Agenda item

Councillor D P Holley, Leader and Chairman of the Cabinet presented the Report of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 13^th October and 3^rd, 10^th and 24^th November 2005.

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In connection with Item No. 61, the Executive Councillor for Finance announced that the Council’s Revenue Support Grant was likely to increase to £10.9m in 2006/07, an increase of 1.4m or 14.7% in comparison with the current year.  He added that the figures would be incorporated, together with other adjustments, in the budget and Medium Term Plan to be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Panels, Cabinet and Council early in the new year. The Council were commended to read the Annex to Appendix A to the report to understand the approach that would be taken towards the review of the MTP.

On the same subject and in response to a question from Councillor P J Downes regarding the predicted level of Government grant support in 2007/8, the Executive Councillor anticipated that the District Council would receive approximately £11.6m in that financial year.

Whereupon, on being put to the vote, the recommendation contained in Item No. 61 was declared to be CARRIED.

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Upon being put to the vote, the recommendation contained in Item No. 62 was declared to be CARRIED.

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In connection with Item No. 63, the Council agreed to defer consideration of the recommendations contained therein to the penultimate item of business at the meeting.

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In connection with Item No. 76 and for the purposes of clarification, the Executive Councillor for Environment and Transport, Councillor Mrs P J Longford, reported that the Director of Operational Services had been authorised to appoint persons to issue Fixed Penalty Notices under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 after consultation with the relevant Executive Councillor.

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In connection with Item No. 79 and in response to a question from Councillor P J Downes, the Leader confirmed that no response had yet been received to the representations made by the Chief Executive to the Home Secretary for the retention of an existing single police force option in Cambridgeshire but that, in his view, Cambridgeshire Constabulary was unlikely to be retained as a single force.

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In connection with Item No. 82 and in response to a question by Councillor Mrs S A Menczer regarding the implications for the District of the Government’s decision to introduce a free concessionary bus fare scheme for those over 60 years of age from April 2006, the Executive Councillor for Planning Strategy, Councillor N J Guyatt, explained that some recipients would be worse off then previously given that concessionary travel would only be permitted within the boundaries of a District after 9.30 am and that insufficient Government funding had been allocated to maintain the scheme permanently across the county without the need for additional funding which would be considered via a new MTP bid.

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In connection with Item No. 86 and in response to a question from Councillor P J Downes, the Leader replied that it was his expectation that the cost of making permanent two temporary posts in the licensing section of the Central Services Directorate was likely to be met by the additional income that would be received from implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005.

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Whereupon, it was

RESOLVED

  that, with the exception of Item No. 63 and subject to the foregoing paragraphs, the Report of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 13^th October and 3^rd, 10^th and 24^th November 2005 be received and adopted.