Agenda and decisions

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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 23 January Cabinet is 12 noon on Monday 22^nd January 2024. 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 23 January Cabinet is 5.00 pm on Wednesday 17^th January 2024. 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:

·       Clean Air Zone (CAZ) Evaluation Report (item 12)

·       Application of Bristol Clean Air Zone net proceeds (item 13)

The Public Forum deadline for questions for these items has been extended to Thursday 18^th January  ...  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 funding for the acquisition of two properties from the One Lockleaze development as outlined in this report.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director Children and Education and Director of Finance in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Children, Education & Equalities to spend the funding to acquire and determine the appropriate place for the properties to be held and managed within the General Fund in accordance with the options set out in this report.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the acceptance of funding for the financial year 23/24 of £18k.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director Children and Education in consultation with the Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for City Economy, Finance and Performance to take all steps required to accept and spend the grant funding allocations for 24/25 and 25/26 (including procuring and awarding contracts over £500k) necessary for the implementation of the programme up to March 2026, in-line with the maximum budget envelopes outlined in this report.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the new annual allocation of funding for local authority smoking cessation services, of up to £742,043 per year from 1st April 2024 until 31st March 2029.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director for Adults and Communities in consultation with the Director of Public Health and the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities City to accept and spend the funding including to procure and award contracts in relation to smoking cessation services as outlined in this report.

3.      Authorised the Head of Strategic Procurement & Supplier Relations to approve appropriate procurement routes to market where these are not yet fully defined in this report, or if changes to procurement routes are subsequently required.

4.      Noted that the approvals within this report supersede the previous Cabinet decision taken in July 2023, prior to notification of additional funding and enable a compliant contract extension/variation to allow for design of higher value services to reflect the additional funding.

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the Bristol Multiple Disadvantage Strategy at Appendix A and notes that the Multiple Disadvantage Commissioning Board (reporting to the Health and Wellbeing Board) will have oversight of the strategy.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director: Adults and Communities in consultation with the Cabinet member for Social Care and Integrated Care System to take all steps required to extend the Second Step contract up to the value of £800,816 to March 2025 for the implementation of the extended Changing Futures programme.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the contents of the Evaluation Report contained in Appendix A.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the forecast Clean Air Zone net proceeds within financial years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.

2.      Approved the Detailed Five-Year Programme for application of net proceeds from the Clean Air Zone to enhance public transport and active travel to improve air quality in the city having regard for Bristol Clean Air Zone Charging Order 2022 and the Joint Local Transport Plan as set out in this report and Appendix A.

3.      Noted the implications of the Detailed Five-Year Programme for application of net proceeds from the Clean Air Zone for the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan.

EQIA to follow

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted that further work will be undertaken to support the further development of RPS policies for future consideration as outlined in this report including alterations to visitor permit provision to increase the focus on pay and display.

2.      Approved a reduction in business permits in the Clifton Village area of 10%, for those businesses who currently have over seven customer permits or more.

3.      Approved the removal of third vehicle permits.

4.      Approved increasing the cost of a first permit from £56 to £178.

5.      Authorised the Executive Director Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet member Transport to take all steps required to undertake consultation on the proposals where required, consider any objection report and decide whether the existing Traffic Regulation Order should be varied, and to implement the necessary statutory procedures to implement these changes.

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the Outline Business Case and notes and approves its submission to the Environment Agency for its assurance review.

2.      Noted the capital cost for delivery (in 2028 present value terms) of Phase 1 construction is estimated at £255m, of which approximately £251m (also in 2028 present value terms) of funding through Defra’s Flood Defence Grant in Aid, WECA’s Economic Development Fund, council reserves and Community Infrastructure Levy is identified in principle.

3.      Authorised the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the S151 Officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Performance, to apply for and enter into agreements or contracts to spend grant funding of £2.2m Local Levy raised by the Wessex Regional Flood and Coastal Committee in support of the delivery of the Full Business Case and supporting activities.

4.      Authorised the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the S151 Officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Performance, to apply for and enter into agreements or contracts to spend funding of up to £10m from the West of England Combined Authority, in support of the delivery of the Full Business Case and supporting activities.

5.      Authorised the Executive Director for Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the S151 Officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Governance and Performance, to enter into agreements or contracts to spend the council’s capital reserves (as previously allocated to the delivery of the strategy) in support of the delivery of the Full Business Case and supporting activities.

That Cabinet:

1.      Approved the procurement of new Pay on Foot (POF) systems in line with the estimated contract value of up to £1m over 10 years.

2.      Approved re-prioritisation of an existing Highways budget to fund the set-up costs of c£200k.

3.      Authorised the Executive Director, Growth and Regeneration in consultation with Cabinet Member for Transport to take all steps required to approve the system requirements following further market testing and procure and award the contract in accordance with the maximum budget envelopes outlined in this report.

4.      Authorised Executive Director, Growth and Regeneration in consultation with Cabinet Member for Transport to invoke any subsequent extensions/variations specifically defined in the contract being awarded, up to the maximum budget envelope outlined in this report.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted that Bristol City Council and partners submitted a successful bid to the Innovate UK Net Zero Pathfinder Places Programme for the Mission Net Zero Demonstrator Project and have been awarded nearly £5m of funding with up to £3.7m allocated to Bristol City Council.

2.      Authorised the Executive Director Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Members for Housing Services and Energy and Waste, Climate, Ecology and Just Transition and S151 Officer, to take all steps required to accept and spend the funding from Innovate UK of up to £3.708m (including procuring and awarding contracts over £500k); to implement the project as set out in proposals to Innovate UK and the business case in Appendix A2; and, to make any amendments to the project as necessary for successful delivery.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the progress which has been made on the future provision of the City’s cemetery and cremation service as outlined in this report.

2.      Approved the use of Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy in relation to Phase 1 of South Bristol Cemetery Expansion.

3.      Authorised the Executive Director Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member Public Health and Communities to take all steps required to spend the Strategic CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) allocation and procure and award the contracts for the Phase 1 works to deliver the South Bristol Cemetery Expansion project.

4.      Noted that a further report will be brought back in accordance with the decision pathway in relation to the Phase 2 development for Bristol Cemetery Expansion Works.

That Cabinet:

1.      Authorised the Director of Finance in consultation with the Deputy Mayor, Cabinet Member Finance, Governance, Property and Culture to take all steps required to procure and award a one-year contract insurance arrangement for leaseholders and the Right to Buy Scheme as outlined in this report.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the two contract extensions Decisions taken on 27/11/2023 to extend the Agilisys Hosting & Support Contract for ABW and to extend the final year of Unit 4 Support and Maintenance Level 3/4 including the transition to ERP7 Cloudstep One, referred to as a ‘lift and shift’, which is the first phase towards ERP7 Software as a Service (SAAS) as required by Unit 4.

2.      Authorised the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to

                                            i.            procure and award the contract and implement the 4-year service agreement starting 1/5/24, bringing the total contract period to 5 years, for the hosting and support of the Council’s financial ledger and accounting system, with Unit 4 Business World, including any associated technical configuration changes to ensure business continuity at an estimated potential cost of between £2.2m to £2.5m over 5 years. (This will align with the expiry of the current arrangements on 30/11/2024 and will include the move to ‘SAAS’).

                                           ii.            procure and award the contract and implement a solution for the Council’s internal payment system with ‘The Access Group Pay360’, when the current arrangement expires 31/03/24 at an estimated potential cost of £3m over three years.

3.      Authorised the Director of Finance in consultation with the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to review options for the Council’s payment systems and thereafter determine the most appropriate solution and take the necessary action (in respect of both current and new arrangements, as appropriate) to implement that decision including procuring and awarding contracts which may be above the key decision threshold.

That Cabinet is asked to recommend the following proposals to Full Council:

1.      Agreed and recommended a rent and service charge increase of 7.7% effective from April 2024 to Full Council, applicable to HRA dwelling (general needs accommodation, supported housing and temporary accommodation).

2.      Agreed and recommended the one-year revenue budget of £151m for 2024/25 set out in Appendix A1 to Full Council.

3.      Agreed and recommended the five-year capital programme 2024/25–2028/29 as detailed in Appendix A1 to Full Council.

4.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Energy, to increase service charges (including district heating) and garage rents in line with inflation and to approve the recalculated service charges and service charge statement based on actual costs for issue in September 2024.

5.      Noted the key assumptions in the 30-year business plan and that the finance model is established within the agreed affordability principles summarised in Appendix A1, Table 4.

That Cabinet:

6.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homelessness, or the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Energy, and the Council’s Section 151 Officer to submit appropriate funding applications (including Homes England grants for development) and if successful to:

o   accept funding and agree associated grant terms/conditions (additional consultation required with Legal Services); and

o   spend the funding by delivery of the projects (set out in appendices A2 and A3) via compliant procurement routes; and

o   use HRA investment plan funds and or reserves to match fund projects to maximise funding opportunities; and

o   such authority to include decisions above £500K.

o   note that delegated decisions relating to funding applications and associated projects will be published (Officer Executive Decisions).

7.      Authorised the Executive Director of Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Energy and the Council’s Section 151 Officer, subject to keeping within the approved overall HIP budget:

a.      To approve the priority of the procurement projects set out in Appendix A2, take all steps required to select the appropriate procurement route and to procure and award the contract in line with the Councils procurement rules and regulations. Such authority to include decisions above £500K.

b.      To adjust and/or defer (from within the current year’s programme, including those set out in Appendix A2) any project(s) to fund the increased cost of any other project and/or to accommodate other changes in the programme subject to keeping within the approved overall budget. Delegated decisions to adjust or defer the programme will be published (Officer Executive Decisions).

8. Authorised the Executive Director Growth and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homelessness and the Council’s Section 151 Officer to:

a.      Approve the priority of the procurement projects set out in Appendix A3 and take all steps required to procure and award contracts (including goods, works and professional services)

b.      during 2024/25 to deliver the HRA Development Programme capital  ...  view the full decision text for item 21.

Cabinet is asked to recommend the following proposals to Full Council:

Approved 2024/25 DSG budget:

1.      Schools Block (detail in Appendix A3)

a.      the Schools Block budget be set at £342.604 million for 2024/25, as per Table 1 in the report

b.      £1.721 million of the overall Schools Block DSG is transferred to the High Needs Block to support the growing demand

c.       the basis for distributing the funding to mainstream schools be as set out and agreed by Schools Forum (Appendix A3)

d.      the Growth Fund for established schools expanding in September 2024 be set at £2.0 million (a component of the total Schools Block budget).

2.      Central School Services Block (detail in Appendix A2)

a.      Following Schools Forum agreement, approve the Central School Services Block budget is set at £2.696 million for 2024/25.

3.      High Needs Block (detail in Appendix A2)

a.      Approve the High Needs Block budget be set at £91.256 million for 2024/25 as per Appendix A2, after receiving transfers of £1.721 million from Schools Block.

4.      Early Years Block (detail in Appendix A2)

a.      Approve the Early Years Block budget be set at £55.180 million for 2024/25, noting that spend and DSG income will fluctuate, according to participation levels in each of the three school terms

b.      Approve that funding for Early Years should be distributed in line with the arrangements explained in the report to Schools Forum (Appendix A2).

Cabinet to noted the following:

5.      Overall position - note

a.      the 2024/25 DSG overall allocation of £491.736 million.

b.      That the forecast DSG expenditure in 2024/25 is £511.838 million, with a forecast accumulated deficit of £76.179 million

c.       The Education Service will continue to work with the Schools Forum and the respective Task and Finish Groups (High Needs Task and Finish Group; Early Years Task and Finish Group) to explore sustainable mitigation options to bring the DSG budget to an affordable position over the medium term. This will include the implementation of the proposed changes to the current non[1]statutory top-up funding model. Recommendations will be presented to Cabinet for a key decision on 6 February 2024. This follows a recent city-wide consultation which closed on 15 December 2023 outlining a set of options to reform current funding models.

d.      Bristol Schools Forum (SF) feedback on 2024/25 DSG budget (that will be published separately following receipt):

That Cabinet recommended to Council to:-

Note:

·       The report from Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) and/or the Resources Scrutiny Commission that will be published separately.

·       The budget consultation process that was followed and feedback as outlined in Section 18 and Appendix 6.

·       The categorisation of earmarked reserves and provisions set out in Section 15.

·       That the budget consultation feedback and equality impact assessments have been taken into consideration and have informed the final budget proposals.

·       The feedback provided by Bristol Schools Forum for Cabinet and Council, for consideration in making final decisions on the Dedicated Schools Budget for 2024/25 as set out in Appendix 14.

·       The Section 25 Statement of the Chief Finance Officer (s151 Officer) as set out in Section 17 on the robustness of the budget and adequacy of reserves.

Delegated Authority:

·       To the Director of Finance after consultation with Designated Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance and the Mayor, to make any necessary technical adjustments that may be required to the budget with transfers to and or from reserves as appropriate.

That Cabinet recommended to Full Council:

·       The Bristol City Council levels of Council Tax increase of 4.99%; which includes 2% precept to support Adult Social Care, noting the precepts of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset and the Avon Fire Authority.

·       The council’s General Fund net revenue budget for the year 2024/25 as £525.494 million and expenditure allocations as set out in Appendix 1; subject to any budget amendments properly notified to and approved by the council in line with the Constitution.

·       That supplementary estimates be approved as part of the Budget 2024/25 Report in the case that they are required to meet Q3/P8 2023/24 full year forecast spending requirements (see Appendix 15)

·        The council’s capital budget and programme for the years 2024/25 – 2033/34, totalling £2.7 billion for the General Fund and Housing Revenue Fund.

·       The strategic Community Infrastructure Levy allocations in section 13 are approved.

·       The proposed Treasury Management Strategy for 2024/25 in Appendix 4, incorporating the Minimum Revenue Provision policy and the prudential indicators and limits.

·       To approve the Strategy for the Flexible use of Capital Receipts as set out in Appendix 5.

·       To approve the changes to Council Tax for empty homes (long term empty dwellings that are substantially unfurnished) and for second homes (dwellings that are occupied only periodically and are substantially furnished) in Appendix 12 be applied from 1 April 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter, subject to the required legislation being in place.

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted the Theme Summary reports and overall Performance progress, and the measures to address performance issues to be implemented by relevant services.

That Cabinet

1.      Noted the current strategic risks and mitigating actions being taken to reduce to within tolerance

That Cabinet noted:

•        The General Fund forecast overspend of £5.6m against council approved budget at Q3/P8 2023/24.

•        The Quarter 3/Period 8 technical virements (Appendix A1a, Tables 3 and 4).

•        The performance on delivery of savings (Appendix A1a, section 4, Table 5).

•        The additional weighted net risk of £3.4m per the risks and opportunities register (Appendix A1a, section 5, Table 5)

•        A forecast underspend of £0.2m within the HRA and that over- or under-spends that materialise within the HRA will be funded by a transfer to or from the HRA general reserve at the end of the financial year.

•        A forecast in-year deficit of £16.4m after in-year mitigations of £2.1m, accumulating to a total £56.1m carried forward deficit in the DSG at the close of 2023/24.

•        A breakeven position on Public Health services.

•        The level of outstanding debt as at 30 November 2023 (Appendix A1a, section 7, Tables 9 and 10).

•        The latest position on balance sheet risks (Appendix A1a, section 8, Table 11)

•        The 1 April 2023 opening balances on the General Fund and Earmarked Reserves and movements to Q3 (Appendix A1a, section 2.6, Table 2).

•        A forecast £1.5m underspend (including £2.3m overspend for the allocated General fund and a £3.8m underspend on HRA) against the revised Capital Programme’s Budget (Appendix A1b)

•        The planned use of capital receipts of £9.8m (Appendix A1b, section 3)

•        The decision to submit a FADF application to the WECA to access £0.6m from the £12m Liveable Neighbourhood allocation within the CRSTS funding.

That Cabinet authorised:

•        The write-off of £0.43m from previously approved budget savings initiatives IN27b and 2223-GR055.

•        The Executive Director, Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the council’s S151 Officer and the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to accept and spend the latest funding award of £0.170m (in addition to previous £0.338m) from the West of England Combined Authority for the delivery of the Active Travel Capability and Ambition Fund 6-month extension across financial years 2023/24-2024/25.

•        For the Executive Director, Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the council’s S151 Officer and the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to accept the £0.6m funding provided specifically for the Bristol South Liveable Neighbourhood Scheme and to procure and award contracts for expenditure of that funding.

•        For the Executive Director, Growth and Regeneration, in consultation with the council’s S151 Officer and the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Finance, Governance and Performance to accept the £0.67m funding provided specifically by WECA from the Investment Fund to provide specialist resources to cover areas such as communications and engagement, property and finance, over the duration of the CRSTS program and to procure and award contracts for expenditure of that funding.

That Cabinet

1.      Noted and agrees with the summary of actions and next steps contained within the report (Appendix A).

That Cabinet:

1.      Noted

a.      the urgent key decision taken on the 12th January 2024 as outlined in this report and attached at Appendix A.

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

c.       The arrangements that are ongoing to support the Tenants who have been displaced.