Resources, circulated at Pages No. 83-107, highlighted the Council’s financial performance for the previous year, setting out the General Fund and capital outturn positions.  Members were asked to consider the General Fund outturn for 2022/23, the financing of the capital programme and the annual treasury management report and performance and to approve the transfers to and from earmarked reserves.

20.2           In introducing the report, the Associate Director: Finance advised that the final revenue outturn position for the financial year 2022/23 showed a £1m surplus.  In terms of service expenditure, employee costs were £389,343 underspent, largely as a result of high staff turnover and vacancies in a number of departments.  Payments to third parties included £138,000 on various planning appeals as well as additional provisions being made for planning appeals that were currently being challenged which amounted to £330,000; in addition, £140,000 of planning appeals had been funded from reserves, therefore, the total cost of planning appeals for 2022/23 was £608,000.  Additional income had been generated, particularly within planning and licensing, and external grant funding was also received through the year as well as a £300,000 planning software grant to be used in the coming financial year.  The treasury outturn for 2022/23 was positive due to rising interest rates and assurance was provided that the Prudential indicators were monitored regularly with no deviations during the year.  In terms of the Council’s commercial premises, a gross rental income of £3.19m had been produced, a yield of 5%.  This was approximately £178,000 less than budget due to a vacant unit; however, all units were now fully tenanted.  Business rates showed a £448,000 surplus against budget and Tewkesbury Borough Council benefited from being in the Gloucestershire Business Rates Pool which had generated a further £380,000.    A full explanation of all variances exceeding £25,000 at group subjective level was attached at Appendix A to the report which also contained an explanation of the variance on the corporate codes.  A breakdown of the Council’s reserves as at 31 March 2023 was attached at Appendix B to the report which included a breakdown of the previous year’s reserves.  Total revenue reserves stood at £28.42m which included earmarked reserves, planning obligations and the general fund working balance.  Whilst the Council’s planned capital programme for 2022/23 was £3.03m, £2.6m had been spent on capital projects during the year utilising £162,000 of capital reserves, £1.9m of capital grants and £587,000 from revenue.  Following the allocation of capital receipts, the balance on capital reserves had increased to £2.1m as at 31 March 2023.  In terms of treasury management, this was governed by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice which the Council had adopted and included a requirement for Members to receive an annual review report after the financial year end, accordingly, a detailed treasury report was attached at Appendix D and included a summary of activity and the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) the Council was required to report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To agree to adopt use of mobile surveillance equipment as a long-term measure to support fly-tipping investigations and enforcement and to consider the request from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to increase the number of cameras in use.

1. That use of mobile surveillance equipment be ADOPTED as a long-term measure to support fly-tipping investigations and enforcement.
2. That the request from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to increase the number of cameras in use be APPROVED.

21.1          The report of the Head of Service: Environmental Health, circulated at Pages No. 108-112, summarised the results of the trial of mobile surveillance equipment to assist with fly-tipping enforcement and the recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding its future use.  Members were asked to adopt the use of mobile surveillance as a long term measure to support fly-tipping investigations and enforcement and to consider the request from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to increase the number of cameras in use.

21.2           In proposing the report recommendation, the Lead Member for Clean and Green Environment advised that, in October 2021, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had approved the trial of two CCTV cameras to assist with fly-tipping enforcement.  This had been agreed on the basis that the Court fines the Council had been able to obtain using traditional investigative methods had been disappointing - several local authorities had achieved much higher fines, and custodial sentences, as a result of the high quality evidence produced by CCTV surveillance.  The trial of two rapid deployment CCTV cameras had commenced in autumn 2022 with the cameras installed at two locations known to be “hotspots” for fly-tipping.  In accordance with legal requirements, the presence of the cameras at each location was advertised by signage.  This had acted as a deterrent and resulted in a dramatic decrease in reported fly-tips in the six months following installation with one incident at location one, compared to 11 in the 12 months prior to installation, and no incidents at location two compared to three in the 12 months prior.  The camera at location one had also obtained clear footage of a fly-tip incident that had taken place and was currently being investigated.  The results of the trial suggested that the presence of camera and signage represented an effective deterrent to fly-tippers; furthermore, the trial demonstrated that the cameras were capable of capturing high quality evidence of fly-tipping incidents.  The cameras used were overt rapid deployment cameras powered by a lithium battery; they were easy to install and could be deployed or moved at short notice.  Each camera connected to a secure server hosted by Vodafone and footage could be reviewed remotely by Officers via an app.  The benefit of these cameras compared to covert surveillance was that footage could be reviewed remotely without the need to be retrieved and downloaded regularly from the cameras; no material was stored on the cameras thus mitigating the data protection risk to the Council should they be lost or stolen; and there was no requirement to apply to the Court for covert surveillance approval under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).  A privacy impact assessment had been completed and approved for the cameras.  In March 2023, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommended to the Executive Committee that the Council adopt the use of mobile surveillance equipment as a long-term measure to support fly-tipping investigations and enforcement; and that consideration be given to increasing the number of cameras in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

To consider the Committee’s Forward Plan.  

That the Executive Committee’s Forward Plan be NOTED.    

22.1          Attention was drawn to the Committee’s Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 113-124, which Members were asked to consider.

22.2          A Member indicated that she had asked, at the last meeting, for the Council’s declaration of a climate and ecological emergency to be reflected in the forthcoming work of the Committee and the Chair recognised that various items had been requested for inclusion on the Forward Plan, specifically in relation to the Council motion, and he advised that an update on the carbon reduction action plan would be brought to the meeting in September.  The Director: Corporate Resources explained that Members had put forward several suggestions on how the Executive Committee Forward Plan could be shaped and, following the meeting, he had looked at a number of forward plans used by other authorities concluding that they were much the same in terms of style.  A column for ‘Lead Member’ had been added to the Forward Plan included with today’s Agenda in order for Members to identify which items came within their own portfolios and it was intended to make further changes to the document prior to the September meeting of the Committee to provide a more detailed overview of each item, for the benefits of Members and residents, and to add links to background papers, where possible, as well as identifying where each item sat within the Council hierarchy, for instance, if it was within the Council Plan, a service plan or a governance issue.  The Chair thanked Officers for their work to date and appreciated that Member requests were being promptly responded to.

22.3          Accordingly, it was

The Chair will move the adoption of the following resolution:

That under Section 100(A)(4) Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

23.1          The Chair proposed, and it was

RESOLVED           That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely discussion of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.  

To approve the separate Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 7 June 2023.

24.1          The separate Minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair. 

(Exempt –Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 – Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual)

To make a recommendation to Council in relation to the findings of the Garden Town Gateway Review and the next steps.

(Exempt – Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 – Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual)

25.1          Members considered the findings of the gateway review of the Garden Town programme, and the proposed next steps for a refreshed approach, and recommended to Council that the 17 recommendations from the gateway review report form the basis of a new approach, with greater focus on engagement with communities and robust programme management; and that the new approach be brought back to Executive Committee for approval in September, including details on how the programme would be monitored.