Agenda and minutes

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing Operations seeking approval to adopt the Building Safety Resident Engagement Strategy.  This strategy sets out how the Council will engage with residents, shared owners and leaseholders about building safety decisions

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47345)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing Operations  and having received representation from Councillor P Baillie, Cabinet approved the following:

(i)  To approve the new Building Safety- Resident Engagement Strategy set out at Appendix 1.

(ii)  To delegate authority to the Director for Housing to make any required minor amendments to the strategy.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing Operations seeking approval to invest accumulated Right to Buy monies.

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47723)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Housing Operations and having received representations from Councillor P Baillie, Cabinet approved the following:

(i)  To agree to the principle of the investment of Right to Buy monies as set out in this report and makes a recommendation to Council that it approves the expenditure of up to £13.085m of the Right to Buy receipts collected between 2019/20 and 2023/24 on an extension to the pilot programme of property investment under the temporary flexibilities granted by Government during the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years.

(ii)  To make a recommendation to Council that it grants delegated powers to the Director of Housing after consultation with and the Executive Director of Enabling Services, Executive Director of Growth and Prosperity, the Director of Legal and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Housing, to agree and approve the detail of the additional property investment in line with the details set out in this paper.

To consider the report of Cabinet Member for Children and Learning seeking approval to 1) School Travel Service Policy for Children of Compulsory School Age 2025-2026 and 2) Post-16 Travel Service Statement For Young People in Further Education and Adult Learners 2025-2026.

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47391)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Learning and having received representations from Councillors P Baillie and Moulton, Cabinet approved the following:

(i)  To approve the School Travel Service Policy for Children of Compulsory School Age 2025-2026 (Appendix 1) and the Post-16 Travel Service Policy Statement for Young People and Young Adults to Support Education and Training 2025-2026 (Appendix 2).

(ii)  To delegate authority to the Executive Director for Community Wellbeing, Children and Learning, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children & Learning to make minor changes to the policies during their period of effect.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services detailing an update on the Council's financial position for 2024/25.

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47735)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services, Cabinet approved the following:

i)  To agree the £3.51M adjustments to be made to directorate budgets to reflect sustained favourable variances reported at month 9 of 2024/25 due to transformation and other measures, to be transferred to centrally held contingency to reduce the reliance on Exceptional Financial Support (EFS), as set out in paragraph 6.

ii)  Agree to use £0.68M of centrally held contingency to meet the forecast overspend for emergency accommodation within Resident Services, as set out in paragraph 8.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport seeking to introduce or amend parking tariffs in the Suburban Car Parks and change the hours of operation to 8am to Midnight Monday to Sunday.

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47482)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, having received representations from Mr Belton Chairman of Southampton Salty Sea Dogs, Councillors P Baillie and Moulton, Cabinet approved the following:

(i)  To approve the removal of the 2 hour free parking period and the subsequent implementation of the proposed parking tariffs for the named Suburban car parks as outlined in Appendix 5.

(ii)  To approve the implementation of a new charging period within the named Suburban Car Parks of Monday to Sunday 8am - 8pm as outlined in Appendix 5.

(iii)  To delegate authority to determine all future parking tariff charges for the Suburban Car Parks to the Executive Director – Residential Services following consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member(s).

(iv)  To instruct officers to monitor and review the parking demand and footfall within the District Centres between 01/04/2025 and 30/09/2025 and make a recommendation to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport on whether the parking tariff and charging periods should be further amended.

(v)  To instruct officers to develop a permit that be used for limited periods at set times in Suburban Car Parks adjacent to schools to enable use for “Park-and-Stride” to school.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health seeking approval for residential respite provision.

Decision deferred to 25 March 2025 Cabinet meeting.   

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Economic Development seeking approval to the restructure of leases at Nelson Gate.

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47480)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and having received representations from Councillors P Baillie and Moulton, Cabinet approved the following:

(i)  To approve the lease restructuring proposals and recommendations set out in exempt Appendix 1.

(ii)  To delegate authority to the Executive Director for Growth and Prosperity following consultation with the Leader of the Council to finalise the detailed terms of the arrangements required to support the delivery of the regeneration of the area.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Economic Development detailing the progress on the masterplanning programme and next steps.

NOTE: This report is presented as a request for urgent consideration under Part 4 of the Council's Constitution (confidential matters for which 28 days notice of confidentiality was not given).  Whilst the report did have the required 28 days notice as a key decision, the requirement to indicate potential elements of confidentiality was not complied with as notification of the decision was published on the 13 December 2024. The matter requires a decision in order not to delay the Councils opportunity to review and endorse the Prospectus document in advance of a Southampton Renaissance Event arranged to publicise the document alongside other Southampton Renaissance Board Members on 14 February , 2025.

Decision made: (CAB 24/25 47721)

On consideration of the report of the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Cabinet approved the following:

(i)  To approve for publication (following agreement by all Renaissance Board Members) the Southampton Renaissance Prospectus as set out in Appendix 1 to this report.

(ii)  To endorse the next steps, including promotion of the Southampton Renaissance Prospectus at a Southampton Renaissance event in February, attendance at MIPIM (Le Marché International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier) and United Kingdom Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Forum (UK REiiiF).

(iii)  To delegate authority to the Executive Director for Growth and Prosperity following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development to approve minor amendments to the Southampton Renaissance Prospectus (‘The Prospectus’) and the publication of further documents from the Masterplan outputs.

(iv)  To delegate authority to the Executive Director for Growth and Prosperity following consultation with the Cabinet member for Economic Development, to procure and enter into contracts to appoint a Strategic Development Advisor and other contracts needed to deliver the outputs of the Southampton Renaissance Masterplan. These costs will be covered from approved budgets.