Decisions

The Government has launched a range of measures with associated funding for the Council’s and other local authorities’ response to COVID-19. It is evident that there is a need for up-front funding for a range of support measures being implemented by Somerset West and Taunton Council, and to mitigate increased demand for services and reductions in funding for vital local services.

It is therefore proposed to create a COVID Emergency Fund of £1,000,000 for General Fund services and a COVID Emergency Fund of £500,000 for Housing (HRA) services.

The Government has indicated that local authorities will receive additional funding to meet the costs of COVID-19 response. Therefore the Council will seek to recover these funds from Government during 2020/21. However, in the meantime it is proposed to underwrite the above sums by reprioritising £1,000,000 from New Homes Bonus grant reserve and £500,000 from the Housing Capital Debt Repayment budget.

Actual costs and funding requirement will be monitored throughout the year, with the full impact reported in due course.

RESOLVEDto implement a gull control programme in Taunton Town Centre to reduce the associated noise nuisance and aggressive behaviour along with long-term population reduction.

RESOLVED that the Executive noted the South West Audit Partnership’s (SWAP) Transformation Audit - Lessons Learnt Report.

RESOLVED that Executive;

1.    Approved the sale of the freehold interest in the property identified in the confidential report for a confidential sum.

2.    Delegated authority to the Assets Specialist in consultation with the S151 Officer to agree final terms and complete the sale transaction.

3.    Noted the income from the disposal would be credited to the Capital Receipts Reserve within the Housing Revenue Account.

RESOLVED that the press and the public be excluded from the meeting for the items numbered 11 on the Agenda as the items contained exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, and the public interest in withholding the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

RESOLVED that the Executive endorsed the recommendation made by the Hinkley Point C Planning Obligations Board (POB) as follows;

1.    To approve the transfer of ring-fenced monies £158,994 for Cannington from the HPC CIM Fund to Cannington Parish Council (CPC) with the following conditions set out in a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by Cannington Parish Council:

a)    CPC must undertake evaluation appraisals of all proposals to ensure they mitigate impacts in line with the criteria set out in Schedule 1 of the HPC Site Preparation Section 106 agreement before approval.

b)    CPC must report back to Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) via the CIM Fund Manager at regular intervals with progress updates.

c)    Applications for grant funding of over £50,000 must be referred to SWT and follow the decision making procedures set out in the HPC Site Preparation Section 106 agreement to SWT for consideration by POB and SWT in line with obligations within the HPC Site Preparation Section 106 agreement.

d)    Applications for grant funding by any organisation that have previously been awarded a CIM Fund Grant must be referred to SWT and follow the decision making procedures set out in the HPC Site Preparation Section 106 agreement.

2.    To allocate £201,545 from the HPC CIM Fund ring-fenced for Stogursey to Stogursey Victory Hall Committee for use as contingency for the Stogursey Victory Hall Project, with any unspent contingency to be returned to the HPC CIM Fund ring-fenced for Stogursey in July 2020.

RESOLVED that the Executive recommend to Full Council that the Pay Policy Statement 2020/21 is approved for publication.

(Copy of the Executive Forward Plan, circulated with the agenda).

Councillors were reminded that if they had an item they wanted to add to the agenda, that they should send their requests to the Governance Team.

RESOLVED that the Executive Forward Plan be noted.

(Minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 22^nd January 2020, 28^th January 2020 and 10^th February 2020 were circulated with the agenda)

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Executive held on 22^nd January, 28^th January and 10^th February 2020 were confirmed as a correct record.