Issue - meetings

     (Copy herewith)

2.1       Cabinet agreed that the Borough Council would not commit to any agreement to complete this project until due diligence had been completed to the satisfaction of both the Borough Secretary and Monitoring Officer and the Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer and in addition, the Shadow West Northamptonshire Council had given its written consent to the project and its expenditure. 

2.2       Cabinet noted the contents of Appendix A and Appendix B (attached to this report) and, affirming the decisions that it made on 17 February 2021:

a)         Approved, ‘in principle’, the redevelopment of the Avenue Campus site (within the Housing Revenue Account) to provide up to 170 affordable homes, subject to satisfactory due diligence and planning approval of the reserved matters application for 112 homes;

b)         Delegated to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, the Borough Secretary, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and the Cabinet Member for Finance, the authority to approve the new affordable housing scheme, subject to planning approval and due diligence and following the outcome of the Council’s application for funding from Homes England;

c)         Delegated to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing, the authority to determine the rent levels and services charges for the new affordable homes; and

d)         Delegated to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and Northampton Partnership Homes, the authority to develop and approve a Local Lettings Policy that determines how the homes are allocated; and

e)         Noted that, if this development and approval of this affordable housing scheme cannot be concluded by 1 April 2021, this work will need to be concluded by the new West Northamptonshire Council through its governance processes and relevant Officers.

Councillor Hibbert as the relevant Cabinet Member advised that the decision had been made by Cabinet on 17^th February 2021.  However, the financial paper and plan, although seen by Cabinet, had not been attached to the agenda.  In the interests of good governance, the decision was to be reaffirmed.

During the private discussion, the Deputy Monitoring Officer proposed an amendment to the recommendations (shown at 2.1 below) to ensure that due diligence was followed and the written consent of the shadow authority was obtained before proceeding with the project. 

RESOLVED:

2.1       Cabinet agreed that the Borough  Council would not commit to any agreement to complete this project until due diligence had been completed to the satisfaction of both the Borough Secretary and Monitoring Officer and the Head of Finance and Section 151 Officer and in addition, the Shadow West Northamptonshire Council had given its written consent to the project and its expenditure. 

2.2       Cabinet noted the contents of Appendix A and Appendix B (attached to this report) and, affirming the decisions that it made on 17 February 2021:

a)         Approved, ‘in principle’, the redevelopment of the Avenue Campus site (within the Housing Revenue Account) to provide up to 170 affordable homes, subject to satisfactory due diligence and planning approval of the reserved matters application for 112 homes;

b)         Delegated to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer, the Borough Secretary, the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and the Cabinet Member for Finance, the authority to approve the new affordable housing scheme, subject to planning approval and due diligence and following the outcome of the Council’s application for funding from Homes England;

c)         Delegated to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Chief Finance Officer and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing, the authority to determine the rent levels and services charges for the new affordable homes; and

d)         Delegated to the Director of Housing and Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and Northampton Partnership Homes, the authority to develop and approve a Local Lettings Policy that determines how the homes are allocated; and

e)         Noted that, if this development and approval of this affordable housing scheme cannot be concluded by 1 April 2021, this work will need to be concluded by the new West Northamptonshire Council through its governance processes and relevant Officers.