a) Motion from Councillor R Ioannides
Opposition to Further Asylum Accommodation and Sanctuary Status in Huntingdonshire
This Council notes that:
1. Immigration, border control, asylum determination, immigration enforcement and the removal of persons who have no lawful right to remain in the United Kingdom are responsibilities of the UK Government.
2. The provision and commissioning of accommodation for persons supported through the asylum system is principally a Home Office responsibility and is delivered through nationally commissioned arrangements and accommodation providers.
3. Huntingdonshire District Council does not determine asylum claims and does not possess a general legal power to prohibit the Home Office from accommodating individuals within the district.
4. Nevertheless, the location and concentration of asylum accommodation can have consequences for local housing supply, community cohesion, policing, healthcare, environmental health, housing enforcement and other public services affecting Huntingdonshire residents.
5. Huntingdonshire District Council currently publishes wording stating that it welcomes asylum seekers, refugees and detainees and describes Council officers as providing a link between HDC, Serco and community organisations.
6. Compliance with statutory duties imposed upon the Council is separate from political endorsement of the Government's asylum accommodation or dispersal policies.
This Council Believes:
1. Huntingdonshire should not become, seek recognition as, describe itself as, or adopt the policies or commitments of a Council, District, Borough or Local Authority of Sanctuary.
2. There should be no further expansion of Home Office asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire.
3. Huntingdonshire has already contributed to national asylum accommodation arrangements and should not be expected to accept additional capacity.
4. The availability of accommodation within Huntingdonshire should not, of itself, be treated by the Home Office or its contractors as justification for further procurement or placements within the district.
5. The Government should take proper account of existing housing pressures, infrastructure capacity, availability of public services and the cumulative effect of asylum accommodation when determining where accommodation should be located.
6. Where the Council possesses a lawful discretion, it should exercise that discretion in favour of protecting the interests, resources and services of Huntingdonshire residents and not voluntarily facilitating the expansion of asylum accommodation within the district.
7. Persons whose asylum claims remain legally unresolved must be distinguished from persons who have exhausted all relevant appeal rights and have been finally determined to have no lawful basis to remain in the United Kingdom.
8. Where a person has been finally determined to have no lawful right to remain in the United Kingdom, the Government should secure their prompt removal rather than allowing prolonged residence at public expense.
9. The Council's compliance with statutory duties towards any person should not be represented as political support for further asylum dispersal or accommodation within Huntingdonshire.
This Council therefore resolves to:
1. No Sanctuary Status
That Huntingdonshire District Council:
a) shall not seek, endorse or support designation, accreditation or recognition as a Council of Sanctuary, District of Sanctuary or equivalent;
b) shall not adopt any Sanctuary charter, pledge or commitment which creates a political commitment to encourage or facilitate additional asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire; and
c) formally rejects the principle that Huntingdonshire should be designated or promoted as a sanctuary destination for additional asylum accommodation.
2. Zero Further Expansion
This Council formally opposes any further expansion of Home Office asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire.
The Council's position is that there should be:
· no additional asylum hotels;
· no additional large or medium asylum accommodation sites;
· no net increase in dispersed asylum accommodation;
· no procurement of additional houses, flats, HMOs or other residential premises for the purpose of increasing asylum accommodation capacity;
· no conversion of further commercial, institutional or other premises into asylum accommodation; and
· no replacement of accommodation which leaves the Home Office asylum estate with new accommodation elsewhere within Huntingdonshire.
3. Immediate Moratorium
This Council calls upon the Home Secretary, the Home Office and its contracted accommodation providers to impose an immediate moratorium on the procurement and establishment of any additional asylum accommodation capacity within Huntingdonshire.
This moratorium should apply to hotels, houses, flats, HMOs, hostels, former commercial buildings, large sites, institutional premises and any other form of accommodation principally procured for the Home Office asylum estate.
4. No New Placements Requiring Additional Capacity
This Council calls upon the Home Office to ensure that no additional asylum placements are made within Huntingdonshire where doing so would require the procurement, commissioning or expansion of additional asylum accommodation capacity within the district.
5. No Renewal or Replacement of Existing Accommodation
This Council calls upon the Home Office and its contractors not to renew, extend or replace existing asylum accommodation contracts within Huntingdonshire as those contracts or arrangements expire.
Where an asylum accommodation property or facility leaves the Home Office estate, this Council's position is that it should not be replaced by another property or facility elsewhere within Huntingdonshire.
6. Progressive Withdrawal
This Council calls for the existing Home Office asylum accommodation estate within Huntingdonshire to be progressively reduced, with the objective of ending the use of Home Office asylum accommodation within the district.
The Executive Leader shall write to the Home Secretary requesting a timetable for progressively reducing existing asylum accommodation capacity within Huntingdonshire.
7. No Voluntary Council Facilitation
Where Huntingdonshire District Council has a lawful discretion, the Council will not voluntarily:
· Offer or nominate Council-controlled land or property for asylum accommodation;
· lease or make Council-controlled property available principally for asylum accommodation;
· identify Council assets for that purpose;
· enter into new discretionary agreements principally intended to establish or expand asylum accommodation;
· actively promote Huntingdonshire to accommodation providers as a location for further asylum accommodation; or
· voluntarily participate in schemes whose principal purpose is to increase Home Office asylum accommodation capacity within the district.
Nothing within this resolution requires the Council to refuse to comply with an obligation imposed upon it by law.
8. Formal Opposition to New Home Office or Contractor Proposals
Where the Home Office, Serco or any successor accommodation provider informs or consults the Council regarding proposed additional asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire:
the political position of Huntingdonshire District Council shall be one of formal opposition to further expansion.
The Executive Leader or relevant Executive Councillor shall make the strongest lawful representations available against such expansion, including representations concerning:
· existing asylum accommodation within the district;
· local housing need;
· availability of private rented accommodation;
· homelessness pressures;
· healthcare capacity;
· policing and community safety;
· infrastructure;
· environmental health;
· community cohesion;
· cumulative impact; and
· additional financial pressure upon local public services.
For the avoidance of doubt, this political position shall not predetermine any individual planning, licensing, housing enforcement or other regulatory decision which legislation requires to be determined independently and on its individual merits.
9. Removal of the Council's Existing “Welcome” Policy Wording
This Council rejects the use of corporate Council communications to express political support for further asylum dispersal into Huntingdonshire.
The Council therefore requests the removal and replacement of its existing corporate wording stating that:
“We welcome asylum seekers, refugees and detainees…”
insofar as that wording represents an institutional political position concerning asylum seekers.
It shall be replaced by politically neutral factual information which:
· explains the respective responsibilities of the Home Office and Huntingdonshire District Council;
· identifies any statutory services or assistance which individuals are legally entitled to access;
· provides necessary public information;
· distinguishes refugees, persons with unresolved asylum claims and persons with no lawful right to remain; and
· makes clear that compliance with statutory obligations does not amount to Council endorsement of further asylum accommodation or dispersal within Huntingdonshire.
Nothing within this resolution prevents the Council from providing factual information necessary for residents to access services to which they are legally entitled.
10. No Discretionary Funding to Expand Asylum Accommodation Where legally permissible:
no new discretionary expenditure from Huntingdonshire District Council's locally controlled resources shall be approved where its principal purpose is to procure, establish, expand or encourage additional Home Office asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire.
This shall not prevent expenditure:
· required by law;
· necessary to discharge an existing statutory duty;
· required to protect children or vulnerable persons where the Council has a legal responsibility;
· necessary for regulatory or enforcement functions;
· necessary to protect the Council's financial interests; or
· recoverable from the Home Office or another public authority where accepting that funding protects Huntingdonshire taxpayers from costs which would otherwise fall upon the district.
11. Full Enforcement of Planning, Housing and Licensing Requirements
The Council shall continue to apply all lawful planning, environmental health, housing standards, HMO licensing, fire safety referral, waste, nuisance and enforcement requirements to properties used for asylum accommodation.
There shall be no relaxation of regulatory standards because accommodation is being procured or funded by the Home Office or one of its contractors.
Individual regulatory decisions shall continue to be taken lawfully and on their merits.
12. Prior Consultation
This Council calls upon the Home Office and its contractors not to procure or commission further asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire without advance notification to Huntingdonshire District Council and meaningful engagement with the communities directly affected.
Where additional accommodation is proposed, the Council shall request disclosure, so far as lawfully possible, of:
· the proposed location;
· accommodation type;
· maximum capacity;
· proposed duration;
· intended cohort;
· security arrangements;
· safeguarding arrangements;
· property management arrangements;
· anticipated pressure upon public services;
· additional funding being provided to public authorities; and
· arrangements for dealing with complaints, antisocial behaviour or other community concerns.
13. Transparency and Member Reporting
The Council requests that Members receive regular reports, insofar as the information is lawfully available, identifying:
· the total number of asylum accommodation properties within Huntingdonshire;
· the aggregate accommodation capacity;
· the broad geographical distribution of accommodation;
· properties entering or leaving the Home Office estate;
· new procurement enquiries received from Home Office contractors;
· Home Office funding received by HDC;
· identifiable expenditure incurred by HDC;
· identifiable demands upon Council services; and
· representations made by the Council opposing further expansion.
Commercially confidential and personal information shall not be disclosed where disclosure would be unlawful.
14. Persons With No Lawful Right to Remain
This Council calls upon His Majesty's Government to ensure that persons who have exhausted all applicable appeal rights and have been finally determined to have no lawful basis to remain in the United Kingdom are removed promptly and efficiently in accordance with the law.
The Executive Leader shall write to the Home Secretary requesting: faster determination of outstanding asylum claims;
faster resolution of immigration appeals;
effective enforcement of final immigration decisions; increased removals of persons with no lawful right to remain;
appropriate arrangements with countries of origin for returns; and
an end to prolonged taxpayer-funded accommodation for persons who have no continuing lawful basis to remain in the United Kingdom.
15. Formal Notification of Huntingdonshire's Position
The Executive Leader shall send a copy of this resolution to:
· the Home Secretary;
· the Minister responsible for asylum and immigration;
· the Home Office;
· the Home Office asylum accommodation provider responsible for Huntingdonshire;
· Huntingdonshire's Members of Parliament; and
· Other relevant public authorities involved in asylum accommodation planning within the district.
The correspondence shall expressly state:
“Huntingdonshire District Council does not consent to the further expansion of Home Office asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire. The Council calls for an immediate moratorium on additional asylum accommodation capacity, for existing accommodation not to be renewed or replaced as contracts expire, and for the Home Office asylum accommodation estate within Huntingdonshire to be progressively reduced with the objective of ending its use within the district.”
16. Standing Asylum Accommodation Preparedness and Response Protocol
This Council requests that Cabinet establishes and maintains a standing Asylum Accommodation Preparedness and Response Protocol, capable of immediate activation upon notification or discovery of any proposed new asylum accommodation, expansion of existing asylum accommodation or substantial new placement within Huntingdonshire.
The Protocol should provide for immediate coordination between all relevant Council functions, including:
· planning;
· legal services;
· housing;
· environmental health;
· HMO licensing;
· community safety;
· safeguarding;
· finance;
· communications;
· enforcement; and
· any other relevant regulatory service.
The Protocol should identify in advance the respective responsibilities of officers, escalation procedures, legal advice arrangements, Member notification requirements and the Council's available statutory and non-statutory responses so that HDC is not required to establish its powers and procedures from first principles after a proposal has already substantially progressed.
17. Immediate Planning, Legal and Regulatory Assessment and Evidence File
Upon becoming aware of any significant proposal for new or expanded asylum accommodation within Huntingdonshire, this Council requests that Cabinet ensures that:
a. an immediate planning and legal assessment is undertaken, including consideration of:
· the existing lawful use of the premises;
· the proposed use;
· whether a material change of use would occur;
· whether planning permission is required;
· applicable planning conditions;
· HMO licensing requirements;
· housing standards;
· environmental-health requirements;
· occupancy and amenity considerations;
· any relevant regulatory requirements; and
· all enforcement powers lawfully available to HDC;
b. a contemporaneous evidence file is opened immediately, recording all relevant:
· planning evidence;
· housing impacts;
· service pressures;
· environmental-health matters;
· community-safety evidence;
· safeguarding considerations;
· financial consequences;
· correspondence with the Home Office and accommodation providers;
· representations from other public authorities; and
· evidence relating to the suitability or otherwise of the proposed location.
Where officers reasonably consider that a planning, housing, licensing or other regulatory breach exists or is likely to occur, this Council requests that every appropriate, lawful and proportionate enforcement option is considered without delay, including formal enforcement action and, where supported by specialist legal advice and the evidential and legal tests are satisfied, injunctive relief.
18. Immediate Member Notification and Scrutiny This Council requests that:
a. relevant Ward Councillors and all Group Leaders are notified promptly when the Council receives credible notification of a significant new asylum accommodation proposal or proposed substantial expansion within Huntingdonshire;
b. Members are provided, insofar as legally permissible, with sufficient information to understand the nature, scale, location and likely consequences of the proposal; and
c. any substantial proposal and HDC's response to it is reported to the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Panel at the earliest practicable opportunity.
The purpose of this provision is to ensure democratic oversight begins while proposals are still capable of being influenced rather than after accommodation arrangements have effectively been determined.
19. Current Numbers, Future Projections and Public Transparency
The Executive Leader shall request that the Home Office and its accommodation providers provide
HDC with, and regularly update, insofar as disclosure is lawful:
· the current number of persons accommodated through Home Office asylum accommodation arrangements within Huntingdonshire;
· the number and type of accommodation properties currently in use;
· their aggregate capacity;
· their broad geographical distribution;
· the number of persons accommodated by broad accommodation cohort where that information can lawfully be supplied;
· the projected accommodation requirement for Huntingdonshire over the next 12, 24 and 36 months;
· anticipated increases or reductions in accommodation capacity;
· proposed procurement activity;
· expected future placement requirements; and
· the expected duration of existing accommodation arrangements.
This Council further requests full transparency from Government concerning contracts and commissioning arrangements with asylum accommodation providers insofar as those arrangements affect Huntingdonshire, including relevant information concerning contract duration, accommodation requirements, provider responsibilities and proposed changes to the accommodation estate.
Where information can lawfully be placed in the public domain without compromising personal privacy, commercial confidentiality, security or safeguarding, the Council requests that it is published so that Huntingdonshire residents and elected Members have access to accurate information rather than speculation.
20. Public-Service, Infrastructure, Community-Safety and Safeguarding Impact Assessments
For any proposed substantial asylum accommodation facility or material expansion within Huntingdonshire, this Council requests that the Home Office provides, before accommodation is commissioned wherever reasonably practicable, a clear assessment of the foreseeable short-term and long-term impacts upon:
· housing;
· homelessness services;
· healthcare;
· policing;
· community safety;
· education;
· children's services;
· adult social care;
· public health;
· transport;
· waste and environmental services;
· community infrastructure; and
· other affected local public services.
Where responsibilities fall upon Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, NHS bodies or another public authority rather than HDC, this Council requests that those organisations are given sufficient advance information to undertake their own assessments.
The Council shall also request that appropriate risk and safeguarding assessments are undertaken in relation to any substantial proposed accommodation, having regard to the particular circumstances of the proposed site and surrounding area, including where relevant:
proximity to schools;
· nurseries;
· children's play areas;
· supported accommodation;
· vulnerable-person services;
· healthcare facilities; and
· other locations giving rise to legitimate safeguarding considerations.
Any such assessment must be evidence-led and based upon the actual proposed use, location, occupancy arrangements and identified risks rather than assumptions about individuals.
21. Advance Notification of Future Placements
In addition to the requirements concerning new accommodation sites contained elsewhere within this motion, the Executive Leader shall request that the Home Office and its contractors provide the earliest possible advance notification of material changes in placement numbers within Huntingdonshire, including placements using existing accommodation capacity.
The information requested should include, insofar as it may lawfully be disclosed:
· anticipated numbers;
· broad accommodation cohort;
· proposed timing;
· expected duration;
· locations at an appropriate non-personal level; and
· information reasonably required by local public authorities to undertake service planning, safeguarding and community-safety assessments.
This Council believes local authorities and other public services should not first become aware of material changes in accommodation demand only after placements have occurred.
22. Statutory Local Consent Mechanism
Recognising that Huntingdonshire District Council does not presently possess a general legal veto over Home Office asylum accommodation decisions:
This Council calls upon His Majesty's Government to establish a statutory local-consent mechanism requiring meaningful consultation with the relevant local authority before substantial asylum accommodation is commissioned and providing a formal mechanism through which a local authority may withhold consent where objective evidence demonstrates that a proposed location or level of accommodation is unsuitable or would impose unacceptable cumulative impacts upon the locality.
The Executive Leader shall specifically request that Government considers legislation or national policy providing local authorities with a meaningful ability to reject proposed substantial accommodation before arrangements become operational, rather than merely being consulted after substantive decisions have already been taken.
23. Huntingdonshire Is Not a Willing Partner in Further Expansion
For the avoidance of any doubt concerning the political position established by this motion:
Huntingdonshire District Council does not regard itself as a willing partner in the further expansion of Home Office asylum accommodation within the district.
This Council does not accept that Huntingdonshire communities should simply be expected to absorb the local consequences of national asylum accommodation policy without meaningful local consent, adequate information, proper impact assessment and full Government funding.
Where the Government nevertheless proposes further expansion, this Council requests that Cabinet, the Executive Leader and relevant Executive Members use every lawful power, representation, escalation route, avenue and influence available to Huntingdonshire District Council to oppose and challenge that expansion, consistently with the Legal Safeguard contained within this motion.
24. Multi-Agency Service Planning and Full Government Funding
Where any existing or proposed asylum accommodation generates identifiable additional demand upon local public services, this Council shall call upon the Government to ensure that the full additional financial consequence of its national policy is met by central Government rather than local taxpayers.
Where significant accommodation is proposed, HDC shall request that the Home Office coordinates with relevant public authorities to establish:
· anticipated demand on individual services;
· additional staffing or service requirements;
· the funding available;
· the duration of that funding;
· responsibility for unforeseen additional expenditure; and
· arrangements for reviewing the actual impact following occupation.
This Council believes that neither Huntingdonshire taxpayers nor taxpayers funding other affected local public authorities should be required to subsidise identifiable additional costs arising from decisions taken by central Government.
25. Publication of Government Responses and Accountability
The Executive Leader shall request a substantive written response from the Home Office to the matters raised by this motion.
Subject to lawful redaction for personal information, safeguarding, security and genuine commercial confidentiality, this Council requests that:
· correspondence sent pursuant to this motion;
· substantive Home Office responses;
· information concerning proposed accommodation capacity;
· Government responses concerning future projections;
· relevant impact information; and
· are made available to Members and, where lawfully appropriate, published for residents.
This Council believes that decisions materially affecting Huntingdonshire communities should be made through a transparent and accountable process and that residents and their elected representatives should have access to sufficient information to scrutinise their consequences.
26. Comprehensive Formal Challenge Where a Proposal Is Unsuitable
Where the evidence file, planning assessment, legal assessment, safeguarding assessment, community-safety information or public-service impact assessment demonstrates that a proposed asylum accommodation site is unsuitable:
this Council requests that HDC submits a comprehensive formal objection to the Home Office and accommodation provider and pursues every available lawful escalation route.
The objection should identify the evidence relied upon, the specific local consequences identified and the remedy sought, and should be escalated where appropriate to:
· senior Home Office officials;
· the responsible Government Minister;
· the Home Secretary;
· Huntingdonshire's Members of Parliament; and
· any other public body possessing a relevant decision-making or oversight function.
Where the Council considers further legal action potentially available, specialist legal advice should be obtained promptly so that an opportunity to protect Huntingdonshire's lawful interests is not lost through delay.
Legal Safeguard
For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this motion:
· seeks to determine an individual's immigration or asylum status;
· seeks to prevent any person from exercising a right conferred upon them by law;
· directs an officer or Member to act contrary to a statutory duty;
· requires unlawful discrimination against any person;
· predetermines a planning, licensing, housing, homelessness, regulatory or enforcement decision which must legally be considered on its individual merits; or
· requires Huntingdonshire District Council to obstruct the lawful exercise of a power belonging to the Secretary of State or another public authority.
The purpose of this motion is to establish the strongest lawful political and corporate position available to Huntingdonshire District Council against any further expansion of asylum accommodation within the district, to withdraw voluntary Council support for such expansion, to ensure that every lawful planning, regulatory, enforcement, financial, scrutiny and representational mechanism available to the Council is prepared and used where appropriate, and to advocate for the progressive reduction of the existing Home Office asylum accommodation estate in Huntingdonshire.
b) Motion from Councillor K Maheshwari
Local Planning Powers to Protect High Street Diversity
This Council notes that:
1. Huntingdonshire’s town centres are strongest when they contain a healthy and varied mix of shops, services and other businesses.
2. Use Class E allows a wide range of commercial, business and service activities to change from one use to another without requiring planning permission.
3. This flexibility has benefits, but it can also mean that councils have limited ability to respond where one particular type of activity becomes over-concentrated in a part of a town centre.
4. The Government has announced proposals under which vape shops and adult gaming centres would require planning permission, with consultation and legislation to follow. However, similar local concerns can arise from concentrations of other Class E activities, such as barbers, nail bars, beauty businesses, mobile-phone sales and repair shops, or other uses depending on the circumstances of a particular town centre.
This Council believes that:
1. No lawful business should be treated as undesirable simply because of the type of business it is. Barbers, nail bars, mobile-phone shops and other Class E businesses can all make a positive contribution to our high streets.
2. The planning concern arises where robust local evidence shows that an over-concentration of a particular activity is materially harming the diversity, vitality or viability of a defined part of a town centre.
3. In those circumstances, locally elected councils should have a targeted and proportionate ability to require planning permission for future movement into that activity, rather than having to wait for Government to identify individual business types nationally one at a time.
4. Any such power should be evidence-based, geographically limited and subject to proper planning safeguards. Requiring planning permission should not amount to an automatic refusal; individual applications should continue to be determined on their planning merits.
This Council therefore resolves to:
1. Write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government asking the Government to consider creating a targeted statutory mechanism enabling local planning authorities, where supported by robust planning evidence, to require planning permission for future movement into a specified Class E activity within a defined town-centre area where an over-concentration of that activity is materially harming, or is likely materially to harm, the diversity, vitality or viability of that area.
2. Ask that any such mechanism preserves the general flexibility of Class E, includes appropriate safeguards and appeal rights, and allows decisions to be taken locally on the basis of evidence rather than blanket bans or numerical quotas.
3. Send the motion to Huntingdonshire’s Members of Parliament and the Local Government Association seeking their support.
3) Motion from Councillor S Lancaster
Small Modular Reactors and Economic Growth
This Council notes that:
This Council recognises that secure, reliable and competitively priced energy is essential to future economic growth. Advanced manufacturing, life sciences, artificial intelligence, data processing and other high-value industries depend upon dependable electricity supplies.
Small Modular Reactors have the potential to contribute to Britain’s future energy needs while creating skilled employment, apprenticeships, inward investment and supply-chain opportunities for UK businesses.
Supporting Huntingdonshire businesses and residents to access these opportunities would be consistent with the Council’s Corporate Plan commitments to forward-thinking economic growth, high-value investment, skills development and partnership working.
This Council therefore resolves to:
For the avoidance of doubt, this motion does not propose or endorse any particular location in Huntingdonshire for a nuclear installation. Any future site-specific proposal must be considered separately through the appropriate planning, environmental, regulatory and public-consultation processes.
d) Motion submitted by Councillor A Bulat
Simpler, smarter parking in Huntingdonshire
The Council notes that:
1. Accessibility and convenience are two main factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with council car parks. Residents increasingly expect council services to adapt to modern technology, especially when it can simplify access to services and improve their experience using them.
2. Across the UK, drivers have varying experiences parking in different towns and districts, with a wide range of payment systems and parking apps required in different locations.
3. The National Parking Platform (NPP) allows participating councils to offer drivers a choice of approved parking applications. This means drivers can use an app they know and trust, rather than having to download different apps for every council area.
4. The NPP complements cash, card and pay-and-display facilities rather than replacing them.
5. That the NPP is already being used by a growing number of local authorities, including neighbouring authority Peterborough City Council.
6. The NPP also supports councils to improve parking information and availability data, which can increase efficiencies in how parking is managed. The NPP can be integrated alongside any local parking strategy.
The Council believes that:
1. Residents should not have to download multiple parking applications when crossing district boundaries, such as between Huntingdonshire and Peterborough.
2. Huntingdonshire District Council should make better use of technology, including the NPP, to improve customer experience with its car parks.
3. The NPP will improve the parking experience of Huntingdonshire residents as well as visitors.
4. The council should consider parking technology alongside wider investment in its car parks, going beyond simplifying payments.
The Council therefore resolves to:
1. Ask cabinet to consider Huntingdonshire District Council joining the NPP before the next budget cycle.
2. Ask cabinet to consider, part of the next business planning cycle, investment in modern parking technology and scope the feasibility of:
· Improved digital payment
· Provision of information on live parking availability
· Accessibility of parking information to visitors to minimise impact on residential areas
· Integrating information about parking with the wider transport network, such as bus connections, working with the CPCA.
e) Motion submitted by Councillor L Davenport-Ray
Planning for Huntingdonshire’s Future
The Council notes that:
1. The availability of truly affordable housing is a vital issue in Huntingdonshire, with a growing gap between average earnings and housing costs. 1
2. That house developers have secured planning permission for over 1.4 million homes across the UK that have not yet been built. 2
3. The need to deliver the right homes, at the right price, in the right location to address this crisis.
This Council notes that the Labour Government:
1. Revised the ‘standard method’ for calculating house building targets creating a 35% increase for Huntingdonshire. 3
2. Continues to support the revised ‘standard method,’ despite resounding criticism from the Planning Officers Society, creating a housebuilding target “unrelated to an area’s housing need” that does “not reflect a location’s ability to grow and provide supporting infrastructure.” 4
3. Has not revised the definition of “affordable homes” (at least 20% below market value) to reflect true affordability for local people. 5
4. Has not adopted a national target for building social or affordable homes.
5. Has made no change to financial viability assessments, which often result in affordable home schemes being scrapped or reduced.
6. Imposed a new national scheme of planning delegation 6 that:
· Cuts the number of members on our council’s Development Management Committee,
· Delegates contentious decisions on planning matters to council officers and the Chair of the Development Management Committee,
· Eliminates the ability of ward councillors to “call-in” planning applications to be heard by the Development Management Committee, and
· Significantly reduces our council’s ability to engage with town and parish councils on planning decisions.
This Council believes:
1. The combined effect of changes introduced by the Labour Government will:
· Fail to deliver the affordable homes needed in rural communities,
· Cut the power of councils and councillors to act on behalf of their communities on planning issues, and
· Further erode public trust in the planning system.
This Council resolves to:
1. Mandate the Chief Executive to write to the Prime Minister, relevant Secretaries of State, and local Members of Parliament to advocate for an urgent:
· Reversal of national planning scheme of delegation changes that cut the influence of local councillors on planning decisions,
· Review of the ‘standard method’ of calculating house-building targets,
· Review of financial viability assessments and their use in deciding planning applications,
· Revision of the ‘affordable housing’ definition to reflect earnings rather than market rates,
· Adoption of a national target for building social and affordable homes, and
· Instruction to housing developers to build-out homes that have planning permission.
2. Mandate the Chief Executive to copy the letter at section 4, to encourage wider knowledge and coordinated advocacy, to the following:
· The Mayor and Chief Executive of the Combined Authority of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough,
· The Leader and Chief Executive of all Cambridgeshire and geographic neighbouring councils,
· The clerks of all Huntingdonshire town and parish councils, and
· The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Association of Local Councils (CAPALC).
f) Motion submitted by Councillor K Maheshwari
Residents’ Right to Know: Public Money and Council Performance
The Council notes that:
1. Huntingdonshire District Council already publishes financial and performance information, including individual expenditure above £250 and regular corporate financial and performance reporting.
2. The Local Government Transparency Code establishes mandatory publication requirements and recommends enhanced transparency, including monthly publication of expenditure above £250.
3. Making financial, procurement and performance information easier to find and connect would enable residents more readily to understand how public money is being spent and what it is delivering.
The Council believes:
1. Residents should be able, as easily as reasonably practicable, to understand how the Council spends public money and how its services are performing.
2. Transparency should be proactive, accessible and proportionate, while protecting information which is required or permitted by law to be withheld.
This Council resolves:
1. To insert a new Article 3.1.2(b)(vi):
“to receive, through proactive publication and subject to any restriction required or permitted by law, information sufficient to understand how the Council spends public money and how its services are performing. Where only part of a record is protected, the remainder will be published so far as lawful and reasonably practicable.”
2. To request Cabinet, within its lawful powers and existing resources so far as possible, to:
· provide a single public gateway to spending, procurement, contract and service-performance information;
· publish expenditure over £250 and purchasing-card transactions monthly, in machine-readable form, by 1 April 2027;
· publish quarterly financial and performance summaries for each Council service area, using existing measures, so that residents can readily understand the relevant financial position and how the service is performing, including, where applicable, material financial variance, performance against existing targets or service standards, direction of travel, and action being taken where performance is materially below expectation;
· publish a Transparency Compliance Register showing each mandatory publication requirement applicable to the Council, its deadline or publication frequency, latest reporting period, date of publication and whether it is current;
· provide clear links to relevant information held on the Government’s Central Digital Platform rather than unnecessarily duplicating national procurement records; and
· where reasonably practicable, use hyperlinks, common references or other proportionate means to enable residents to connect published information relating to Council decisions, procurement or contracts, suppliers and payments with relevant published service or contract performance and outcomes.
3. To request Cabinet to report publicly within 90 days on implementation, including what can be achieved within existing resources and any identified financial, legal or technical impediments.
4. To receive an annual Transparency and Performance Report, with appropriate advice from the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer within their respective responsibilities.
5. To authorise the Monitoring Officer to make consequential drafting amendments to the Constitution.