Agenda and decisions

That Cabinet recommends to Full Council at its meeting on 6 March 2025:

i.         the following amounts be now calculated by the Council for the 2025/26 financial year, in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended by the Localism Act 2011:

ii.        the figures shown as i.1. and i.3. above to be increased only by the amount of Parish Precepts for 2025/26;

iii.      the budget amounts included in the report be the Council’s budget for 2025/26; and

iv.      the fees and charges shown in Appendices C1-C22 be implemented with effect from 1 April 2025.

Reasons for Decision:

To enable Cabinet to make recommendations to Council of the amounts to be calculated in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended by the Localism Act 2011, for the purposes of setting Council Tax levels for the 2025/26 financial year.

Options Considered:

Not applicable, the Cabinet is required to make recommendations on the budget to the Full Council.

Thart the 2025 General Fund schemes set out at Appendix A to the report, as committed expenditure in the Capital Programme for 2025/26 to 2028/29, be recommended to the Full Council on 6 March 2025.

Reason for Decision:

To enable the Capital Programme to be considered by Cabinet in accordance with Financial Regulation 6.2.3 prior to its submission to Council.

Options Considered:

If the Council did not have a Capital Programme, this would result in not being able to deliver the schemes and not achieve the objectives in the Community Plan.

That the Cabinet recommends the 2025/26 to 2028/29 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for approval by the Full Council at their meeting to be held on 6 March 2025.

Reasons for Decision:

To provide a framework to support the Council’s future spending plans.

Options Considered:

Not applicable, the Cabinet is required to make recommendations on the budget to the Full Council.

That Cabinet:

a)      note the position in relation to Second Homes and short-term empty properties; and

b)       recommend to Full Council for approval to levy a Second Homes premium with effect from 1 April 2026, in line with recent legislative changes and to amend the discount for short-term empty properties from 1 April 2025.

Reasons for Decision:

To assist the Council with achieving its objectives of creating more and better-quality homes through our roles as landlord, developer and planning authority and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour within our communities.

Options Considered:

The alternative options were detailed in the body of the report.

That Cabinet recommend the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/26 to Full Council for approval.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure compliance with Section 38 (1) of the Localism Act 2011.

Options Considered:

Not applicable, the publication of the Pay Policy Statement is required by the Localism Act 2011.

That Cabinet note:

a)       the report at Appendix A and its recommendations; and

b)      the formation of a Working Group tasked with forming an action plan to address those findings.

Reasons for Decision:

The LGA team provided a presentation of key findings on the last day of the Peer Challenge and have now followed this up with a full report. It is now important for the Council to examine those findings and produce an action plan on how we will use the recommendations to improve our performance.

Options Considered:

The review could be delegated to the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee, but it is considered appropriate for the Leader of the council to chair the group and for senior Members of Cabinet, Policy & Performance Improvement and Audit & Governance Committees all to be involved. Work streams can be delegated to Policy & Performance Improvement Committee, Audit & Governance Committee and other Council bodies as appropriate.

That Cabinet:

a)      close the capital schemes in relation to climate change and PV solar panels realising a saving of £414,341; and

b)       invest £309,915 of the savings identified at a) in creating a new capital scheme in relation to the contribution to Nottinghamshire County Council for the two major, tree planting trees in the District.

Reasons for Decision:

In line with the objectives set out in the Community Plan, this is an opportunity to create 2 significant woodland areas in Newark & Sherwood and to offset some of our future carbon output. The schemes also protect and enhance the district’s natural environment and green spaces and reduce the impact of climate change.

Options Considered:

Newark & Sherwood does not currently hold sufficient land to be able to deliver schemes of the size and scale being suggested within this report. This is not a project we could deliver in our own right. We could choose not to allocate funding to the project and this would leave a funding gap for NCC to fill. This would be met in time through NCC selling carbon offsets and would mean the scheme is likely to come to fruition in Newark & Sherwood without NSDC support. However, we would not have played a direct delivery role which would be at odds with aspirations within the Community Plan and mean we would not be able to claim 30% of the carbon as future offsetting.

That Cabinet:

a)      note the update for the Long-Term Plan for Towns Funding opportunity and support the ongoing liaison with the Town Board to review and shape a Newark Investment Plan upon publication of the revised Prospectus;

b)      approve £100,000 of additional revenue budget funded from the Capital Feasibility Reserve to allow the continued progression of feasibility and design work for the Newark Market Place improvements, which forms part of the Newark Cultural Heart Towns Fund, as detailed in paragraphs 4.4 of this report;

c)       approve an additional capital budget of £1,020,600 for Newark Castle Gatehouse financed by the Change Management Reserve, as noted in paragraph 3.0 of this report; and

d)       note the expected contribution of up to £1.345m of UK Shared Prosperity Funding and approve a revenue budget of £433,000 for 2025/2026, as detailed in 2.8 of this report, subject to formal confirmation of the Council’s UKSPF allocation. The remaining £912,487 may be added to the Council’s capital programme, subject to a future Cabinet report regarding proposed commitments.

Reasons for Decision:

To continue to deliver catalyst regeneration projects for Newark through the delivery of Newark Cultural Heart, Newark Castle Gatehouse, and new opportunities through a revised Long-Term Plan for Towns Fund, as well as support for district wide schemes, with funding available through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

Options Considered:

There is the option to not engage in any revised Long-Term Plan for Towns process and to leave any Investment Plan to Newark Towns Board. This has been discounted on the basis that the Council remains an important partner within the Towns Board and will continue to offer insight, influence and ability to deliver in addition to having an ongoing role as accountable body. Moreover, the Council has a track record, with partners of delivering catalyst and transformative regeneration within the Town.

There is the option not to ‘front-load’ support the delivery of the Newark Market Place improvements or to decline to increase the capital budget to allow delivery of the Newark Castle Gatehouse Project. This has been discounted as the alternative would be to return the remaining Towns Fund Grant to Government and not implement schemes that have community and stakeholder support.

That Cabinet:

a)    note the report, including the updates associated with the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF);

b)   approve the proposed UKSPF revenue commitments detailed in Table 3 of the report, subject to; a) separate Cabinet approval of the budget of £433,000 required in 2025/2026; b) formal confirmation of the Council’s funding allocation; and c) any necessary funding due-diligence checks, including from the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA);

c)    note the ‘in-principle’ capital commitment of £912,487, detailed in Table 3 of the report, subject to; a) a future Cabinet report relating to the relevant project to seek approval to commit the funding within the Council’s Capital programme; b) formal confirmation of the Council’s 2025/2026 UKSPF allocation; and c) any required due-diligence checks from EMCCA; and

d)   approve the proposed underspend and change control process, as outlined in 1.15 of this report.

Reasons for Decision:

The recommendations in the report are presented to enable continued delivery of the UKSPF strategic priorities identified by community partners, focussing on the commitment of funding towards projects that deliver the Council’s Community Plan objectives, the UKSPF sub-themes as set out by MHCLG, and to avoid gaps in community, skills and business support provision.

Options Considered:

There is the option for the Council not to accept any future UKSPF allocation and decide not to participate in delivery of the scheme. This is not recommended as it represents a missed opportunity to deliver impactful priority projects, that deliver the Councils community plan objectives.

There is also the option not to commit funding to existing priorities identified within the current UKSPF programme. This approach is not recommended as it would likely fail to recognise the strategic investment priorities identified by the Council, and key stakeholders. This would also result in the withdrawal of valued support programmes for businesses and residents, linked to core services and mainstream skills provision.

That Cabinet approve the District Council consultation response to the Southwell Amended Neighbourhood Plan as set out in Appendix A of the report.

Reasons for Decision:

To allow District Council to submit a consultation response on the Southwell Amended Neighbourhood Plan.

Options Considered:

It is necessary for the District Council to run the Regulation 16 Consultation on the Southwell Amended Neighbourhood Plan because Southwell Town Council have submitted a Neighbourhood Plan proposal under Regulation 15 (1) of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. Officers’ comments are necessary to address issues around consistency with national and local planning policy, and to improve the precision and effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Plan in reaching decisions on development proposals in Southwell Parish.

That Cabinet approve the District Council consultation response to the Winthorpe with Langford Neighbourhood Plan as set out in Appendix A of the report.

Reasons for Decision:

To allow District Council to submit a consultation response on the Winthorpe with Langford Neighbourhood Plan.

Options Considered:

It is necessary for the District Council to run the Regulation 16 Consultation on the Winthorpe with Langford Neighbourhood Plan because Winthorpe with Langford Parish Council have submitted a Neighbourhood Plan proposal under Regulation 15 (1) of The Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. Officers’ comments are in some cases necessary to correct inaccurate or misleading material in the Neighbourhood Plan and in other cases intended to make the document easier to understand and use in reaching decisions on development proposals in the Parish.

That Cabinet:

a)      note the findings of the internal CCTV Review;

b)      approve the integration of the internal cameras within the new control room;

c)       note the changes in the Long-Term Towns Funding;

d)      approve the Capital Budget, financed by the Change Management Reserve as set out in Section 6.3 of the report for the:

·             New control room at £700,000

·             Integration of internal CCTV systems into the new control room at £40,000; and

e)      approve procurement via the ESPO Framework of:

·             Consultant costs for complete start-to-finish project management of £39,160 funded from the General Fund favourable variance in 2024/25.

Reasons for Decision:

The creation of the CCTV Control Room previously approved at Cabinet aligns with the Community Plan Objective 4 – Reduce Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.

Bringing NSDC CCTV Assets centrally into the control room ensures legal compliance and increases the control reach.

Options Considered:

Work with an external existing control room to monitor our cameras – this would not allow for a dedicated Newark & Sherwood monitoring as it would sit within another partnership.

Create a new partnership with shared resources and a new control room – it is possible once the new control is set up that decisions are made to bring in further CCTV cameras from outside of the district for a revenue fee. This would need to be considered in line with the control room aims.

The Committee will be invited to resolve:-

‘To consider resolving that, under section 100A (4) 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 Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.’

None.

Categories of “Exempt Information”

Under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended

1. Information relating to any individual.

2. Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

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

4. Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising

between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

5. Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

6. Information which reveals that the authority proposes –

(a) to give under any enactment a notice under or by  virtue of which requirements are imposed on a person : or

(b) to make an order or direction under any enactment.

7. Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.