Cabinet
MINUTES of a meeting of the Cabinet held at Council Chamber, County Hall, Lewes on 28 September 2023.
PRESENT Councillors Keith Glazier (Chair), Nick Bennett (Vice Chair), Bob Bowdler, Claire Dowling, Carl Maynard and Bob Standley
Members spoke on the items indicated
Councillor Bennett - Items 5,6 and 8 (minutes 17,18 and 20)
Councillor Collier - Items 5 and 6 (minutes 17 and 18)
Councillor Claire Dowling - Item 8 (minute 20)
Councillor Field - Item 6 and 8 (minutes 18 and 20)
Councillor Hilton - Item 6, 7 and 8 (minutes 18, 19 and 20)
Councillor Howell - Item 7 (minute 19)
Councillor Maples - Item 8 (minute 20)
Councillor Maynard - Item 6 and 7 (minute 18 and 19)
Councillor Stephen Shing - Item 6 and 8 (minute 18 and 20)
Councillor Shuttleworth - Item 5 (minute 17)
Councillor Standley - Item 5 (minute 17)
Councillor Swansborough - Item 5 (minute 17)
Councillor Tutt - Item 5 and 6 (minutes 17 and 18)
Councillor Webb - Items 5, 6 and 7 (minutes 17, 18 and 19)
15. Minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2023
15.1 The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 18 July 2023 were agreed as a correct record.
16. Reports
16.1 Copies of the reports referred to below are included in the minute book.
17. Council Monitoring Quarter 1
17.1 The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Executive.
17.2 It was RESOLVED to:
1) note the latest monitoring position for the Council;
2)
note the addition of the new
Prudential Indicators information at Appendix 2 of the report
3)
undertake a broader engagement
exercise in autumn 2023 to inform RPPR planning for 2024/25 and
beyond.
Reason
17.3 The report sets out the Council’s position and year-end projections for the Council Plan targets, Revenue Budget, Capital Programme, and Savings Plan, together with Risks at the end of June 2023.
18. Corporate Peer Challenge
18.1 The Cabinet
considered a report by the Chief Executive.
18.2 It was RESOLVED
to:
1) note the report
of the Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer
Challenge (Appendix 1 of the report) and agreed its publication;
and
2) publish the
Council’s response to the recommendations within it, as set
out in Appendix 2 of the report.
Reason
18.3 As a key part of
its sector-led support programme, the Local Government Association
(LGA) offers a Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) to all councils,
approximately every five years. LGA CPCs are intended to be a
robust and effective continuous improvement tool managed and
delivered by the sector, for the sector, with local government
officers and members – as ‘peers’ - at the heart
of the process. They help councils with their development by
providing a ‘practitioner perspective’ and
‘critical friend’ challenge.
18.4 Following
discussions with the LGA, East Sussex County Council (ESCC)
commissioned a CPC to take place in June 2023, including a site
visit from 20-23 June. The review offered a timely opportunity to
check in on progress over the recent challenging years, including
the impact of the pandemic, and to provide an external perspective
on how ESCC has been approaching future challenges and whether we
are capturing all we can from national best practice.
18.5 It is an expectation of the CPC process that the report produced by the CPC team is published by the relevant council alongside a response to the recommendations in the form of an action plan. The LGA will also publish the CPC report on its website. The publication of the report and the response is an opportunity to celebrate and publicise the positive feedback received and to set out our plans for the coming months to strengthen our approach further in tackling the challenges ahead.
19. Scrutiny Review of Equality and Inclusion in ASCH - Report of the People Scrutiny Committee
19.1 The Cabinet
considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive and a report
by the Director of Adult Social Care and Health with observations
on the Scrutiny Committee’s report.
19.2 It was RESOLVED
to:
1) note and welcome the report of the Scrutiny Committee;
2) recommend the
County Council to welcome the report of the Scrutiny Committee and
to agree the response of the Director of Adult Social Care and
Health to the recommendations and their implementation as set out
in the action plan as found at Appendix 1 of the Director’s
report.
Reason
19.3 The Scrutiny review has been welcomed as it provided an opportunity to review Equality and Inclusion in Adult Social Care and Health.
20. Report on the County Council's progress in becoming a carbon neutral council
20.1 The Cabinet
considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and
Transport and the Chief Operating Officer.
20.2 It was RESOLVED
to note the progress report.
Reason
20.3 The Council has recognised the severity of the climate crisis by declaring a climate emergency, by setting a clear science-based target and by committing an additional £9.9m of funding up to March 2025 to cutting corporate carbon emissions. The scale of the Council’s functions and the diversity of providers the Council works with makes this a complex and substantial task. Significant work has already been undertaken to reduce emissions and will continue to be undertaken. This report sets out the further progress made during 2022-23.
21. East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and the South Downs NPA Waste and Minerals Plan Review
21.1 The Cabinet
considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and
Transport.
21.2It was RESOLVED to:
1) agree, subject to the approval of Brighton & Hove City Council and the South Downs National Park Authority, that the Proposed Modifications to the Submission draft of the Waste and Minerals Revised Policies document, and its supporting documents, is published for a representation period of eight weeks.
2) agree that a revised draft of the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) is published for consultation.
Reason
21.3 With the Waste
and Minerals Revised Policies document now at the Examination
stage, it is clear that the Authorities are at a significantly
advanced stage in the preparation of this Plan. To enable the
Examination to be concluded, and a positive outcome to be reached
by the Planning Inspectors, some modifications need to be made to
the version of the Plan that was originally submitted for
Examination. The Authorities need to give interested parties
the opportunity to comment upon these proposed modifications and,
should such comments be forthcoming, it will be for the Inspectors
to consider these as part of their considerations of the
Plan.
21.4 Approval to
publish and consult on the proposed modifications will therefore
allow the Authorities to progress the Waste and Minerals Revised
Policies towards adoption, thereby ensuring an up-to-date Plan
exists in which to consider relevant planning applications
against.
21.5 Approval to consult on a revised draft of the Statement of Community Involvement will ensure that the County Council is compliant with the relevant legislation concerning this matter.
22. The Conservators of Ashdown Forest - 2022/23 Outturn
22.1 The Cabinet
considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer.
22.2 It was RESOLVED
to:
1) note the 2022/23 Outturn for the Conservators’ Core and Countryside Stewardship budgets; and
2) approve the
contribution of £23,013 to offset the deficit on the
Conservators’ Core Budget for 2022/23.
Reason
22.3 While the Council has a statutory
obligation to meet the shortfall between expenditure and income of
the Conservators’ Core Budget, it also has the responsibility
for approving the level of expenditure. It is recognised that the
2022/23 deficit in the Core Budget has arisen primarily from the
delay in implementing the car park charging scheme, the provision
for a potential H&S Executive claim and the write off of
historical bad debt which was not wholly foreseeable when the
budget was agreed.
22.4 A financial contribution to the Conservators of Ashdown Forest of £23,013, being the adjusted Core Budget operational deficit of £82,861 less the adjustments for non-cash accounting items and the provision for the HSE penalty totalling £59,848 will offset the deficit on the Conservators’ Core Budget for 2022/23
23. To agree which items are to be reported to the County Council
23.1 It was agreed that items 5, 7, 8, and 9 should be reported to the County Council.
[Note: The items being reported to the County Council refer to minute number 17, 19, 20 and 21.]