Agenda and minutes

Councillor J Innes declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in the matter referred to in Minute 88 below, headed ‘Acquisition of Land at Bannerbrook Park for Public Open Space – Phase 2’.  She withdrew from the meeting during the consideration of this item.

Councillor J Mutton declared an other interest in the matters referred to in Minutes 91 and 94 below, headed ‘Additional Space for the Albany Theatre, Earlsdon Park, Coventry’.  He withdrew from the meeting during the consideration of these items.

(a)  To agree the minutes from the meeting of Cabinet on 29^th November and 6^th December 2016

(b)  Matters arising

The minute of the meetings held on 29^th November and 6^th December 2016 were agreed and signed as true records.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet agrees to exclude the press and public under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to the private report in Minute 94 below, headed “Additional Space for the Albany Theatre, Earlsdon Park, Coventry” on the grounds that the report involves the likely disclosure of information defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as it contains information relating to the financial affairs of a particular person (including the authority holding that information) and in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the Executive Director of Resources

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Resources, which set out the proposed Council Tax Base for 2017/18.

The Council tax base was a measure of the taxable capacity of an area, for the purpose of calculating an authority’ Council Tax.  It represented the estimated number of Band D equivalent chargeable dwellings for the year.  It also took into account the authority’s estimated Council Tax collection rate.

The report made the necessary calculations in accordance with the Lcoal Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012 to establish the Council tax base for the City Council and its parishes.  These regulations applied to financial years beginning 1^st April 2013 onwards and included the impact of the change from awarding Council Tax benefit to the introduction of a Council Tax Support Scheme (also known as the Council Tax Reduction Scheme). 

Under the Reduction Scheme, the Council Tax base was reduced according to the amount of reductions awarded under the scheme, as the authority will be foregoing the relevant Council Tax income and instead will receive grant income outside of the Council Tax arrangements.  These reductions were reflected in the calculation of the Council Tax base, in order to calculate the correct amount of Band D Council Tax for the billing authority (Coventry City Council), the major precepting authorities (West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority), and the local precepting authorities (Allesley Parish Council, Finham Parish Council and Keresley Parish Council).

It was estimated that the effect on the tax base of the Support Scheme would be to reduce it by 16.4%.  The financial impact of the reduction would be partially offset by an element of the overall funding settlement from Government.  The tax bases for the Parish Council’s would also be reduced by 16.4% as a result of the Support Scheme.  It was therefore proposed that the Council transfer an element of the grant from Government to offset the impact of the reduced tax base on tax income for the Parish Councils.  The proposed payments were calculated to offset 90% of the effect of the tax base reduction, in keeping with the approach adopted nationally.

The Cabinet noted that the technical nature of the report reflected the fact that the tax base calculation was prescribed by statute.  The tax base measured all properties in an area, relative to a Band D property, even though this was not a representative of the typical domestic property in Coventry.  In fact, 87.2% of properties in Coventry fell into bands A to C, which attracted lower bills than Band D properties.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet approve:-

1.  That the Council Tax collection rate for 2017/18 be set at 98.3%.

2.  That in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 2012, the amounts calculated by the City Council for 2017/18 shall be:-

A net tax base of 78,971.9 for the whole of the City Council area made up as follows:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

Report of the Executive Director of Resources

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Resources, which set out the options for appointing the external auditor to the Council for 2018/19 accounts and beyond, as the current arrangements only cover up to and including 2017/18 audits.

The Cabinet noted that the Council’s current auditors were Grant Thornton UK LLP working under a contract originally let by the Audit Commission and that the audit fees for 2016/17 were £189.158.  Responsibility for this contract was transferred to the Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) following the abolition of the Audit Commission.

The PSAA was inviting the Council to opt in, along with all other authorities, so that the PSAA could enter into a number of contracts with appropriately qualified audit firms and appoint a suitable firm to be the Council’ auditor.

The report set out the three main options available to the Council, along with the key elements of each of the options.  In summary these were to make a stand alone appointment (Option 1); establish a Joint Auditor Panel (Option 2); or to ‘opt in’ to the Sector Led Body (PSAA) (Option 3).

RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommend that Council approves Option 3, as described in the report, which is to accept Public Sector Audit Appointments’ (PSAA) invitation to ‘opt in’ to the sector led option for the appointment of external auditors for the five financial years commencing 1^st April 2018.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which set out the proposed response on behalf of the Council to Rugby Borough Council’s new Local Plan – Publication Draft.

Rugby Borough Council (RBC) published their Local Plan for a period of representations on 26^th September 2016, which ran for 6 weeks until 11^th November 2016, in accordance with national Regulations relating to the submission of Local Plans.  The Local Plan set out the intended development proposals for Rugby Borough to 2031 and, subject to the received representations, RBC intended to submit the Plans to the Secretary of State in early 2017.

Given the timescales involved, officers had submitted an officer representation to RBC to ensure that initial comments were provided.  This representation was attached to the report as Appendix 1 and presented for endorsement or comment.

RBC subsequently opted to re-run their consultation process, recommencing on 30^th November 2016 until the 11^th January 2017.  Whilst the officer response had already been provided within the original timescales, it was recommended that the response remain unchanged.

The response had been prepared on behalf of the Council in its role as Local Planning Authority as Coventry’s response to RBC at this important stage of its plan’s development.  The response indicated that the Council supported the Local Plan being proposed by RBC but, for reasons indicated in the report, made comments and sough clarification in relation to the following key areas:-

·  The RBC Local Plan identified the sites at Pro-Logis Ryton and Ansty Park as strategic employment sites and supported their completion within the Plan period (2011-2031). This reflected the Employment Land Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) endorsed by the Council in October 2016.

·  The RBC Local Plan identified sites for approximately 2,800 homes towards Coventry’s unmet housing needs. This was in addition to the Borough Council planning positively for its own Objectively Assessed Needs.

·  The RBC Local Plan applied a development strategy and settlement hierarchy that focused growth on Rugby town, supported by a series of small developments around its satellite villages and a new town at Lodge Farm (southeast of Rugby). The RBC Local Plan did not consider the edge of Coventry within its settlement hierarchy and made no residential development proposals on the city’s eastern boundary – although this had been proposed in the previous version of the Plan.

·  The reasons for excluding the proposed development on the city’s eastern boundary (at Walsgrave Hill Farm south of Ansty Park) remain unclear.

·  A small area of land at Junction 2 of the M6 was proposed to be removed from existing Green Belt designation. This land was not proposed for any development however and reflected the fact the land in question was heavily influenced by highway infrastructure and did not support the purposes of Green Belt policy.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet recommend that Council endorse the officer representation to Rugby Borough Council’s New Local Plan – Publication Draft as set out at Appendix 1.

Report of the Executive Director of People

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of People, which set out the City Council’s position in respect of the Coventry and Warwickshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) and how the Council would proceed in working with NHS organisations regarding the further progression of the STP in Coventry.

In December 2015, NHS England outlined a new approach to help ensure that health and care services were built around the needs of the local populations with the introductions of STPs, based upon integration and joint working across the Health and Wellbeing system.  They were intended to provide the method by which the NHS Five Year Forward View was translated by the NHS into practice by closing the quality, cost and wellbeing gaps.  Although the STP process was governed by NHS England, it was being undertaken with the support of the Local Government Association and required local health and care organisations across the country to come together to form 44 STP footprints with Coventry and Warwickshire being one footprint.  STP footprints were collective discussion and planning forums which brought together health and care leaders to plan services for the populations they served.  The Cabinet noted that the Coventry and Warwickshire STP did not have delegated authority for decision making from its member organisations.

The involvement of the key leads from the local authority alongside elected member input and scrutiny would enable the City Council to ensure that the STP could deliver what was required for the citizens of Coventry, and particularly in areas relating to Public Health and Social Care.  The City Council would be required, by virtue of its constitution, to make decisions relating the elements of the STP that impact on the City Council through its normal decision making processes.

The Coventry and Warwickshire footprint had submitted its STP to NHS England in October 2016 and following feedback, the plan was released publicly on 7^th December 2016.  The plan focussed on five key transformational programmes which would be subject to more detailed design so that impacts and benefits could be better understood in order to enable decisions to be made regarding implementation.

The Cabinet stressed that, whilst the Council recognised and endorsed the aim of health and social care organisations working closer together to improve services for local people, it did not support the approach taken in developing the STP, specifically in relation to transparency and involvement of both the public and local authority members.  The Council’s involvement to date did not constitute it signing up to the Coventry and Warwickshire STP.  Although a number of transformation work streams existed under the STP, the detail and implications of these were not developed, and therefore the City Council would not be in a position to make decisions regarding progressing the implementation of any work stream until more detail is developed and this has been considered through the appropriate decision making processes.

The Cabinet acknowledged that it was critically important for the City  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Report of the Chief Executive

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive, which set out the Council’s progress against the Council Plan for the first half of 2016/17.

The report was also due to be considered by the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee at their meeting scheduled for 11^th January 2017.  The Members indicated that, in future, it would be helpful for the report to be considered by Scrutiny before Cabinet, in order for their comments to be considered.

The Council Plan sets out the Council’s strategic direction and priorities for the next ten years.  The current plan was last reviewed in July 2016 and set out the Council’s vision for Coventry to be a top ten city where everybody, including the city’s most vulnerable residents, could share in the benefits of growth.

The performance report, detailed at appendix 1, provided a high-level summary of the progress made towards the Council Plan from April 2016 to September 2016.  It set out the Council’s performance across all areas and used indicators, along with contextual and comparative information to describe and explain how the Council and the city’s performance compared to previous years.  Where possible, the report compared progress with previous years and it was noted that where previous data was unavailable, the data would form a baseline against which to measure future progress.

In summary, at the half year point, performance was reported on 49 of the 67 indicators in the Council Plan.  Of these, progress was made or maintained in 34 indictors (69%) and 11 indicators had got worse (23%).  There were also 4 indicators where it wasn’t possible to record whether progress had been made or not.  It was acknowledged that there were 18 indicators where progress was unable to be recorded because they were annual indicators.

The Cabinet noted that more detailed reporting, including publication of schedules, trends, comparator data, progress reports, open data, maps and infographics were available on the Council’ website.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet approve the performance report.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

(NOTE: A briefing note detailing Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4)’s consideration of this matter is attached at page 221)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which set out proposals for revisions to the Residents’ Parking Policy.

The Council adopted the City Centre Parking Strategy in September 2016 which recognised the need to manage on-street parking provision and protect the needs of residents and the residential environment.  Demand for on-street parking in residential areas often outstripped the amount of parking space available, particularly in areas that attracted high levels of commuters including the area surrounding the city centre.  Where there was excess demand for on-street parking, concerns may arise over the availability of parking for residents and one of the most effective ways of managing this was through the use of controls such as resident’s parking schemes.

The first residents’ parking scheme was introduced in the City over 25 years ago and the current policy was adopted in 2007.  Since then numerous schemes have been implemented across Coventry, often with different rules and characteristics.

Following a review, the revised policy had been developed to reflect best practice, ensure consistency in approach, consolidate the rules and operating procedures, and to provide a framework for the management and implementation of future schemes.

The revised policy had been informed following consultation with local residents as part of a post implementation review of the Earlsdon and Cheylesmore residents’ parking schemes.  In addition, various nuances and lessons learned from the pre-existing schemes, particularly those at the Ricoh Arena, Charterhouse and around University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire in Walsgrave had helped shape the policy.

It was proposed that, prior to the design and implementation of any new parking schemes and before making any changes to pre-existing schemes, consultation would be undertaken with local residents and Ward Councillors.

The report outlined a number of key factors that had been considered in drawing up the Policy, which was appended to the report, and included scheme types, eligibility criteria, permit types, times of operation, permit costs and duration and enforcement.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet approve the adoption of the revised Residents’ Parking Policy, attached as Appendix D to the report.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which sought approval of proposals to acquire land at Bannerbrook Park for Public Open Space.

Following a long running issue in the Bannerbrook Park Development on the future provision of street cleaning and grounds maintenance between the developer Persimmon Homes South Midlands Limited (“Persimmons”) and the residents, the Council were approached by Persimmons with a view to transferring ownership of land to the Council to be managed and maintained as an area of public open space.

The Streetpride team had estimated the future maintenance costs on this land, and had agreed values with Persimmons.

It was proposed that the Council acquire approximately 3 acres of open space land from Persimmons to Streetscene and Regulatory Services Portfolio, Place Directorate.  The land was shown edged red on a plan attached to the report at Appendix A.

The Cabinet were advised that the cost of acquiring the land would be nil consideration, however, the freehold transfer would include a maintenance bond of £54,602 paid to the Council to cover a 10 year period together with a one-off payment of £70,000 to the Council for replacing the impact play surface, replacing trees and land drainage works.

It was noted that approximately 2 acres of land would still be retained by Persimmons and that this would be maintained by the Council’s Streetscene and Regulatory Services at a charge.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

1.  Approve the acquisition of the land shown edged red on the plan attached to the report as Appendix A for nil value.

2.  Accept the said land to be held within the portfolio of Streetscene and Regulatory Services and maintained by the Council as Public Open Space on the basis set out within the report.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which outlined the progress reported by the Coventry City of Culture Trust in relation to Coventry’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021.

The Cabinet welcomed David Burbidge CBE DL (Chair, Coventry City of Culture Trust) to the meeting for the consideration of this item.

On 14 July 2015, Council approved that the Coventry City of Culture Steering Group lead on development of a whole-city bid for the title of UK City of Culture 2021, in doing so putting together a realistic and credible bid budget and creating a special delivery vehicle to manage the bid process.  Council further agreed that the Coventry City of Culture Steering Group would report back to Cabinet on progress in developing the bid in December 2015, June 2016 and December 2016. 

The report outlined the progress reported by the Coventry City of Culture Trust in December 2016. The report included an outline of progress in establishing and recruiting to the Coventry City of Culture Trust; the establishment of a Bid Headquarters in Far Gosford Street; the alignment of the Bid to work on developing a new ten-year Coventry Cultural Strategy; the public launch of the Bid at the Coventry Godiva Festival 2016; fundraising and engagement with local and regional businesses; and the launch of the Advanced Events Programme.  The report further updated on competing cities and outlined anticipated key milestones and priorities in the bid work programme for 2017.

The work on the Coventry City of Culture bid was progressing well, at a critical time in the process.  It was anticipated that as the bid guidance was released and competing cities enter into the bidding process itself in 2017, Coventry would experience an expected rise in media attention and the city would face more direct competition.  Therefore, it was essential to ensure that the city had the timelines and the bidding delivery strategy agreed in order to continue the excellent progress of the bid to date.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

1.  Note and endorse the progress reported in developing the city’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021.

2.  Indicate that there were no recommendations or points that they wished to raise for consideration by the Steering Group in furthering development of the bid in preparation for the bid submission in 2017.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, which set out the city-wide Cultural Strategy for 2017-27.

The Cabinet welcomed Professor Jonothan Neelands (Associate Dean Creativity at Warwick Business School) to the meeting for the consideration of this item.

Following a period of public consultation on the role of culture within the City, a new ten year Cultural Strategy was developed.  The impact of the strategy and its key proposals were considered through the Equality and Consultation Analysis for the Strategy.  It was anticipated that the adoption of The Coventry Cultural Strategy would provide a strong foundation from which to build a successful bid to become the UK City of Culture 2021. 

The proposed strategy’s stated vision was

‘By 2027 Coventry will be a culturally attractive, vibrant and prosperous city to live in, work in and enjoy. The city is a dynamic place of invention, cultural diversity and youthful ambition and is proud to be a leading city of culture in modern Britain.’

The proposed strategy sets out a ten year vision for the cultural life of Coventry and built on the existing heritage and culture of the city.  Its development had been funded by Arts Council England (ACE) and Coventry City Council with support from both the University of Warwick and Coventry University and was based on an extensive consultation process.

The strategy proposed ‘Five Goals’ for cultural growth in the city, each under-pinned by ‘Seven Big Ideas’ that support the transformation of the cultural life of the city and had been developed and refined through an extensive period of stakeholder engagement and public consultation.

As the strategy bridged a timescale in which Coventry had the potential to attract significant investment (though its ambition to be UK City of Culture 2021), it was important that the strategy remained flexible and consultative in order to stay fresh and embrace new ideas, people and technologies.  Therefore the strategy would act as a framework through which to provide an overarching direction for development plans and should be revisited bi-annually through a programme of research and evaluation. This approach would enable the strategy to remain responsive to changing circumstances and would keep the strategy live.

It was intended that the strategy and its underpinning development plans would continue to evolve over the ten year journey towards achieving its vision.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet approve the Coventry Cultural Strategy 2017-2027.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Place which outlined proposals for the Council to act as guarantor to a lease on behalf of the Albany Theatre for additional space within the Earlsdon Park Development.

A corresponding private report detailing confidential aspects of the proposals was also submitted to the meeting for consideration.

The report indicated that the Albany Theatre (formerly known as the Butts Theatre) was a community theatre operated by the Albany Theatre Trust.  Located in the Earlsdon Park development at the former site of City College, the theatre was a community arts venue that was valued and supported by a wide range of performing arts organisations within the city.

Although the Trust received an annual City Council grant, since its formation the Trust has proactively explored opportunities to generate additional income from a wider grant and trading base, with a view to supporting the resilience and sustainability of the core theatre offer. 

An opportunity for the Council to continue to support the development of this successful voluntary theatre by acting as guarantor to a lease for additional space within the Earlsdon Park development had arisen.  The proposed lease would provide the theatre with the opportunity to diversify further and generate increased income through the creation of new dance studios and rehearsal space. It would also improve the theatre going experience by way of a new dedicated entrance and foyer including refreshment bar accessed off Albany Road.

The additional new and enhanced arts facilities would also support Coventry’s emerging Cultural Strategy as well as the city’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

1.  Approve that the Council act as guarantor to the lease agreed for the leasehold interest proposed to be taken by The Albany Theatre Trust in new accommodation within Earlsdon Park in accordance with the terms contained in the private report on the agenda.

2.  Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for City Centre and Development Services and Executive Director Resources (Legal Services), in consultation with Cabinet Member for Community Development, to undertake all necessary due diligence, negotiate and agree the documentation required to complete the lease agreement as guarantor.

3.  Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Resources to complete the necessary legal documentation in this matter and collect the agreed consideration.

Report of the Executive Director, Resources

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Resources that contained the list of outstanding issues and summarised the current position in respect of each item.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet approves the dates for future consideration of matters relating to the outstanding issues items listed in the report.

There were no other items of public business.

Report of the Executive Director of Place

(Listing Officer: D Cockroft, tel: 024 7683 3964)

Further to Minute 91 above, the Cabinet considered a private report of the Executive Director of Place that set out confidential aspects of proposals for the Council to act as guarantor to a lease on behalf of the Albany Theatre for additional space within the Earlsdon Park Development.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

1.  Approve the Council act as guarantor to the lease agreed for the leasehold interest proposed to be taken by The Albany Theatre Trust in new accommodation within Earlsdon Park in accordance with the terms contained in the report.

2.  Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for City Centre and Development Services and Executive Director Resources (Legal Services), in consultation with Cabinet Member for Community Development, to undertake all necessary due diligence, negotiate and agree the documentation required to complete the lease agreement as guarantor.

3.  Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Resources to complete the necessary legal documentation in this matter and collect the agreed consideration.

There were no other items of private business.