Decisions

To confirm the outcome of the recent tender exercise undertaken for the provision of office furniture.

To approve the appointment of H. Jenkinson and Company Limited for the provision of Office Furniture.

The Leader of the Council agreed the recommendation as outlined above namely:

To authorise the requests, as submitted.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To note the report.  

2. To agree to transition out the Growth and Prosperity net revenue budget target over a 2-year period, 2022/23-23/24, with any proceeds subsequently realised from the existing work programme being directed to bolstering reserves and any new proceeds being retained by Growth and Prosperity for their re-investment [para 3.4 of the report].

3. To require the respective directors and Director of Resources to continue to closely monitor and manage service financial and operational performances, specifically Growth and Prosperity, Children’s Services, Strategic Leisure Assets and Adult Services.

4. To prompt the Scrutiny Leadership Board to continue to independently review the financial and operational performances of the services listed in decision 3.

5. To continue to lobby central government (HM Treasury, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (formerly the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), Department for Health and Social Care, Department for Transport, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Department for Education in particular) along with local authority peers and networks and the Local Government Association for the funding necessary to cope with the demands and new burdens presenting as a result of both Covid and within Children’s Services.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To note the progress with Blackpool’s Town Deal programme.

2. To delegate to the Chief Executive, after consultation with the  Leader of the Council and relevant Cabinet Members, the authority to sign off any supplementary agreements necessary for taking forward the Town Deal projects including but not limited to with Blackpool and Fylde College for the Multiversity, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service for Blackpool Central Courts relocation, and with Blackpool Football Club for the development of the Revoe/Southern Quarter Community Sports Village.

The Executive agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To delegate authority to Director of Communications and Regeneration, to appropriate for planning purposes the Subject Land under section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 hereby invoking section 203 and section 204 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

2. To delegate authority to the Director of Communications and Regeneration to deal with the settlement of any claims for compensation made pursuant to section 204 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 that may arise by virtue of the operation of the overriding power contained in Section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

3. To authorise the Head of Legal Services to enter into any such documentation as may be necessary to give effect to or flowing from the appropriation for planning purposes of the Subject Land.

The Executive resolved as follows:

1. To note the impact of the Scheme to date as set out in paragraphs 6.7 and 6.8 of the Executive report.

2. To recommend Council to agree the Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2022/23 as set out in Appendix 2c, to the Executive report.

3. To recommend to Council that the reduction applied to working age claimants remains the same as the 2021/22 Scheme agreed by Council on 27 January 2021 and that the main elements and method of calculating awards will be the same.

4. To recommend Council to agree to continue to operate a Discretionary Discount Policy to be awarded in cases of exceptional hardship as set out at Appendix 2a, to the Executive report. 

5. To note at this point in time the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities may still issue changes to the known position for the Pensioner National Scheme. Required changes would be incorporated into the final Scheme presented for adoption at Council on 9 February 2022.

To confirm the outcome of the recent procurement exercise undertaken for the appointment of a Contractor to provide Fibrous Moulder Plaster Ceiling Surveys and Limited Remediation Works.

The contract is for annual surveying, condition reporting and the issuing of safety certification for heritage ceilings in public spaces in the Winter Gardens, Blackpool Tower, Town Hall, Grundy Art Gallery and Central Library. 

The contract also allows for limited remediation works capped at a value of £25,000 per repair to cover any emergency situations or spot repairs requiring urgent attention. 

To approve the appointment of Hayles and Howe Limited (Bristol).

To approve the appointment of Barclays Bank PLC as the provider to deliver the Council’s banking services and related requirements.

To appoint Barclays Bank PLC to provide Banking services to the Council for a period of five years with an option of a further five years’ extension with effect from 1 April 2022.

The Head of Licensing Service deals with a number of requests for licences under the Licensing Act, the Gambling Act and other pieces of legislations. Details of the licences, applied for and granted are outlined in the report.

The Head of Licensing agreed to grant the licences as outlined in the attached Appendices.

The Leader of the Council agreed the recommendation as outlined above namely:

To authorise the requests, as submitted.

The Leader of the Council agreed the recommendation as outlined above namely:

To authorise the requests, as submitted.

The Head of Licensing Service deals with a number of requests for licences under the Licensing Act, the Gambling Act and other pieces of legislations. Details of the licences, applied for and granted are outlined in the report.

The Head of Licensing Service agreed to grant the licences as set out in the attached Appendices.

To seek delegated authority allowing the Director of Communications and Regeneration to undertake a scheme of urgent and essential works identified as required to the Blackpool Tower historic Circus ceiling, to include the completion of all due diligence associated with the project.

To obtain authority to allow the Head of Legal Services to enter into any such documentation as may be necessary and to consider and deal with such due diligence as may be required to provide for completion of the Scheme of urgent repairs identified as required to the Blackpool Tower historic Circus ceiling.

To request authority to complete the project-funding package through debt finance in the form of Prudential Borrowing, as detailed in the financial appendix to this report.   

The Leader of the Council agreed as an urgent decision the following decisions:

1. That the Director of Communications and Regeneration be provided with delegated authority to undertake a scheme of urgent and essential works identified as required to the Blackpool Tower Circus historic ceiling, to include the completion of all due diligence associated with the project and as set out in this report and financial appendix to this report.

2. To authorise the Head of Legal Services to enter into any such documentation as may be necessary and to consider and deal with such due diligence as may be required to provide for completion of the scheme of urgent repairs identified as required to the Blackpool Tower historic Circus Ceiling.

3. That authority is provided to complete the project-funding package through debt finance in the form of Prudential Borrowing, as detailed in the financial appendix to this report.  

To agree the Public Space Protection Order Dog Controls, for a further 3 year period following the imminent expiry of current dog control orders on the 30 November 2021. Recognise the findings of the comprehensive public consultation exercise to consider if the current controls are fit for purpose to control dog behaviour and that of their owners for a further 3 years:

To recognise and agree that further controls to specific shared open space(s) predominately sports pitches identified in the public consultation are prioritised through awareness and education over the next 3 years.

The Cabinet Member agreed the recommendations as outlined above namely:

1. To approve the Public Space Protection Order Dog Controls 2021 (Appendix 1) for a period of three years starting from 1st December 2021.

2.  to delegate to the Head of Legal to seal and advertise the Order.

3. In relation to the specific proposals: Consultation PSPO Dog Controls. (Appendix 2)

•          To recognise consultation findings and agree to prioritise awareness and education to specific shared open space predominately sports pitches through community engagement and greater signage to encourage responsible dog behaviour on the basis of pick up or this space maybe included in future dog control Public Space Protection Orders.

To confirm the outcome of the Aggregation Framework (NFC138) exercise undertaken by Crown Commercial Services for the Provision of Microsoft Licensing to the Council including Schools and appoint the winning bidder Computacentre (UK) Ltd.

To approve the appointment of the supplier listed in 3.1 to deliver the Provision of Microsoft Licensing to the Council including Schools.