Stratford-on-Avon District Council Cabinet decisions - 2 December 2024

Here are the decisions from the Stratford-on-Avon District Council Cabinet meeting on Monday 2 December, which included the Quarter 2 Performance Monitoring Report, the introduction of the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WHLG), the purchasing of the leasehold interest of 9 Timothy's Bridge Road to help facilitate the delivery of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal Quarter Development, and the adoption of the infrastructure funding statement.

• Adoption of the Infrastructure Funding Statement 2023/24

Cabinet approved the recommendation to adopt the Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS) for 2023/2024 to be recommended to Full Council. The IFS is required to include, as a minimum:

• The Infrastructure List - the infrastructure projects or types of infrastructure which the Council intends will be, or may be, wholly or partly funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106.
• A report setting out specific standard information on monetary and non-monetary contributions (e.g. provision of affordable housing or open space) and spend details for the previous financial year relating to Section 106 (S.106) Agreements.
• A CIL report setting out specific standard information on income and spend details for the previous financial year.

• Quarter 2 Performance Monitoring Report

Cabinet received and approved the report which presents performance achieved during Quarter 2 (July to September 2024) monitoring delivery of the Council Plan Actions and Key Performance Indicators. There are 66 actions included in the plan for Year 1. Of these, 30 are due to be reported this quarter. Performance against target: Of the 30 actions, 24 (80%) have been achieved, one (3%) is ongoing with no set target, and five (17%) actions were not achieved. Full details are presented in Appendix 1 to this report.

• Warm Homes: Local Grant

Cabinet has approved engagement with the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WHLG) scheme, which will replace the Home Upgrade Grant 2 (HUG2) from April 2025 and will provide energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating to privately owned and privately rented low-income households. The Council has the opportunity to participate in the WHLG programme, which should see significant grant funding made available to retrofit and upgrade homes with low levels of thermal efficiency across the district. It is anticipated that this will reduce levels of fuel poverty and improve health and wellbeing outcomes, which also supporting our desire to reduce CO2 emissions, and ultimately achieve our Net-Zero ambitions. 

• 9 Timothy's Bridge Road, Stratford-upon-Avon

Cabinet has agreed to the principle of acquiring the head-leasehold interest of 9 Timothy's Bridge Road, subject to the completion of appropriate due diligence and the receipt of formal valuation advice. This is a key acquisition to continue development plans of the Canal Quarter in Stratford-upon-Avon. The Cabinet previously considered a report on this issue on 4 March 2024. Since that report, negotiations have continued, and a final position is now being reached. This report seeks confirmation based on the latest up to date position.  

The full agenda for the Cabinet meeting and the webcast can be found here: Agenda for The Cabinet on Monday, 2nd December, 2024, 10.00 a.m. | Stratford-on-Avon District Council