Agenda and decisions

There were no apologies for absence.

NOTED

The Chair will only consider any additional late information relating to item 4 below under the provisions of special urgency.

There were no items of urgent business other than consideration of Item 4 below.

NOTED

A Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A Member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 8.1-15.2 of Section Two of Part 5 of the Constitution  and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interests.

NOTED

This report of the Mayor and Group Director Finance and Corporate Resources / Section 151 officer sets out an initial forecast of the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It goes onto set out some of the decisions that have had to be taken in response to this emergency and sets out how future decisions relating to this emergency will be made and reported to ensure democratic accountability. 

This report also requests that it be agreed that any further urgent decisions required during this specific period will be reported in summary at the next ordinary meeting of Cabinet, in accordance with the governance and legislative framework of the Local Authority.

RESOLVED

i.  That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and the Group Director of Finance and Corporate Resources to allocate COVID-19 Grant Funding to the Council service areas as required in consultation with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor (Finance).

ii.  that the extension of the Council’s current Discretionary Council Tax Hardship scheme in response to the COVID epidemic as detailed in section 7 of the report be noted;

ii.  that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive and Group Director of Finance and Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor (Finance) and Cabinet Member for Community Safety, policy, and the voluntary sector,  to repurpose unallocated Community Grant funding and to make awards to support local Voluntary and Community Sector organisations in their response to COVID-19 and to support the work of Mutual Aid groups through partnerships with local VCS, as detailed in section 8 of the report;

iv.  that the potential financial implications of Covid-19 as set out in Section 11 of the report be noted ; and

v.  that it be agreed that any further urgent decisions required during this specific period will be reported in summary at the next ordinary meeting of Cabinet in accordance with the governance and legislative framework of the Local Authority.