Agenda and decisions

Members of the public intending to attend the meeting are asked to please note that, in the interests of health, safety and security, bags maybe searched on entry to the building.  Everyone attending this meeting is also asked please to behave with due courtesy and to conduct themselves in a reasonable way.

Please note: if the alarm sounds during the meeting, everyone should please exit the building via the way they came in, via the main entrance lobby area, and then the front ramp. Please then assemble on the paved area in front of the building on College Green by the flag poles.

If the front entrance cannot be used, alternative exits are available via staircases 2 and 3 to the left and right of the Conference Hall. These exit to the rear of the building. The lifts are not to be used. Then please make your way to the assembly point at the front of the building.  Please do not return to the building until instructed to do so by the fire warden(s).

Up to one hour is allowed for this item

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum. Petitions, statements and questions received by the deadlines below will be taken at the start of the agenda item to which they relate to.

Petitions and statements (must be about matters on the agenda):

• Members of the public and members of the council, provided they give notice in writing or by e-mail (and include their name, address, and ‘details of the wording of the petition, and, in the case of a statement, a copy of the submission) by no later than 12 noon on the working day before the meeting, may present a petition or submit a statement to the Cabinet.

• One statement per member of the public and one statement per member of council shall be admissible.

• A maximum of one minute shall be allowed to present each petition and statement.

• The deadline for receipt of petitions and statements for the 5 December

 Cabinet is 12 noon on Monday 4^th December.  These should be sent, in writing or by e-mail to: Democratic Services, City Hall, College Green,Bristol, BS1 5TR

e-mail: democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

Questions (must be about matters on the agenda):

• A question may be asked by a member of the public or a member of Council, provided they give notice in writing or by e-mail (and include their name and address) no later than 3 clear working days before the day of the meeting.

• Questions must identify the member of the Cabinet to whom they are put.

• A maximum of 2 written questions per person can be asked. At the meeting, a maximum of 2 supplementary questions may be asked. A supplementary question must arise directly out of the original question or reply.

• Replies to questions will be given verbally at the meeting. If a reply cannot be given at the meeting (including due to lack of time) or if written confirmation of the verbal reply is requested by the questioner, a written reply will be provided within 10 working days of the meeting.

• The deadline for receipt of questions for the 5 December Cabinet is 5.00 pm on Wednesday 29^th November. These should be sent, in writing or by e-mail to: Democratic Services, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR.

Democratic Services e-mail: democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

PLEASE NOTE – The Public Forum deadline for questions has been extended for the following items:

·       Finance Exception Report (item 20)

·       Barton House Emergency Evacuation (item 22)

The Public Forum deadline for questions for these items has been extended to Thursday 30^th November at 5pm.

And;

·       Council Tax Reduction scheme for 2024/25 (item 16)

·       Council Tax Base (item 17)

The Public Forum deadline for questions for these items has been extended to Monday 4^th December, 10am.

When submitting a question or statement please indicate whether you are planning to attend the meeting to present your statement or receive a verbal  ...  view the full agenda text for item 2.

To note any declarations of interest from the Mayor and Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

(subject to a maximum of three items)

To note any announcements from the Chair

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the recommendations for the award of Imagination grant funding as set out in this report and appendix A2 for 2024-26.

2.      Approved the recommendations for the award of Openness grant funding as set out in this report and appendix A3 for 2024-2027

3.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Mayor to take all steps required to award the funding to those successful applicants.

That Cabinet:

1.      Authorised the Executive Director Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member Housing Delivery and Homes to take all steps require to procure and award the contract for a new Fire Safety Framework from April 2024 for 3 +1 years within the maximum budget envelope as outlined in this report.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member Housing Delivery and Homes to invoke any subsequent extensions/variations specifically defined in the contract(s) being awarded, up to the maximum budget envelope outlined in this report.

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the variation to the Fibre and CCTV contract as outlined in this report.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance & Procurement, to take all steps required to vary the Fibre and CCTV contract to increase the value of the contract by up to £3.5m (total value £15.5m).

To follow

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the City Centre Development and Delivery Plan and note that it will be a material planning consideration in the determination of planning applications.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Mayor to secure the freeholder requirements set out in this report through lease re-gearing negotiation in the City Centre and to note the costs of these requirements will be considered when determining best value in line with Section 123.

3.      Authorised the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Mayor to procure and award the contract(s) (which may be above the key decision threshold) necessary to progress the designs and secure planning approval for the transformation of Castle Park as outlined this report.

4.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Mayor to spend the £1.2m Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding as outlined in this report.

5.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and Mayor, to explore and to submit funding bids (which may be over the key decision threshold) to enable the redevelopment of Castle Park, noting that the acceptance and spend of any funding award over the key decision threshold will be subject to further approval in accordance with the decision pathway.

6.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer and Mayor, to explore and to submit funding bids (which may be over the key decision threshold) to enable development of a Community Land Trust or similar appropriate vehicle to run and manage community and cultural spaces in the City Centre, noting that the acceptance and spend of any funding award over the key decision threshold will be subject to further approval in accordance with the decision pathway.

7.      Noted the consultation report at Appendix B.

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the acceptance of £1.1m of grant funding from the DfE Short Breaks Innovation Fund.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director Children and Education, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Equalities to take all steps required to accept and spend the funding including entering grant agreements and procuring and awarding contracts for the delivery of the project.

3.      Authorised the Executive Director Children & Education in consultation with Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Equalities to submit further funding bids to extend the project in future funding rounds, noting that any successful bids will be brought back to Cabinet for approval to accept and spend.

That Cabinet:

1.      Recommended to Full Council that a byelaw be passed permitting the council to commence charging for storing of a deceased person at Flax Bourton Mortuary where the funeral director delays collection.

2.      Noted the outcome of the consultation as set out in this report and appendix B.

EQIA to follow

That Cabinet

1.      Approved the report and calculations as set out in this report and refered to Full Council for approval.

Appendix A5 to follow

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the outcomes of the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) 2024/25 scheme consultation as outlined in this report and appendix A5.

2.      Approved no change to Bristol’s 2024/25 Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme.

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the report and calculated amount as set out in the report and referred to Full Council for approval.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the successful implementation of the strategic finance partnership arrangements.

2.      Authorised the Head of Financial Management / Deputy s151 Officer in consultation with the Director of Finance and Cabinet Member City Economy, Finance and Performance to vary and award the contract amendment necessary for the implementation of the ongoing existing strategic finance partnership, in-line with the procurement routes and maximum budget envelopes outlined in this report.

3.      Approved the procurement of a new 3 +1 +1 year contract for a financial strategic partnership, using an appropriate route to market as advised by Strategic Procurement, at a cost not exceeding £1 million p.a., total maximum cost of £5 million over 5 years.

4.      Authorised the Head of Financial Management / Deputy s151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member City Economy, Finance and Performance to take all steps required to procure and award the contract and to enact extensions as required, within the maximum budget envelope outlined in this report.

5.      Authorised the Head of Procurement & Contract Management to approve appropriate procurement routes to market where these are not yet fully defined, or if changes to procurement routes are subsequently required.

EQIA for Parks Catering Fees and charges to follow

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the fees and charges changes outlined within the report, Appendix A.

2.      Authorised the Director of Finance and the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member City Economy, Finance and Performance to take all steps required to implement these change.

That Cabinet noted:

·       The General Fund forecast £19.3m adverse outturn variance against the approved budget for 2023/24.

·       The performance on delivery of savings (as summarised in Section 3).

·       The General Fund additional net risk of £0.7m against which Executive Directors plan to mitigate in full (as summarised in Section 4).

·       A forecast underspend of £0.8m within the HRA and that over- or under-spends that materialise on the HRA will be funded by a transfer from or to the HRA general reserve at the end of the financial year.

·       A forecast in-year deficit of £16.4m accumulating to a total £56.1m carried forward deficit in the DSG for 2023/24.

·       A breakeven position on Public Health services.

·       A forecast £30.4m underspend against the revised Capital Programme’s Budget (Section 6).

·       That reprioritisation of HRA budgets will be required to accommodate the spend linked to emergency response at Barton House

·       The urgent officer executive decisions in respect of council financial systems; these being, a) a contract variation in the council’s ledger system b) the re-procurement of financial ledger 3rd party hosting arrangement for the Council’s ledger.

Cabinet approved:

·       The reprofiling of the Capital programme budget to reflect the forecast £30.4m underspend at P7.

·       The acceptance of the LAHF capital grant allocation and reprofiling of the Capital programme budget to reflect incorporation of the Local Authority Housing Fund’s (LAHF) £1.52m capital grant funding allocation

·       The decision to fund £242k unplanned capital expenditure on temporary accommodation for homeless families through commuted funds and reprofile Capital programme budget accordingly

·       The contract award for the procurement of external audit services provided by Grant Thornton.

·       The urgent key decision (no.33) for extended expenditure of up to £510,000 of the council’s payments system funded from the combined budgets within the Resources and G&R Directorates and the re[1]procurement of the council’s internet payment service.

·       The urgent key decision (no.32) for excess layer insurance for Bristol Beacon venue to a value not exceeding £90,000 noting that this will take the total premium value up to a potential £250,000.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the contents of the Annual Report of the Director for Public Health 2022-23.

To follow

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted:

a)      The urgent key decision taken on 23 November 2023 as outlined in this report and attached at Appendix A.

b)      That reprioritisation of HRA budgets will be required to accommodate the spend.

c)      That over the next month work will be undertaken to determine more accurately the spend required, and the likely period of time over which it is required, once further surveys have been conducted on the building affected.

d)      Cabinet authority will be sought if required in accordance with the decision pathway process.

e)      The arrangements that are ongoing to support the Tenants who have been displaced and in particular Vulnerable households.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the previous Cabinet approval of 7th February 2023 approving expenditure of up to £600,000 in relation to the extension of the Civica Housing IT contract.

2.      Noted the Officer Executive decision taken on 27 November 2023 to approve additional expenditure of £375,562 in relation to the extension of the Civica Housing IT contract for one year as outlined in this report.