Venue: Committee Room 2, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL
Contact: Lucy Tricker, Senior Democratic Services Officer Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk
Note: Following the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, this meeting will be postponed and will be reconvened on 12 October 2022.
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To approve as a correct record the minutes of Cabinet held on 13 July 2022. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 13 July 2022 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 Acting Leader opened his
statement and welcomed Councillor Graham Snell as Portfolio Holder
for Finance. He thanked Councillor Snell for his continued critical
challenge and thorough scrutinising of Council finances. The Acting
Leader highlighted that this was the first Cabinet meeting since
central government intervention, and wanted to ensure increased
transparency moving forward. He explained that the government
intervention was split into the best value inspection, and the
recovery plan, both of which were due to be published in January
2023. He explained that central government had already started
interviewing senior officers and Members as part of the
intervention, and would be looking into areas such as governance
and compliance, although this could change and develop as the
intervention continued. He stated that the approach could change
depending on findings made by the commissioners, but any
recommendations made would be taken in full and actioned by
Thurrock Council. He urged all officers, Members and residents to
be open and transparent with the commissioners. The Acting Leader
summarised and stated that he would be offering the Chairmanships
of scrutiny Committees to the opposition at the next Full Council
meeting, as he felt that scrutiny needed to be
strengthened. |
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Briefings on Policy, Budget and Other Issues Additional documents: Minutes: There were no briefings on policy, budget and other issues. |
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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 by 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 items had been referred to the
Cabinet for their consideration by an overview and scrutiny
committee. |
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Lower Thames Crossing Task Force Update Report (Decision: 110621) Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Massey introduced
the report and explained that the Task Force had received a verbal
update on the A13 junction in March, where officers had reported on
the potential impact of the proposed LTC on the A13 and A0189, and
it was reported that because of the LTC, the A13 could see
increased traffic at peak travel times. He added that the Task
Force were informed that construction carried out on the A13 during
LTC construction could also impact local villages and junctions,
such as East Tilbury, the Manorway junction, the B1420, and
Southend Road. Councillor Massey explained that the LTC would use
local road capacity and could impact on the Council’s ability
to deliver local economic growth aspirations, such as the Thames
Freeport and emerging Local Plan. Councillor Massey also
highlighted that during the Task Force’s discussions at that
meeting, it had come to light that Thurrock’s main local
traffic movement times had differed to the strategic times used by
National Highways, who had found the larger peaks in the evening.
He added that Members of the Task Force felt that the impact on
villages such as Linford, East Tilbury, and Chadwell St Mary had
not been addressed by National Highways, as other projects going on
in Thurrock could also have an affect on the capacity of the local
road network. He stated that overall, the Task Force remained
concerned regarding the negative impacts of the LTC and junction
connectivity with the Orsett Cock and Manorway junctions, and other
local roads. |
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Lower Thames Crossing - Delegation of Authority to Respond (Decision: 110622) Additional documents: Minutes: The Acting Leader introduced
the report and stated that although the LTC scheme was not yet
ready to be submitted to DCO, the Council needed to be ready ahead
of its submission. He added that the report would delegate
authority to officers and the Acting Leader. |
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Grays Town Fund Programme (Decision: 110623) Additional documents: Minutes: The Acting Leader introduced
the report and stated that due to the sad passing of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II the report had been delayed, but now needed to
be moved forward. He explained that this report would fund projects
such as a new beachfront vista, which would help deliver the values
of Thames100, as well as a new riverside activity centre, which
would be used by community groups such as the Sea Cadets. He
commented that the Sea Cadets had not had a permanent base for many
years, but this centre could be used by them, which would help
improve the lives of young people. He added that the projects
outlined in the report had to be completed by 2026/27, so the
project needed to be moved forward to ensure these deadlines were
met. |
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Financial Update - Quarter 1 2022/23 (Decision: 110624) Additional documents: Minutes: The Interim Director of Finance
introduced the report and stated that it had coincided with the
beginning of the commissioners’ work, so had to be read in
the context of the time. He stated that the team had worked with
commissioners on the release of the report as it helped Members and
residents understand the service pressures currently being
experienced. He stated that services were currently experiencing
approximately £7.4million of pressure and income losses, and
although part of this could be managed with reserves, there was
still a gap in the budget and further work to do. The Interim
Director of Finance highlighted Table 1 on page 42, which set out
service provision and highlighted the pressures within Adults and
Childrens’ Social Care, and Table 2 provided a detailed
breakdown of these pressures. He explained that many other Councils
faced pressures regarding Adults and Childrens Social Care, and
work was continuing to monitor and support these pressures using
reserves and capital receipts. He stated that the Medium-Term
Financial Strategy (MTFS) was constantly evolving and would remain
a challenge due to inflationary pressures and the central
government funding settlement. |