Decisions

RESOLVED:

To approve the recommendations in the not for publication report.

RESOLVED to:

1)   Approve the content of the Derbyshire and Derby Pre-submission Draft Minerals Local Plan, attached to the report at Appendix two; and

2)   Support the Executive Director – Place, in liaison with Derby City Council, undertaking under delegated authority any minor amendments as necessary, and presenting the Plan and relevant background papers to Council for its approval to enable:-

(a) their publication in accordance with regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 as the ‘proposed submission documents for the joint minerals local plan for Derbyshire and Derby for the period up to 2038; and

(b) their use for public consultation in accordance with regulations 19 and 35 with a period for making representations of eight weeks.

RESOLVED to:

Note the views of the consultation respondents in formulating its proposals to Full Council regarding the Revenue Budget for 2023-24.

RESOLVED TO:

1)    Note the current position on Earmarked Reserves;

2)    Note the details of the amounts to be released from the Earmarked Reserves balances;

3)    Note the allocation of £11.913m Earmarked Reserves release to the Budget Management Earmarked Reserve; and

4)    Approve the updated Reserves Policy at Appendix five to the report.

RESOLVED to recommend to Council that it:

1)   Approves the new Capital Starts Programme for 2023-24 set out in Appendix two of the report and approves the procurement and award of contracts which support the delivery of the Capital Programme. All contract awards will then be subject to approval by Executive Directors (via an Executive Director Report) under the relevant Departmental Scheme of Delegation;

2)   Approves the detailed Planned Maintenance Programme for 2023-24 as set out in Appendix three of the report;

3)   Adopts the Treasury Management Strategy for 2023-24 as set out in Appendix four of the report;

4)   Adopts the Investment Strategy for 2023-24 as set out in Appendix five of the report; and

5)   Adopts the Capital  Strategy for 2023-24 as set out in Appendix six of the report.

RESOLVED to recommend to Council that it:

1)   Notes the details of the Autumns Statement 2022 and Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement as outlined in sections 4.3 and 4.4 of the report;

2)   Notes the Government’s expectations about Council Tax levels for 2023-24 as outlined in section 4.5 of the report;

3)   Approves the precepts as outlined in section 4.5 and Appendix four of the report;

4)   Approves that billing authorities are informed of Council Tax levels arising from the budget proposals as outlined in section 4.5 and Appendix four of the report;

5)   Approves the contingency to cover non-standard inflation as outlined in section 4.7 of the report. The contingency to be allocated by the Interim Director of Finance and ICT, as Section 151 Officer, once non-standard inflation has been agreed;

6)   Approves the service pressure items identified in section 4.8 and Appendix five of the report;

7)   Approves the level and allocation of budget savings as outlined in section 4.9 and Appendix six of the report.  

8)   Notes the comments of the Interim Director of Finance and ICT, as Section 151 Officer about the robustness of the estimates and adequacy of the reserves as outlined in section 4.10 of the report;

9)   Notes the details of the Council’s consultation activity as outlined in section 5 of the report;

10)                Approves the Council Tax requirement of £387,461,515, calculated as follows:

11)     Approves the use of the Revenue Contributions to Capital Expenditure Earmarked Reserve to provide one off support to the 2023-24 Revenue Budget; and

12)     Authorises the Interim Director of Finance and ICT, as Section 151 Officer, to allocate cash limits amongst Cabinet portfolios; Executive Directors will then report to Cabinet on the revised Service Plans for 2023-24.

For the Cabinet Member to note the current De Minimis bus service arrangements
To seek Cabinet Member approval, under Protocol 3 of the Council’s Financial Regulations, to change the pricing for the contracts shown in Table 2.
To seek Cabinet Member approval to add one additional De Minimis contract on service 77a for the period up until 31 October 2023 to align with the end date of the other De Minimis routes.
To seek approval for the change in the funding for service 170 as shown in Table 4.

That the Cabinet Member:

1.    Notes the current De Minimis bus service arrangements;

2.    Approves a decision, under Protocol 5 of the Council’s Financial Regulations to change the pricing for the contracts shown in Table 2;

3.    Agrees to add one additional De Minimis contract on service 77a for the period up until 31 October 2023 to align with the end date of the other De Minimis routes; and

4.      Agrees to change the funding for service 170 as shown in Table 4.

That the Cabinet Member approves

1.    the provision of grants totalling £71,405 to the six organisations listed in paragraph 1.2 of Appendix 1 that currently provide social activity for a period of up to 1 year from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 as set out in this report; and

2.    the provision of grants totalling £5,784 to the two organisations listed in paragraph 1.2 of Appendix 1 that currently provide social activity for a period of up to 6 months from 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023 as set out in this report.

That the Cabinet Member approves the provision of grants totalling £160,652 to the nine organisations that currently provide befriending services for a period of up to 1 year from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 as set out in this report.

That the Cabinet Member:

1.   Formally approves the acceptance of a Local Transport Fund grant from the Department for Transport (DfT) for £520,480.50 (provided under Section 31 of the Local Government Act, 2003.

To consider the petition containing 220 signatures which reported high volumes of traffic, a high number of heavy goods vehicles, speeding motorists, poor air quality and excessive noise on the A632 Walton Road, Chesterfield which was acknowledged by the Director – Legal and Democratic Services on 11 October 2022.
Following consideration of this report, the Cabinet Member is asked to:
•Decline the request for the introduction of a weight limit on Walton Road in Chesterfield.
•Decline the request for the installation of 30mph repeater signs on the lighting columns.
•Approve the petitioner enquiring with Chesterfield Borough Council regarding the installation of a Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs).
•Decline the request for the installation of an additional vehicular activated sign, speed cameras, and other traffic calming measures.

That the Cabinet Member:

a)       Declines the request for the introduction of a weight limit on Walton Road in Chesterfield.

b)       Declines the request for the installation of 30mph repeater signs on the lighting columns.

c)       Signposts the lead petitioner to enquire with Chesterfield Borough Council regarding the installation of Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs).

d)       Decline the request for the installation of an additional vehicular activated sign, speed cameras, and other traffic calming measures.

e)       Informs the lead petitioner accordingly.

To inform the Cabinet Member of investigations undertaken following the receipt of a petition requesting the Council, Nigel Mills MP and Trent Barton Bus Company to reinstate the 1A Service through Waingroves and to investigate and implement measures to reduce through traffic in Waingroves

            That the Cabinet Member

a)   Notes the investigations undertaken following the receipt of a petition requesting that Derbyshire County Council, Nigel Mills MP, and Trent Barton Bus Company reinstate the 1A Bus Service through Waingroves, Ripley, and investigate and implement measures to reduce through traffic in Waingroves.

b)  Notes the alternative service provision that has been put in place by the Council.

c)  Notes the options considered by officers to alleviate concerns and to take further action as recommended.

d)   Notes that the Council is promoting a Traffic Regulation Order to introduce waiting restrictions at identified strategic points along Waingroves Road/Church Street. The order is currently at the stage where comments and objections are being considered through an Officer delegated scheme of approval at the Council.

Paper detailing the distribution of the Department of Health Discharge Fund allocated via the Better Care Fund. The funds are to be utilised across a range of services to assist with safe and timely hospital discharge.

That the Cabinet Member approves the distribution of the Discharge Fund  as detailed in the table in the report from 16 December 2022 to 31 March 2023

Request approval from the Cabinet Member to support the publishing of the findings from the cost of care exercises of care home and home care placements undertaken in the summer of 2022.

That the Cabinet Member for Health and Communities:

Approves use of Contain Outbreak Management Funding to support food insecurity work across Derbyshire:

£0.100m to Foundation Derbyshire for the purpose of supporting food banks across Derbyshire.

That the Cabinet Member for Health and Communities:

Approves the use of Contain Outbreak Management Funding to strengthen emergency energy support within Derbyshire until 31 March 2023 via a grant of £0.100m to Marches Energy Advice.

Members were invited to consider the work programme for the remainder of 2022/23.  It was recognised that the agendas for each of the next two meetings were full and that no further items should be added at this stage.  Members were invited to submit future items for consideration to the Clerk.

RESOLVED to note the 2022/23 work programme.

Denise Ludlum, Climate Change Officer introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting and provided an update on the work being undertaken by the Council to understand the motivations and barriers experienced by homeowners when considering improving the energy efficiency of their homes and to co-design and co-deliver a programme of activities to support homeowners to undertake energy efficiency work. 

The report was supplemented by a presentation which outlined the issues faced and the demand for support for private homeowners.  Some progress had been made and a number of themes had emerged.Early feedback had indicated a number of support options from which a draft programme of activities would be co-delivered as soon as possible.

Committee members expressed their concerns around what was currently available to homeowners and the costs involved, resulting in only a limited number of homeowners being in a position to afford the retrofit costs.  They recognised that the consultation process was still taking place and the limited resources, budget constraints and priorities experienced by the climate change team.

RESOLVED to note the work being undertaken by the Council to understand the motivations and barriers experienced by homeowners when considering actions to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and to co-design and co-deliver a programme of activities to support homeowners to undertake energy efficiency work.

Caroline Toplis, Programme Manager – Climate Change introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting and which presented the Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Action Plan.  This provided further understanding of and supported the climate change work being undertaken with the district and borough councils through Vision Derbyshire and to enable the Action Plan and overarching Strategy be delivered to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the County.  The report was supported by a presentation.

The Plan set out actions for each of the five key themes and a series of actions related to offsetting and communication and engagement, together with the priority actions.  Next steps were to complete a mapping exercise to establish existing activity and to inform the development of delivery plans.  The Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Officers Group would have a co-ordinating, influencing and oversight role for the most part.

Committee members raised a number of concerns currently being faced.  Fast charging hubs and street furniture were some of the many options being considered to deal with the impracticability of charging electric cars and the Planning Guide was to become a nationally recognised document to assist with planning regulations.  Local and district councils were on board however it was recognised that this was a work in progress but resources were limited and that work needed to be done in some instances.

RESOLVED to note the Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Action Plan that had been developed by the Vision Derbyshire Climate Change Officers Group.

Caroline Toplis, Programme Manager – Climate Change introduced the report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting and which provided an annual summary of progress against the delivery of Derbyshire County Council Climate Change Strategy and the Council’s net zero targets.  The report provided a summary of the relevant national and regional policy, legislation and governance changes and updates, the progress made against the Council's net zero targets and each target and action within the Strategy, plus details on other key projects, initiatives and schemes. 

The report was accompanied by a presentation and highlighted elements and a breakdown of the Cabinet Annual report, which gave a summary of progress against delivery.  Key points from the report showed reductions in property, streetlighting and fleet carbon emissions  however, progress was slowing and the Council was facing a potential shortfall in necessary emissions by 2021/32.  These could be offset through renewable energy however the focus needed to remain on reducing emissions and the steps being taken towards this were discussed.

The Committee recognised that a lot had already been achieved however there were still some challenges ahead including the nationally recognised issue of the lack of bicycle infrastructure and the setting of more ambitious, local targets.  To aid understanding, Committee again requested that emission targets be expressed in more tangible ways rather than tonnage.

RESOLVED to:

1.    Note the relevant national and regional policy, legislation and governance changes and updates over the past 12 months that might have implications on the Council's climate change;

2.    Note the progress being made against the Council's net zero target of 2032, or sooner, and the county’s net zero target of 2050, and the challenges being faced to reduce emissions from corporate property, streetlighting, core fleet and grey fleet;

3.    Note the progress being made against each target and action within the Strategy; and

4.    Note the other key projects, initiatives and schemes that are contributing to the Council's climate change and wider sustainability agenda and objectives.

There were no public questions.

RESOLVED – to confirm the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Improvement & Scrutiny – Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction committee held on 10 October 2022.