Agenda, decisions and minutes

To invite Councillors to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or personal interests they may have in any matter which is to be considered at this meeting, to confirm the nature of those interests and whether they intend to leave the meeting for the consideration of the item.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions from members of the public who wish to ask a general question in respect of matters within the Council’s area of responsibility or influence.

Subject to the Chair’s discretion, members of the public may ask one question and one supplementary question, which should relate to the original  ...  view the full agenda text for item 116.

(1)    Councillor Ball asked a question in relation to referrals from the Fire Service to Rotherham Council Social Services. He noted that there were 45 referrals in Rotherham but that Sheffield had over 700 and this had been the case for the last 3 years. There had been some training  ...  view the full minutes text for item 116.

To receive the record of proceedings of the Cabinet meeting held on 14 February 2022.

Resolved:-

That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Cabinet held on 14th February, 2022, be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Agenda Items 8, 10 and 11 have exempt appendices. Therefore, if necessary when considering those items, the Chair will move the following resolution:-

That under Section 100(A) 4 of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds  ...  view the full agenda text for item 118.

The Chair advised that appendices to Minute Nos. 121, 123 and 124 were exempt by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. However, none of the appendices were discussed during the meeting and as such, the meeting remained open to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118.

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

1. To agree to the delivery of free public Wi-Fi provision to the new town centre library and markets development.

2. To explore the potential for providing free public Wi-Fi within other areas of Rotherham town centre, utilising existing Council buildings  ...  view the full agenda text for item 119.

Consideration was given to the report which provided an update on the potential options to provide free public Wi-Fi within parts of Rotherham Town Centre. In May 2018 it had been agreed by Cabinet that public access Wi-Fi be delivered across Rotherham town centre through a concessionary contract. A contract  ...  view the full minutes text for item 119.

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approve the proposed approach to providing the £150 Council Tax rebate payment to liable Council Tax payers in bands A-D.

2.    Approve the Councils proposed discretionary scheme as set out within section 2.17 of this report.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 120.

Consideration was given to the report which outlined how the Council intended to administer the Energy Bills Rebate scheme that had been announced in February 2022. The purpose of the scheme was to help households with rising energy bills. The guidance for the Council Tax Rebate and Discretionary Fund had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

1.    That the application for Hardship Relief be refused.

The Council had received an application for Business Rates Hardship Relief that did not meet the Council’s qualifying criteria. In line with the Council’s Business Rates Discretionary Relief Policy, having regard to the financial cost of the proposed relief, it was recommended that Hardship Relief be refused.

The details of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet approve the applications for Discretionary Business Rate Relief for Treeton Community Centre and The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints Rotherham in accordance with the details set out in Section 6 to  ...  view the full agenda text for item 122.

Consideration was given to the report which set out the applications for the award of Discretionary Business Rate Relief for Treeton Community Centre and The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints Rotherham. This was in accordance with the Council’s Discretionary Business Rates Relief Policy which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet notes the positive progress towards delivery of the Forge Island scheme and, to allow successful negotiation of commercial terms for construction of the development to start, it reaffirms the agreement of December 2018 to authorise the Strategic  ...  view the full agenda text for item 123.

Consideration was given to the report which provided an update on the positive progress towards delivery of the Forge Island Scheme which was a key regeneration priority. If approved, the recommendations would allow for a successful negotiation of commercial terms for the construction of the development to start.

The Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 123.

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet authorise the acquisition of the Freehold and Leasehold interests in the land and properties shown edged red for identification purposes only on the plans at Appendix 1.

2.    That the Assistant Director for Planning, Regeneration and Transport  ...  view the full agenda text for item 124.

Consideration was given to the report which outlined the necessary approvals to enable the negotiation and subsequent acquisition by private treaty agreement of all third-party land and property rights to deliver the Regeneration Programme. The Council had secured over £70m from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 124.

Report from the Strategic Director of Finance and Customer Services.

Recommendations:

1.      Approve the Council’s proposed use of the Covid Recovery Fund for the following purposes:

·       £500k Cash grant scheme to provide support for households with the rising cost of energy bills.

·       £300k additional funding to top up the Councils  ...  view the full agenda text for item 125.

Consideration was given to the report which explained that the Council’s Financial Outturn Report 2020/21 to Cabinet in July 2021 earmarked £2m for a Covid Recovery Fund. The Fund had been created to take proactive steps in order to support local residents as they emerged from the pandemic. The funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 125.

Report from the Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

1.    That the annual report is received noting the increased social value commitments along with outcomes achieved.

2.    That the key priorities for 2022 include:

a.    Launch of the Social Value Commissioning Toolkit to be held in May.

b.    Further embedding Social Value across  ...  view the full agenda text for item 126.

Consideration was given to the report which set out the key achievements over the year to the end of November 2021 in relation to social value. The Council had adopted the Social Value Policy in 2019 and had made significant progress to secure social value commitments as part of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 126.

Report from the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

1. That the following recommendations from the review be received:

a)    That the excellent work of Rotherham Community Hub be commended, especially in respect of the befriending service which helped relieve loneliness and isolation throughout the pandemic.

b)    That Members be encouraged to add  ...  view the full agenda text for item 127.

Consideration was given to the report which summarised the findings and recommendations from the Health Select Commission spotlight review held on 13th September, 2021. The review focused on the befriending service and support for loneliness provided by the Rotherham Community Hub during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To fulfil a statutory requirement,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 127.

Report from the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

1. That the following recommendations from the review be received:

a)    That action plans and performance matrix be supplied as part of the next update in 6 months’ time.

b)    That a plan be developed to address the current data gap in respect of  ...  view the full agenda text for item 128.

Consideration was given to the report which summarised the findings and recommendations from the 22nd October, 2021, spotlight review in respect of support for young carers. These recommendations were agreed by the Health Select Commission on 25th November, 2021, and by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on 19th January,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 128.

Report from the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

1.  That the following recommendations from the review be received:

a)    That the ambition of the service in submitting bids be commended.

b)    That the feedback from the government regarding the Dinnington and Wath bids for Levelling Up Funds be circulated when available.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 129.

Consideration was given to the report which summarised the findings and recommendations from the Improving Places Select Commission spotlight review held on 12th November, 2021. The review examined external funding sources to fund regeneration and transformation projects around the Borough. Several bids have been successful, whilst others had been unsuccessful.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.

To receive a report detailing the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board in respect of the above items that were subject to pre-decision scrutiny on 23 March 2022.

Consideration was given to the circulated report, the contents of which were included as part of the relevant items and the details included accordingly.

The next meeting of the Cabinet will be held on Monday 25 April 2022 commencing at 10.00am in Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved:-

That the next meeting of the Cabinet be held on Monday, 25th April, 2022, commencing at 10.00 a.m. in Rotherham Town Hall.