Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notice of appointment of substitutes.

Apologies were received from Cllr R Roberts.

To receive any questions from members of the public and replies thereto.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To record any interests on agenda matters.

No interests were declared under this item.

To consider whether to approve the minutes as a correct record of the meeting held on 20^th June 2024. 

The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 20 June 2024, were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chair.

To receive any announcements that the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chair stated that the Group had received a very interesting briefing session prior to the meeting on the assets owned by the Council. He requested that if this had stimulated any thoughts or ideas around the area of assets that needed further discussion by the Policy Development Group that Members should bring these to the attention of the Clerk for the next or subsequent meeting.

To receive the quarter 1 Performance Dashboard from the Corporate Performance and Improvement Manager.

The Group were presented with, and NOTED, summary information * reflecting performance in the Economy & Assets areas for quarter 1 2024/2025.

The following was highlighted on the Performance Dashboard:

·       The Dashboards were intended to provide an ‘at a glance’ representation of performance in the Economy & Assets area.

·       The Dashboards allowed Members to easily see whether service areas were ‘on track’ and the use of pie charts and RAG (Red/Amber/Green) ratings were used to facilitate this.

·       There were three corporate risks in relation to this Policy Development Group (PDG).

·       Reference was made to the recent funding announcement regarding the Cullompton Relief Road, this would be monitored going forwards. Further reference was made to the amber rating in relation to capital slippage on the percentage of projects.

The Chair stated that the Dashboard showed an overall positive position for the areas falling under the remit of this Group.

Note: * Dashboards previously circulated.

To receive a report from the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) presenting to Member’s the updated Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) which covers the period 2025/2026 to 2028/2029 and takes account of the Council’s key strategies and demonstrates it has the financial resources to deliver the Corporate Plan.

The Group were presented with a report * from the Deputy Chief Executive presenting the updated Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) which covered the period 2025/2026 to 2028/2029 and took into account the Council’s key strategies and demonstrated it had the financial resources to deliver the new Corporate Plan.

The contents of the report were outlined with particular reference to:

·         The MTFP covered a period from 2025/26 to 2028/29. Normally this would be a 5 year plan but the Council was currently awaiting greater clarification from the new Government and the Chancellor’s budget announcement on 30th October 2024. The 5th year will be added following this.

·         The MTFP focussed on a framework of principles those being: (i) General Fund Reserves (ii) Optimise Income Generation (iii) Allocation of Revenue Resources (iv) Allocation of Capital Resources

·         The MTFP built on a number of assumptions around inflation which were shown in Appendix 1.

·         Overall the result of pressures on the budget left a £1.2m gap rising to 4m by year 4 if the Council took no action.

·         Over the summer officers had looked at options which had been RAG rated as red, amber, green in terms of risk and deliverability.

·         If the green and amber savings were accepted this would reduce the £1.2m gap down to circa £400,000

·         All Policy Development Groups would be asked to look at possible savings which would then be presented to Cabinet.

Discussion took place regarding:

·         Whether there were any indications regarding the level of Local Government funding emerging following the election of the new Government?

·         It was explained that some ‘snippets’ of information were coming through regarding planning fees and housing targets and funding but little else at the current time.

·         The 30^th October Government budget would be very important in terms of setting the direction and intention of the Government towards lowers tiers of government.

·         It was hoped that since the new Government had not been in power for very long, next year’s Local Government settlement would roll forward but this would not be known until approximately the middle of December.

·         The Local Government settlement only represented 10% of overall funding.

·         The level of Council Tax increase that district councils’ could set was expected to be 2% or £5, whichever was highest.

·         Conversations had been taking place with Town and Parish Councils’ regarding them acquiring assets at an agreed price but no firm offers had been received yet.

·         There would still be a shortfall for next year’s budget even if the proposals set out in the report were agreed, therefore Members were encouraged to come forward with additional suggestions for savings.

The Group NOTED the following:

1.    The updated MTFP for the General Fund covering the years 2025/26 to 2028/29;

2.    The principles and approach to balancing the General Fund Revenue Budget outlined in paragraph 6.2;

3.    The emerging budget pressures included within Appendix 3;

RECOMMENDED to Cabinet that:

The green and amber round 1 budget proposals as set out in Appendix 4a,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

To receive a report from the Director of Place and Economy updating Members on town centre health, projects and activities undertaken by the Growth, Economy and Delivery Team during the last couple of months.

The Group had before it, and NOTED a report from the Director of Place and Economy updating Members on projects and activities undertaken by the Growth, Economy and Delivery Team during the last quarter. It also provided an update on plans for review of the Economic Strategy for Mid Devon.

The following was highlighted in the report:

·         Work continued on the delivery of the final phase of the Shared Prosperity and Rural England Prosperity Fund Delivery Plan.  Following completion of the second quarter, the team would undertake the next round of monitoring reviews to measure progress against projected outputs and outcomes.  This would be completed by the end of October 2024 and an update would be presented to the PDG in November.

·         Planning Permission was granted for the ‘Change of Use’ of the Market Centre building.  A second Planning Application was now live for the physical amendments to the building to facilitate the improved workspace.  The team were tendering for the contractor to deliver the works with the aim (subject to Planning Permission being granted) of this commencing in early November.  In addition to the Prosperity Funding, the team had secured a small ‘Quick Wins’ grant from Devon County of £5,000 towards this project.

·         The walking festival was underway and the team had received positive feedback so far. More venues had come forward since the advertisements had gone live and an evaluation of the projects would be undertaken upon completion.

·         The Swan Trail would cease at the end of September and on 7 November there would be an auction to ‘sell off’ the swans.

·         The team had proactively participated in the Mid Devon Show providing a marquee, support and advice in relation to the ‘Field to Fork’ campaign. There had been much positive engagement with the public.

·         The team had used the ‘People and Skills’ funding to work with Devon County Council and partner authorities on an ‘Employment and Skills Hub’.  The support included a dedicated advisor offering free 1:1 employment and skills advice, signposting and more direct support with identifying training opportunities available.  The Council had two hubs in Mid Devon: one in Cullompton Library and one in Tiverton at Old Heathcoat School Community Centre.

·         The Economic Strategy was due for review. A series of workshops would be organised for the PDG to help develop this. It was hoped by doing this Members and officers would gain a better understanding of what ‘economic success’ looked like. It would be a chance to gather together relevant data and to answer questions such as: What kinds of outcomes did we want as a Council and where were efforts best placed? Experience gained from delivering the Shared Prosperity Fund would be helpful. This work would be undertaken alongside development of the Destination Management Plan. Dates for the workshops would be circulated to the Group in due course. It was requested that one of these workshops be open to all Members to make contributions and suggestions. It was agreed that this would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To receive a report from the Director of Place and Economy updating Members on the Green Enterprise Grants and providing an overview of post project evaluation. 

The Group had before it, and NOTED, a report from the Director of Place and Economy providing an update on the Green Enterprise Grants and overview of post project evaluation.

The contents of the report were outlined with particular reference to the following:

·       Following a successful bid to the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (Local Growth Fund), the team had run a Green Enterprise Grant Scheme offering small capital grants (between £500 and £5,000) to carbon reduction projects that could be delivered by 31 December 2024.

·       A pilot scheme had been run to explore demand.

·       A cross team approach had been used working collaboratively with Planning colleagues and the Climate Sustainability Specialist.

·       Businesses were expected to match 50% of the cash needed to run each carbon reduction project.

·       No projects had required planning permission and the cost of each had not exceeded £25k.

·       Businesses had been encouraged to come forward with projects that could be delivered quickly.

·       Delivery timescales had been quite restrictive.

·       Over 13,000 kg CO2 emissions had been avoided.

·       A list of successful case studies had been created as a result of this project.

·       The grant scheme was viewed to be a successful pilot project and there was the potential to run a second phase subject to securing funding

The Chair thanked the team for the ‘extraordinary’ work they had undertaken in relation to this project.

Note: * Report previously circulated.

Members are asked to note that the following items are already identified in the work programme for the next meeting:

·       Medium Term Financial Plan Update

·       Performance Dashboard for Quarter 2

·       Destination Management Plan for Mid Devon

·       Economic Strategy 2024-2029

·       Economic Development Team Update

·       Update from COTIE(to be confirmed)

Note: This item is limited to 10 minutes. There should be no discussion on the items raised.

The items already listed in the work programme for the next meeting were NOTED, however, it was stated that there would be a presentation from ‘Apricot’ at the next meeting and not ‘COTIE’ as indicated in the work programme. This would provide the Group with information regarding regenerative farming.