To receive apologies for absence.

Cllr Molyneux, Leader of the Council welcomed members, officers and members of the public.

Apologies were received from Peter Hibberd, Strategic Director and Marie Rosenthal, Solicitor to the Council.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of 14 June 2012 (minutes attached)

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2012 were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

The chairman to identify any items of urgent business.

The Leader identified no items of urgent business on this occasion.

To receive any declarations of interest in any matter to be discussed at the meeting.  Members and officers are requested to identify the nature of the interest and indicate whether the matter is personal or prejudicial.

No declarations of interest were made.

To consider the attached copy of the cabinet forward plan, (August 2012), and to agree any changes.

The Leader announced that there would be an update on superfast broadband at the September cabinet meeting.

Cllr Quaile, Cabinet Member for the Environment, asked members to note that he would be bringing an update on garden waste collection to the October cabinet meeting, when the new regime would have been in operation for six months.

To consider questions from members of the public in accordance with the ‘Protocol for Public Questions at Cabinet Meetings’. For guidance on how to submit questions, please refer to the council’s website www.fdean.gov.uk. Alternatively, please contact Democratic Services on 01594 812625 or email democratic.services@fdean.gov.uk. All questions must be submitted in writing at least two working days prior to the meeting.

No questions had been received.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Patrick Molyneux, to invite non-executive members of the council to refer questions to cabinet. (A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to each meeting for consideration of member questions). Each question must relate to an item on the agenda and avoid confidential, personal or any other information where the law requires the council to consider the matter in private.

To assist in providing a complete answer, members are requested to submit questions to Democratic Services at least two working days before the meeting, either by email or in writing. Questions will be considered in the order of the agenda and at the discretion of the Leader of the Council.

No questions had been received before the meeting. The Leader asked if members had any questions for the meeting.

Cllr Brian Edwards asked for an update on the first few days of the implementation of car park charging.

Cllr Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy, replied that the council had sold just over 1,000 tickets a day to the value £500 a day from Monday to Wednesday at a fairly constant daily rate and had also processed 38 applications for season tickets. Two machines had been vandalised, but all were now working.

The Leader added that it was early days for the scheme. The cabinet would monitor it and address any issues as it bedded down and keep members informed.

As there were no more member questions, the Leader updated members on key recent activities. The new waste collection regime seemed to be working relatively smoothly with no issues of note reported. The cabinet would keep a close eye on its progress and bring updates to members.

The Independent Forestry Panel had reported earlier in the week and he said that all councillors could be pleased with its recommendations. Central government had immediately accepted the core recommendation that the forest estate should remain in trust for the public. The council’s Woodland Advisory Group, would go through the report in detail and he believed that the council would want to send a response to the government. He commented that the whole process had demonstrated that the council needed to be routinely aware of all forest related issues. He suggested that perhaps the council should set up a forest panel to keep abreast of the matters, given that the report included a 50-year plan.

Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy, to present the fourth quarter performance report for the financial year 2011/2012. Please refer to report SD.94.

The Leader announced that the cabinet would consider item 9 before item 8, because the financial outturn report informed the fourth quarter performance report. For clarity the minutes appear in agenda item order.

Cllr Robinson presented report SD.94, which the Performance and Value for Money Scrutiny Panel had considered earlier in the week. He highlighted the points in paragraph 3.2 of the report as major achievements during the final quarter of 2011/12. He ended by saying that overall it had been a very good effort to achieve what the council had set out to do.

Cllr Hale, Cabinet Member for Community, commented that the Linkline income had dipped at the time when Telecare and Telehealth had installed their equipment in more homes than usual. He was pleased that after discussion with those organisations Linkline had recovered, gaining more clients.

Cllr Robinson explained that the dip in number of invoices paid within 30 days at agenda page 44 had been due to the introduction of the new Agresso system. There had only been a slight delay in payment and now invoice payment was back on track. He expected a big improvement for the next quarter for that figure and the one regarding processing of benefits.

The cabinet noted report SD.94

Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy, to present report F.168, detailing the council’s end of year financial results for the period 2011/12.

Cllr Robinson presented report F.168 commenting that he was satisfied with the overall overspend of just £15,000 on a net spend of more than £10 million, which had been broadly in line with expectations. The council proposed to maintain the working balance at the level set by the s151 Officer but reduce requested carry-forwards by approximately two per cent to make up the shortfall. The Performance and Value for Money Scrutiny Panel had considered the report earlier in the week and had requested some responses to questions over detail. These were available from Democratic Services, but the panel had made no recommendations to change the report.

The Leader applauded officers for the small size of the overspend, given current economic circumstances. He invited questions from members present at the meeting, but there were none.

RESOLVED – to

a) note the report;

b) approve the revenue and capital carry forwards contained in Annexes B, D and E.

c) approve the Capital Financing schedule in Annex B.

Cabinet to consider the release of section 106 monies following a request for funding from the Hartpury Village Hall Trust. Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy, to present report F.167.

Cllr Robinson presented report F.167, explaining that the decision was a result of Full Council’s recommendation in July 2011. Hartpury Village Hall was now ready to proceed with the project, so the council was able to release payment. He added that the parish now owned the land, a project manager was in place, tenders were being considered and the project should be completed by May 2013. The cabinet was now formally bringing into effect the Full Council decision.

Cllr Diana Edwards, Cabinet Member for Strategic Partnerships and Special Projects, added that work was due to begin on 8 August 2012 on this Local Action Group (LAG) project.

The Leader reminded members that the matter had been considered by a scrutiny committee, which had concluded that there was no need to change the council’s policy regarding interest paid on Section 106 monies held. He added that generally any interest payable would be less than the cost of calculating and administrating the process. However the case under consideration had been exceptional, due only to particular circumstances for that specific case and should not be seen as setting a precedent.

Cllr Bill Evans asked if other cases that met the same criteria in the future would be treated the same.

Cllr Robinson replied that this particular decision had been guided by Full Council.  Any future case, which would be highly unusual, would have to do the same. It was not for the cabinet to stand in the way, but Full Council would have to consider any such matter.

The Leader added that the cabinet was not now considering criteria for payment, but rather criteria for making that particular payment at this point.

RESOLVED – to approve the release of £9,220 from the unforeseen items reserve as resolved by Full Council to make the payment to Hartpury Parish Council.

Councillor Diana Edwards, Cabinet Member for Strategic Partnerships and Special Projects, to give an update on the progress of the Forest of Dean Local Action Group. Please refer to attached report SD.95.

Cllr Diana Edwards presented report SD.95, commenting that Defra would be reviewing committed spends in October 2012 and would reclaim from underspending LAGs. The council need to press those underspending projects in the district to use their funding before that time. She did not think that the council would lose its existing funding, but she with a huge spend target, the council needed to keep up the pressure. The Local Action Programme Officer would be monitoring regularly. She added that to be complete, project monies had to be spent, invoiced and paid. It was extraordinary that some projects were not claiming for agreed funds.

Upon invitation, the Local Action Programme Officer added that there was £150,000 left to allocate to projects. The LAG was looking for suitable projects for that funding. The LAG might receive further funding and there might be some project underspends not reclaimed, so he was also looking for further projects.

The Leader commented that he had seen a recent television news programme (BBC Points West), which had stated that in Forest of Dean 26 per cent of the population was on the verge of poverty. One of the criteria used was the risk to people working for themselves or in small businesses. The council needed to keep an eye on the situation, because if there were another economic downturn these companies could go under. Another criterion used in the news report fitting the district was older industrial areas with numerous terraced housing, which he thought had been a little harsh. He emphasised that LAG funding was available to help very small businesses.

Cllr Martin, Leader of the Labour Group, said that it had been interesting that the report had focused on working people for a change, recognising their needs and circumstances. She suggested that all members view the programme.

Cllr Bill Evans asked the Leader if the information from the report had been available at the time would it have influenced the cabinet’s decision to introduce car park charging, given that the reason for not introducing charging previously had been economic circumstances.

The Leader answered that he did not think it would have influenced the decision. The council’s priority was on granting the CAB and other organisation funds to help those in need, so the information might even have helped to firm up the cabinet’s decision. He had been involved in the previous decision not t to introduce charging, but at that time the economy had just ‘fallen over the edge’. Currently the council knew how much funding and what spending priorities it had. The intention was to keep council tax low.

Cllr McMahon suggested that currently the Leader had a free parking space at the council offices and asked if he would claim that on expenses should he have to pay for it. He asked if that would be fair or equitable.

The Leader replied that the situation regarding the council staff car park was under discussion.

Cllr Horne added that in Newent people had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To consider, and if so agree, to resolvethat under section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in schedule 12A of the said act.

RESOLVED that under section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in schedule 12A of the said act

To confirm the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2012 (minutes attached)

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2012 were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council and Planning Policy, to present exempt report F.159

Cllr Robinson presented report F.159, stating that the Strategic Overview and Scrutiny Committee had already considered it on 31 May 2012 and that there had been an all-member briefing during the previous week. He commented that the partnership proposal represented an opportunity for the council to jointly deliver current services with the potential to deliver new services.

Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for and Efficient Council and Planning Policy, to present exempt report LD.428.

Cllr Robinson presented report LD.428 regarding land appropriation.

Should the items of business not be completed at this meeting, cabinet will reconvene at 5.30pm on Wednesday 11 July 2012.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 6 September 2012

Thursday 6 September 2012.