Agenda, decisions and minutes

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Items
No. Item

105.

Declarations of Interest

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

106.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 147 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6th March 2019.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 6th March 2019 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

 

107.

Public Question Time (15 minutes)

The opportunity is given to members of the public to put questions to Cabinet Members or Committee Chairs provided that a question does not relate to:

 

·         Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings, or

·         Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

108.

Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes)

To receive any petitions or deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

 

·         Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·         Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

Minutes:

There were no petitions or deputations.

109.

Leader and Cabinet Members' Question Time (15 minutes)

Any Member of the Council may ask the Leader of the Council or any Cabinet Member any question without prior notice, upon:

       

·       Any matter relating to the Council’s administration

·       Any matter relating to any report of the Cabinet appearing on the summons

·       A matter coming within their portfolio of responsibilities

 

Only one supplementary question is allowed per question.

Minutes:

There were no questions to the Leader of the Council or Cabinet.

110.

Discretionary Housing Payments pdf icon PDF 100 KB

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources seeking approval for a policy for Discretionary Housing Payments that takes into account relevant changes in the Department for Work and Pension’s Discretionary Housing Payment guidance and has consideration to the Council’s key objectives.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED that:

 

(1)  the Discretionary Housing Payments policy at Appendix B of the report is the approved policy for Gloucester City Council subject to the following recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 25th March 2019

 

-       paragraph 2.2 be amended to have the policy operative from 4th April 2019

 

-       War Pensions to be disregarded in their entirety for the purposes of calculating income for DHPs

 

-       To clarify the appeals process in the policy

 

-       If on first application it is apparent that the individual’s circumstances are not likely to change within the 13 week period, a longer period will be awarded subject to an annual review

 

(2)  the Discretionary Housing Payment policy is effective 01 April 2019.

 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources that sought approval for a Discretionary Housing Payments policy to take into account relevant changes in the Department for Work and Pension’s Discretionary Housing Payment guidance with consideration to the Council’s key objectives.

 

The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources summarised the key features of the report.  She drew Members’ attention to the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 25th March 2019 described in Appendix C and endorsed recommendations 1, 2, 4, and 5.  Concerning recommendation 3 `to consider disregarding War Pensions in their entirety for the purposes of calculating income for Housing Benefit’ the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources advised Members that this would be better addressed outside of the policy.  She further stated that officers would conduct a review into the matter and bring proposals to Members should they be beneficial.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

(1)  the Discretionary Housing Payments policy at Appendix B of the report is the approved policy for Gloucester City Council subject to the following recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 25th March 2019

 

-       War Pensions to be disregarded in their entirety for the purposes of calculating income for DHPs

 

-       to clarify the appeals process in the policy

 

-       if on first application it is apparent that the individual’s circumstances are not likely to change within the 13 week period, a longer period will be awarded subject to an annual review

 

(2)  the Discretionary Housing Payment policy is effective 4th April 2019.

 

111.

Proposed Extension to Civica ITO Contract pdf icon PDF 92 KB

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources seeking approval to extend the Civica UK Limited Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) contract for a period of 11 months to the 31st March 2021.

Decision:

RESOLVED that Civica UK Limited ITO contract be extended for a period of 11 months until 31st March 2021.

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources that sought approval to extend the Civica UK Limited Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) contract for a period of 11 months to the 31st March 2021.

 

The Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources outlined the background to and implications of an extension to the contract and summarised the discussion of the proposal at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 25th March 2019.

 

RESOLVED that Civica UK Limited ITO contract be extended for a period of 11 months until 31st March 2021.

112.

Annual Report for Energy Costs and Energy Reduction Projects pdf icon PDF 172 KB

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Environment informing Members of the Council’s energy costs and projects to reduce energy usage.

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)  to note progress in the reduction of energy usage and consumption in the year 2018-19.

 

(2)  to support continued implementation of projects to save energy in the councils main buildings as set out in section 4 of the report.

 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Environment that informed Members of the Council’s energy costs and projects to reduce energy usage.

 

The Cabinet Member for Environment highlighted the key achievements and plans to further reduce energy use.  The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy welcomed the report in the context of wider budget savings.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)  to note progress in the reduction of energy usage and consumption in the year 2018-19.

 

(2)  to support continued implementation of projects to save energy in the councils main buildings as set out in section 4 of the report.