Agenda item

(Copy herewith)

The Leader of the Council submitted her Cabinet Member report and elaborated thereon. It was noted that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced the draft Local Government Settlement for consultation on the 18^th December 2015 and is a key document to implement the latest Comprehensive Spending Review. She noted that there was a need for the County Council to also, but they were not in a position to know what combined savings would be. It was noted that there were ongoing criminal investigations into the Sixfields loan and an audit of it would also be undertaken by KPMG. The Leader informed Council that on the 29^th January 2016 she would be taking part in the Big Sleep-Out, which would be raising funds for Northampton Hope Centre and informed Members that Councillor James Hill and Councillor Eldred would also be taking part and urged everyone to donate and raise awareness.

In response to questions asked, the Leader stated that she would consider the social impacts of cuts to services as well as the financial ones and outlined the services that had already been transferred to the One Stop Shop, such as Credit Union. She confirmed that a recent Audit and Cabinet report had outlined the ongoing costs of the loan to NTFC and that this had been made available to the public at public meetings and therefore open and transparent. The Leader confirmed that there was a budget for training members and that this was also applicable to Audit members. She shared concerns about the budget impact on the County Traveller Unit but explained that there were ongoing discussions to discuss the County Council cut to the Unit.

Councillor Hallam submitted his Cabinet Member report and noted that the consultation on the draft Budget 2016/17 was well underway and there had been some positive contributions during that time. In response to questions asked, Councillor Hallam explained that people who were suffering from hardship or were not managing their finances well were being referred to the One Stop Shop for debt management advice which would contribute to people managing and maximising their incomes.

Councillor Hadland submitted his Cabinet Member report and elaborated further by stating that the footfall and car parking usage had increased over the Christmas period. It was noted that St Giles Street had won the Best British High Street and that a meeting was planned with the owners of buildings on Gold Street to look at improving the appearance of some of the buildings on the street. Responding to the concerns raised by the submitted petition, Councillor Hadland commented that NBC were not the responsible authority for on street parking issues but stated that he would look at the usage of the Borough Council owned car parks. In response to questions asked, Councillor Hadland explained that all the proceeds from the sale of Sekemkha was still with the Council. He explained further that the Fish street premises had been marketed and a sale agreed. He further concurred with comments from Councillor M Hill that the gateways into Northampton all needed to be aesthetically pleasing.

Councillor Hibbert submitted his Cabinet Member report and explained that on the 5^th February 2016 a workshop would be held to inform the development of Northampton multi agency Rough Sleepers Strategy. It was noted that in December 2015 the Council had hosted 4 focus groups to get the views from a wide range of stakeholders to feedback on the Council’s new approach to regulating private sector housing. In response to questions asked, Councillor Hibbert explained that when examining the number of homelessness cases, the cause and the demographics would be looked at. He further explained that there had been no Council houses built as they were still waiting for planning permission but there would be 100 built once permission had been granted.  He also explained that the establishment of a Social Lettings Agency would help those who were in receipt of benefits.

Councillor Bottwood submitted his Cabinet Member report and stated that he concurred with the views expressed by Mr Newbury and commented that any abandoned trollies identified by the Council would result in the supermarkets being contacted by the Council. He reported that over the weekend of the 4^th -6^th March 2016 a monumental litter pick would be carried out supporting members and members of the public in tidying areas to make the Town more pleasant. In response to questions asked Councillor Bottwood explained that he would be happy to meet with Councillor Meredith outside the chamber to discuss concerns relating to the lake at Thorplands. He also informed members that should they require a schedule for weeding, he would pass the information on to them.

Councillor King submitted her Cabinet Member report and commented that the crime figures were not dissimilar to those of the previous year. It was noted that there had been a Hate Crime Consultation at Wootton Hall and the Pensioners Forum had enjoyed a day trip to the Houses of Parliament.

At this point of the meeting, the Mayor advised that the 45 minutes allocated to Cabinet Member Presentations had been reached.