Agenda item

To receive the Corporate Plan Delivery Plan 2022/23 Progress Update.

Councillor Reeve provided an update summarising progress made against the Corporate Plan Delivery Plan as at mid-December 2022.

The update recommended that progress against the Corporate Plan Delivery Plan objectives was noted.

He said that:

• The financial situation of the council was robust
• The update demonstrated a considerable number of impressive activities championing the district
• Within the Economic Recovery Plan focus had been given to the tourism and retail sector, with the introduction of the Discover Uttlesford brand and associated app and website, which was proving successful as numbers accessing it were well above other sites around the country. He noted that the average return visitor to the app spent six minutes on it, which indicated active use rather than casual browsing
• Solid progress was being made with the Local Plan

Councillor Pepper thanked Officers for their hard work and support, acknowledged that Climate Change was at the heart of the Corporate Plan and said that she was, very grateful for the grants and government funding that were being used to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions in the district.

Councillor Coote congratulated Officers past and present in social housing who had worked tirelessly.

He said that:

• The Corporate Plan aimed to achieve as much as possible with the limited resources available
• The weather was currently not helping with the delivery of housing repairs
• Funding remained an issue, with government contributions remaining insufficient
• Private rent presented concerns as resources were lacking to achieve the aspirations set out in the Corporate Plan

Councillor Smith said that the insufficient government funds was not a new situation and that the administration should have built in more resilience in the Council`s finances and that balancing the budget with a significant proportion of the reserves was deeply troubling.

He asked Councillor Reeve or Councillor Hargreave to advise what progress had been made in identifying how the £1m budget reduction for the 2022/23 period could be achieved.

Councillor Hargreaves said that council housing was not funded by government, but from the housing rent, although the government should have got rid of the right to buy years ago as it was bureaucratic and resulted in the loss of the best council houses.

He said that the commercial investment programme was established to improve robustness, but had now been blocked by the government, who had provided no substitute finance options.

In response to a question from Councillor Hargreaves, Councillor Coote said that the Empty Homes Policy would consider all homes, not just council houses. Councillor Pepper said that the Warm Homes Grant focused on private rental properties and that she welcomed any suggestions of new applications.

Councillor Caton said that:

• The Empty Homes Policy provided low interest loans to people entering empty properties to refurbish them. He said that the policy was ineffective as it took five years before funding was available through the scheme. He asked if the budget could be addressed to improve the provision
• Comments had been submitted in response to the Cambridge Connection Consultation regarding the inclusion of Addenbrookes in the scheme. He was concerned that no comments had been submitted regarding the congestion zone and enhanced bus services, which were key Local Plan issues and had a deadline for responses of 23 December 2022. The Director of Planning had advised that a response would be submitted after the Christmas break
• Additional consideration should be given to nurturing relationships with neighbouring authorities

The Leader said that:

• The Council website provided information about the Empty Homes Policy that answered Councillor Caton`s questions succinctly
• It would be helpful if Members promptly shared time sensitive information they had acquired, as it arose, to be inclusive and collaborative, rather than raising it in a public meeting. Any issues could then be addressed in a timely fashion
• She would like everyone to be more collegiate and friendly

Councillor Caton confirmed that he had discussed the matter with the Chief Executive and Director of Planning.

The Director of Planning said that as an authority they had not received the consultation directly, but were now drafting a response and had requested a short extension for submission of the response.

Councillor Hargreaves said that the Chief Executive had written the Council`s objection in response to the biomedical campus but that individuals also had the opportunity to submit their personal comments in response to the consultation by midnight on 23 December 2022.

Councillor Evans said that the Director of Planning was working on the duty to cooperate at county level and was already in cooperation with Cambridge and East Herts within the work undertaken on the Local Plan.

The report was noted.