Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL. View directions
Contact: Lucy Tricker, Democratic Services Officer Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk
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To approve as a correct record the minutes of Cabinet held on 9 December 2020. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 9 December 2020 were approved as a true and correct record. |
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Items of Urgent Business To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no items of urgent business. |
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Declaration of Interests Additional documents: Minutes: There were no interests declared. |
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Statements by the Leader Additional documents: Minutes: The Leader began his statement
by wishing everyone a Happy New Year. He stated that due to
increased levels of COVID-19 around the country, a new national
lockdown had begun a week ago, and the country was reaching a
critical stage in the spread of the pandemic. He explained that
Thurrock had also seen an increase in positive cases, and had been
the epicentre of the new COVID strain, which was 58-70% more
transmissible than the previous strain. He stated that the NHS and
other keyworkers had done an amazing job in fighting the virus on
the frontlines, but Essex had declared a major incident due to the
strain being put on hospitals, who would not be able to cope if
they did not receive additional help. The Leader stressed the
importance of the government’s ‘Hands, Face,
Space’ message and urged residents to follow lockdown rules
to protect each other and the NHS. He also urged young people and
children to follow the rules and not go out and meet friends, and
asked all residents to act as if they already had the virus and
take all necessary precautions. |
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Briefings on Policy, Budget and Other Issues Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Watkins stated that
due to COVID-19 staff shortages, the Linford Household Waste and
Recycling Centre had been closed for the previous two days, but
would be opened again tomorrow. He explained that he was closely
monitoring the situation, and the site would give as much warning
as possible to residents if it needed to close in future. He also
asked residents to be patient with local bin collection crews
during this difficult time, and to report any missed collections.
He added that the decision regarding garden waste collection had
been difficult, but felt it was right to protect general waste and
recycling collections during this time. He stated that the teams
were working hard to resume usual business, and stated that the
teams would let residents know if there were large delays.
Councillor Watkins added that he would present his annual report to
Full Council in a few weeks, which would highlight the work that
was being undertaken to improve the missed collection reporting
system, and would hopefully improve the service. |
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Petitions submitted by Members of the Public Additional documents: Minutes: No petitions had been submitted by members of the public. |
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Questions from Non-Executive Members Additional documents: Minutes: No questions had been submitted from Non-Executive Members. |
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Matters Referred to the Cabinet for Consideration by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee Additional documents: Minutes: Other than those items already contained within the agenda, no matters had been referred to Cabinet for consideration by an overview and scrutiny committee. |
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Draft General Fund Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy Update (Decision: 110544) PDF 640 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Hebb introduced the
report and stated that in May 2016, the Conservative minority
administration had inherited a £30million deficit forecast
over a three year period, but had managed to balance this budget
through entrepreneurial ideas, and not simply service cuts. He
stated that the investment approach had been started before the
Conservatives had taken power, and had been built on since then,
including during a time when there had been three party leadership.
He stated that Members continued to be involved in the investment
strategy, and highlighted that rainy day reserves had initially
increased by 40%, but had now been tripled. He stated that this was
partly due to the investment strategy, but also partly due to more
structured services, such as children’s centres and the
policy of ‘fewer buildings, better services’, which had
seen children’s centre uptake increase from 70% to 95%. He
stated that because of these policies, the Council had been able to
fund lots of different additional areas, such as increased
policing, increased use of technology, and the Clean It, Cut It,
Fill It strategy. |
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School Capital Programme Update 2020/21 (Decision: 110545) PDF 151 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Jefferies began by
introducing the report and stated that recommendation 2 would need
to be edited to reflect that the UK no longer followed EU
procurement rules, due to the country’s departure from the
European Union. He highlighted that the 2018/19 and 2019/20 school
capital programmes had now almost been completed, including the
expansion of Corringham Primary School and St Cleres Secondary
School. He stated that the expansion of Benyon Primary School was
also very close to completion. He described how the temporary
accommodation at the old Thurrock Learning Campus had been
renovated and redesigned as Thameside Park School, which had
officially opened. |
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HRA Housing Development: 13 Loewen Road (Decision: 110546) PDF 241 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Johnson introduced
the report and stated that Cabinet had previously approved the
Housing Development Approach, which had also gone through the
scrutiny process and consultation. He stated that this was the
first project that had followed the new approach, and sought to
demolish the current building at 13 Loewen Road and replace it with
five three-bedroom council houses, and associated parking. He
stated that consultation had been held from 19 October to 16
November and the project had been well-received. He explained that
the development would also be low carbon emission as all of the
proposed properties would use zero gas. He added that this project
would be funded through the HRA, using the right to buy retention
scheme, and would not impact upon general fund borrowing. He
summarised and stated that this project aligned with the
Council’s vision and priorities, particularly the
‘place’ objective.
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Electric Vehicle Charging (Decision: 110547) PDF 336 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Maney introduced the
report and stated that this report would enable future
infrastructure for electric vehicle charging across the borough, as
well as allow for an associated long-term policy. He explained that
the number of people buying electric vehicles was increasing as it
was a more sustainable method of travel, but there were currently
only three charging points in Thurrock which used older technology.
He stated that Thurrock needed more charging points using newer
technology to be able to keep up with future demand, and help
residents make greener choices. He commented that Thurrock had
agreed to reduce carbon emissions, and the government had enacted a
ban on combustion engine cars by 2030, and the new proposed
infrastructure would help Thurrock meet these targets by making
electric vehicle charging easier. He stated that the contract would
be to a single external provider for between 10 and 15 years,
although a break clause would be included in the contract and
relevant KPIs would be analysed regularly. He described how this
report also allowed for work to begin on a new electric vehicle
policy, which would include how and where electric vehicles could
be charged. He highlighted point 2.8 in the report which detailed
three funding streams for the project including, government grants,
developer contributions, and grant-matched funding from the Office
for Low Emission Vehicles. He thanked the officers for their hard
work on the project, and felt that because of their hard work the
Council would stand in good stead for a successful bid. |
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Thurrock Active Place Strategy (Decision: 110548) PDF 293 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Councillor Watkins introduced
the report and stated that this report had been a long time in the
making, and formed a crucial part of the Local Plan, which would
increase the number of sports clubs and the number of people
attending sports clubs across the borough. He stated that the
report had been through the Health and Wellbeing Board, and the
Cleaner, Greener, Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and
comments from these meetings had been included within the report.
He added that extensive consultation had also been undertaken,
which included numerous sports groups and community groups. He
stated that the consultation had been very comprehensive and
thanked the team for their hard work on the report. He outlined
that the report was not a document solely regarding spending money,
but formed a blueprint for change, which would only be undertaken
once external funding had been made available, such as funding from
Sports England. He summarised and explained that sports would be at
the centre of the new Local Plan, and this report would help to
increase sport uptake across the borough. |
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Collaborative Communities Framework 2021-2025 (Decision: 110549) PDF 195 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Huelin introduced
the report and stated that it outlined how the Council would work
with local communities. She stated that there were three key points
of the report, which were engagement, equalities, and empowerment.
She highlighted that the report had been approved by the Corporate
Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and she had sat down with the
Shadow Portfolio Holder to discuss the report and its
implementation. Councillor Huelin described how the report would
enact a ‘pact’ between local communities and Thurrock
Council, and commented that a total of 150 people had been
consulted with and engaged with the proposed framework. She stated
that numerous groups had felt that council services worked
independently from each other, which could leave services feeling
disjointed for residents. She stated that this report would help
directorates work together, which would increase community
engagement and work with the voluntary sector. She felt that this
framework would lead to robust decision making, improved access to
services for residents, and improved service cohesion. |
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Thames Freeport Bid to Government PDF 309 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Coxshall began by
introducing the report and stated that Freeport’s were part
of Thurrock’s DNA, and highlighted that the Port of Tilbury
had been a Freeport until 2012. He stated that the continued theme
of the Cabinet meeting had been ‘Live, Work, Play’ and felt that this report helped to meet
the ‘Work’ aspect of the objective. He stated that the
Freeport bid had been the work of Thurrock Council, London Gateway,
the Port of Tilbury, and Ford Dagenham, as the bid would benefit
Thurrock and other local areas along the Thames. He stated that the
proposed Freeport would help the local Tilbury area, in conjunction
with the work of the Tilbury Town Board, and would be a catalyst
for growth across the borough. He described that the proposed
Freeport would provide 20,000 direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs
in the area, and would see £1billion of government investment
over the next 25 years. He stated that the bid would be hard fought
as 7 bids in England and 3 bids in the other nations were being
submitted, and although Thurrock was the port hub of the UK, the
Council would have to work hard to ensure the bid was successful.
He stated that Ford Dagenham had also asked to be included in the
bid as they wished to make the move to electric vehicles, and would
make the A13 the transportation route between the ports and Ford
Dagenham.
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