Decision: That the minutes of the Executive Cabinet meeting held on 16 January 2020 be confirmed as a correct record for signature by the Executive Leader.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will have three minutes to put their question(s) to the respective Executive Member(s).  Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one short supplementary question. 

There were no public questions.

To consider and receive the report of the Director (Commercial Services).

1.    Officers are requested to revisit the options at Cowling to determine if the costs of delivery can be further reduced, whilst still meeting the standards required to obtain planning consent.

2.    Officers are requested to review other sites (presently not allocated for a G&T site) and bring forward additional costed options to meet the G&T current requirement of 5 pitches. These sites may include sites previously considered during the allocation process but discounted due to the size.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the report of the Director (Commercial Services) which provides an update on the position as regards the delivery of the mixed-use Cowling Farm site to include specific reference to the delivery of the Gypsy and Traveller (G & T) site.

Members noted the estimated costs for each option detailed in the report, which were higher than originally thought. Members were not satisfied that all possibilities have been looked into and, as such, requested officers to revisit the options available.

Decision:

1.    Officers are requested to revisit the options at Cowling to determine if the costs of delivery can be further reduced, whilst still meeting the standards required to obtain planning consent.

2.    Officers are requested to review other sites (presently not allocated for a G&T site) and bring forward additional costed options to meet the G&T current requirement of 5 pitches. These sites may include sites previously considered during the allocation process but discounted due to the size.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

To allow the progress of the delivery of the G & T allocation in line with the requirements of the 2012 – 2026 Local Plan.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Delay the delivery of the gypsy and traveller site to co-inside with the delivery of the remainder of the CBC and HE land. This was rejected due to the prolonged and uncertain timetable for the delivery of the wider site.

To consider and receive the report of the Chief Finance Officer.

1.    Note the full year forecast position for the 2019/20 revenue budget and capital investment programme.

2.    Approval for the contribution of £77,600 from in year revenue underspends to finance the migration of property data into digital formats.

3.    Approval for the contribution of £98,500 from in-year revenue underspends to the Change Management Reserve to finance one-off redundancy and pension strain costs arising from transformation and shared service strategies.

4.    Note the forecast position on the Council's reserves.

5.    Request Council note the capital programme to be delivered in 2019/20 to 2022/23 and to approve the adjustments outlined at paragraph 50 of the report.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the report of the Chief Finance Officer which sets out the provisional revenue and capital outturn figures for the Council as compared against the budgets and efficiency savings targets set for the financial year 2019/20.

Decision

1.    To note the full year forecast position for the 2019/20 revenue budget and capital investment programme.

2.    To approve for the contribution of £77,600 from in year revenue underspends to finance the migration of property data into digital formats.

3.    To approve for the contribution of £98,500 from in-year revenue underspends to the Change Management Reserve to finance one-off redundancy and pension strain costs arising from transformation and shared service strategies.

4.    To note the forecast position on the Council's reserves.

5.    Request that Council note the capital programme to be delivered in 2019/20 to 2022/23 and to approve the adjustments outlined at paragraph 50 of the report.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

To ensure the Council’s budgetary targets are achieved.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

None.

To consider and receive the report of the Director (Policy & Governance).

To note the report.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the report of the Director (Policy & Governance) which sets out the performance against the delivery of the Corporate Strategy and key performance indicators during the third quarter of 2019/20, 1 October to 31 December 2019.

Overall, performance of key projects is excellent with ten (83%) of the projects now rated as green or complete and two projects (17%) currently rated as amber with the action plans for these projects contained within the report. Performance of the Corporate Strategy indicators and key service delivery measures is also good with 84% of Corporate Strategy measures and 88% of key service delivery measures performing on or above target or within the 5% threshold. Those indicators performing below target have action plans outlined with measures to improve performance.

Decision:

To note the report.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

To facilitate the on-going analysis and management of the Council’s performance in delivering the Corporate Strategy.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

None.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Condition:

Information is not exempt if it is required to be registered under-

The Companies Act 1985

The Friendly Societies Act 1974

The Friendly Societies Act 1992

The Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978

The Building Societies Act 1986 (recorded in the public file of any building society, within the meaning of the Act)

The Charities Act 1993

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

To exclude the public and press.

Decision: To exclude the press and public for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

To consider and receive the report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

To approve the allocation of Community Infrastructure Levy monies for £1,806,022.40 for spend on:

·         The cost of installing footpaths, parking, lighting to open space, landscaping and the play area refurbishment at King George V Playing Fields;

·         Open up Footpath 9-2-FP42 (between Bagganley Lane and Froome Street) and improve Footpath 9-2-FP15 that links to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and Healey Nab;

·         Provision of car park to facilitate event parking for Astley Park and Westway on Westway, Euxton; and

·         Highways and infrastructure (the provision of access to and within the site) & relocation of Eaves Lane GP Surgery and Community Centre Development at Tatton, Chorley.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the confidential report of the Deputy Chief Executive which seeks approval for the allocation of main CIL monies to infrastructure projects which are on the interim Infrastructure Funding Statement.

Decision:

To approve the allocation of Community Infrastructure Levy monies for £1,806,022.40 for spend on:

·         The cost of installing footpaths, parking, lighting to open space, landscaping and the play area refurbishment at King George V Playing Fields;

·         Open up Footpath 9-2-FP42 (between Bagganley Lane and Froome Street) and improve Footpath 9-2-FP15 that links to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and Healey Nab;

·         Provision of car park to facilitate event parking for Astley Park and Westway on Westway, Euxton; and

·         Highways and infrastructure (the provision of access to and within the site) & relocation of Eaves Lane GP Surgery and Community Centre Development at Tatton, Chorley.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

To allocate the CIL Infrastructure Fund in the way it is intended and ensure the methodology of how it is allocated is transparent

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

None.

To consider and receive the report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

1.    To approve the award of the contract for the construction of the pavilion, car parking and access at Westway Sports Hub to Walter Carefoot & Sons Ltd.

2.    To approve the award of the contract for the installation of grass pitch improvements at Westway Sports Hub to Duncan Ross Land Drainage Ltd.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the confidential report of the Deputy Chief Executive which seeks approval for the appointment of Walter Carefoot & Sons Ltd to construct the pavilion, car parking and access at Westway Sports Hub and the appointment of Duncan Ross Land Drainage Ltd to deliver the grass pitch improvements at Westway Sports Hub.

Decision:

1.    To approve the award of the contract for the construction of the pavilion, car parking and access at Westway Sports Hub to Walter Carefoot & Sons Ltd.

2.    To approve the award of the contract for the installation of grass pitch improvements at Westway Sports Hub to Duncan Ross Land Drainage Ltd.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

The approved procurement methodologies have been followed and Walter Carefoot & Sons Ltd and Duncan Ross land Drainage Ltd have been selected as the Preferred Contractors.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

None.

To consider and receive the report of the Director (Governance).

To note the report.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member (Resources), presented the confidential report of the Director (Governance) which provides an update on the progress of the refurbishment project.

Decision:

To note the report.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

1.    As a community leader our publicly accessible meeting rooms should meet the required standards and have the capacity to seat as many members of the public as possible.

2.    In line with the new green agenda within the Corporate Strategy the furniture is being refurbished rather than purchasing new furniture.

3.    The provision of the facilities to web cast meetings will enable all residents to observe the decision-making process.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Not to undertake the refurbishment.

To consider and receive the report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

1.    To continue the process of allocating third sector support through a commissioned service model.

2.    To commission the services based on the distribution of funding as outlined in the report for a further year.

3.    To give the Executive Member (Early Intervention) the delegated authority to approve the preferred provider for each service following a commissioning process.

Councillor Bev Murray, Executive Member (Early Intervention), presented the confidential report of the Deputy Chief Executive which provides the findings of a review of the current commissioning process which was implemented in 2017/18. It provides recommendations to improve the process for allocation, to be implemented from the 2020/21 financial year.

Decision:

1.    To continue the process of allocating third sector support through a commissioned service model.

2.    To commission the services based on the distribution of funding as outlined in the report for a further year.

3.    To give the Executive Member (Early Intervention) the delegated authority to approve the preferred provider for each service following a commissioning process.

Reasons for Recommendation(s):

The recommendations are proposed to reflect the council’s commitment to supporting third sector groups and development. The approach will maximise the impact of the commissioning budget by ensuring that the existing commissions continue to provide value for money and align with the council priorities by tendering for one year while allowing for a thorough rescoping of the commissioning process to take place.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Not to provide support for the third sector given the current financial climate, however this option has been rejected on the basis that it would reduce the council’s ability to direct funding to the areas where needs are greatest and to ensure a sustainable third sector to complement council provision.