Agenda item
Council Plan Extension - Priorities and Actions for 2020/21
To consider the report of the Leader of the Council which outlines proposed actions and priorities for the one year Council Plan extension in 2020-2021.
Minutes:
11.1 The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment introduced the report outlining that the Committee was being asked to recommend that the Council Plan extension is approved. This was necessary in light of the fact that a new Council Plan was due to be developed following the local elections in May 2020, however, the elections had been postponed to May 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
11.2 Councillor Haigh questioned whether some of the priorities in the Council Plan were still fit for purpose. Firstly, she suggested that the social housing target in Priority 1.2 could be higher. Secondly, she suggested that Cabinet amends Priority 3.13 to include other community initiatives as follows: “work with partners to improve the health and wellbeing of our population, in particular through the development of the Blackbridge site and other community initiatives”. Lastly, she suggested that the reference to “commercial opportunities” in relation to the Shopmobility Service in Priority 4.16 should be removed. She added this would be prudent as a solution to commercial opportunities had never been found in order to meet this aim. Rather, her view was that the Council should look to other ways of cross-subsiding.
11.3 Councillor Cook responded to Councillor Haigh’s points in turn. Firstly, in relation to social housing, he noted that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, builders were unlikely to be able to deliver the same number of houses as planned before the pandemic. Further, he pointed to some reports which suggested that builders would only be able to deliver 50% of their targets for building houses, for example as a result of social distancing measures amongst other factors. This would also present challenges for social housing. However, the Council would continue to work with builders to aim to deliver as much social housing in the circumstances. Secondly, on the topic of White City, he stated that the Council was in ongoing talks with the team there to help them achieve a successful outcome in relation to another facility which they were planning to build. However, he was not sure that there was anything more the Council could do. He added that the Blackbridge site was mentioned in the original City Plan whereas White City had not been. Lastly, he stated that Cabinet was aware of ongoing issues at Shopmobility, and were looking at how improvements could be made.
11.4 Councillor Haigh reiterated that Priority 3.13 could be improved by adding “and other community initiatives”, and stated that this would align with the Asset Based Community Development principle. Councillor Cook responded to say that the wording on Priority 3.13 could be agreed upon and then taken forward by Cabinet.
11.5 Councillor Hilton queried whether the priorities could be achieved whilst the City was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, he pointed to Priorities 1.4 and 1.7. Additionally, Councillor Hilton pointed to the fact that there was not a policy on Households in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) on the Council Plan, stating that there should be a policy requiring planning permission for HMOs in the City. Councillor Cook stated that he took on board Councillor Hilton ‘s comments particularly around HMOs, and stated that the Council should be looking to develop a solution for this. The Managing Director highlighted that Councillor Hilton had raised this issue with the Head of Communities when the Committee considered the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy and her response was that once completed, the Stock Conditions Survey would assist with identifying where a policy decision needs to be made in relation to HMOs. Officers were carrying on implementing the action plan in the Housing, Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy and this would help to decide whether a policy decision such as an Article 4 Direction would be needed.
11.6 Councillor Hilton responded to say that he wanted assurance that the Stock Conditions Survey would be carried out as quickly as possible. He suggested that th areas experiencing issues with HMOs could be looked at first before looking at other areas. He pointed to Cheltenham where the ward of St. Pauls had an Article 4 Direction in place and other areas in the City did not.
11.7 Pointing to Priority 1.7, Councillor Pullen asked when further information would be made available in relation to the chosen option for the delivery of Place Marketing Function. Councillor Cook advised that the “Report Into the Future Marketing of Gloucester” which was being prepared by Steve Brown, the Former Interim Chief Executive of Marketing Gloucester Ltd explored the different options available for a Place Marketing Function. The Corporate Director noted that the report recommended that the City needed a Place Marketing Function. The idea that the City needed a Place Marketing Function was echoed at a Visitor Economy & Cultural Recovery Group meeting held the previous week and would likely be echoed at the Economic Recovery & Growth Task Force meeting that week. Moreover, the Head of Cultural Services was holding discussions with other Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to find out what has and has not worked for them. From this, it was evident that some DMOs were struggling, and thus the approach that would be recommended to Cabinet would be a more sustainable one. Officers were costing up proposals, once completed the proposals and the report would go forward to Cabinet. This report would be brought before the Overview & Scrutiny Committee once ready as previously agreed.
11.8 Councillor Stephens stated that he largely welcomed the Council Plan, however, he also noted that the Council would have to be flexible with the Plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty resulting from this in different areas. Furthermore, he stated that he welcomed Councillor Haigh ‘s proposed recommendations in relation to the Council Plan. Lastly, with regard to Councillor Hilton ‘s comment, he stated that HMOs were also an issue in other areas. Nonetheless, he suggested that amending the Council Plan was not the most conducive way of dealing with this. Rather, he believed that the issue should be addressed as part of the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.
11.9 Councillor Hilton re-emphasised that work on the Stock Conditions Survey needed to be completed sooner rather than later. Moreover, he stated that if the Managing Director was able to provide a timeline of work to complete the Stock Conditions Survey, he would be satisfied. The Managing Director stated that he was happy to pass on Councillor Hilton ‘s comments to the Head of Communities and the Cabinet Member for Communities & Neighbourhoods. He also noted however that the housing team was under a lot of short-term pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He believed that the Head of Communities and the Cabinet Member for Communities & Neighbourhoods were in talks with Ark Consultancy to provide them with extra resources to carry out the Stock Conditions Survey, however, he would need to confirm this.
11.10 Councillor Haigh reiterated her earlier recommendations. On the topic of Shopmobility, the Managing Director outlined that as recently as last week, Councillor Watkins had indicated that she was in talks with a partner in relation to Shopmobility, and thus she may not be willing to remove “commercial opportunities” as a priority in the Council Plan.
11.11 Committee members discussed the merits of Councillor Haigh ‘s recommendation.
11.12 RESOLVED that the Overview & Scrutiny Committee RECOMMENDS that:
1. Cabinet amends Priority 3 (13) in the Council Plan Extension Priorities for 2020/21 as follows: “work with partners to improve the health and wellbeing of our population, in particular through the development of the Blackbridge siteand other community initiatives”
2. Cabinet removes the reference to “commercial opportunities” in relation to the Shopmobility Service in Priority 4 (16) of the Council Plan Extension Priorities for 2020/21.
Supporting documents:
- Council Plan Extension - Priorities & Actions for 2020-21, item 11. PDF 239 KB
- Appendix 1 List of Council Plan Priorities & Actions, item 11. PDF 211 KB