Members received and considered Minute OSC21/09 arising from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) held on 7 June 2021 that had considered the Performance Report: Fourth Quarter 2020/21.

Cabinet shared the OSC’s concerns regarding the high housing targets set by the Government that failed to take into consideration the amount of protected land across the districts e.g. Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  Members were supportive of collaborating with other local authorities with the same or similar level of protected land (some 18 across the South East) to put forward a case to the Government for a national abatement formula to calculate housing targets. 

The Performance Indicators for Waste and Recycling were also mentioned and the OSC was requested to keep a watching brief on these once the emerging Environment Bill came into fruition, anticipated towards the end of the year.

RESOLVED:  That the Council collaborate with other local authorities with an 80% or higher level of protected land, to put forward a case to the Government for a national abatement formula to calculate housing targets.