Agenda and minutes

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 27 May 2022.

The minutes for the meeting held on 27 May 2022 were signed as a correct record.

Councillors/Staff to give notice of any disclosable pecuniary interest, other registrable interest or any other interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda, in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

None declared.

To answer questions from members of the public – submitted in writing or by electronic mail no later than 5.00pm on a working day, allowing two clear working days before the day of the meeting.

None received.

To hear representations from members of the public on items which appear on the agenda – submitted in writing or by electronic mail no later than 5.00pm, 2 working days before the meeting.

None received.

Verbal update on progress

This item was deferred until the next meeting due to officers needing to isolate.

Members requested they be provided with a summary of the presentation ahead of the next meeting allowing time for members to identify any questions or queries they may have.

Verbal update on process and progress

The Programme Director - Workington provided members with a verbal update presentation on work on the submission bid for the Levelling Up Fund.

This was a £4.8bn Government fund to bid for capital investment on local infrastructure, based on three themes: transport investment, regeneration and town centre investment and cultural investment, of which bids up to £20m were available for district councils.

It was now stage 2 of the process and the criteria had changed since the first stage, there was now an opportunity for one bid per whole or part of a parliamentary constituency within a borough area.

An additional change since the first round, Allerdale council were now a priority area 1 for stage 2, previously a 2, the difference being bids had to be of exceptional quality.

The Workington Gateway previous bid for round one was unsuccessful however feedback received said the Council had demonstrated a strong strategic case.

The Council had been working with Cumbria County Council to refine the Workington Gateway project with a view to submitting that bid as part of round 2. The current bid was predominantly transport related, with proposals relating to Ramsey Brow junction improvements and Hall Brow widening, provision of new cycleway through Hall Park and provision of permanent lighting through Workington Hall. A new element added to the project, which sat with the cultural element of the scheme, was working with West House looking to expand their current pottery social enterprise in the walled garden of the Curwen Centre into horticultural enterprise with refurbishment of the Curwen Centre, provision of glass houses and planting beds, disabled parking and charging points and a retail kiosk.

Overall the package bid came to an approximate total of £9.5m, of which there was a requirement to demonstrate a 10% match funding contribution.

Consultation has been undertaken with key stakeholders including Ward, Town Council, County Council and Shadow Authority members and the Workington MP, who had submitted his support as required as part of the assessment bid.

The Leader of the Council had today signed off a delegated decision authorising delegated authority for the submission of the bid to the Assistant Chief Executive (Innovation and Commercial) by the deadline date.

The County Councils Allerdale Local Committee were next week due to consider the bid with regards to the transport elements, their authorisation was required as they would be the delivering body.

The submission deadline was Noon on Monday 6 July 2022 and to date everything was on track.

Questions were asked around opportunities and timescales for future bids, plans for tender/procurement processes and engagement with the construction industry and risk allowances relating to the economic climate.

Resolved

That the update be noted.

Verbal update on process and progress

The Assistant Chief Executive (Policy, Performance and Economic Strategy) provided members with a verbal update presentation on work on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Investment Plan submission.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund, a £2.6bn fund launched in April 2022 was the central plan for the Governments levelling up agenda, programme running from October through to March 2025.

Allerdale BC had been allocated £3.8m, broken down as £500k to be spent this year, £1m to be spent next year and the remainder the following year.

There was a Capital Flow as part of the allocation, a minimum spend for capital which was 10% this year going up to 20% in year three.

The funding was split in to three major priorities: place and community, business support and people and skills, within those there was a flexible programme of 41 interventions against which the Council could spend the £3.8m.

The Investment Plan for the fund had to be submitted by 1 August 2022. The Council was waiting on receipt of the full guidance expected out in the summer.

4% of the £3.8m could be spent on management of the fund, for appraisals, project management as the accountable body, also £20k had been received from Government to develop an Investment Plan.

The Council had been working very closely with County Council, Carlisle City and Copeland Council as a key element of the scheme was for any authorities going through the unitary process to work closely with their neighbours. It was key to understand how the fund would be managed post vesting day for Cumberland, when three programmes would combine with an approximate total of £10m.

A joint consultation event with Carlisle City and Copeland was held with a wide range of partners, following which a proforma was released asking for further information on types of projects that the Council could support.

In terms of process, in July the Executive would be asked to approve delegated authority to the Assistant Chief Executive and the Leader to submit the Plan. Authority was also required from the Leadership of the new Cumberland Shadow Authority as they would be spending the money in years two and three.

Resolved

That the update be noted.

Members considered the Quarter 4 performance report for 2021/22 which reported progress on the key projects and activities and corporate KPIs which were based on Council Strategy Delivery Plan.

The Strategic Advisor (Corporate) provided up to date quarter 4 KPI figures under the ‘A Cleaner, Greener Allerdale’ theme as follows;

% of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting

For Q4 the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting was 28.8%, against a target of 27%. This was slightly down on the same quarter last year, where the number was 30%.

For 2021/22 as a whole the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting was 36%. The 2021/22 target was 37%.

For this indicator a higher figure is better.

Residual waste per household (kgs)

For Q4 the amount of residual waste per household was 130.4 kilograms, against a target of 113kg. The quarterly total is an improvement on the same period last year, when the amount collected was 135.5kg.

Taking the year as a whole, the residual waste per household was 548.6 kilograms, which is above the 2021/22 target of 479kg.

For this indicator a lower figure is better.

Members were concerned that while recycling percentages were nearly on target, the volume of residual waste not recycled was very high, so the area was producing more waste.

From the report members raised comments in relation to Disabled Facilities Grants, the ‘attract and disperse programme’ to grow the visitor economy, the housing stock condition survey and prevention activity for the homelessness service.

Regarding the commentary provided for KPI ‘Further development of the housing company’ Councillor A Daniels enquired about progress on Otley Road and whether the Council were still considering a housing association taking on the properties.

Members also requested further information on the dissolution of the housing company, asking when did this happen and what was the reason.

It was agreed to gather further information for members to those queries.

In relation to the KPI ‘Business case development - developing a pipeline of regeneration projects’ the committee requested to see a copy of the comprehensive register of ongoing and potential future projects.

With regard to commentary for the KPI ‘Further develop the Allerdale Local Focus Hub’ Councillor B Cannon requested a copy of the closure report from the Safer Streets team for the St Michaels project.

As the Ward member for St Michaels Councillor Cannon said she did not agree that the streets were safer in St Michaels and offered some of her experiences.

The Committee agreed to add this as an item to their work programme and invite the Safter Streets team to a future meeting.

Members also considered the Corporate Risk Log Summary.

Councillor B Cannon queried the risk score for Severe Weather Conditions, recorded in the summary as a 16 with a post mitigation impact score of 4, and said she didn’t believe the score adequately reflected the county’s risk of flooding.

It was agreed to ask the Senior Management  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Policy, Performance and Economic Strategy) provided members with a verbal update on LGR.

The LGR process was past the halfway point now and the work was really getting in to the detail for the two new authorities, the process had past the planning phase and moved to implementation.

Outline proposals on the financial ‘split’ between Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness were being considered, including the formulas and principles to be applied which would ensure that funding was fair and that resources were allocated according to need.

A series of workshops had been held with shadow authority members to start the work on developing a Council Plan.

There were now two programme plans, one for each authority and as work was progressing differences between the two were already emerging owing to different cultures, ways of working and priorities.

Resolved

That the update be noted.

The Forward Plan was noted.

The Strategic Advisor (Corporate) submitted a report presenting a draft scope and membership for each of the three newly established TFG’s seeking the Committees approval.

Councillor C McCarron-Holmes agreed to be Chair of the Access to Health Services – GPs and Dentistry TFG.

With regards to the ‘Customer Services’ TFG Councillor C McCarron-Holmes requested that the possible witnesses/participants be broadened out to include ‘the man off the street’, residents of the borough that have approached councillors over the issues they have experienced, and other external organisations.

The Committee were in agreement to the recommendation.

In the report, with regards to the ‘Democratic participation in voting’ TFG scope Councillor M Heaslip highlighted an error under the Methodology/approach text, in that the first bullet point was included in error and suggested it be amended to ‘Information and reports provided by the Electoral Services team’.

Councillor M Heaslip agreed to be Chair of the ‘Democratic participation in voting’ TFG.

Resolved

That –

1.  The draft scopes for the three TFGs be agreed, subject to the amendment to the Customer Services witnesses/participants and the Democratic participation in voting Methodology/approach;

2.  Councillor C McCarron-Holmes be Chair for the Access to Health Services – GPs and Dentistry TFG;

3.  Councillor M Heaslip be Chair for the Democratic participation in voting TFG.

The Chair reviewed the work programme and provided the following update suggestions;

-  The Quarter 4 Finance report (Revenue & Capital Outturns) to be moved to the 22 July meeting

-  The Monitoring of Regeneration Programme – Maryport to be moved to the 22 July meeting

-  An update on the ‘safer streets’ project to added for the 19 August meeting.

Resolved

That the amendments be agreed.