Agenda item

Report from Leader of the Council.

The report summarises the decisions from the Cabinet meeting on 23 April 2024.

Council received the report from Cabinet.

In response to a question from Councillor Brad Baines, the Deputy Leader of the Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment & Future Generations, agreed that in order to mainstream any future framework for future generations and tackle the determents of ill health and wellbeing, principles should be embedded in policy design, rather than adopted as an impact assessment for only some large projects as required by the relevant budget line.

In response to a question from Councillor Roz Smith, Councillor Pete Sudbury advised that the reason the Council chose to lead on climate change was to encourage others to do the same.

In response to a question from Councillor Charlie Hicks, Councillor Pete Sudbury advised that whilst not in his portfolio responsibility, further information would be provided on progress made on issuing climate bonds that had been agreed at the last Climate and Finance Conference.

In response to a question from Councillor Glynis Phillips, Councillor Neil Fawcett, Cabinet Member for Community & Corporate Services, advised that the objective of the proposed Managed Service Recruitment Contract was to provide a partnership that would incorporate actions towards reducing agency spend.

In response to a question from Councillor Susanna Pressel, Councillor Neil Fawcett advised that whilst not an item on the agenda, he would provide further information on the assessment of the current HR contract with Hampshire.

In response to a question from Councillor Duncan Enright, Councillor Dan Levy, Cabinet Member for Finance, agreed that the system for obtaining national government funding had many complexities and that it was beneficial to work with the local community in sourcing and financing projects of benefit to them.

In response to a question from Councillor Charlie Hicks, Councillor Dan Levy answered that opportunities for new financing models for future capital programmes would always be explored from national government funding, however there were no immediate plans at this time.

In response to a question from Councillor Brad Baines, Councillor Dan Levy advised that he would confirm the total amount of the capital programme allocated to the delivery of projects attached to S106 contributions and the proportion of these that had been delivered to timetable.

In response to a question from Councillor Duncan Enright, Councillor Andrew Gant, Cabinet Member for Transport Management, agreed that it was just as important that the Council’s policies were understood by residents in order for them to be implemented to good effect, and he would undertake to ensure that greater understanding was provided to ensure that the Council lived up to its aspirations in delivering its Vision Zero Strategy.

In response to a question from Councillor Calum Miller, Councillor Andrew Gant agreed to explore the safe transport of freight vehicles in all wards, as it was key to understanding how other road users interacted with freight vehicles safely in delivering the Council’s Vision Zero Strategy.

In response to a question from Councillor Mark Cherry, Councillor Andrew Gant agreed that additional funding was needed for the county’s highway network and highlighted the pothole crisis in the county that was caused by inefficient central government funding initiatives.

In response to a question from Councillor Susanna Pressel, Councillor Andrew Gant advised that he would seek to obtain the information resulting from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s review of ensuring that speed cameras were adjusted to recognise the 20 mph speed limit areas.

In response to a question from Councillor David Rouane, Councillor Andrew Gant advised that whilst he welcomed any initiative that would improve road safety and highlighted the safety measures within the Council’s Vision Zero Strategy that sought to minimise the interactions between vehicles and cyclists, he did not feel that the national government’s road safety initiatives targeted at cyclists were appropriate for mitigating road safety.

In response to a question from Councillor Kieron Mallon, Councillor Andrew Gant advised that he was not aware that the national figures for reporting deaths caused by cyclists were recorded incorrectly and did not believe that this was the case.