Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

To receive any declarations of interest.

ORDERED that the Sub Committee for Property:

1.    Approve an amendment to the report reflecting that the next round of bidding take place between November and January to allow schemes to be approved for the start of the new financial year.

2.    Receive an update regarding those submissions that had not been successful on this occasion and how they could be progressed going forward.

ORDERED that the Sub Committee for Property:

1. Approve the eligible Members’ Small Scheme project allocations, following applications from Members and assessment by Council Officers.

The Executive Member for Finance submitted a report for the Executive Sub-Committee’s consideration.

The purpose of the report was to consider applications submitted by Members for the small scheme allocation, which allowed each ward to submit one application for grant funding of up to £15,000 to deliver improvements as part of the capital programme. Where project costs exceeded this limit, match funding from relevant service areas was sought.

Eleven applications, covering the wards of Acklam, Ayresome, Berwick Hills and Pallister, Coulby Newham, Hemlington, Kader, Marton East, Marton West, Newport, Nunthorpe, and Trimdon, had been received and subsequently assessed by Council Officers to determine suitability, affordability, and deliverability. Following assessment, two projects were identified as undeliverable, as outlined in Table 2 of Appendix 1. Members noted that it would be useful to have further details on which areas within each ward would be impacted.

The supported schemes primarily focused on highway improvements and environmental enhancements, including traffic calming measures, zebra crossings, footpath connections, park refurbishments, speed signs, litter bins, and CCTV installations. All supported schemes were recommended for approval, and most had confirmed match funding from service areas such as Highways, Middlesbrough priority fund, and Environment.

The review of submitted schemes indicated that a total of £143,400 was requested across all proposals. Of this, £113,400 was requested for supported schemes, representing the majority of submissions, with match funding contributions totalling £99,050, including £89,050 for the proposed approved schemes.

In contrast, schemes that had not been supported had requested a combined total of £30k, with an indicative cost of £40k. These proposals had included ANPR cameras, which were not considered appropriate for Council use, and a pedestrian crossing that was located outside of the Council’s adopted highway. Although some match funding had been identified, these schemes had not been recommended for approval. Members discussed that it would be useful to review the two applications that were not approved and the rationale behind these decisions at a future Executive meeting, as the report appeared contradictory. It stated that ANPR cameras were not appropriate for council use; however, it also indicated that further investigation would be undertaken regarding data protection.

Members discussed the application timeframe and following consultation with the Section 151 Officer, it was suggested that the bidding period for the next financial year should take place between November and the end of January to enable potential schemes to be programmed into the capital programme for the following financial year. It was proposed the report be amended to include this suggestion.

Thanks were expressed to both Members and Officers for their contributions to the process. 

The Mayor proposed that an update be provided to Executive regarding those submissions that had not been successful and how they could be progressed going forward.

The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods arrived at the meeting following the debate and abstained from the vote.

OPTIONS

The Council had the option not to approve the funding however this was not recommended as the proposals had been assessed by Officers for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/16

None.

The decision will come into force after five working days following the day the decision was published unless the decision becomes subject to the call in procedures