Cabinet - Tuesday, 4th July, 2023 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

Under the Council’s Code of Conduct for Councillors, all Members are required to disclose relevant Interests in any matter to be considered at the meeting.  Where the matter directly relates to a Member’s Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Registrable Interest, that Member must not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not remain in the room unless they have been granted a dispensation (see note below). If the matter directly relates to ‘Non-Registrable Interests’, the Member’s participation in the meeting will depend on the nature of the matter and whether it directly relates or affects their financial interest or well-being or that of a relative, friend  or close associate, applying the tests set out in the Code.

NOTE:

On 27th May, 2021, the Council’s Corporate Governance, Audit and Standards Committee granted dispensations to Members appointed by the Council to the Board of the Rushmoor Development Partnership and as Directors of Rushmoor Homes Limited.

Having regard to the Council’s Code of Conduct for Councillors, no declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 6th June, 2023 (copy attached).

The Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 6th June, 2023 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

To consider Report No. FIN2311 (copy attached), which sets out the Council’s financial position for 2022/23, based on a monitoring exercise carried out with budget officers during March 2023 and actual spend data from 1st April, 2022 to 31st March, 2023.

The Cabinet considered Report No. FIN2311, which set out the financial position for 2022/23, based on the budget monitoring exercise carried out with budget officers during March 2023, along with the anticipated outturn position for 2022/23. Members were informed that the Council had faced a number of challenges that had restricted the ability to financially plan for the medium to long term. These had included a high inflation rate, interest rates and the cost of living crisis. It was reported that, despite the pressures that, despite these factors, the Council had managed to deliver services within the overall budget set. Members heard that, following the approval of  specific carry forwards of budgets, grants and earmarked reserves, the net adverse variation was £0.075 million, after taking into account the delivery of savings and the movements in other corporate reserves. The Cabinet expressed appreciation to all that contributed to the Council being able to continue to operate efficiently and to deliver high-quality services, despite these difficult financial conditions.

The Cabinet RESOLVED that

(i)           the final unaudited outturn report and anticipated financial position for the 2022/23 financial year, with regards to the risks highlighted, the latest revenue forecasts and the impact on reserve balances, as set out in Report No. FIN2311, be noted;

(ii)          the update on the in-year savings achieved, as set out in Section 5 of the Report, be noted;

(iii)         the carrying forward of any requested underspent budgets, due to ringfenced grants being received but not spent in full in 2022/23, identified as part of closing the accounts for the year and transferred to reserves that will fund expenditure in 2023/24 related to those grants, as set out in the Report, be noted;

(iv)         the addition to the MTFS Equalisation Reserve of any unspent budgets from 2022/23 that contributed positively to the Council’s General Fund, as set out in the Report, be approved, in order to improve the Council’s financial stability; and

(v)          the latest Capital Programme position, as set out in Section 8 of the Report, be noted.

To consider Report No. ACE2306 (copy attached), which sets out a revised Climate Change Action Plan for the period 2023-26.

The Cabinet considered Report No. ACE2306, which set out an update to the action plan in support of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy Statement 2020-2030.

Members were reminded that, following the Council’s declaration of a climate emergency in June 2019, the Cabinet had approved a Climate Change Action Plan at its meeting in November 2020. Since that time, the Council had been delivering a number of projects and programmes that had sought to mitigate the impact of climate change. The Cabinet was informed that the Report provided details of actions taken to date and presented the Council’s carbon footprint for the period 2021/22. Work had been carried out to develop a revised action plan that would cover the period 2023-26 and would focus on twelve priority actions. 

In discussing this, Members stressed the importance of engagement with younger people in progressing the Council’s climate change response. Thanks were conveyed to both the former Climate Change Cabinet Champion and the cross party Cabinet Working Group for the significant work that had been undertaken in this area to date.

The Cabinet RESOLVED that

(i)           the progress in delivering the actions in the climate change action plan that had been agreed in November 2020, as set out in Report No. ACE2306, be noted;

(ii)          the Council’s carbon footprint for 2021/22 and the carbon footprint target setting report, as set out in Annex A of the Report, be noted; and

(iii)         the Climate Change Action Plan 2023-26, as set out in section 4 of the Report, be approved.