6th February 2002

A MEETING of the COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF GOSPORT was held in the Council Chamber at the TOWN HALL, GOSPORT on WEDNESDAY, the SIXTH day of FEBRUARY 2002 at 7.OO PM.

The Mayor (Councillor Wright) (P) (in the Chair);

The Deputy Mayor (Councillor King) (P);

Councillors Allen (P), Mrs Angus (P), Bartlett (P), Mrs Batterbury (P), Mrs Binfield (P), Mrs Bloodworth (P), Burgess (P), Mrs Cully (P), Cully (P), Edgar (P), Edwards (P), Farr (P), Gibson (P), Gill (P), Hayward (P), Hook (P), Kimber (P), Langdon (P), Philpott (P), Redrup (P), Rigg (P), Russell (P), Mrs Salter (P), Mrs Searle (P), Smith (P), Taylor (P), Train (P) and Mrs Wright (P)

Also in attendance: Honorary Aldermen Mrs Bailey and Mrs Leyland.
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APOLOGIES

Apologies for inability to attend the meeting were submitted on behalf of Honorary Alderman Flory, Foster, O'Neill and Searle.

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MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Council Meetings held on 11 December 2001 and 23 January 2002 be confirmed and signed.

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MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS

FUNERALL MONTY

The Mayor reminded Members of the Funerall Monty and Cabaret Show at the Thorngate Halls in aid of the Mayor's Charity Appeal and the Rainbow Centre on the 8 and 9 February 2002. Tickets were still available from the Mayor's Secretary.

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SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 4.2 (ORDER OF BUSINESS)

The Mayor reported that notice had been received requesting that Standing Order 4.2 (Order of Business) be suspended to enable agenda item 6 (Part I Minutes of the Policy and Organisation Board on 23 January 2002) to be considered after item 10 (Selection of Mayor and Deputy Mayor 2002/03) on the agenda.

RESOLVED: That Standing Order 4.2 be moved to enable agenda item 6 to be considered after item 10 on the agenda.

A MEETING OF THE POLICY AND ORGANISATION BOARD

WAS HELD ON 23 JANUARY 2002

The Mayor (P), Councillors Mrs Angus (P), Bartlett (P), Mrs Binfield (P), Mrs Cully (P), Edgar (Chairman) (P), Hayward (P), Hook (P), Langdon (P) and Russell (P)

5. MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 5 December 2001 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

RESOLVED: That Minute No 5 be received and noted.

PART I

6. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the under mentioned item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 9 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

7. KINGFISHER CARAVAN PARK

Consideration was given to an exempt report of the Borough Secretary (a copy of which is inserted in the Minute Book as Appendix 'PO1') which advised of the outcome of negotiations with the current occupiers of Kingfisher Caravan Park with a view to the disposal of the site to the occupiers on a long leasehold basis on terms to be agreed.

The Borough Treasurer confirmed that the valuation represented a fair price for the Council and stressed the need for the Council to consider taking action to reverse the serious deterioration in reserves and balances referred to in his budget report and the recent District Auditor's Management Letter.

RECOMMENDED: That a lease of the site of the Kingfisher Caravan Park be granted to the current Lessees on the terms set out in paragraph 2.2 of the Borough Secretary's report, and that the Borough Secretary be authorised to execute such documentation as was necessary.

Upon the recommendation contained in Minute No 7 being put to the Meeting it was declared LOST.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE HOUSING BOARD

WAS HELD ON 6 FEBRUARY 2002

The Mayor (ex-officio) (P); Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board (Councillor Edgar) (ex-officio) (P); Councillors Allen (P), Bartlett (Chairman) (P), Mrs Batterbury (P), Mrs Cully (P), Farr (P), Gill (P), Philpott (P), Rigg (P), Smith (P) and Taylor (P)

PART I

13. COUNCIL DWELLING RENTS 2002/2003

The Board gave consideration to a joint report of the Borough Treasurer and Housing Services Manager (a copy of which is attached hereto as Appendix 'H1') concerning Council dwelling rents for 2002/2003. The report included the budgets for the Housing Revenue Account, Capital Programme, Housing Revenue Account Subsidy, 2002/2003 rent level proposals and General Fund.

RECOMMENDED: That, with effect from 1 April 2002 -

(i) the weekly Council dwelling rents increase by 2.67%; and

(ii) Garage, car ports and parking lot rents increase by 2.67%.

MOTION: That recommendations (i) and (ii) contained in Minute No 13 be approved and adopted.

Upon recommendation (i) being put to the meeting and in accordance with Standing Order 4.12.4, it was requisitioned that the voting on recommendation (i) be recorded. A recorded vote was thereupon taken and the names of the Members voting for and against recommendation (i) were read to the Council as follows:

FOR RECOMMENDATION (i): Councillors Allen, Bartlett, Burgess, Edgar, Gibson, Hayward, Hook, Kimber, King, Langdon, Philpott, Rigg and Taylor (13).

AGAINST RECOMMENDATION (i): The Mayor and Councillors Mrs Angus, Mrs Batterbury, Mrs Binfield, Mrs Bloodworth, Mrs Cully, Cully, Edwards, Farr, Gill, Redrup, Russell, Mrs Salter, Mrs Searle, Smith, Train and Mrs Wright (17).

Recommendation (i) was put to the meeting and declared LOST.

Recommendation (ii) was accordingly put to the vote and declared LOST.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE
POLICY AND ORGANISATION BOARD

WAS HELD ON 6 FEBRUARY 2002

The Mayor (P); Councillors Mrs Angus (P), Bartlett (P), Mrs Binfield (P), Mrs Cully (P), Edgar (Chairman) (P), Hayward (P), Hook (P), Langdon (P) and Russell (P)

PART I

14. COUNCIL BUDGET 2002-2003

Members received references from the Boards concerning their draft Revenue Budget for 2002-2003 (including Fees and Charges) and their Capital Programme for 2002/2003 to 2007/2008.

The Borough Treasurer reported that the proposed budget for 2002/2003 was £10.2M which represented an increase of £0.67M on the current year. The revised budget for 2001/2002 was over £0.5M higher than the original budget, principally due to additional expenditure on Priddy's Hard Museum, Housing Benefits and pay awards. It was anticipated that the £0.5M overspend in 2001/2002 would be financed from Working Balance £0.1M, Capital Reserve £0.2M and £0.2M by the release of a balance sheet provision previously set aside for expected Business Rate liabilities that were now considered unlikely to materialise. The General Fund Working Balance would therefore be reduced to £0.5M at 31 March 2002, well below the £0.75M level now considered prudent.

The Borough Treasurer drew the Board's attention to the Council's Capital Programme for the next six years which amounted to over £30M.

The budget of £10.2M for 2002/2003, was expected to result in an increase of 12.8% in Gosport's share of the Council Tax. This equated to an extra 27p per week on Gosport's average Band B property.

RECOMMENDED: That -

(i) the revised 2001/2002 General Fund budget totalling £9,544,200 and the 2002/2003 General Fund Budget of £10,210,210 (plus the associated Fees and Charges, Capital Programme, transfers to balances and other proposals included in the report) be approved; and

(ii) delegated authority to the Policy and Organisation Board be confirmed to set Council Tax levels as previously delegated to the Policy and Resources Committee.

MOTION: That the recommendations contained in Minute No 14 be approved and adopted.

[NOTE: Councillor Edgar declared an interest in the following Amendment and left the meeting prior to its consideration and subsequent voting upon it.]

AMENDMENT: That the recommendations contained in Minute No 14 be approved and adopted subject to the following amendments to the Budget Book for 2002/2003:

Page 11	Cemetery Premises	reduce by	£8,000 to	£25,090
Page 13	Street Cleaning Supplies & Services	reduce by	£1,000 to	£10,000
Page 15	Non G.B.C Leisure Facilities Supplies & Services	reduce by	£3,000 to	£7,050
Page 19	Outdoor Sports Supplies & Services	reduce by	£1,300 to	£6,500
Page 27	Arts & Events Events – Waterfront Festival	reduce by	£7,000 to	£8,000
	Waste Collection Income	reduce by	£25,000 to	£30,570
Page 33	Concessionary Travel Transfer Payments – Bus Tokens	increase by	£12,000 to	£433,530
Page 37	Private Sector Housing Supplies & Services	reduce by	£21,000 to	£10,540
Page 47	Environmental Health Services – Residential and Pollution Supplies & Services	reduce by	£5,000 to	£28,220
Page 49	Development Control Supplies & Services	reduce by	£1,000 to	£11,000
Page 51	Licensing and Registration Income	increase by	£2,500 to	£53,580
Page 63	Marketing and Tourism Tall Ships Contribution (funded from reserves)	reduce by	£20,000 to	£40,000
	Priddy's Hard Museum Operating Deficit	reduce by	£130,000 to	£100,160
Page 65	Members and Election Expenses Members Allowances	reduce by	£50,000 to	£177,910
Page 67	Miscellaneous Services Other Expenses	reduce by	£16,000 to	£109,370
Page 73	Housing Services Supplies and Services	reduce by	£5,000 to	£161,200
Page 85	Financial Services Supplies & Services	reduce by	£20,000 to	£180,940

	Fees & Charges
Page 8	Refuse Collections Amenity Skips Hire of skip – per skip	No Charge

	Licences and Registrations
Page 10	Private Hire Operator	increase by	£8 to	£176
	Vehicle	increase by	£8 to	£176
	Driver	increase by	£3 to	£61
	Hackney Carriage Vehicle	increase by	£8 to	£176
	Driver	increase by	£3 to	£61

Therefore the figure of £10,210,210 should be deleted from the second line of recommendation 14 (i) and substituted with the figure of £9,956,410. Recommendation 14 (i) would now read:

"the revised 2001/2002 General Fund budget totalling £9,544,200 and the 2002/2003 General Fund Budget of £9,956,410 (plus the associated Fees and Charges, Capital Programme, transfers to balances and other proposals included in the report) be approved."

The Amendment was put to the vote and declared CARRIED.

SECOND AMENDMENT: That recommendations 14 (i) and (ii) set out above be deleted and substituted by:

(i) 2.25% increase on 2001/2002 original budget which equals £9,759,000 budget for 2002/2003;

(ii) the resulting Council Tax increase is zero;

(iii) next year's budget be put to the people of Gosport in the form of a referendum; and

(iv) £24,000 be taken from the Ritz receipt to pay for a £2 increase in Travel Tokens.

The Second Amendment was put to the vote and declared LOST.

The Substantive Motion was put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.

A MEETING OF THE POLICY AND ORGANISATION BOARD
WAS HELD ON 23 JANUARY 2002

PART II

8. GOSPORT COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP

(Note: The Mayor and Councillor Mrs Angus declared interests in this item and left the meeting prior to its consideration).

[NOTE: The Mayor and Councillor Mrs Angus declared an interest in this item and left the meeting during its consideration.]

[Deputy Mayor in the Chair]

The Board considered a report of the Director of Development and Environment, which advised of previous funding arrangements from the Borough Council to the Gosport Community Safety Partnership. The report also sought approval to project funding as recommended by the Community Safety Partnership and advice from the Board on future reporting arrangements.

Traditionally Gosport Borough Council had made available funding usually in the region of £10,000 per annum, subject to budgeting provision for the Community Safety Partnership to implement a variety of initiatives.

In previous years any funding for initiatives or requests for funding was initially put before the Gosport Community Safety Partnership for consideration. Those projects accepted by the Community Safety Partnership had formed the basis of the report to the Council's former Economic Development and Improvements Sub-Committee for approval. The sum of funding for individual projects was usually no more than £1,000 per project. The reporting of the matter to the Sub-Committee allowed other Members of the Borough Council to be aware of the type of projects being promoted through the Gosport Community Safety Partnership.

Under the new political management structures the Economic Development and Improvements Sub-Committee had now been abolished, therefore new reporting arrangements needed to be considered. The matter of the Council's relationship with the Gosport Community Safety Partnership was discussed at the meeting of the Partnership on 3 December 2001. It was resolved that a report should be put before a meeting of the Council's Policy and Organisation Board to (i) obtain approval to funding requests to the partnership, and (ii) ascertain whether the Board required a report on the future funding of projects or the matter should be delegated. If the Board approved future delegation of funding, Members could be made aware of individual projects through information notes.

The Gosport Community Safety Partnership on 3 December approved four requests for funding as follows:

(a) Bridgework Trust for the "Connect" Project
This was a very successful project that had arisen out of the Crime and Disorder Strategy. The project assisted groups of pupils in years 10 and 11 at secondary school. The pupils identified were at risk of exclusion through truancy, a disrupted home life and/or anti-social behaviour. That £1,000 be made available for the "Connect" project.

(b) & (c) "Global Rock Challenge" and Bridgemary Community School.
The "Global Rock Challenge" was an annual competition open to secondary schools and colleges. Brune Park Community School had entered the competition in previous years and had been very successful. That £500 be made available for the overall competition and £500 to each competing secondary school in Gosport.

(d) Hampshire Neighbourhood Watch Association
That £200 be made available to print a recruitment leaflet.

RESOLVED: That-

· funding in the sums of £1,000 to the Bridgeworks Trust for the "Connect" project, £500 to the Global Rock Competition, £500 to each Gosport Secondary School competing in the latter project and a £200 grant to the Hampshire Neighbourhood Watch Association be approved;

· future funding projects approved by the Gosport Community Safety Partnership to a value of £1,000 or under, be delegated to the Director of Development and Environment in consultation with the Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board; and

(iii) in future Members be made aware of individual Gosport Community Safety Partnership projects through information notes.

[The Mayor in the Chair]

9. ITEM FROM THE PRE-AGENDA LIST IN RESPECT OF WHICH THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HAD DETERMINED NOT TO UNDERTAKE PRE-SCRUTINY

It was noted that the Best Value Review Programme had been referred back from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and would therefore require consideration by the Board.

10. BEST VALUE REVIEW PROGRAMME

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Development and Environment, which sought approval of the Best Value Programme (2002/2003). The Programme had been revised in the light of recent guidance on Best Value and experience.

It was reported that The Audit Commission, Best Value Inspectorate and District Audit had recommended that reviews should cover far larger service areas and be more thematic, to ensure more beneficial outcomes. In view of this Council Management Team had considered the original programme for 2002/2003 and revised it accordingly, the amended proposals were detailed as follows:

· A review called 'cleaner Gosport' to be added to the review programme for 2002/2003 (feedback from the community had shown that this was important to people). This would include a variety of services such as waste management, public conveniences, street cleaning, other cleansing services, abandoned vehicles and dog fouling enforcement.
· The review called 'customer services' to be carried out in 2002/2003 instead of 2003/2004. This review would consider the interface with our customers and would link in with the e-government agenda (the review of the print room and graphics would be deferred to allow resources to be allocated to this review).
· The leisure services review to be encompassed within the cultural services review.
· The Environmental Health review to be deferred as it could well be reviewed in the future as a Community Health theme (meanwhile some key elements of this service would be examined under other reviews).
· The highways and transportation review to be deferred due to the new Agency arrangements.
· Housing finance and strategy not to be reviewed in 2002/2003 because the finance side had just been overhauled in the light of new financial regulations and the strategy side was also dramatically changing.
· The Sheltered Housing review to be brought forward as the need to continue to comply with the DTLR supporting people initiative meant that this review had to be completed by 2002/2003.
· Development Control was still to be reviewed in 2002/2003.

RESOLVED: That the following programme of Best Value reviews for the period 01/04/02 to 31/03/03 be approved:

(i) Cleaner Gosport (to include public conveniences, street cleaning, other cleansing services, waste, abandoned vehicles and dog fouling),

(ii) Customer services,

(iii) Cultural services (to cover cultural services, community recreation and sports development), and

(iv) Development Control.

11. YOUNG CITIZEN AWARD

The Board considered a report of the Borough Secretary, which advised of the proposal to amend the criteria for the Young Citizen of the Year Award, to take account of the Honorary Aldermen Selection Advisory Panel's recommendation that service to the community should also feature in the criteria.

A Panel of Honorary Aldermen each year recommended who should receive the Awards for Gosport Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year. When the Panel met on 23 April 2001 to consider the two Awards it expressed concern that all the nominations before them for Young Citizen related to young people who had coped with a disability. Although this was one of the criteria for the Award, the Panel members found it difficult to distinguish between one disability and another and felt that service to the community should also be a consideration.

Paragraph 2.1 of the Borough Secretary's report recommended that the criteria for Young Citizen of the Year should read as follows:

"To qualify the person must be 18 or under and have shown service to the community, or have shown courage in overcoming or coping with a disability, or demonstrated an act of bravery, or shown a helping and caring attitude to someone disadvantaged".

RESOLVED: That the amended Young Citizen of the Year criteria outlined in paragraph 2.1 of the Borough Secretary's report be approved.

12. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

13. CCTV

Consideration was given to an exempt report of the Director of Development and Environment which sought to advise the Board Members of the tendering process for the Gosport "Community Areas" CCTV system. In addition the report also sought approval to accept a tender submitted to implement the works.

RESOLVED: That -

(i) tenders submitted by Quadrant Video Systems and BT to implement the Gosport "Community Areas" CCTV system be approved;

(ii) approval be given for 6 CCTV cameras in the Gosport CCTV system, to be linked into Hampshire County Council's ROMANSE project; and

(iii) Hampshire County Council be requested to fully investigate an Urban Traffic Control system for the A32.

RESOLVED: That Minute Nos 8-13 (inclusive) of the meeting of the Policy and Organisation Board held on 23 January 2002 be received.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE
POLICY AND ORGANISATION BOARD

WAS HELD ON 6 FEBRUARY 2002

PART II

15. BOARD BUDGET 2002-2003

Consideration was given to the draft Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 as prepared by the Borough Treasurer. The total budget for 2002/2003 was £2,456,670 which was a reduction of £222,700 over the original 2001/2002 budget of £2,682,370.

Consideration was also given to the Capital Programme for 2001/2002 to 2007/2008 of which £435,000 related to the 2002/2003 financial year. The Board noted that the 2001/2002 Revised Capital Programme was £1,351,000.

RESOLVED: That -

(i) the Board's Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 in the sum of £2,456,670 be approved and recommended to Council in accordance with Minute No 13 above; and

(ii) the Board's Revised Capital Programme for 2001/2002 and Capital Programme for 2002/2003 to 2007/2008, of which £435,000 related to 2002/2003, be recommended to Council in accordance with Minute No 13 above.

RESOLVED: That Minute No 15 of the Extraordinary meeting of the Policy and Organisation Board held on 6 February 2002 be received.

A MEETING OF THE HOUSING BOARD

WAS HELD ON 16 JANUARY 2002

The Mayor (ex-officio); Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board (Councillor Edgar) (ex-officio); Councillors Allen (P), Bartlett (Chairman) (P), Mrs Batterbury (P), Mrs Cully (P), Farr (P), Gill (P), Philpott (P), Rigg (P), Smith (P), and Taylor (P)

7. APOLOGY

An apology for inability to attend the meeting was submitted on behalf of Councillor Edgar.

8. MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 28 November 2001 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

PART II

9. A NEW HOUSING STRATEGY FOR 2002/05

The Board gave consideration to a report of the Housing Services Manager in connection with a new Housing Strategy for 2002/05.

The Housing Services Manager reported that the Council had produced a new Housing Strategy for 2002/05, including 22 individual strategies, with the Housing Strategy itself acting as the "over-arching" document.

These documents, taken together, formed the new Housing Strategy submission, which covered the next three financial years. This new production involved a substantial amount of additional effort and commitment. The Housing Strategy Working Group, working in partnership with lead officers in the Housing Services Unit (who were covering the vacant post of Head of Housing Strategy) achieved the production of this comprehensive document, which was submitted by the 31 July 2001 deadline.

This additional effort and the new approach taken in the production and publication of a new Housing Strategy for Gosport had been recognised by the Government Office for the South East (GOSE). Following their comprehensive assessment, Gosport had moved up one place within the housing performance "league table" and was now ranked in 6th place out of 67 housing authorities that made up the South East region.

GOSE had assessed Gosport as follows:

Service Area	Assessment
Housing	Above average
Capital Strategy	Good
Asset Management Plan	Good

This year, Gosport's Single Capital Pot (SCP) allocation was based on an assessment of our housing service performance, Capital Strategy and Asset Management Plan (AMP). A single Basic Credit Approval (BCA) had been made to each Authority for 2002/03. The majority of the "pot" had been allocated on a "needs" basis and the balance allocated by ministerial discretion based on authorities' performance. The quality of the overall submission and the housing performance of the authority had resulted in the award of an additional £175,000 of borrowing approval.

The total for Gosport was:

Element	Amount	Notes
Needs based Annual Capital Guideline (ACG) – 95%	£928,000	Of which housing ACG is £831,000
Less RITA'S taken into account	£325,000	Receipts taken into account
Balance	£603,000
Plus 5% discretionary element BCA	£175,000	Comprises of: Reward for Housing Strategy (based on share of regional 5% for performance) £75,000 Reward for Asset Management Plan £50,000 Reward for Capital Strategy £50,0000
Total Single Capital Pot (SCP) Basic Credit Approval Allocation	£778,000	Based on 95% on General Needs Index (GNI) and 5% discretionary element

This year GOSE's assessment of the Housing Strategy submission had changed. In previous years, the distribution of Housing Annual Capital Guideline (ACG) resources between regions was based on 50% of the Generalised Needs Index (GNI) and a 50% discretionary element, based on the quality of a Local Authority's Housing Strategy submission. The Government then announced that the GNI would be increased from 50% to 95%, with a discretionary 5% element for the quality of the Housing Strategy submission. Concerned about the negative impact this might have on better performing Local Authorities, the Government introduced transitional measures.

The Government introduced a dampening effect whereby one third of the formulaic allocation for housing was performance related and two thirds based on the GNI. In addition, limits were introduced to contain the largest reductions and increases. The Housing ACG plus the provisional Major Repairs Allowance (MRA) had been limited to ensure that year on year there would be a maximum reduction of 5% and maximum increase of 20%.

RESOLVED: That -

(i) the contents of the Housing Services Manager's report and the additional Single Capital Pot allocation of £175,000, which the Council had received as a reward for the quality of its 2002/03 Housing Strategy, Capital Strategy and Asset Management Plan be noted; and

(ii) the Housing Services Manager and his Team be congratulated for their best efforts in producing the new Housing Strategy.

10. CONTRACTS UPDATE - ELECTRICAL REWIRING

The Housing Services Manager reported that in accordance with the Council's current Contract Standing Orders and Financial Regulations he was obliged to set out the circumstances of the acceptance of a tender for the Electrical Rewiring Contract for the Board's information.

He reported that for the Electrical Rewiring Contract three fixed priced tenders had been opened on 2 November 2001 as follows:

a) £98,025.93
b) £84,152.26
c) £60,144.76

The priced specification of the lowest tender was arithmetically checked and it became apparent that an error had occurred. The tenderer was informed of the error and was not willing to stand by the tender submitted. Therefore the lowest tender had been withdrawn. The priced specification of the second lowest tender, submitted by Walker Electrical Services (UK) Ltd, was arithmetically checked and showed no errors. This tender was accepted following consultation with the Chairman of the Housing Board.

RESOLVED: That the Housing Services Manager's report on the acceptance of the second lowest tender for the Electrical Rewiring Contract be noted.

11. 2002/03 HOUSING REPAIRS PROGRAMME

The Housing Services Manager reported on the proposed 2002/03 Housing Repairs Programme.

He reported that the proposed programme included a standstill budget allocation for day-to-day repairs and void properties, to reflect the trends in expenditure currently being experienced. The information should be regarded as a guide only. Various factors including the actual level of tender prices and the level of expenditure on unplanned repairs may require adjustments to the proposed programme during the course of the year.

The Housing Services Manager concluded that the prime changes to this year's programme were the inclusions of £500,000 for investigations and essential repairs to the Council's "Steane" houses in Bridgemary, and an additional £100,000 to be spent on essential repairs and health and safety works to lifts following an independent evaluation.

The Repairs programme was detailed as follows:

2002/03 REPAIRS PROGRAMME

BUDGET HEADING	BUDGET	BUDGET
	ALLOCATION 2001/02	ALLOCATION 2002/03
Day to Day Repairs	£1,215,000	£1,240,000
Void Properties	£380,000	£390,000
Repairs to Incentive Move Dwellings	£30,000	£30,000
OAP Decs Scheme	£30,000	£30,000
Minor Fencing Works	£20,000	£20,000
Gas Servicing	£400,000	£410,000
Lift Service & Repairs	£40,000	£140,000
Door Entry Checks	£10,000	£10,000
Miscellaneous Multi-Storey	£25,000	£25,000
Fire Alarm – Sheltered Schemes	£10,000	£10,000
Environmental improvements	£35,000	£35,000
Seafield Estate – security & Environmental Improvements	£50,000	£25,000
Disabled Aids	£140,000	£180,000
Disabled Aids – Heating	£70,000	£70,000
Security Provision	£100,000	£70,000
Painting & Repairs Programme	£100,000	£150,000
Stock Condition Survey	£100,000	£0
Sheltered Scheme security & other Improvements	£150,000	£25,000
Electrical Rewiring	£86,000	£250,000
New Planned Maintenance Package	£750,000	£600,000
Central Heating	£471,000	£330,000
Central Heating c/fd	£225,000	£0
Window Replacement contract c/fd	£0	£0
Professional Fees	£30,000	£20,000
Asbestos Removal	£20,000	£20,000
Energy Efficiency	£10,000	£10,000
Tenant Led Improvements	£150,000	£40,000
Sheltered scheme Heating	£300,000	£300,000
Parking Enforcement	£10,000	£10,000
Retentions/Carry Forward	£100,000	£60,000
Works to multi storey flats	£350,000	£0
Barclay House Improvements	£80,000	£0
Conversion of two dwellings	£50,000	£0
Steane Houses	£0	£500,000
Fire Protection Works	£100,000	£0
Total	£5,637,000	£5,000,000

Budget Based on:
Revenue Contributions	£3,296,000	£2,620,000
MRA	£2,341,000	£2,380,000
Total	£5,637,000	£5,000,000

RESOLVED: That approval be given to the proposed 2002/03 Housing Repairs Programme, subject to final approval of the Housing Revenue Account Budget.

12. OPTIONS APPRAISAL

The Board gave consideration to a report of the Housing Services Manager in connection with an appraisal exercise of the investment options available for the future of the Housing Service.

The Housing Services Manager reported that his report had been prepared following an options appraisal process carried out between December 2000 and March 2001. The review was deemed to be necessary to include the more recent information gathered through the stock condition survey undertaken in the autumn of 2001 and to take account of the Government's new "Decent Homes Standard (July 2001)".

To achieve the Decent Homes Standard Policy Statement commitment, the Government had established a specific target to " ensure that all social housing meets set standards of decency by 2010, by reducing the number of households living in social housing that does not meet these standards by a third between 2001 and 2004, with most of the improvements taking place in the most deprived local authority areas." It was reported that 49% of the Council's housing stock was in the Non Decent/Potentially Non Decent categories. The cost of bringing all the Council's stock up to the Decent Homes Standard by 31 March 2010 (in 8 full financial years time) was estimated at £48.9m. A revised examination of the 2001 HRA Business Plan model predicted that the resources available to the Council during the period 2002/03-2009/10 would be £24m. It therefore appeared that the "Status Quo" would not meet the full requirements of the Decent Homes Standard by the target date of 2010.

However, if the 2010 target of 100% of homes meeting the Standard was disregarded and the Council chose to only replace components that had been assessed as actually needing replacement in the next decade (and not for example bringing forward replacement of items deemed "old but serviceable") the following capital expenditure requirements resulted:

· Total capital expenditure requirement until 31.3.2012 = £38.9m
· Total predicted capital resources available until 31.3.2012 = £31m

It was also reported that at this stage the outcome of the Government's consultation on the possibility of developing a Prudential Code of Borrowing was not known and as a result any benefit in maintaining the "Status Quo" could not be quantified. The scale of the investment gap facing the Council over the next decade and the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard led to the conclusion that the Council needed to decide which option was to be explored at some stage within the next twelve months.

The Review process adopted was the same as that which produced the initial Options Appraisal report considered by the Housing Committee in June 2001.
The first appraisal had identified six options for analysis. They were:

(i) Status Quo
(ii) Private Finance Initiative (PFI)
(iii) Arms Length Company
(iv) Trickle Transfer
(v) Partial Transfer
(vi) Whole Stock Transfer

The Working Group, made up of Members, Officers and Tenants, considered this list and deemed that the new information would make little or no difference to two of them, PFI and trickle transfer, and the previous view was considered to remain an accurate assessment of their position. In addition, the Council's Arms Length Management Organisation submission was not successful and as a result, this option would not be available until 2004/5 at the earliest. Given the nature of the Council's investment gap and the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard, the Working Group felt that this was no longer a viable option. The Working Group therefore considered the remaining available options (the "Status Quo", Partial and Whole Stock Transfer). The resulting Options Appraisal report was enclosed as an appendix to the Housing Services Manager's report.

Board members debated the appended Appraisal report prepared by PCA Management Consultants. Members referred to paragraph 6.6 on page 21 of the 23-page document related to the full stock transfer option. It was emphasised that both the Council and the Tenants Forum had concerns about the legitimacy of this statement that all operational staff transfer with the properties. The PCA Management Consultants' representative at the meeting was requested to formally write to the Council and clarify this statement. It was also emphasised that at this time this option was neither the Council's or the Forum's preferred option.

Although the Option Appraisal process and the Stock Condition Survey had provided the Council with a high quality and definitive analysis of the "financial" situation facing the Council over the next decade and beyond, it should be noted that those "reviews" and the requirements of the Decent Homes Standard were based solely on property needs. As a result, they therefore did not necessarily reflect the aspirations of the Council's tenants.

Given that the Council was required on a regular basis to assess the satisfaction of Council tenants with the condition of their home and the service provided by the Council, it was proposed to use this mechanism to seek the views of tenants on their aspirations for the future of their home and housing service. It was therefore recommended that the Housing Services Manager, in consultation with PCA Management Consultants and the contractor who undertook the Council's 2001 Tenant Satisfaction Survey - Market Research UK Ltd, be authorised to design the appropriate survey and undertake this exercise in June 2002. The outcomes from that survey would be presented to the next available meeting of the Housing Board and following the completion of this Council's democratic process, the 2002 edition of the HRA Business Plan would be produced to reflect the Council's preferred investment option.

RESOLVED: That -

(i) the contents of the Housing Services Manager's report and the attached Options Appraisal Report be noted;

(ii) the Housing Services Manager be authorised, in consultation with Group Housing Spokespersons, PCA Management Consultants and Market Research UK Ltd, to design a tenant satisfaction survey that sought the views of tenants on their aspirations for the future of their home and housing service; and

(iii) the Housing Services Manger be authorised to use the assistance of PCA Management Consultants in the production of the 2002/3 HRA Business Plan.

RESOLVED: That Minute Nos 7-12 (inclusive) of the meeting of the Housing Board held on 16 January 2002 be received.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE HOUSING BOARD

WAS HELD ON 6 FEBRUARY 2002

PART II

14. BOARD BUDGET 2002-2003

The Board gave consideration to the draft Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 as prepared by the Borough Treasurer. The total budget for 2002/2003 was £349,520, a reduction of £23,830 on the original 2001/2002 budget of £373,350.

Consideration was also given to the Capital Programme for 2002/2003 to 2007/2008 in the sums of £4,859,000 (General Fund) of which £778,000 related to 2002/2003 and £19,056,000 (Housing Revenue Account) of which £3,176,000 related to 2002/2003. The Board noted that the 2001/2002 Revised Capital Programme was £1,126,000 (General Fund) and £3,256,000 (Housing Revenue Account). The Board also considered the proposed Fees and Charges for Mobile Homes/Caravan Sites and Improvement Loans.

RESOLVED: That the Policy and Organisation Board be requested to approve the -

(i) General Fund Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 in the sum of £349,520;

(ii) Revised Capital Programme for 2001/2002 and Capital Programme for 2002/2003 to 2007/2008 for the Housing Revenue Account of which £3,176,000 related to 2002/2003 and the General Fund of which £778,000 related to 2002/2003;

(iii) Fees and Charges for 2002/2003 relating to Mobile Home/Caravan Sites and Improvement Loans (as set out on page 9 of the Fees and Charges Book); and

(iv) the rental increase of 2.6% for the Mobile Home Park for 2002/2003.

RESOLVED: That Minute No 14 of the extraordinary meeting of the Housing Board held on 6 February 2002 be received.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE
COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT BOARD

WAS HELD ON 6 FEBRUARY 2002

The Mayor (P); Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board (Councillor Edgar) (ex-officio) (P), Councillors Mrs Bloodworth (P), Burgess (P), Hook (Chairman) (P), Kimber (P), King (P), Mrs Salter (P), Mrs Searle (P), Smith (P) and Train (P)

PART II

15. BOARD BUDGET 2002-2003

The Board gave consideration to the draft Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 as prepared by the Borough Treasurer. The total budget for 2002/2003 was £6,203,710, an increase of £851,460 on the original 2001/2002 budget of £5,352,250.

Consideration was also given to the Capital Programme for 2002/2003 to 2007/2008 in the sum of £4,437,000 of which £1,382,000 related to 2002/2003. The Board noted that the 2001/2002 Revised Capital Programme was £948,000. The Board also considered the proposed Fees and Charges for 2002/2003 relating to:

(i) Recreation Centres
(ii) Outdoor Pools
(iii) Casual Lettings of Land
(iv) Allotments
(v) Day Huts
(vi) Wildgrounds Nature Reserve
(vii) Games in Parks
(viii) Cemetery
(ix) Other Environmental Health Services
(x) Refuse Collections
(xi) Street Trading Consent
(xii) Car Parks
(xiii) Removal of Derelict Cars
(xiv) Stray Dogs

RESOLVED: That the Policy and Organisation Board be requested to approve the:

(i) Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 in the sum of £6,203,710;
(ii) Revised Capital Programme for 2001/2002 and Capital Programme for 2002/2003 to 2007/2008 of which £1,382,000 related to 2002/2003; and
(iii) Fees and Charges for 2002/2003 relating to the above mentioned services (as set out on pages 1 to 8 and 11 to 12 of the Fees and Charges Book).

[Abstentions: The Mayor; Councillors Mrs Bloodworth, Mrs Salter, Mrs Searle, Smith and Train]

RESOLVED: That Minute No 15 of the Extraordinary meeting of the Community and Environment Board held on 6 February 2002 be received.

AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE REGULATORY BOARD

WAS HELD ON 6 FEBRUARY 2002

The Mayor (ex-officio) (P); Chairman of the Policy and Organisation Board (Councillor Edgar) (ex-officio) (P); Councillors Mrs Angus (P), Mrs Binfield (P), Edwards (P), Farr (P), Gibson (P), Gill (P), Hayward (Chairman) (P), Langdon (P), Mrs Searle (P) and Taylor (P)

PART II

26. BOARD BUDGET 2002/2003

The Board gave consideration to the draft Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 as prepared by the Borough Treasurer. The total budget for 2002/2003 was £1,284,310, an increase of £35,280 over the original 2001/2002 budget of £1,249,030.

The Board also considered the proposed Fees and Charges for 2002/2003 relating to:

(i) Licences and Registrations
(ii) Rodent and Pest Control
(iii) Developer Contributions
(iv) Provision of Copies of OS Plans
(v) Building Regulations Applications
(vi) Fees for Planning Applications

RESOLVED: That the Policy and Organisation Board be requested to approve the:

(i) Revenue Budget for 2002/2003 in the sum of £1,284,310; and
(ii) Fees and Charges for 2002/2003 relating to the above mentioned services (as set out on pages 10 and 13 to 17 of the Fees and Charges Book).

RESOLVED: That Minute No 26 of the Extraordinary meeting of the Regulatory Board held on 6 February 2002 be received.
____________________

SCHOOL GOVERNORS: MINOR AUTHORITY REPRESENTATIVES

School Governing Body	Current representative	Decision

Alverstoke C of E (Aided)	Vacant	Mr R Hicks of 32 Haselworth Drive, Gosport, be appointed as the Borough Council's Minor Authority representative for a four year period.
Siskin Infant & Nursery	Mrs B Peacey	That Mrs B Peacey be appointed to continue as the Borough Council's Minor Authority representative for a four year period.

Newtown Junior

Councillor Mrs J Cully

That Mrs J Cully be appointed to continue as the Borough Council's Minor Authority representative for a four year period.

_________________

SELECTION OF MAYOR AND DEPUTY MAYOR 2002/2003

The Council noted that the Conservative Group had nominated Denis King to be the Mayor Elect for the 2002/2003 Municipal Year. In accordance with the rotational procedure agreed at the Extraordinary Council Meeting on 10 May 2000 it was the Liberal Democrat Group's turn to nominate a Deputy Mayor Elect for 2002/2003.

As the Liberal Democrat Group declined to nominate for this position the procedure determined that the Labour Group should be allowed to nominate for Deputy Mayor Elect. The Labour Group accordingly nominated Mrs Iris Edith Binfield to be the Deputy Mayor Elect for the 2002/2003 Municipal Year.

The Council rose at 9.20 pm