Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Wooding.

There were no urgent items.

Councillor FitzGerald indicated his wish to speak on items 10 and 13, Councillor Warner indicated his wish to speak on items 9, 10 and 11 and Councillor Mrs Wilson indicated her wish to speak on items 10, 11 and 14.

There were no disclosures.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED: That the items on the agenda be taken in public as proposed but should it be necessary to discuss the Exempt Appendix to the Report of the Assistant Director of Development and Community Strategy then this would be discussed in private.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 April 2009 were approved as a correct record and signed.

1.  That the Annual Governance Statement attached at Appendix A to the Report of the Chief Executive be endorsed.

2.  That the Annual Governance Statement be referred to the Audit Committee for their consideration.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix A).

1.  That the amended Local Code of Corporate Governance as set out in Appendix A of the Report of the Chief Executive be agreed.

2.  That the Local Code of Corproate Governance be referred to the  Audit Committee for their comments.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix B).

1.  That an application under the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act be considered if:

(a)  there is any objective or outcome identified in the Maidstone Sustainable Communities Strategy that cannot be achieved effectively without either a change in responsibilities or legislation,

(b)  any proposals are brought forward to the Council from the community which cannot be progressed effectively without a change in responsibilities or legislation,

(c)  there is an opportunity to achieve either of the above through a joint application with another or several other Councils. 

2.  That any such application is subject to:

(a)  consultation in accordance with the provisions of the Sustainable Communities Act,

(b)  the application representing good use of the Authority’s scarce resources.

3.  That the Council establishes a consultation panel in collaboration with LSP partners which meets the requirements and spirit of the Sustainable Communities Act.

4.  That the Council publicises the opportunities created by the Sustainable Communities Act so that any group or individual in the community can explore the option and request the Council to make an application to the selector if appropriate.

5.  That the Regeneration and Sustainable Communities Overview & Scrutiny Committee be invited to consider proposals to be promoted to the LGA as part of its work programme for 2009/10 and future years.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix C).

1.  That the amendment of resources allocated to projects and programmes already agreed in principle for 2009-12 as set out in Appendix A of the Report of the Corporate Management Team be agreed.

2.  That the allocation of capital resources for housing, prosperity, regeneration and infrastructure schemes and programmes of work set out in Appendix D of the Report of the Corporate Management Team including the application of Growth Point funding to this programme be agreed.

3.  That prudential borrowing of up to £2m in the period to 31^st March 2012 within the £4m already approved in principle in February 2009 as part of the Treasury Management Strategy and that provision is made in revenue budgets for 2010/11 and 2011/12 as appropriate be agreed.

4.  That the change in approach for funding the Museum East Wing extension project, as set out in the Report of the Corporate Management Team, be agreed.

5.  That a report be received setting out proposed delivery arrangements for the capital programme as it relates to property, regeneration and infrastructure.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix D).

That the corporate Fees and Charges policy attached at Appendix A of the Report of the Director of Resources and Partnerships be agreed for implementation during 2009 to impact on the financial year 2010/11.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix E).

1.  That the provisional outturn figures for Revenue and Capital for 2008/09 be noted.

2.  That the provisional Capital Funding to cover capital spend in 2008/09 be agreed.

3.  That the carry forward of underspend in the Capital Programme during the final quarter of 2008/09 be agreed.

4.  That the following be agreed:-

i)  the use of £110,404 from balances to cover the residual income under recovery in 2008/09; and

ii)  a total of £1,140,770 from the list of carry forward requests reported in Appendix C of the Report of the Head of Finance, by reducing the value of the request for Unitary Status and Joint Working to £50,000 and removing the following requests:

  £

  Support for Overview & Scrutiny Team  6,000

  e-learning Fraud & Corruption Awareness

  package  6,000

  Licensing – temporary staff funding  13,100

  Smoke-free money  10,400

5.  That the impact on the Balance Sheet of the provisional outturn for 2008/09 be noted.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix F).

1.  That the focus, objectives and activities outlined below, which will form the basis of the review, be agreed.

2.  That the structure and process of the review including the timetable; review team; and the involvement of the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee be agreed.

3.  That, in accordance with the Best Value Framework, further reports be considered at the remaining two stages of the review process in relation to options and improvement.

4.  To consider any recommendations of the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the scope of the review.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix G).

1.  That the recommendations of the Jury Panel be endorsed and delegated authority be given to the Director of Prosperity and Regeneration to enter into negotiations with Letts Wheeler to refine further their design and to agree fees up to that stated in paragraph 1.2.4 of the Exempt Appendix to the Report of the Assistant Director of Development and Community Strategy.

2.  That delegated authority be given to the Head of Corporate Law & Legal Services to appoint and enter into a contract with Letts Wheeler on terms agreed by the Director of Prosperity and Regeneration.

3.  That a further report is presented to Cabinet once the conceptual designs have been refined and finalised.

RESOLVED:  See Record of Decision of the Cabinet (copy attached as Appendix H).

4.00 pm to 5.40 pm