Agenda, decisions and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the District Executive meeting held on 05 January 2023.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 05 January 2023 were approved as a correct record and were signed by the Chairman.

It was noted that Councillor Nicola Clark had joined the meeting on-line (remotely) (non-voting).

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February 2015), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting.

Members are reminded that they need to declare the fact that they are also a member of a County, Town or Parish Council as a Personal Interest. Where you are also a member of Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council within South Somerset you must declare a prejudicial interest in any business on the agenda where there is a financial benefit or gain or advantage to Somerset County Council and/or a Town or Parish Council which would be at the cost or to the financial disadvantage of South Somerset District Council. 

Councillor John Clark declared a personal interest in Agenda item 6: Wincanton Town Centre Regeneration - Revisions to Timetable, as a Trustee of the Board of Bath Opera who were a beneficiary of grants from the Wincanton Regeneration Board.

It was agreed that the member of public present would speak at Agenda item 8: Yeovil Crematorium – Revisions to Timetable.

The Chairman noted that the next meeting of the District Executive on 02 March 2023 would be the final meeting of the Executive.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Wincanton Regeneration Scheme advised that the new County Executive had reviewed all of the capital projects as they moved 5 budgets into one.  She said despite all the projects being worthy of investment, two had been deferred for one year and they were only paused, not cancelled. The projects future spend depended upon an updated business case in the next year.  She noted the work which had already enhanced the town centre with 17 property grants and the activities held which had resulted in over 4,000 visitors to Wincanton. She concluded that she remained committed to the project and asked that Members note the report.

In response to questions from Members, the Portfolio Holder and the Regeneration Programme Manager advised:-

·         The consultancy work would have included a local consultation and it was felt that the information gathered would be quickly out of date in a rapidly changing environment.

·         The re-profiling of the budget was a financial term to profile the spend through each financial year.

·         The other deferred project was the Yeovil Crematorium (Agenda item 8).

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee advised that most of their questions had been answered by officers at their meeting.  He said they understood the reasons for pausing the works but said that the communication of this to the local community must be sensitively handled.

The Regeneration Project Manager confirmed that communications had a press release which would be released later that day. 

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to note the recommendations of the report.

The Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Income Generation said the success of the project was evident in the half-yearly dividend of £900,000.  He said there was an option to use the dividend to re-pay the debt but the partner had requested to pay a dividend on this occasion.  He noted this was a 25 year project and the finance team had, on balance, agreed it would be a benefit to receive the dividend on the half-year only without prejudice.  

In response to a question the Chief Finance Officer confirmed that the payment did not fall within the Section 24 financial agreement with Somerset County Council, however, she had informed their Section 151 Officer of the proposal. 

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee said one of their members asked that the success of the venture be recorded.  He also asked if the request to pay the dividend would set a precedent for the future.  It was noted that a written response would be provided to a question regarding any rent review at the site by the landlord in view of the profitability of the business.  Subsequent to the meeting, the Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager confirmed that the rent payable at the Fareham BESS was index linked and not based on turnover so the strong trading would not directly trigger a rent rise. 

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that the Shareholders Agreement was built around repayment of debt before payment of dividend and that agreement would be amended for any future requests.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to agree to the request from SSDC Opium Ltd to distribute the half-year profit generated in 2022/23 by FERL1.

The Vice Chairman of Yeovil Without Parish Council (YWPC), partner in the Yeovil Crematorium, addressed the Committee.  He said that YWPC had always been treated as an equal partner at board meetings although their holding was only 11% and they had always taken difficult funding decisions together, however, it appeared that the decision to defer the project had been taken without reference to them.  He noted that approximately £650,000 of funding from YWPC was held by SSDC for the project and he asked that be returned to the Parish Council reserve fund until such time as the new business case was made and then funding from them would be returned to the project.  He concluded that the area needed a more modern facility to say goodbye with dignity.

The Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager noted there would be a meeting of the Crematorium Board on 21 February and there would need to be future discussions on how to progress the project so it would not be a final meeting.  He also clarified that as a separate company to SSDC, VAT was payable on the project.

The Portfolio Holder for Area South and the Yeovil Crematorium agreed that Crematorium Board Meetings had been cancelled recently as there had been no business to discuss and he was very disappointed that the project was to be deferred for one year.  He said the decision had been taken and that SSDC could only note this but there would need to be future discussions between SSDC and YWPC on issues such as the car park extension and Garden of Remembrance.  He also noted that the new Somerset Council should be aware of the partnership arrangement with YWPC.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee said they understood that not every project could go forward but this was a profitable business and costs may rise if the project were delayed.  He said SCC councillors should challenge the decision and there should be careful consideration on the publicity around the delay and the reputation of SSDC.

During discussion, points were raised regarding the delay, the new business case, the continuity of officers with knowledge of the project, and the financial situation which had caused SCC to defer the project.  Councillors who were also Unitary Councillors said they would continue to press for the scheme to be reinstated. 

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to note the recommendations of the report.

The Chairman advised that the Ilminster Neighbourhood Plan report would not be ready although the Inspectors report had been submitted.  She confirmed that it would be dealt with by the new Somerset Council.

She also thanked the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee for the positive way in which he had presented his Committee feedback to the Executive.  She said they had been an excellent Scrutiny Committee.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Legal Services also thanked the Chief Finance Officer for her support and work as it was her final Executive meeting.

Members noted that the final meeting of the District Executive would take place on Thursday 02 March 2023 in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil commencing at 9.30 a.m.

The Chairman asked Members to agree that the press and public be excluded from the following item and this was agreed without dissent.

The Chief Executive provided members with a brief verbal update on the progress of Local Government Reorganisation in Somerset and answered their questions on points of clarification.

The report was NOTED.