Decisions

The Cabinet Member for Communities & Housing approved the section 106 Agreement for DC070269 is assigned as below:-

Section 106 Formal Sport contribution of £30,398.00 from DC055165, is assigned to improvements at Davenport Play Fields.

Section 106 Childrens Play contribution of £19,025.08 from DC055165 is assigned to play improvements at Heaton Norris Park.

The Area Committee has awarded a grant of £1000 to the Offerton Cricket Club from the Area Flexibility Fund toward the cost of security improvements at the club.

The Area Committee has awarded a grant of £1360 to the Torkington Allotment Association from the Area Flexibility Fund to meet the costs of additional drainage works on site.

The Area Committee approved a highway maintenance scheme on School Lane (Option 1 as detailed in the report) at an approximate cost of £8,487.00 to be funded via the Area Delegated Budget (Heatons North ward allocation).

The Area Committee has given approval to the award of a grant of £1,020 from the Ward Flexibility Budget to NK Theatre Arts towards the cost of running daytime cinema sessions.

The Area Committee has given approval to the award of a grant of £300 from the Ward Flexibility Budget to Stockport Snowdrops towards the cost of holding the ‘big snowdrops stroll’ event.

The Area Committee has given approval to the award of a grant of £300 from the Ward Flexibility Budget to 1st Romiley Guides towards the start-up costs of the 1st Romiley Guides.

The Area Committee has given approval to the award of a grant of ££950 from the Ward Flexibility Budget to Romiley Guide Hut towards the cost of repairs, decoration and security at Romiley Guide Hut.

The Area Committee has given approval to the award of a grant of £374 from the Ward Flexibility Budget to Bredbury St Marks Cricket Club towards the cost of purchasing baseball caps.

The Area Committee has approved an award of £1000 from the Area Flexibility Fund to Hazel Grove Bowling & Tennis Club as a contribution toward the cost of repairs to the club facilities.

The Area Committee has made an award of £600 to the Aldwyn Crescent Community Club as a contribution to the cost of public liability insurance for street based ‘play sessions for the next two years.

The Area Committee has awarded a grant of £1970 to the Friends of Torkington Park from the Area Flexibility Fund to meet the costs of additional features in the children’s play area.

The Area Committee has given approval to the award of a grant of £1,000 from the Ward Flexibility Budget to Romiley LifeCentre towards the cost of developing a ‘stay and play’ room.

The Area Committee considered a proposal to introduce additional waiting restrictions on Shearwater Road, Offerton to protect pedestrian routes to Warren Wood School and approved the Traffic Regulation Order for legal advertising, at a cost of £1,060 to be funded from the Area Committee’s Delegated Budget (Offerton Ward allocation), and subject to no objections being received within 21 days from the advertisement date that the following order be made:

No Waiting Monday to Friday 8.45 – 9.15am & 3.00- 3.30pm:

Shearwater Road

West side from a point 6 metres south of a point level with the projected boundary line between no’s 58 – 60 for a distance of 22 metres in a southerly direction.

East side from a point level with the projected boundary line between no’s 23 and 25 for a distance of 20 metres in a southerly direction.

The Area Committee has given approval to the undertaking of a feasibility study to assess how the junction of Mill Lane, Mill Street and Rodney Drive, Bredbury could be improved for pedestrians and traffic movement at a cost of £1,000 to be funded from the Area Committee’s Delegated Budget (Bredbury & Woodley ward allocation).

The Area Committee has given approval to the legal advertising of the following scheme and, subject to the receipt of no objections within 21 days of the advertisement date, the subsequent making of the orders, at a cost of £760 to be funded from the Area Committee’s Delegated Budget (Bredbury & Woodley ward allocation):-

No Waiting At Any Time

Vernon Road (Service Road) North side - From the projected boundary line of properties number 68/66 for a distance of 6 metres in a south westerly direction.

Vernon Road (Service Road) East Side - On the projected boundary line of properties number 68/70 for a distance of 4 metres (full width) in a south easterly direction.

Vernon Road (Service Road) South side - From the projected boundary line of properties number 68/70 for a distance of 6 metres in a north easterly direction.

The Area Committee approved a proposed scheme to upgrade the street lighting near to North Reddish Park and Houldsworth Park at an approximate cost of £15,900 to be funded via the Area delegated budget (Reddish North ward allocation)

The Area Committee approved an application from the Four Heaton’s Traders Association who have applied to hold their annual Summer Festival in Heaton Moor Park on Sunday 7^th July 2019 between 11am and 5pm with access to the site between the hours of 7am and 7pm to set up and close down the event.

The Area Committee considered and approved an application from Morley’s Funfairs for the use of Torkington Park between 1 and 8 July 2019, subject to the receipt by the Council of appropriate paperwork, licenses and fees.

The Area Committee has given approval to the legal advertising of the package of traffic regulations orders contained in Appendix A to the report and, subject to the receipt of no objections within 21 days of the advertisement date, the subsequent making of the orders.

The Area Committee considered a proposal to introduce No Waiting at Any Time restrictions at the new A6 MARR turning head off Buxton Road in Hazel Grove in order to maintain access for traffic seeking to turn and approved the following Traffic Regulation Order be approved for legal advertising, to be funded from the A6MARR programme, and subject to no objections being received within 21 days from the advertisement date that the following order be made:

No Waiting at Any Time:

Buxton Road (Turning Head Access)

South West side from a point 11 metres South East of the South Easterly kerb line of Mill Lane in a Southerly direction to the first corner point; then South Easterly direction to the lay-by (a total distance of approximately 24 metres following the kerb line).

The Area Committee considered and approved an application from Hazel Grove Community Hub for the use of Torkington Park on 22 April 2019 be approved, subject to the receipt by the Council of appropriate paperwork, licenses and fees.

The Area Committee approve a road safety improvement scheme on Furness Grove at Mersey Vale Primary School at an approximate cost of £900.00 to be funded via the Area Delegated Budget (Heatons South ward allocation).

The Area Committee has given approval to an application received from the Friends of Tangshutt Fields to hold their annual May Day on the Meadow Event at Tangshutt Playing Fields on 6 May 2019.

The Area Committee made a grant of £550.00 to St Mary’s Playgroup for funding towards the opening of a Playgroup in the South Reddish area (£250.00 Reddish North and £300.00 Reddish South allocation)

The Council Meeting has:-

(1) Approved the appropriate Council Tax resolutions as set out in Appendix One of the report for a 2.75% increase in the Council-controlled element of the tax, and when taking into account the Mayoral Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester and Mayoral General Precept (including Fire Services) for Greater Manchester precepts, an increase of 4.18%.

The Council therefore approved a Band D Council Tax of £1,916.90.

(2) Noted the calculation of Aggregate Amounts as directed by Section 31A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 set out at Appendix Two.

The Council Meeting has noted the Medium Term Financial Plan forecasts for the Council’s finances for the period 2019/20 to 2022/23.

The Council Meeting has given approval to:-

·         Capital Prudential Indicators:-

o   Capital expenditure forecasts;

o   Capital Financing Requirement projections; and

o   Ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream.

·         The Capital Strategy 2019/20

The Council Meeting has given approval to:-

·         The Minimum Revenue Provision Policy for 2019/20;

·         The Capital Expenditure forecasts and Capital Financing Requirement projections;

·         The Treasury Management Strategy 2019/20;

·         The Treasury and Prudential Indicators and limits 2019/20-2021/22;

·         The Annual Investment Strategy 2019/20.

The Council Meeting has:-

(1) Agreed the Budget for 2019/20 described in the report and set out in Appendix 2 and 3;

(2) Noted the risk assessment of the Budget at Appendix 5 and the report of the Borough Treasurer on the adequacy of proposed financial reserves and robustness of the estimates included at Appendix 5;

(3) Noted and comment upon the financial forecasts for 2019/20 to 2022/23 (Appendix 6), and the key issues to be addressed in formulating a response to the future financial challenges facing the Council;

(4) Approved the 2019/20 to 2021/22 Capital Programme and the funding arrangements as described in the report and set out at Appendix 7; and

(5) Approve the prudential indicators set out in Appendix 8;

Subject to:-

·         The removal of the budget proposal relating to reducing Ward funds, protecting them at their current level creating an additional savings requirement of £0.216m ongoing.

·         For 2019/20 and 2020/21, fund this by using the historic underspend of £0.468m, putting any surplus in to general reserves.

·         For 2021/22 onwards, add to the Council’s savings requirement £0.216m, to be found from outside frontline service delivery. This would be an increase of under 1% of the savings requirement for that year.

To agree the level of rent and service charges for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) in 2019/20 and provision of a recommended HRA budget for 2019/20.

The Council Meeting has approved:-

·         a reduction in the average social rent of 1% for dwelling rents;

·         an increase of 3.8% for rents of shared ownership properties;

·         services charge increases as outlined in Section 3;

·         the Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1.

The Council Meeting has adopted the Council Plan 2019/20.

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the following:-

The formal sport contribution of £148,388.87 from DC070776 is assigned to upgrading the tennis court in Torkington Park to multi use sports area.

The children’s play provision contribution of £92,872.43 from DC070776 is assigned to Torkington Park and Cherry Tree Play Spaces, as below;

·         Torkington Park - £74,297.94, for new interactive electronic play item.

·         Cherry Tree Drive - £18,574.49, raising it to LEAP standard.

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the proposed Traffic Regulation Order for the Wensley Road/ Gatley Road area of Cheadle be made as advertised.

The Deputy Chief Executive has approved the award of a contract for the provision of Information, Advice and Guidance / Citizen Advice Service (Provision of Generalist Social Welfare Advice, Debt, Welfare Benefit and Housing Advice) to Stockport and Pennine West Citizen’s Advice

Stockport Council is committed to providing high quality, welfare advice services. These services will play an important role in maximising people’s independence and help prevent reliance and dependency on more intensive care and support.

Stockport, Rochdale and Trafford recently tendered together for a new provider. The three councils currently have very different services provided by two providers and Stockport and Trafford also have a mixture of in-house provision.

The three STaR authorities came together to procure a joint contract which will deliver a joint and yet bespoke service offer for each council each with a different budget and different in house provision. There is a shared requirement which is funded equally between all authorities for the telephone and on-line web based offer.  Each council specified their individual requirements and budget. Each council will have a separate contract with the provider and will be responsible for paying their own invoice.

 A joint bid by Stockport & Pennine West Citizen’s Advice was received which met the specification, provided service improvements and efficiency savings for all authorities. It is an annual contract which can be renewed for two further annual terms. The resulting contract has provided a saving of £26,750 for Stockport and will lead to service improvements for online and telephone advice without impacting on face-to-face advice services.  As Stockport Citizens’ Advice were successful there will be no disruption in services when the new contract is in place from 1 April 2019.

(Note: the report contains information ‘not for publication’ due to its commercial sensitivity)

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the statutory legal advertising of the Traffic Regulation orders detailed in Appendices A and B of the report, subject to no objections being received within twenty one days from the advertisement date the orders can be made.

36 public library authorities from the North West and Yorkshire regions have joined together for the purpose of procuring the supply and servicing of library materials
in the most cost efficient and effective way.

The Deputy Chief Executive has agreed to enter into the following contractual arrangements, at an overall cost to Stockport of £1,056,000 over 4 year period:-

The contract is split into category Lots which were:
Lot 1 - Adult Fiction books
Lot 2 - Adult Non-Fiction books
Lot 3 - Childrens books
Lot 4 - Music CDs
Lot 5 - Reference Standing Orders.

Four bids were received and the successful bidders were:
Lot 1 – Bertram Library Services
Lot 2 – Bertram Library Services
Lot 3 – Peters Bookselling Services
Lot 4 – Askews Library Services
Lot 5 – Bertram Library Services

The library book market is challenging, with very little competition, and low risk. There are limited suppliers who can deliver in all Lots, however there are a number of smaller suppliers who could supply in one or more Lots.

A procurement options appraisal was completed, whereby various procurement options were reviewed and considered. The resulting recommendation was to undertake a further-competition via an existing ESPO Framework (376f_18 Library Stock). This recommendation went out to all Participating Authorities across both consortia with no objections being received. The further competition invitation went out via The Chest portal on in November 2018 to all relevant suppliers listed on the ESPO framework. All invited suppliers expressed their interest in bidding and subsequently bids from all 4 invited parties were received by the closing date.

(Note: the procurement report contains information that is ‘not for publication’ because of its commercial sensitivity)

The Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration has agreed to an additional £1.409m being allocated for maintenance and improvement priorities following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s autumn budget statement.

It was decided to allocate for work from the £1,409m for maintenance and improvement priorities to the following schemes:

Goyt Valley area cycle scheme £125,000
Woodford Roundabout (pedestrian access and lighting) £10,000
Newby Rd – Rutters Lane footpath £25,000
TOTAL £160,000

These schemes were selected as priorities for this type of work.

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the legal advertising of the following Traffic Regulation Order asset out in appendix A and subject to no objections being received within 21 days from the advertisement date, the order can be made.

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the statutory legal advertising of the Traffic Regulation Orders detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report and associated works shown on Drawing No. 0307/AD/002 attached to the report, at an approximate cost of £9,900 to be funded from the Road Safety around schools 2018-19 programme budget.

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the proposal of a 20mph speed limit on Ladybridge Park Estate which is within 15 metres of a Strategic Route.

The Cabinet Member of Communities & Housing approved the placement of a pedestrian guardrail on Wellington Road North with the associated cost to be divided as follows:

Area Committee Ward Budget       £1,415

Strategic Network Budget               £1,415