Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan, WN1 1YN. View directions

Contact: Nick Higham 

Items
No. Item

39.

Apologies for absence:

Members are requested to advise the Democratic Services Officer of any apologies for this meeting.

Minutes:

There were none.

40.

Minutes: pdf icon PDF 139 KB

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024 are attached.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Executive Leader.

41.

Councillor Service Group (CSG) Minutes pdf icon PDF 103 KB

The minutes of the Councillor Services Group (CSG) meeting held on 18 September 2024 are attached.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Councillor Services Group, held on 18 September 2024, were circulated prior to the meeting.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Communities and Neighbourhoods, Councillor Chris Ready, requested the minutes be approved.

 

The areas discussed at the meeting included:-

 

·           General IT Issues

·           Cloudflare

·           Windows 11

·           ME Learning

·           Seminars: Feedback from Previous Seminar(s)

·           Future Seminars: Arrangements/Topics/Updates

·           Future Training / Briefings

 

Resolved: The Cabinet approves the minutes of the Councillor Services Group held on 18 September 2024.

42.

Council Motions Requiring Action pdf icon PDF 177 KB

Report of the Assistant Director – Legal, Governance and Elections is attached.

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered a report of the Assistant Director – Legal, Governance and Elections (Monitoring Officer), Janet Davies, presented by the Assistant Director, which detailed a motion that had been submitted to Council at its meeting on 25 September 2024 and then referred to Cabinet without debate, in accordance with the Constitution Rule of Procedure 9.8:-

 

·           Proposed by: Councillor D Anderton

Date: 4 September 2024

 

“Part III of the Housing Act 2004 gives councils the power to implement selective licencing schemes within a defined geographical area. Therefore, we ask this council to adopt selective licensing of privately rented homes in areas that meet one or more of the conditions laid down in the Housing Act 2004.”

 

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was not required in this instance. A Relevance Check was attached.

 

The alternative option to not determine a recommended resolution for the delegated actions was not considered, as this would not be in line with the Council’s Constitution.

 

Resolved:- The Cabinet requests that a report for the motion from the relevant allocated officer, containing information in relation to the subject matter of the motion, be presented to Cabinet at one of its future meetings, before then being presented at a future meeting of the Council.

43.

Discretionary Housing Payment Policy pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Report of the Director – Customer is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director – Customer, Sonia Halliwell, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Resources, Transformation and Finance Councillor Nazia Rehman, and the Assistant Director – Customer, Jo Mitchell which requested approval for the continued application of Discretionary Housing Payments in accordance with the Discretionary Housing Payment Policy.

 

The policy was written in accordance with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guidance regarding the administration of the fund, and the requirements contained within the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001. The objective of the policy was to ensure a consistent and fair decision-making process, which supported the prevention of homelessness, and was applied throughout the application and administration process.

 

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was attached.

 

The alternative options to make changes to the current approach were not considered, as the Discretionary Housing payments application processes were already embedded into Wigan practices and supported some of the borough’s most vulnerable residents, and the expenditure was also externally funded by the DWP.

 

Resolved: The Cabinet approves the continued application of Discretionary Housing Payments in accordance with the Discretionary Housing Payment Policy.

44.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund – Possible Extension pdf icon PDF 193 KB

Report of the Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration is attached.

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet considered a report of the Assistant Director – Planning and Regeneration, David Proctor, presented by the Director Place, Aidan Thatcher, which provided an update on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the Council’s achievements to date and requested that Government to provide additional funding for a further 12 months.

 

A motion was submitted to Council (and referred to Cabinet without debate) by the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care (Deputy Leader) on 24 July 2024 (minute 21 refers), requesting that:-

 

“This Council asks the new Government to announce, before September 2024, a one-year extension to UKSPF until March 2026 which would bring it into line with other Towns funding, and allow sufficient certainty for local authorities and their partners to begin planning activity beyond March 2025.”

 

An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) was not necessary in this instance, as the report did not affect any particular groups of people. A Relevance Check was attached.

 

There were no alternative options to be considered, as the extension would allow the Council to begin planning activity with services and partners beyond March 2025.

 

Resolved: The Cabinet:-

 

(1) notes the progress on all projects funded through UK Shared Prosperity Fund;

(2) requests that the Council write to the Government to request additional funding be provided for 2025/26; and

(3) requests that the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care (Deputy Leader) report back to a future meeting of the Council, in relation to the outcome of the deferred motion.

 

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