Decisions

The Director of Economic Development and Planning submitted a report to update Members in respect of the Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund and to seek approval for some of the use of the Council’s UKSPF allocation.

A total of £1,618,757 of UKSPF funding had been allocated to schemes to date for which updates were provided. Details of the further schemes and allocations for Committee to consider were included in the report, which would result in an unallocated amount of £17,283 which had to be allocated and defrayed by 31 March 2025.

Under the previous agenda item, a number of projects under the REPF scheme had been supported which if they proceed would result in REPF being oversubscribed. It was suggested that some of the remaining UKSPF could be utilised to fund any REPF overspend. The Director of Economic Development and Planning would therefore assess completion dates on all projects and agree funding with the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the UKSPF and Budget Working Groups. It had also been suggested that a contingency be set aside to fund overspend from the UKSPF and REPF funds.

Members were updated at the meeting that the UKSPF working group had met earlier that day and recommended that the feasibility study proposed at 9.1.7 be removed from the project scope and be considered under alternative funding options. The working group had also recommended that, following the works to Castle Street, further footpath resurfacing be completed on Market Place. The footway layout would remain as is and the cost was yet to be confirmed. LCC had advised the work could be completed in the new year, within the UKSPF deadline. Following queries at the working group meeting, the Director of Economic Development and Planning had clarified information and updated Members in respect of the Barrow Village Hall project.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.     Agree to support the following projects with UKSPF funding:

1.1 Barrow Village Hall - an additional £41,000

1.2 Barrow Car Park- an additional £26,100

1.3 Salt Hill Play Area- £100,000

1.4 Brungerley Park- £150,000 as a reserve project

1.5 Charging Points- Edisford- £29,118

1.6 Charging Points- Longridge- £32,586

1.7 Whalley Education Foundation Car park- £27,600

1.8 Primrose Nature Reserve- £7,500

2.    Delegate authority to the Director of Economic Development and Planning to assess the additional work in order to extend the resurfacing of the footway down to Market Place in Clitheroe and prepare a report to review the costs in conjunction with UKSPF and Budget Working Groups.

3.  Confirm that applications into the UKSPF are closed.

Councillors D Birtwhistle and M Hindle returned to the meeting.

The Director of Economic Development and Planning submitted a report updating Committee on the full applications received into the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) grant scheme.

A summary showing the status of the approved applications under the REPF scheme was provided for information. A total of £413,093 of REPF grant funding had been allocated to date which left an unallocated amount of £20,587 which had to be allocated and defrayed by 31 March 2025.

The working group had recommended a number of applications for approval which if approved would result in an overspend of £263,318. It was suggested that any overspend was funded from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and that progress of schemes should be closely monitored in consultation with the UKSPF working group, as the March 2025 deadline for both schemes approached.

Members were pleased to see that the fund was oversubscribed and noted the large amount of work that went into the projects by both communities and Officers. Members agreed to support the schemes recommended by the working group, with the exception of an additional amount requested by Rimington Recreation Association. It was suggested that a contingency be set aside to fund overspend from the UKSPF and REPF funds and that overallocation would ensure that the available money was fully utilised. The importance of closely monitoring the approved projects was noted, as the projects must be completed by the end of March 2025 in order to receive the funding.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.    Support the applications recommended by the UKSPF working group, with the exception of an additional allocation to Rimington Recreation Association, with the approved allocations as follows:

2.    Delegate authority to the Director of Economic Development and Planning to assess completion dates on all the new projects and agree funding with the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive in consultation with the UKSPF and Budget Working Groups.

3.    Confirm that applications into the REPF are closed.

Councillor D Birtwhistle left the meeting in respect of the next agenda item.

Councillor M Hindle declared an interest in the next item of business and left the meeting.

Councillor M Graveston returned to the meeting.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report to seek approval from Committee for the proposed changes that had been made to a number of policies following annual review, namely:

·         Counter Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy Statement and Strategy

·         Corporate Debt Write-Off Policy

·         Anti-Money Laundering Policy

Minor changes had been made to the policies which were attached to the report with amendments shown in tracked changes for Members information.

Members raised concerns around measures some individuals used in order to avoid paying business rates and it was noted that, although the Council was responsible for the collection of business rates, these were set by central Government.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

Approve the proposed changes that have been made to the policies listed below, following an annual review of the same:

1. Counter Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy Statement and Strategy
2. Corporate Debt Write-Off Policy
3. Anti-Money Laundering Policy

Councillor S O’Rourke left the meeting in respect of the next agenda item.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report for Committee to consider the allocation of concurrent function grants for 2024/25.

It was explained that Concurrent functions were services provided in some parts of the Borough by the Borough or County Council, and in others by a Parish or Town Council. The report included those functions supported under the Council’s concurrent function grant scheme. The Council had supported Parish and Town Councils with net revenue expenditure on those functions with reimbursement of 25% of the expenditure. It was noted at the meeting that further clarification had been received in regard to an application by Chipping Parish Council and therefore twenty-eight applications were to be considered for support, for which the 25% grant support amount requested totalled £25,916.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

Approve the payment of grants to parish and town councils under the grant scheme conditions and totalling £25,916.

The Chief Executive submitted a report for Committee to consider the broadcasting of Council and Committee meetings and the varying options available.

At present there were no facilities in the Council Chamber or Committee rooms to enable the recording or live streaming of meetings, and there was currently no legal requirement to do so. Some authorities recorded and/or broadcasted their meetings in order to make these available to the public on their respective websites.

The report noted that the current government had committed to reconsidering the ability to hold hybrid Committee and Council meetings with an evidence-based approach following a request from the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and Lawyers in Local Government (LLG).

The Council’s Democratic Services Team had investigated the options available for Committee to consider, which were attached to the report. It was also noted that some equipment in the Council Chamber was now obsolete and required replacing. 

Members raised different opinions and felt it was important to maintain accountability and transparency. It was suggested that the Council await potential changes to legislation from central Government before spending the large amount required to install the necessary equipment, to ensure this was fit for purpose. Members noted the intermittent issues with the microphones and other equipment and invited a capital bid in order to replace existing equipment as required.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.    Agree to defer the decision until the current Government have reconsidered the ability of Members to attend meetings remotely, and

2.    Request that a capital bid is submitted for consideration for the replacement of equipment as required.

The Chief Executive submitted a report for Committee to consider the membership pf the UK Shared Prosperity Fund working group under the remit of this Committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2024/25.

The report explained that it had been requested that Cllr S O’Rourke be added to the membership as a Liberal Democrat representative. It was also suggested at the meeting that Cllr S Hirst be added as a further Conservative group representative to maintain political balance.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

Agree that a Liberal Democrat group representative and further Conservative group representative be added the Membership of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund working group under the remit of this Committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2024/25, with the membership now as follows:

Councillors S Atkinson, S Hore, S Hirst, L Jameson, J Rogerson, M Peplow, and S O’Rourke.

The Chief Executive submitted a report to inform Committee that the four year One Carbon World UN Climate Neutral Now programme and grant funding for the Carbon Neutral Gold Standard scheme had ended, and to request the renewal of the OCW agreement for a further year to cover reporting period 2023/2024 at a cost of £1,500.

OCW was a not for profit organisation and global resource partner helping to support the delivery of the UN Climate Neutral Now Initiative providing advice and support to help organisations reduce their carbon footprint. The report explained that in 2023 the Council had officially achieved the OCW Carbon Neutral International Standard for the third year in a row.

The report set out the OCW grant proposal for 2023/24, which would result in the Council receiving a carbon footprint emissions summary for 2023/24 along with recommendations on how to reduce and off-set the Council’s carbon footprint. The OCW carbon grant contributed 70% towards the total cost of £5000, therefore the remaining cost of £1,500 would fall on the Council.

It was suggested that for future years Officers would research other options to provide assurance to the Council.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.    Agree to renew the One Carbon World proposed agreement at a cost of £1,500 for a further year to cover the period 2023/2024.

2.    Approve that officers research and provide other options for future years, including details of organisations that calculate emissions, to provide assurance to the Council that our Carbon Neutral claim is robust and credible.

Councillor M Graveston left the meeting in respect of the next agenda item.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report for members to consider the Council’s latest budget forecast and consider any advice to service committees.

In preparing the budget forecast both national and local circumstances were considered. The forecast would be particularly challenging because of major issues such as the new government approach to Local Government Finance, unknown Core funding levels and reviews of key funding streams, inflation levels and pay rises, cost-of-living impact on demand for services, and assumptions on interest rates. Any of these issues would have a major impact on the Council’s budget and were rapidly evolving.

In creating the budget, a number of assumptions had been made.

The Budget for the current year had allowed for  an average increase on the Council’s paybill of 4%.  Though the latest pay offer had not been accepted it may be that the pay contingency of £200k which had been set aside could be released.

In light of the volatility in energy costs, a contingency of £200k had been set aside in the 2024/25 budget, however, inflation had fallen and therefore it was anticipated that the contingency would not be required.

The current Bank of England base rate was 5%, with the next review on 19 September 2024. It was difficult to predict future levels of investment interest because of uncertainty over how quickly and how far interest rates would fall. The budget assumed average returns on investments over the life of the forecast based on interest rates of 3.44% for 2025/26, 3.14% for 2026/27 and 3.14% for 2027/28. The forecast also assumed the level of Council investments would be approximately £25m which would return an anticipated investment interest for 2024/25 of over £1.2m.

It was estimated the Council would retain £2.9m in business rate growth in 2024/25 and £2.5m in 2025/26, of which £2m would be used to support the revenue budget and £500k to fund the capital programme for each of the two years. The previous Government had been reviewing the Business Rate Retention Scheme and the new Government had indicated the same. This would be kept under close review.

For some time, the Government had indicated that the New Homes Bonus (NHB) scheme was going to end. They had also stated that a consultation paper would be issued, however nothing had been issued therefore the future forecast assumed no NHB income beyond 2025/26 when it was estimated the Council would receive £650k.

In 2023/24 the Council received a one-off Funding Guarantee, which continued in 2024/25 renamed ‘Funding Guarantee’. It was assumed that the Council would receive the Funding Guarantee or some other form of transitional protection over the life of the forecast to ensure a 2.5 minimum increase in Core Spending Power. However, it was stressed that this assumption was made in the absence of any information regarding key reforms.

Council Tax increases of 3% each year were assumed and a tax base increase of 1.5% each year for the life of the forecast. It was explained that a 3% Council Tax increase would generate approximately £130k each year and a 1.5 taxbase increase approximately £65k each year.

Based on all the assumptions the budget surplus and gaps for the next three financial years would be as shown:

The impact of any Government announcements on the Council’s financial position would continue to be closely scrutinised in the months that followed.

The Budget Working Group had met on 2 September 2024 to consider the budget forecast and recommended that the Council continue with the current five-year capital programme and that service Committees consider their capital bids for the fifth year of the five-year capital programme.

Councillor M Hindle entered the meeting during the report.

Members discussed the report and in particular the uncertainty in Government funding and impact this had on the Council.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1. Agree the Council’s Budget Forecast.

2. Invite capital bids for financial year 2028/29 of the five-year capital programme, for consideration by Service Committees in early 2025.

The Director of Resources & Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report updating Committee of progress on the Council’s approved 2024/25 capital programme for the period to the end of July 2024.

At the end of July 2024 £1,181,022 had been spent or committed. This was 14.9% of the approved overall capital programme budget for all Committees of £7,939,060.

A summary of progress on the sixty schemes in the capital programme at the end of July 2024 was as follows:

• Six schemes were fully complete
• Thirty schemes were on track and would be completed in-year
• Fourteen schemes had missed some key targets but were expected to be completed in-year 
• Seven schemes were unlikely be completed in-year
• Two schemes were unable to be started or were no longer required in-year.

Further details on the operational progress of each of these schemes was provided in the report.

In a reference from Health and Housing Committee, it was explained that approval was sought for virement of £4,630 between the Temporary Housing Scheme and the Clitheroe Affordable Housing Scheme. The virement would allow works to be completed on a property that had been used as emergency temporary accommodation but was now vacant, in preparation to handover as an affordable rental unit. Estimates for the works indicated a total cost of £13,000 which was greater than the available budget of £8,370.  Health and Housing Committee had approved the proposal to vire £4,630 of budget from the Temporary Housing Scheme (TEMPH) as it had been identified that the remaining costs under that scheme would leave an underspend.

It was raised at the meeting that a further reference from Community Committee sought approval to bring forward the capital budget for the replacement of the JCB Loadall from 2025-2026 to this financial year 2024-2025. The existing Loadall was in poor condition and cracks had been identified in the hydraulic lift during annual inspection. To repair the Loadall would take around six months, due to the nature of the repair and current workload of the supplier, and the costs were yet unknown. A budget of £135,000 was allocated in the 2025-2026 financial year to replace the existing Loadall therefore Community Committee supported the proposal that the budget be brought forward to 2024-2025 financial year, so a replacement may be purchased as soon as possible.

Councillor K Horkin entered the meeting during the report.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1. Approve the virement for £4,360 between the Temporary Housing Scheme and the Clitheroe Affordable Housing Scheme, as requested by Health and Housing Committee.

2. Approve that £135,000 be brought forward from the 2025/26 capital programme to the 2024/25 capital programme to enable the purchase of a replacement JCB Loadall, as requested by Community Committee.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report for Committee to consider amendments to the voluntary organisation grant scheme criteria, and to consider a new grant application for Clitheroe Torchlight under the 2024/25 funding.

The report set out the current process for the grant scheme which was administered by this Committee and an explanation of some of the problems encountered recently with applications for this grant scheme and also the Recreation and Culture Grants Scheme, administered by Community Committee.

It was proposed that the closing date of the scheme along with the Recreation and Culture Grants Scheme, return to being at different dates to draw distinction between the two schemes and remove any confusion. It was also proposed that the wording of the grant criteria be amended to remove any ambiguity for applicants, the key points being:

·         The Voluntary Organisation Grant scheme would not support organisations whose main objectives were the provision of service of a recreation and culture nature.

·         Making it clear in the Recreation and Culture Grant scheme that the Council would not support recreation and culture applications of a revenue nature.

It was also proposed to change the online application process to allow for pre-screening questions that would attempt to prevent applications from organisations that could apply under the Council’s other grant schemes. The suggested scheme amendments were attached with the report for Member’s information.

Members were asked to consider an application requesting £2,500 which had been received outside of the normal round of applications, in respect of Clitheroe Torchlight, which was being coordinated by the Clitheroe Chamber of Trade. The Voluntary Organisation Grant allocations had previously been made for the 2024/25 financial year when the application process closed  which had resulted in an unallocated budget of £47,470.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.    Approve amendments to the grant scheme as proposed in the tracked changes as attached to the report.

2.    Approve the additional application under the 2024/25 budget as received in respect of Clitheroe Torchlight for the value of £2,500.

Councillor S O’Rourke returned to the meeting.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report outlining the progress on this Committee’s 2024/25 capital programme for the period to the end of June 2024.

At the end of June 2024 £287,932 had been spent or committed. This was 7.8% of the full year approved capital programme budget for this Committee of £3,690,170. 

Of the eight schemes in the capital programme, it was noted that one scheme was underway but unlikely to be completed within the financial year, three schemes had/would miss some key targets but the overall end date within the financial year would be met and four schemes were on track with targets and would be completed within the financial year.  Details by cost centre were outlined in the report for information

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.     Approve the requested virement of £4,630 between the Clitheroe Affordable Housing scheme (CLIAH) and the Temporary Housing Scheme (TEMPH).

2.     Request approval from Policy and Finance Committee for the above virement

The Director of Economic Development and Planning submitted a report providing an update on the Ribble Valley Health and Wellbeing Partnership and asking for Committee to endorse the membership of the Partnership, its sub-groups and its priorities.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.     Endorse the Health and Wellbeing Working Group’s recommendation that Cllrs M Hindle, M Robinson and N Stubbs sit on the Health and Wellbeing Partnership.

2.     Endorse the three health and wellbeing priorities agreed by the Partnership and the membership of the three sub-groups to consider each priority. 

The Director of Economic Development and Planning submitted a report seeking Committee’s approval to proposed amendments to the Discretionary Private Sector Grant Policy.

Members were reminded that the First-Time buyers grant is included within the Council’s Discretionary Private Sector Grant Policy.  The purpose of the grant is to encourage first-time buyers to purchase older housing stock in the borough and to improve the energy efficiency of the property.

A requirement to re-calculate the EPC rating at completion stage is to be re-introduced. Whilst there is no requirement being set in terms of reaching a minimum EPC rating, Members were assured that RVBC would monitor the impact that the grant is having, and a further report would be brought back to Committee in due course. 

It was further proposed that the policy should stipulate that a person with savings in excess of £30,000 would be ineligible for the grant.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

Approve the amendments to the Policy as shown in track changes in Appendix 2 of the report.

The Chief Executive submitted a report seeking approval from Committee on the proposed civil penalty amounts to be imposed for the offence of emitting smoke within a smoke control area within the Borough of Ribble Valley and to review and agree the new ‘Policy on Civil Penalties for Smoke Emissions under the Clean Air Act 1993, as amended by the Environment Act 2021’.

Amendments to the Environment Act 2021 replaced a criminal prosecution enforcement regime with a civil penalty procedure.  It was noted that Ramsgreave and Simonstone are currently classed as smoke control areas.  Members discussed the proposed civil penalty amounts and agreed that £175 for a first offence and £225 for a second offence would be more appropriate.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.     Approve the following civil penalty amounts for the offence of emitting smoke within a smoke control area within the Ribble Valley:

^a Where in the opinion of the Council no demonstrable measures have been implemented to minimise smoke emissions a maximum £300 fine will be issued for a first offence.

^b Within 12 months of 1st offence.

^c Within 12 months of 2nd or last offence

^d Where appropriate (for example for repeated offences), the use of statutory nuisance and/or anti-social behaviour powers under section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and/or Section 43 of the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 may follow the serving of a civil penalty.

2.     Including the above amendments to the Civil Penalty Bandings, approve the Ribble Valley Borough Council ‘Policy on Civil Penalties for Smoke Emissions under the Clean Air Act 1993, as amended by the Environment Act 2021’.

The Director of Economic Development and Planning submitted a report updating Committee on the recent public consultation exercise undertaken on a revised draft Masterplan and new Local Development Order (LDO) document at the Lancashire Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprise Zone (Samlesbury).

Twelve responses to the consultation were received, eight of which were from Statutory Consultees, who were supportive of the LDO and Masterplan.

Neighbouring residents raised issues about visual design, traffic control and noise.  It was noted that the LDO requires a transport working group to be set up and traffic matters could be kept under review through this.

Whilst it was noted that local road matters linking to the Enterprize Zone had been considered by LCC highways during the lifetime of the previous LDO and would be kept under review via the transport working group, concerns were raised in respect of vehicular access to the enterprise zone and movement of large vehicles to and from the site with associated impacts on nearby villages. Members requested that these concerns were discussed with LCC further.

****RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

1.     Recommend to Full Council that a resolution is made to adopt the new Local Development Order (2024) for the Lancashire Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprise Zone at Samlesbury for the next ten years and for this to be submitted to the Secretary of State for their consideration.

2.     Recommend to Full Council adoption of the new Masterplan (2024) for the Lancashire Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Enterprise Zone at Samlesbury for Development Management purposes. This is subject to minor changes as necessary which are delegated to the Director of Economic Development and Planning.

Application WITHDRAWN as per the Late Items Sheet circulated prior to Committee.

Councillor M French left the meeting and took no part in the discussion of vote.

Councillors noted the late item report.

Mr M Bryne spoke in support of the application and Mr M Garlick spoke against the application.

Councillors J Hill and R Corney were both given permission to speak against the application.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

Minded to REFUSE planning permission on the grounds of:-

-         an over-intensive development resulting in occupancy levels being harmful to the living conditions of future residents and failing to be sympathetic to the surrounding properties and land uses

-         failure to provide adequate levels of parking provision

-         whilst the application states single occupancy rooms, the bedroom sizes do not dictate this and nor could this be controlled by a condition.

-         The development is in conflict with policies DMG1, DMG3 and DMB3.

To be brought back to a future committee with draft refusal reason(s) based on the above.

RESOLVED THAT COMMITTEE:

APPROVE planning permission with the following conditions:-

1.         The development hereby approved must be begun not later than the expiration of three years beginning with the date of this permission.

REASON:  Required to be imposed by Section 51 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

2.         Unless explicitly required by condition within this consent, the development hereby permitted shall be carried out in complete accordance with the proposals as detailed on drawings:

Proposed Plan: Sheet 2

Proposed Elevations: Sheet 4 Date: 12/09/24

Site Location Map: Sheet 5

Details DWG: Sheet 6

PV Module Dimensions

REASON: For the avoidance of doubt and to clarify which plans are relevant to the consent hereby approved.