Agenda and decisions

  The Cabinet:

1.1         Recommended to Full Council to adopt the Design Code for the Birmingham Road Site (BRS).

1.2      Recommended to Full Council that delegated authority is given to the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive to make minor changes to the BRS Design Code without referring to Council.

Due to the size of the document, Appendix A is split into two documents. You can access them by clicking on the following hyperlinks: Appendix A – Lichfield District Design Code and Appendix A - Baseline Report.

  The Cabinet:

1.1         Noted the progress of the Lichfield District Design Code to date, including the summary of the responses which were received to the informal consultation held at the end of 2023.

1.2         Approved the Lichfield District Design Code SPD (Appendix A) for the purpose of undertaking public consultation between April 22nd and June 3rd 2024 and approve the approach to consultation as detailed at paragraphs 3.9 to 3.11.

1.3      Delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for Housing & Local Plan, in consultation with the Policy & Strategy Manager to make any minor typographical and visual amendments to the SPDahead of public consultation.

  The Cabinet:

1.1          Approved the spend of commuted sums and Right to Buy receipts, projected to the end of the current financial year, on delivering new temporary accommodation in the district and to delegate the selection of units to the Cabinet Member for Housing & the Local Plan, S151 Officer and Assistant Director for Customer, Resident & Business Services, subject to a completed options appraisal (see recommendation 2.3 of the Cabinet report) and council approval of recommendation 2.4 of the Cabinet report.

1.2      Requested the purchase, refitting and management of the properties purchased using the funding agreed, for the purpose of delivering new temporary accommodation is carried out by the council’s wholly owned company LWM Traded Services Ltd.

1.3      Acknowledged that a wrap-around support package will be required to ensure the welfare of individuals and families placed in the temporary accommodation units and the ongoing maintenance and management of units delegates the delivery of an options appraisal into the most effective support package delivery model to the Cabinet Member for Housing & the Local Plan, the S151 Officer and Assistant Director for Customer, Resident & Business Services, subject to the costs of the delivery being within approved budgets.

1.4      Recommended to Council to increase the approved budget in the capital programme for new temporary accommodation in the district by £979,000 from £1,178,000 to £2,157,000 with funding provided by additional projected housing capital receipts of (£979,000). Future commuted sums and capital receipts may be allocated to further affordable housing as part of the normal budget monitoring process.

  The Cabinet:

1.1          Approved the installation of a new Skatepark facility at Burntwood Leisure Centre with operational management and responsibility for maintenance assigned to councils wholly owned company Lichfield West Midlands Trading Services (LWMTS).

1.2      Delegated to the Deputy Leader and Property Services and Estates Manager responsibility to agree all necessary agreements to facilitate the project subject to financial implications being within Approved Budgets.

1.3      Recommended to Council to include a project in the Capital Programme for the new Skateboard Facility of £106,000 with (£86,000) of funding provided by Section 106 and a contribution from Burntwood Town Council of (£20,000).

Declarations of interest on this item were received from Simon Fletcher and Kerry Dove as directors of LWMTS.

  The Cabinet:

1.1          Reviewed the key findings from the public consultation on the draft strategy and agreed the amendments made to the strategy as a result.

1.2      Reviewed the feedback from Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the consultation results, the Strategy and the Delivery Plan.

1.3      Endorsed the Lichfield District 2050 Strategy and recommends its adoption by Full Council (Appendix B of the Cabinet report).

1.4      Agreed the Year 1 Delivery Plan (Appendix C of the Cabinet report).

1.5      Delegated finalising the details of the Lichfield District 2050 Strategy and the Year 1 Delivery Plan to the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive, prior to final publication.

  The Cabinet:

1.1          Subject to the receipt of external assurance that the proposed Head of Terms and lease provides Best Value to the Council, approved and delegated authority to the three Council LLP Board Representatives (Leader of the Council, Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer) to agree on behalf of the Council that the LLP enters a lease with the tenant. The delegation is based on the Head of Terms included in the confidential report, is subject to Council approving recommendation 2.2 of the Cabinet report and resulting financial implications for the Council remaining within Approved Budgets.

1.2      Agreed and recommended to Full Council to update the Medium-Term Financial Strategy:

•       To increase the budget in the Capital Programme by £1,700,000 to fund the capital contribution contained within the Head of Terms. The plan is for the borrowing need created by the capital contribution to initially be funded through internal borrowing.

•       Then to:

A.    Either allocate the first £1,700,000 of capital receipts generated from the sale of land in the Birmingham Road Site to fund the capital contribution and negate the creation of borrowing need or;

B.    In the event the capital receipt does not reach the £1,700,000 level, or Council does not approve its allocation to this project, to approve the identification of budgetary savings (to maintain the level of Approved risk ‘headroom’) equivalent to the Central Scenario annual Capital Financing Costs by ensuring no increase in the funding gap.

·       To continue the approach that the MTFS is based on a neutral (no surplus or deficit or capital receipts are included) budget position until more informed financial projections are provided through the Business Plan. Any future changes following receipt of the Business Plan will be reported in line with the Council’s budget monitoring and any budget approvals will be in line with the budget framework

RESOLVED: “That as publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business, which would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972”

IN PRIVATE