Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda.  Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. 

If in doubt, contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the Adur Joint Strategic Sub Committee meeting held on 7 November 2023, copies of which have previously been circulated.

Resolved: that the minutes from the Joint Strategic Committee meeting held on 3 October 2023, were approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Monday 4 December 2023 to  Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk    

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no public questions

Pre-submitted Members questions are pursuant to rule 12 of the Council & Committee Procedure Rules.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Monday 4 December 2023 to  Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk    

(Note: Member Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no Members’ questions

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent.

There were no items raised under urgency provisions

To consider a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, copy attached as item 6

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 6.

This report updated the Sub-Committee on the progress made on the delivery of the 2023/24 Capital Investment Programme for Adur District Council. The programme included schemes which support the delivery of services by the Joint Services Committee.

Decision

1)     That the reprofiling of the Adur District capital schemes as advised in paragraph 6.1 and appendix 2 be noted

2)     That the changes to the current schemes as set out in section 6.2 report be approved.

3)     That a revised Housing Investment Programme as set out in Appendix 3 be approved

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decisions will be 5.00pm on Tuesday 19 December 2023.

To consider a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copy attached as item 7

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Sustainability and Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 8.

The report before members explained Council Tax Support was a scheme to help some people pay their Council Tax. This depended on their income and personal circumstances and was only available to some people in the UK who were living on a low income.The Council Tax Support scheme must be considered each year as part of the Local Government Finance Act 2012 (which introduced the framework for localism of Council Tax Support), with Members confirming revisions, continuing the scheme as is or replacing this it another scheme.

The Scheme formed an important part of the Council’s ambition to become the fairest coastal town by supporting people who were living on the lowest incomes. It should be noted that whilst the Council was experiencing extreme budgetary pressures, this scheme was one way in which the Council was responding to the enduring impacts of the cost of living to help lift people out of poverty. Given the importance of the scheme, the report asked Members to continue the scheme with no changes and to recommend the scheme to the Full Council in respect of 2024/25.

Members welcomed the retention of the scheme and noted that were few Councils locally who had taken the same course of action.

Decision

1)     That the content of the report be noted;

2)     That it be recommended to Adur District Council that the Council Tax Support scheme for Adur District Council in respect of working age customers for 2024/25 should

3)     Be based upon the scheme for 2023/24 with no restrictions; and

4)     Not be further altered with any other changes beyond necessary technical amendments required to keep the scheme consistent with the national rules in respect of Housing Benefit

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decisions will be 5.00pm on Tuesday 19 December 2023. There is no call-in for recommendations to Council

To consider a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copy attached as item 8

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 7.

The report sought approval of the use of grant funding allocated to Adur District Council for the provision of homes for refugees under the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) programme. Approval was needed to allow the councils to deliver the programme

The grant could be spent on purchasing new homes or refurbishing existing properties. In Adur both options were being explored, it was considered that the best use of the grant funding was to purchase new properties.

This report set out the need for the homes, the funding which the council could benefit from to deliver the homes, and the options considered to deliver this programme.

Members discussed the report and explored deadlines for funding and type and location of Housing.

Decision

1)     That the Local Authority Housing Fund grant of £559,066 from the government be accepted and delivering the accommodation required under the fund be confirmed.

2)     That the preferred delivery option - to purchase new property be adopted and a budget of £549,948 by way of a loan (49% of the total project budget) be approved.

3)     That a total budget of £1,109,024, comprising the grant of £559,066, and loan of £549,958, to deliver this programme be approved.

4)     That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director for Housing and Homelessness Prevention to approve the selection of properties which this funding is allocated to, for either purchase or refurbishment.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decisions will be 5.00pm on Tuesday 19 December 2023.

To consider a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copy attached as item 9

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Housing and Communities copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 9

The purpose of the report was to update Members on the anticipated receipt of Youth Investment Funding and outlined the prospective allocation for the funding, in line with likely provisions determined in the Grant Funding Agreement.

The report presented the project that Adur District Council would be seeking to deliver with the funding and how this would impact locally, forming part of the long term ‘place’ strategy.

Decision

1)     That it be agreed that ADC receive the Youth Investment Funding (circa £500K) to deliver two new modular buildings (reactivating the currently unusable surface at the rear of the building) for the purpose of directly delivering youth interventions and support.

2)     That authority be delegated to the Director for Housing and Communities, the authority to deliver the required outcomes (as per the Grant Funding Agreement) within the approved budgets.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm Tuesday 19 December 2023

In the opinion of the Proper Officer the press and public should be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following items. Therefore the meeting is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

'that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting from the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph of Part 3 of Schedule 12 A to the Act indicated against the item'.

Resolved: 'that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting from the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph of Part 3 of Schedule 12 A to the Act indicated against the item'.

To consider a report by the Director for Place, copy attached as item 11

Before the Committee was an exempt report by the Director for Place copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 11

The purpose of the report was to agree a full and final settlement following a Dispute over a claim for costs

Decision

1)     That it be agreed to settle the Dispute on a full and final settlement basis in the sum of £137,000 (including VAT).

2)     That the use of the Capacity Issues Reserve to fund the proposed settlement be approved.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on Tuesday 19  December 2023