Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Greer and Wilson.

There were no urgent items.

There were no Visiting Members.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

Councillor Paine disclosed that he had been lobbied with regard to Agenda Item 9 – King Street Multi Storey Car Park.

RESOLVED: That the Items on the Agenda be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 August 2012 be approved as a correct record and signed.

1.  That a proactive approach to the Community Right to Challenge be agreed.

2.  That the windows of opportunity when the Council will accept expressions of interest for services from suitable bodies, as set out in the draft programme attached at Appendix A to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, be agreed.

3.  That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services be appointed to champion the strategic development of the agreed approach with the appropriate Head(s) of Service and consult with other Cabinet Members affected by any particular challenges.

DECISION MADE:

1.  That a proactive approach to the Community Right to Challenge be agreed.

2.  That the windows of opportunity when the Council will accept expressions of interest for services from suitable bodies, as set out in the draft programme attached at Appendix A to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, be agreed.

3.  That the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services be appointed to champion the strategic development of the agreed approach with the appropriate Head(s) of Service and consult with other Cabinet Members affected by any particular challenges.

To view full details of this decision, please click here:-

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1.  That the demolition of the building be agreed. 

2.  That the submission of a planning application for, and construction of, a surface level car park be agreed.

3.  That development opportunities continue to be sought for the longer term use of the site.

DECISION MADE:

1.  That the demolition of the building be agreed. 

2.  That the submission of a planning application for, and construction of, a surface level car park be agreed.

3.  That development opportunities continue to be sought for the longer term use of the site.

To view full details of this decision, please click here:-

http://meetings.maidstone.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=610

1.  That the three areas of investment be supported, subject to the controls set out in the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services.

2.  That a member advisory panel be established in accordance with the terms of reference set out in Appendix 2 to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services.

3.  That a Cabinet Committee be established, in accordance with the terms set out in Appendix 2 to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, to make decisions on possible acquisitions, having regard to the views of the members advisory panel.  The committee to comprise of the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development and the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services. The remaining Cabinet Members are able to be appointed as substitute members of the Committee.

4.  That an agent or agents be appointed on a commission only basis, in accordance with the maximum sliding scale identified in Appendix 1 to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, to bring forward potential acquisitions on a confidential basis.

5.  That the Audit Committee and the Council be recommended to authorise prudential borrowing of up to £6million within the current financial year 2012/13 and to set aside a fund of £500,000 from balances to cover any potential scheme failure.

DECISION MADE:

1.  That the three areas of investment be supported, subject to the controls set out in the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services.

2.  That a member advisory panel be established in accordance with the terms of reference set out in Appendix 2 to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services.

3.  That a Cabinet Committee be established, in accordance with the terms set out in Appendix 2 to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, to make decisions on possible acquisitions, having regard to the views of the members advisory panel.  The committee to comprise of the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member for Economic and Commercial Development and the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services. The remaining Cabinet Members are able to be appointed as substitute members of the Committee.

4.  That an agent or agents be appointed on a commission only basis, in accordance with the maximum sliding scale identified in Appendix 1 to the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, to bring forward potential acquisitions on a confidential basis.

5.  That the Audit Committee and the Council be recommended to authorise prudential borrowing of up to £6million within the current financial year 2012/13 and to set aside a fund of £500,000 from balances to cover any potential scheme failure.

To view full details of this decision, please click here:-

http://meetings.maidstone.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=611

1.  That the new opportunities for commercial activity identified in the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services be agreed and put through the business model process.

2.  That a similar business model process be used to bring forward opportunities relating to existing commercial activity.

3.  That the Council’s fund of £500k, as agreed in the decision regarding Investment Opportunities to meet possible investment failure, be also used in the event that a commercial venture fails or does not meet the expected return.

DECISION MADE:

1.  That the new opportunities for commercial activity identified in the report of the Assistant Director of Environment and Regulatory Services be agreed and put through the business model process.

2.  That a similar business model process be used to bring forward opportunities relating to existing commercial activity.

3.  That the Council’s fund of £500k, as agreed in the decision regarding Investment Opportunities to meet possible investment failure, be also used in the event that a commercial venture fails or does not meet the expected return.

To view full details of this decision, please click here:-

http://meetings.maidstone.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=612

The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Change and Scrutiny regarding progress made in the first quarter of 2012/13 for the authority’s key performance indicators (KPIs).

RESOLVED:

1.  That the progress and out-turns of the KPIs (Appendix A to the report of Head of Change & Scrutiny) be noted.

2.  That actions to address the continued pressure on the housing service which is key to the achievement of the Council’s priority  ‘For Maidstone to be a decent place to live’ be agreed:

HSG PS 002 – Number of homes occupied by vulnerable people made decent – The lower level of performance is attributed to reduced take up of grant programmes targeted at vulnerable households and an increased number of service requests relating to non-vulnerable households. This target was also set prior to grant funding for 2012/13 being confirmed.

HSG 005 – The number of households prevented from becoming homeless- Lower performance levels are the result of a range of issues including, an increase in the number of homelessness decisions, parental evictions and difficulty in accessing the private rented sector.

3.  That the areas where performance has declined and performance requires further monitoring be noted:

PKG 007- Number of onboard P&R transactions – the number of transactions continues to decline, it is 11% down from 2009/10.  Although this service is being reviewed it is recommended that this indicator is closely monitored.

DCE 001- Percentage of planning enforcement cases signed off within 21 days. Although there were less cases received within the period performance has declined by more that 10% compared to quarter 1 last year. This drop is being attributed to absence of the investigation officers and clearance of backlog cases. It is recommended that this indicator is monitored as if performance does not improve it is likely that the annual target will not be achieved.

CTC 001 – The average wait time for calls into the contact centre – after not achieving the annual target last year and requesting that the 2011/12 target be retained the quarterly target has not been achieved. The service manager has attributed the lower performance level to both the number of bank holidays in the quarter and capacity issues. As the issue with Bank Holidays is a trend that has previously been identified it is suggested that mitigation measures are looked into.

CTC 002 – The percentage of visitors to the Gateway responded to within 20 minutes – performance in this area has declined, as with the indicator above this is being attributed to the number of Bank Holidays as well as capacity issues tied up with training needs.

HRO 001- Working days lost to sickness absence (rolling year) – Despite an impressive end of year out-turn for 2011/12 of 6.01 days and the agreement of Cabinet to increase the target to 8.00 days, long term sickness has meant that the quarterly target has been missed. Action has been taken to address long term sickness issues and as this is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

The Cabinet considered the report of the Leader of the Council regarding the Forward Plan for the period 1 October 2012 – 31 January 2013.

The Head of Democratic Services informed the Cabinet that due to changes to The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 this would be the last time the Forward Plan would be brought to Cabinet for noting as a new list would be produced in future and circulated to all Members when updated.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan for the period 1 October 2012 – 31 January 2013 be noted, subject to the following amendments:-

Additions

Landscape Character   Cabinet Member for Planning,  9 Nov 2012

Assessment 2012  Transport & Development

Housing Allocation  Cabinet Member for Community  20 Dec 2012

Scheme  & Leisure Services

Amendments

Empty Homes Plan  Cabinet Member for Community  moved from

  & Leisure Services  21/9/12 to

  26/10/12

Public Gypsy &  Cabinet Member for Planning,  moved from

Traveller Site: Site  Transport & Development  28/9/12 to

Selection (Exempt  26/10/12

Report)

6.30 p.m. to 7.15 p.m.