Decisions

This report presents nominations for consideration under the Council’s annual Citizen of Honour and Young Citizen of Honour Awards 2018.

The Citizen of Honour Award was introduced in November 1996.  Five years later, the scheme was extended to recognise the efforts of younger residents under the age of 18 through the Young Person of the Year Award.

Over the last 21 years, the award has honoured 90 residents of the Borough, with nominations being received from all areas of Fareham.

This year, the Council has received 12 nominations overall.   There are 8 nominations for the Citizen of Honour Award, 3 nominations for the Young Citizen of the Year Award (12-17 year olds), and 1 nomination for the Young Citizen of the Year Award (4-11 year olds).

In order to encourage resident participation in future years, those who put someone forward for nomination this year, will be invited to do so again next year if their candidate does not win the 2018 award.  The Executive reserves the right to increase the number of candidates who are honoured in future awards, provided a higher number of nominations are received.

RESOLVED that the Executive approves:

(a)  that candidates 4, 5, and 6 are selected from the attached nominations at confidential Appendix A, to be formally recognised as Citizens of Honour 2018;

(b)  that candidate 9 is selected from the attached nominations at confidential Appendix B as Young Citizens of the Year (12-17 year olds);

(c)  that candidate 12 is selected from the attached nominations at confidential Appendix C, as Young Citizens of the Year (4 – 11 year olds); and

(d)  that the persons listed as numbers  4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 in the confidential Appendices A, B and C of the report be selected for the annual Citizen of Honour and Young Citizen of Honour Awards 2018.

This report considers the tenders for Pantomime Entertainment and Related Services received to produce Ferneham Hall’s annual Christmas Pantomime for 2018/19 and 2019/20 with the option to extend by a further 12 months by agreement to produce the 2020/21 pantomime. 

The previous Pantomime and Related Services contract commenced in 2015 and the term of contract was completed with the production of the 2017/18 pantomime ‘Aladdin’.

The Executive is asked to consider the tenders received to produce Ferneham Hall’s pantomime for the next 2 years with the option to extend by an additional year and to award the contract on the basis of most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) – specifically the cost, service and quality elements of their tender submission.

RESOLVED that the Executive awards the contract to the Company ranked first place, as set out in the confidential Appendix A, who submitted the most economically advantageous tender for the provision of pantomime entertainment and related services.

The Purpose of this report is to seek the Executive’s approval of the Definitive Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy (SRMS).  In doing so, this would allow the Council to Implement the Strategy’s new guidance and charging schedule (collected as a developer contribution from planning permissions) from 01 April 2018.

The Solent Coastline contains large numbers of important bird assemblages which have resulted in it being designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Birds Directive and subsequently transposed into the UK Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (the Habitats Regulations).

The Solent SPA bird species are particularly vulnerable to the effects of recreational disturbance arising from new housebuilding in the area.  In order to legally permit new residential development whilst ensuring protection and mitigation of the Solent SPAs, the Solent Recreation Mitigation Partnership (SRMP) was formed, of which Fareham Borough Council (FBC) is a current member.

The SRMP produced an Interim Mitigation Strategy in 2014 to address immediate pressures from development, however this Interim Strategy has now been updated by a more comprehensive Definitive Mitigation Strategy.  This Definite Strategy was endorsed by the PUSH Joint Committee on 05 December 2017 as a mechanism to mitigate the impact on SPA species that is likely to result from recreational disturbance arising from planned new house building in the vicinity of the coast to 2034.  The Strategy proposes a series of management measures which actively encourage all coastal visitors to enjoy their visits in a responsible manner rather than restricting access to the coast or preventing activities that take place.

The implementation of the Strategy and the monitoring of its effectiveness would be funded by a sliding scale of developer contributions which have been calculated according to the bedroom numbers of a property.  On average, this would be the equivalent of £564 per new dwelling, an increase from £181 per new dwelling under the interim Strategy.  This contribution would be required for all new homes built within 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometres) of the SPAs which in practice covers the entire Borough.

Payment of the Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy contribution provides a cost-effective partnership approach to providing the necessary mitigation to protect the SPAs in line with the advice of Natural England, the Government’s statutory advisor on nature conservation.  If applicants decide not to make the SRMS contribution, they will need to undertake their own Habitat Regulations Assessment to assess and mitigate the impact that their development may have on an SPA, as required by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (the Habitats Regulations).

RESOLVED that the Executive approves the implementation of the Definitive Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy and the associated charging regime from 01 April 2018.

To agree a five-year improvement programme for the Council’s play areas in the Borough.

The Council has 43 play areas located across the Borough that are provided for children and young people up to the age of 15.

In March 2015, the Executive approved an initial three-year play area priority improvement programme, funded by section 106 developer contributions collected by the Council for the provision of play and recreational facilities.

The programme identified those play areas with the greatest need for improvement following a strategic review.  During 2015 to 2018, 11 of the Council’s play areas have undergone refurbishment.

In order to continue maintaining the current standard of play provision in the Borough, it is estimated that a minimum of four play areas will need refurbishment every year.   Attached as Appendix A to this report is a new five-year improvement programme that illustrates the proposed phasing of play area refurbishments across the Borough.

The draft version of the programme was presented to the Leisure and Community Policy Development and Review Panel in January 2018 and members endorsed the programme.

RESOLVED that the Executive approves:

(a)  the five-year play area improvement programme as detailed in Appendix A to the report; and

(b)  a budget allocation of up to £500,000 from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contributions to fund the improvement programme.

This report proposes the approval of the write off of certain debts.

Appendix A to the report lists the debts that are considered irrecoverable. Every effort has been made to recover the debts and there is no further legal action that can be taken, where it is applicable.

Glossary of Terms Used:

Bankruptcy/Winding Up

Once a person has been declared Bankrupt or a Company is in liquidation/administration or a Debt Relief Order (DRO) has been made, legislation prevents the Council from taking any further action to recover the debt.   Any debt due to the Council is non-preferential and therefore the likelihood of receiving a dividend is very low.  No dividends are payable on a DRO.

Ceased Trading or Ltd Company Dissolved

This is where a company is no longer trading but the assets of the company (or the individual) are insufficient to justify the cost of placing the company in to liquidation.  A company which has ceased trading may be dissolved.

No Trace

Every effort has been made to trace the debtor, including the use of tracing agents where it is effective to do so.

Statute Barred

Limitation periods are imposed by statute, primarily the Limitation Act 1980.  There are different limitation periods for different types of cause of action.  For example, the limitation period may be six years from the last date of contact for certain debts.

Uneconomic to pursue / Aged debt

Due to the age of the debt, prospects of recovery are unlikely and would potentially incur the Council with additional costs.

Deceased

The debtor has died and there are insufficient funds in the Estate to clear the debt.

Local Authority error

The debt has arisen from a LA error and it would not be reasonable to take action to recover.

No assets

The debt in this case relates to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation without assets to enable recovery action to be taken.

RESOLVED that the Executive agrees that the debts listed in Appendix A to the report be written off as irrecoverable.