Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interest were received.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

Joint Report of the Planning and Economic Development Director and the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director

Further to Minute No.59 of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 18 August 2010, the Cabinet Member considered a joint report of the Planning and Economic Development Director and Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director that provided an update on the comments received during consultation on the draft Informed Assessment of the Economic Viability of Affordable Housing; and seeking approval for the final Informed Assessment of the Economic Viability of Affordable Housing as part of the evidence base for the Local Development Framework, taking into account consultation comments.

This was a key decision and was currently included on the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

RESOLVED: That

(1)      the comments received during the consultation process into the draft  study  and the responses to the comments be noted; and

(2)      the Cabinet be recommended to approve the Final Informed Assessment of the Economic Viability of Affordable Housing to inform the emerging Core Strategy for Sefton.

Joint report of the Planning and Economic Development Director and Environmental and Technical Services Director

Further to Minute No. 76 of the meeting of Cabinet Member – Technical Services held on 22 September 2010, the Cabinet Member considered the joint report of the Planning and Economic Development Director and Environmental and Technical Services Director updating on the Plugged-in-Places Programme and seeking consent for Sefton Council to be the Accountable Body for the sub-regional bid.

The report indicated that the sub-region's Expression of Interest for the Plugged In Places project was formally submitted to Department of Transport (DfT) in July 2010; out of 15 applications, the DfT had indicated that the Merseyside bid was likely to succeed subject to a number of key issues being addressed; and that officers were of the view that the issues could be satisfactorily addressed to enable a full bid to be submitted by 29 October 2010 deadline.

Merseytravel, who were expected to undertake Accountable Body status for the project, had now indicated that it would not be possible for them to assume such status; and given that Sefton had agreed to become the Accountable Body for the sub-regional REECH Project, and the fact that associated activities were all related to addressing CO2 emmisions reduction, helping local SMEs, creating local employment opportunities, and the development of the low carbon economy, the Cabinet Member was requested to agree to Sefton becoming the Accountable Body for the Plugged-In-Places project, subject to the bid being successful.

RESOLVED:  

That Plugged-in-Places – An Update report be noted.

Report of the Planning and Economic Development Director

Further to Minute No. 76 of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 15 September 2010, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Planning and Economic Development Director that reported the findings of further studies undertaken by Fordham Research that: clarified and expanded on the affordable housing statistics contained in previously completed Sefton Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2008 and published in 2009; and provided an analysis of housing search and expectations in Sefton.

The report also sought agreement to a change in the current approved negotiating position with regard to affordable housing provided through the S106 process in Bootle.

RESOLVED: That

(1)      the key findings of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Technical Note and the Housing Search and Expectations Study be noted;

(2)      the Cabinet be requested to approve the key findings of the Strategic Housing Market Assessment Technical Note; and

(3)      the Cabinet be requested to approve the relaxation of any S106 affordable housing requirement for Bootle with immediate effect.

Report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director that sought approval to make a minor amendment to the Overarching Development Agreements with Bellway Homes Limited and Keepmoat Limited.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet be requested to approve the amendment of Paragraph 6.3 of Schedule 2 to the Overarching Development Agreements between the Council and Bellway Homes Limited and between the Council and Keepmoat Limited as set out in paragraph 4 of the report.

Report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director that set out the reductions and other changes made in Housing Market Renewal funding from the Home and Communities Agency for Sefton in the current financial year, and the proposed changes to the South Sefton Housing Market Renewal programme and budget to account for these reductions.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet be requested to approve the proposed reductions in expenditure and revised budget and programme for the South Sefton Housing Market Renewal Programme detailed in the report and set out in Table 1 of the report.

Joint Report of the Planning and Economic DevelopmentDirector and the Interim Head of Corporate Finance and ICT Strategy

Further to Minute No. 63 of 28 October 2009, the Cabinet Member considered the joint report of the Planning and Economic Development Director and the Interim Head of Corporate Finance and ICT Strategy regarding the final outturn position for the Regeneration Portfolio.

The report outlined the 2009/10 outturn for the Regeneration Portfolio’s revenue and capital expenditure budgets and identified the major variations; details of the Portfolio’s performance in 2009/10 against its relevant indicators; together with comments by the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director on revenue, capital and performance issues, highlighting any that had ongoing implications for later years.

The report concluded by requesting Members to give consideration to the submission of comments on the outturn to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services).

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the Portfolio’s revenue expenditure outturn for 2009/10, be noted;

(2)      the impact of the Portfolio’s capital expenditure outturn for 2009/10 be noted; and

(3)      the comments made on the Portfolio’s performance in 2009/10 be noted.