a) 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.
2. That house developers have secured planning permission for over 1.4 million homes across the UK that have not yet been built.
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.
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.”
3. Has not revised the definition of “affordable homes” (at least 20% below market value) to reflect true affordability for local people.
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 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).
b) 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.