To authorise the Leader to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2022 as a correct record of the proceedings.

The Chair was authorised to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2022 as a correct record of the proceedings.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor T.J.C. Byrne.

To receive any disclosure by Members of personal and disclosable pecuniary interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Member regards the personal interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.  Members are reminded of the need to repeat their declaration immediately prior to the commencement of the item in question.

Declarations of interest were made by Councillors in the Minutes as indicated below:

Courtel            Agenda Item 7 – Personal Interest as a Rother Car Park season ticket holder.

Field                Agenda Item 8 – Personal Interest as a Member of East Sussex County Council.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director – Place and Climate Change regarding progression of the King Offa Residential Development (KORD) in Bexhill. 

In 2019, the Council was awarded £500,000 from the Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF) Round 1 (a cross-government initiative) alongside Strategic Property Asset Collaboration in East Sussex (SPACES) to fund demolition/highway works on the KORD which formed part of the Old Bexhill High School Site.  The BLRF was established to support council-led developments with remediation works on previously attributed Brownfield land e.g. industrial plots, garages, yards and carparks etc.

The Council was in the process of completing the land swap with East Sussex County Council (ESCC) which had been significantly delayed.  It was noted that ESCC were required to provide the land with vacant possession, although Rother District Council was assisting with finding alternative premises for the current tenant. 

It was crucial that the Council procured and spent the BLRF Round 1 funding before the deadline of March 2024.  In 2019, outline planning permission for a mixed use development was approved on the KORD which was subject to a Section 106 agreement.  Since that time, the construction industry had significantly changed therefore officers had reviewed the viability of the scheme and re-evaluated the established delivery route for the project.  Results showed that there was an appetite to deliver housing and once remediation works were completed, officers would approach housing developers to deliver the site.  

The development of this site had always been a two phased project with housing delivery followed by leisure facilities; whether leisure facilities would form part of the second phase would be dependent on the outcome of the current consultation into the Council’s leisure strategy and would be a decision for the ruling administration at the time. 

The £500,000 funding would be used as follows: £400,000 for an additional lane and junction work on the A259 and Combe Valley Way; and £100,000 for demolition and contamination remediation works.  A further £305,000 would be required from the Capital Programme to progress the site to the next stage.

Following discussion, Cabinet was supportive of the scheme being progressed to ensure deployment of the allocated funds and recommended that £805,000 be included within the Capital Programme.  Cabinet agreed that, subject to formal approval of the scheme, delegated authority be granted to the Director – Place and Climate Change to accept the £500,000 BFRF Round 1 grant to procure the contractors to deliver the site.  It was also agreed that an additional £305,000 be taken from the Capital Programme to progress the project.  Capital receipts received from the transfer of land would be reimbursed into the Capital Programme.

RECOMMENDED: That the King Offa Residential Development site be included in the Council’s Capital Programme with a budget of £805,000 provided partially from Brownfield Land Release Fund Round 1 grant funding;

AND

*RESOLVED: That:

1)   subject to full Council approval of the scheme, delegated authority be granted to the Director – Place and Climate Change to  ...  view the full minutes text for item CB22/51.

Cabinet gave consideration to the report of the Head of Neighbourhood Services that detailed the latest review of the Council’s fees and charges for 2023/24 and the proposed recommended increases.  Fees and charges were reviewed each year taking into account the increased need to recover the total cost of the services provided and the cost of inflation (Consumer Price Index).  The anticipated income from these charges was built into the draft Revenue Budget for 2023/24.  Charges were rounded to the nearest 25p if under £50.00 or the nearest £1.00 if over £50.00.

Most of the fees and charges within the appendices to the report were recommended to increase at 10% with the following exceptions:

Beach and Foreshore (Appendix 3): A revised Appendix 3 was circulated as VAT would increase to 20% in respect of beach huts in 2023/24.  As beach huts remained in high demand, it was recommended that the fees be increased to £694 (16%) per annum and the minimum transfer fee be held at £2,000 for 2023/23.  It was recommended that seasonable tent site charges increase by 16%, boat licence fees by 20%, winches and equipment box fees by 23%, sailing/angling boat fees by 20% in 2023/24. 

Car Parking (Appendix 4): It was recommended that the car parking charges remained unchanged for 2023/24.  It was recommended that parking permit prices across the district be increased by 43% (from £350 to £500 per annum).  Due to significant increase in costs to manage Camber Western Car park, it was recommended that the summer season tariffs (from 1 April to 30 September) be increased in all Camber Sands car parks.  The increased charges would be as follows: £3.00 (up to 1 hour), £7.00 (1 to 3 hours), £14.00 (3 to 6 hours) and £18.00 (6+ hours).

Some Members were concerned at the level of increases within the proposed car parking charges and sought deferment of Appendix 4 due to its impact on residents, visitors and businesses alike.  This would enable officers and Members to carry out a review of all charges to include consultation, including sensitivity analyses, hours of operation and consideration of the viability of offering weekly / monthly tickets.  Following discussion with the local Member present, it was agreed to increase the fees at the Camber Car Parks as these were primarily used by visitors but to also include Camber in the review.  There was a fine balance at Camber to ensure that the charges were not too high to deter patrons, leading to an increase in antisocial parking.      

Bulky Waste Collection (Appendix 6a): It was recommended that the fee for the Council collecting four to six and seven to nine bulky waste items increased to £75.00 and £110 respectively.

Garden Waste Collections (Appendix 6b): The charge for garden waste had been increased from 15 July 2022 to £50 for customers subscribing to the service.  For comparison the garden waste subscription charges in neighbouring authorities were confirmed as Hastings £73; Eastbourne £57; Lewes £70 and  ...  view the full minutes text for item CB22/52.

Cabinet Members considered the report of the Chief Executive on the appointment of the Solicitor to the Council.  Following a reorganisation at Wealden District Council, it was necessary to designate a new Solicitor to the Council.  Therefore, it was proposed that Clare McGough, Head of Legal and Governance Services for Rother and Wealden District Councils be appointed as Rother District Council’s Solicitor to the Council.

RESOLVED: That Clare McGough, Head of Legal and Governance Services for Rother and Wealden District Councils be designated as Solicitor to the Council for Rother District Council, with immediate effect.

Cabinet received and considered the report of the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) on the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2023/24 to 2027/28.  The MTFP set the financial framework for the next five years and was subject to confirmation of Government funding and several other factors that might affect the Council’s finances.  The report had been scrutinised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) on 21 November 2022 and a copy of the Minutes arising from the OSC meeting had been appended to the report for Cabinet’s consideration.

The following salient points were noted:

•     Budget Process: The Council followed a three phased budget process.  The first phase was to update the MTFP, which set out budget pressures and estimated the size of the budget deficit over the next five years. The second phase was to produce a detailed draft budget in January 2023. The third phase was to finalise the budget once the Government settlement had been announced and incorporate the Capital Strategy and revised Capital Programme into the MTFP for formal approval by Cabinet and full Council in February 2023.

•     Local Government Funding: In June 2022, the Government announced the introduction of a two-year financial settlement with effect from 2023; and that the local government ‘Fair Funding Review’ in consultation with local authorities in 2022 would be completed. The 2023/24 funding settlement was expected in December 2022, but at this stage it was unclear whether it would contain further clarification about the June 2022 announcements.

•     Cost Pressures: These included inflationary increases built into certain service contracts, increasing demand in Temporary Accommodation (TA), predicted increase in external audit costs, net financing costs due to the planned increase in capital investment on major projects such as the Property Investment Strategy and TA acquisition programme, the annual pay award, non-pay inflation increases, increasing electricity costs and a budget contingency of £200,000.

•     Corporate Plan: One of its key priority objectives was to achieve financial stability by end of 2025/26.  However, the current forecast shown in Appendix A to the report identified that without further action, an underlying budget deficit would remain until at least 2027/28 and the Council would not be able to replenish revenue reserves.

•     Financial Stability Programme: To achieve financial stability within five years by delivering costs savings and income in the following areas: service devolvement, invest to save, income generation and service prioritisation.  Significant progress had been made in areas such as the devolution of services and other smaller initiatives, however further work would be required if the Council was to achieve the targets set.

•     Business Rates (Non-Domestic Rates): The East Sussex Business Rates Pool enabled the Council to retain a greater share of any business rates growth.  In September, the Government sought the Council’s preference to continue with the pooling arrangements in 2023/24; this would require approval.

•     Non-Specific Revenue Grants: The five-year forecast assumed that New Homes Bonus Grant would be significantly reduced and would cease with effect from 2026/27.  It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item CB22/54.

Consideration was given to the report of the Chief Finance Officer on the mid-year Treasury Management review.  The report provided an update on several financial areas as follows:

•     Financial Investments: Total investments were predicted to yield approximately £600,000 in 2022/23, which was £250,000 higher than the budget.

•     Borrowing: Total borrowing as at 30 September 2022 was £32.152m; well below the forecast of £85.857m.

•     Treasury and Prudential Indicators: Levels were within limit and would be reviewed as part of the 2023/24 Treasury Management Strategy.  The ratio of net financing costs to the net revenue stream was identified at Appendix C; the current forecast was lower than the original due to the underspend on borrowing costs and additional investment income.

•     Non-Treasury Investments: Performance was predicted to exceed the 2% target / 2022/23 budget in respect of properties purchased through the Property Investment Strategy.

The IFRS9 statutory override allowed councils to disregard changes in the value of their pooled investments and protect taxpayers from market volatility.  The Council had two such investments (CCLA and Hermes) originally invested at £8m.  The override expired on 31 March 2023 and the Government had consulted on options, the outcome of which was not currently known.  If the override was discontinued, any change in values would have to be reflected in the General Fund.  This would impact on the Council’s usable reserves.  As at 31 August 2022, the Council’s investments valued £9.104m, which was £1.104m more than the original investment.

The economic outlook remained uncertain and difficult to predict.  Inflation was still high and interest rates had risen significantly.

Cabinet noted that investment activities conformed with the approved strategies and the Council had no liquidity difficulties.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Cabinet received Minute OSC22/41 arising from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) held on 28 November 2022 that had considered the temporary closure of Rye Swimming Pool.  It had been a well-attended meeting and the Chair of the OSC acknowledged that whilst there was currently no solution, all stakeholders were actively engaged in working together to try and reopen the pool as soon as possible. 

The Chief Executive advised that the Council had been in receipt of a petition concerning the closure of the pool and whilst it had not contained enough signatures to trigger a full Council debate, the matter had been raised by the OSC and Rother District Council was actively working with Freedom Leisure (FL), Rye Town Council and the community to explore all possible options to keep the pool open. 

It was also confirmed that the Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Allocations Panel had received a high-level interest bid in terms of reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and identify a sustainable solution to assist in keeping the pool open.  It was clear that a new model to maintain and fund leisure facilities was required, and this was currently being worked through across the country, it was not peculiar to Rother District Council and FL. 

It was considered that many businesses across the district were suffering as a result of the current energy crisis and the Government needed to do more to support the high energy usage sectors that were in need, rather than a blanket approach which included profitable businesses.  Officers were requested to continue lobbying the local MPs and organisations such as the Local Government Association.  Primary Care Partners could also be requested to contribute, whilst recognising this was unlikely, the general and physical health, recuperative and mental health benefits derived from swimming would ultimately have an impact on their budgets.     

RESOLVED: That:

1)   Rother District Council continued to work with Freedom Leisure and Rye Town Council to explore options;

2)   officers continue to lobby local MPs and local government organisations; and

3)   a report be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the new year outlining the options available and their financial implications.

(Councillor Field declared a personal interest as an elected Member of East Sussex County Council, and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting for the consideration thereof).