Agenda and decisions

To consider the Minutes of the previous meeting.

That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 16 January, 2024 be

agreed as a correct record.

(i)              That the contents of the update report be noted.

(i)              That, as a matter of urgency, officers be asked to take up with the Environment Agency the timescale for the return of the third monitoring station and to encourage the EA to make a public statement on that as soon as possible.

(ii)             That it be noted that there is a motion from the Labour Group going to a Special Council Meeting on 14 February and that the Cabinet does not think that it goes far enough.  Cabinet reiterated a call on the EA to issue a closure notice on Walleys Quarry.

(i)           That the progress made to date by Capital&Centric on the York Place, Midway Car Park and The Ryecroft projects in Newcastle Town Centre be noted;

(ii)         That, subject to Council approval of the funding as set out in Recommendation 3:

a.     The Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth, and the Portfolio Holder for One Council, People and Partnerships, be authorised to progress legal agreements to enable the appointment of Capital&Centric under three Pre-Development Services Agreements (PDSA) for the development of the three schemes through a direct award under the Pagabo Development Management Framework.

b.     That the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth, and Portfolio Holder for One Council, People and Partnerships, be authorised to enable re-development works to commence on York Place, through Capital&Centric’s PDSA, at a cost not exceeding £500,000 (the cost of which is included in the overall budget).

(iii)            Recommends that Council approve expenditure of up to £2,649,000 to develop the three schemes to the end of RIBA Stage 3, and the submission of planning applications.

(i)                  That the Revenue and Capital Budgets as detailed in this report and in the report to Cabinet dated 16 January 2024 be recommended to Full Council

 for approval.

(ii)                 That the updated Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/25 to 2028/29

 (Appendix 2) be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(iii)                That the strategy for ensuring a balanced revenue outturn position for 2023/24 be approved.

(iv)                That the calculation of the Council Tax base and the Council Tax increase to be proposed for 2024/25 of 1.99% per Band D equivalent property be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(v)                 That the risk assessment at Appendix 3 and the Section 151 Officer’s recommendation on the level of reserves and contingencies provisionally required to be maintained in 2024/25 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(vi)                That the Borough Growth Fund Priorities for 2024/25 be approved.

(vii)               That the Capital Strategy (Appendix 5) for 2024/34 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(viii)              That the Treasury Management Strategy (Appendix 6) for 2024/25 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(ix)                That the Investment Strategy (Appendix 7) for 2024/25 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(x)                 That the Commercial Strategy (Appendix 8) for 2024/25 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(xi)                That the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme (Appendix 9) for 2024/25 be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(xii)              That the Council Tax Premiums Policy (Appendix 10) be recommended to Full Council for approval.

(i)            That the migration of the Councils applications, servers, and infrastructure to Microsoft Azure be approved.

(ii)           That the Service Director for IT and Digital in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for One Council, People and Partnerships be authorised to enter into a contract by direct award with a suitably qualified Microsoft Azure partner to provide consultancy, training and support.

(i)            That the procurement process adopted by officers, be noted;

(ii)          That officers be authorised to award contracts via the Council’s insurance broker Marsh Limited to the successful providers following a compliant procurement process utilising the ‘Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation’ (YPO) Insurance Placement DPS - 978 framework based on the ‘Most Economically Advantageous Tender(s)’.

(i)               Approves the direct award process for 12 (3.5 & 4.5 tonne) pickup vehicles utilising the TPPL procurement framework

(ii)              Approves the procurement of ride on mowers through a mini competition process utilising the ESPO procurement framework.

(iii)             That our Streetscene and two MMF 3.5 tonne pickups, are replaced by

electrically driven vehicles.

That the report be noted and referred to Council to approve the disregard of War Pensions and War Widow(er)’s pensions:-

(a)          in full as income above the statutory £10.00 per week disregard in the calculation of Housing Benefit entitlement and 

(b)          in full as income in relation to the means tested assessment of Council Tax Reduction Scheme discount.

(i)               That the Corporate Enforcement Policy 2024 for the Borough as attached at Appendix A to this report, be approved.

(ii)              That the Enforcement Policy 2024 be presented to Council for formal approval and adoption.

That the contents of the report and appendices be noted, and continue to monitor and challenge the Council’s service and financial performance for this period.

That the Forward Plan be received and noted.

To resolve that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following reports, because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972.

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following matter because it was likely that there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs contained within Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act, 1972.

That the confidential appendix be received.