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.  

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

68.2          The Chair welcomed Councillor M Dimond-Brown to the meeting and advised that he was in attendance as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Agenda Item 6 – Council Plan Performance Tracker – Quarter Two 2023/24.

68.3          In accordance with Procedure Rule 1.2 of the Council’s Constitution, the Chair indicated that he had exercised his discretion to vary the order of business so that Agenda Item 7 – Treasury and Capital Management would be taken after Agenda Item 9 – Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground.

69.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C F Coleman, D W Gray and M G Sztymiak.  Councillor P N Workman would be a substitute 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.

70.1          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. 

70.2          There were no further declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2023.

71.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record, subject to the following amendments, and signed by the Chair:

Minute No. EX.62.3 – Additional sentence to be added to the end of the paragraph as follows: Other Members indicated they had also not received the consultation email and it was stated that, if Councillors did not respond to consultations in relation to their Ward, there should be a mechanism to remind them.

Minute No. EX.63.3 – Additional sentence to be added as follows: A Member questioned how many consultation responses had been received and again indicated that she did not recall having seen it.  The Licensing Team Leader advised that four consultation responses had been received including one from Tewkesbury Town Council.  Other Members confirmed they had also not received the consultation email and it was stated that, if Councillors did not respond to consultations in relation to their Ward, there should be a mechanism to remind them.

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

(The deadline for public participation submissions for this meeting is Thursday 4 January 2024)

72.1          There were no items from members of the public. 

To receive and respond to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee‘s review of the 2023/24 quarter two performance management information.

That the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s review of the quarter two 2023/24 performance management information be NOTED.    

73.1          The report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated separately, asked Members to review and respond to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s review of the quarter two 2023/24 performance management information.

73.2          The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee advised that the Committee was generally happy with the second quarter performance of the Council; however, as set out at Paragraph 4c of his report, it remained concerned about the performance under the heading ‘Housing and Communities’, firstly, in terms of the housing services information within the tracker which made it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about the performance of that service and, secondly, in relation to planning and the narrative around the level of appeals, cost of appeals and housing land supply issues which had coincided with the press reporting that Tewkesbury Borough Council was 310^th out of 324 authorities across England in terms of determining non-major planning applications.  It was noted that a Member briefing was due to take place the following week to update on the progress of the Development Management Improvement Programme and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be listening with interest.

73.3          The Lead Member for Built Environment indicated that, whilst the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was right to have concerns, it would be beneficial for the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to speak with herself or the Associate Director: Planning to get an up-to-date stance on what improvements had been made and the effects they were having; she had attended a Development Management meeting that morning and the improvement was very encouraging.  The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee welcomed those comments and recognised that his report reflected scrutiny of the second quarter of the year as opposed to the latest statistics so he was sure there would be improvement when the Committee considered quarter three performance next month. 

73.4          The Chair offered to put in place a series of regular meetings for himself and the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in order to discuss points outside of the meeting regarding closer working between the two Committees.   The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed that a regular meeting would be beneficial and pointed out that other items, such as the Communications Strategy, had been discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting which he would be writing to the Chair of the Executive Committee separately about. 

73.5          The Chair of the Executive Committee advised that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would like to encourage Lead Members to attend meetings of the Committee if there was a relevant report on the Agenda.  A Member recognised that the Agenda for the meetings could be accessed online but felt it would be beneficial if Lead Members could be notified in advance of that as to when their reports were due to be taken to the Committee.

73.6          It was

To RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that establishment of a Community Infrastructure Levy Joint Committee with the Terms of Reference as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, including the pooling of strategic Community Infrastructure Levy monies by Cheltenham Borough, Gloucester City and Tewkesbury Borough Councils be APPROVED; that the amended Infrastructure List, as set out at Appendix 2 to the report, be APPROVED for publication; and that engagement with a wide range of infrastructure providers e.g. NHS, emergency services, Environment Agency be ENDORSED in order to identify any wider infrastructure priorities to be considered by the Community Infrastructure Levy Joint Committee.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.    That establishment of a Community Infrastructure Levy Joint Committee with the Terms of Reference as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, including the pooling of strategic Community Infrastructure Levy monies by Cheltenham Borough, Gloucester City and Tewkesbury Borough Councils be APPROVED.

2.    That the amended Infrastructure List, as set out at Appendix 2 to the report, be APPROVED for publication.

3.    That engagement with a wide range of infrastructure providers e.g. NHS, emergency services, Environment Agency be ENDORSED in order to identify any wider infrastructure priorities to be considered by the Community Infrastructure Levy Joint Committee.

74.1          The report of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Manager, circulated at Pages No. 51-72, set out the proposed governance arrangements for the allocation of CIL infrastructure funding.  Members were asked to recommend to Council that establishment of a CIL Joint Committee with Terms of Reference as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, including the pooling of strategic CIL monies by Cheltenham Borough, Gloucester City and Tewkesbury Borough Councils, be approved; that the amended Infrastructure List, set out at Appendix 2 to the report, be approved for publication; and that engagement with a wide range of infrastructure providers e.g. NHS, emergency services, Environment Agency be endorsed in order to identify any wider infrastructure priorities to be considered by the CIL Joint Committee.

74.2          In proposing the report recommendation, the Lead Member for Built Environment advised that the Executive Committee’s support was being sought to establish a CIL Joint Committeeto provide governance for the allocation of the strategic infrastructure part of CIL receipts collected by the three partner councils and recommended approval of the Terms of Reference for the Joint Committee; to pool strategic CIL Infrastructure funding by the three partner councils; to publish an amended Infrastructure List; and to engage with a wider range of infrastructure providers to identify other priorities for consideration by the Joint Committee for inclusion on the Infrastructure List.  The Terms of Reference, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, included an agreement to pool funding, subject to a periodic review, and required consensus of all three partner councils for proposed allocations with decisions and reviews to be reported to Executive Committee and the Cabinets of the partner authorities.  Gloucestershire County Council would be entitled to attend meetings but would have no voting rights and would not be able to scrutinise bids for funding.  The second part of the recommendation was around publication of an amended joint Infrastructure List, last published as part of the Infrastructure Funding Statement in December 2023, and it was recognised that a full reassessment of the Infrastructure Delivery Plan, upon which the Infrastructure List approved for publication in the December Infrastructure Funding Statement 2020 was based, was required and would take place alongside the preparation of the Strategic and Local Plan (SLP).  Members would recall that when CIL funding was received it went into three pots - up to 5% may be used for administrative costs; either 15% or 25%, depending on whether a Neighbourhood Development Plan was in place, must be passed to the Parish in which the development took place; and the remaining 70% to 80% must be spent in accordance with Regulation 59 of the CIL Regulations 2010 on the “provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure to support the development of its area”.  It was the third pot that was proposed to be pooled.  The amended Infrastructure List, attached at Appendix 2 to the report, was the Infrastructure List approved for publication in December 2023 with an amendment made at the request of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

To RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the revised version of the Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground be APPROVED with the dashes in the “agreements” section removed and the removal of Appendix 3 to the previously approved version; and that authority be delegated to the Executive Director: Place, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make those amendments along with any necessary minor amendments, corrections and additions to in respect of any spelling, grammatical, cross-referencing, typographical errors and/or factual updates prior to signing by the Leader or Chief Executive.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that:

i)              the revised version of the Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground be APPROVED with the dashes in the “agreements” section removed and the removal of Appendix 3 to the previously approved version; and

ii)             authority be delegated to the Executive Director: Place, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make those amendments along with any necessary minor amendments, corrections and additions to in respect of any spelling, grammatical, cross-referencing, typographical errors and/or factual updates prior to signing by the Leader or Chief Executive.

75.1          The report of the Director: Communities, circulated at Pages No. 73-109, asked the Executive Committee to recommend to Council that the revised version of the Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground be approved with the dashes in the “agreements” section removed and the removal of Appendix 3 to the previously approved version and that authority be delegated to the Executive Director: Place, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make those amendments along with any necessary minor amendments, corrections and additions in respect of any spelling, grammatical, cross-referencing, typographical errors and/or factual updates prior to signing by the Leader or Chief Executive.

75.2          In proposing the report, the Lead Member for Built Environment advised that the Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground had been prepared by the six local planning authorities in Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire County Council and the GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). It was a non-statutory document which had been approved by Council in January 2023.  The Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground included a series of 37 high level agreements dealing with a broad range of environmental issues and land use matters including addressing the climate and ecological emergencies, housing and economic needs, Green Belt, transport provision, natural environment and green infrastructure.  At that time, Tewkesbury Borough Council approved a version of the Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground with a number of caveats to the agreements.  This report was asking the Council to fully sign up to all of the agreements within the Gloucestershire Statement of Common Ground and remove any caveats to bring Tewkesbury Borough Council into alignment with partners across the county.  In seconding the proposal, the Chair indicated that he had not been comfortable with the opt-outs previously agreed by the Council and he was grateful to Officers for the work they had done to bring this back to Committee.

75.3          A Member expressed their support for the revised document and another Member indicated that, from their perspective as a new Borough Councillor, they could not understand why the opt-outs had been agreed in the first place.  Upon being taken to the vote, it was

To RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL that the Capital Strategy 2024/25, Investment Strategy 2024/25, Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2024/25 and Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25 be ADOPTED.

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the following be ADOPTED:

·        Capital Strategy 2024/25, subject to the replacement of Table 11 as set out at Appendix A, Page No. 26, with the updated table, circulated separately;

·        Investment Strategy 2024/25;

·        Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2024/25; and

·        Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25.

76.1          The report of the Associate Director: Finance, circulated at Pages No. 17-50 and the amendment circulated separately, asked the Committee to recommend to Council adoption of the Capital Strategy 2024/25; the Investment Strategy 2024/25; the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2024/25; and the Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25.

76.2          In proposing the report recommendation, the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management advised that the report included four key documents which were developed to offer assurance to Members, the local community and wider stakeholders that the Council’s finances were being managed in an appropriate and sustainable way across the next year and beyond.  By having these strategies in place, it ensured the authority was in line with the expectations of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Prudential Code.  The documents were updated on an annual basis and the strategies before Members were based on those agreed last year with no major amendments.  He pointed out that a supplementary paper had been circulated separately in relation to the Capital Strategy which updated the incorrect figures in Table 11 of Appendix A at Page No. 26 of the report.  Members would be aware that quarterly financial reports were taken to the Executive Committee which included an update on the Prudential Indicators in line with CIPFA expectations, as such, the actual figures and financial position could be scrutinised on a regular basis throughout the financial year.

76.3          The proposal was seconded and, upon being put to the vote, it was

To consider the Committee’s Forward Plan.  

That the Executive Committee Forward Plan be NOTED. 

77.1          Attention was drawn to the Executive Committee’s Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 111-120, which Members were asked to consider.

77.2          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.

78.1           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 29 November 2023.

79.1          The separate Minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.