| Number | Item |
| | Minutes for this Meeting  |
| | Agenda Front Page |
| | Agenda Papers |
| 1. | Apologies |
| 2. | Declarations of Interest |
| 3. | Minutes – To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 14th April 2016 |
| 4. | To receive any Petitions |
| 5. | Leader’s Announcements |
| 6. | Part I – Matters Referred to the Cabinet - None for this Meeting |
| | Part II – Consideration of Reports from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee - None for this Meeting |
| | Part III – Ordinary Decision Items - Key Decisions Annotated* |
| | The Council has had a Council Tax Reduction scheme since 2013. A county wide review has been completed to recommend a common framework for a county wide scheme. This has been reported in detail to the Task Group and this report contains its recommendation on the elements of the scheme that should be included in the Consultation exercise that is planned over the summer.The report includes a stage 1 Equalities impact assessment for members consideration. |
| | Review of Council Tax Support Scheme |
| 7. | This report considers the potential future provision of public toilets facilities in and around Ashford town centre. This involves moving away from offering facilities in the ownership of Ashford Borough Council to facilities owned and operated by third parties with the support of Ashford Borough Council. |
| | *Public Toilet Provision via a Community Toilet Scheme |
| 8. | The Equality Act 2010 applies to all public bodies and any private and voluntary bodies carrying out public functions. Under the Act the Council must also agree at least one Equalities Objective to be reviewed at least every four years. The Council’s previous objectives were agreed by Management Team in March 2012 and have been reviewed and reshaped in light of the new Corporate Plan. |
| | Equalities Objectives |
| 9. | These two documents arise from the work of the Policy and Compliance Task Group. The first sets out in simple and clear terms the Council’s fair but robust approach to enforcement. The second is a service-based enforcement plan which deals with the Planning and Development service and sets out its approach to enforcement including performance standards. In future further enforcement policies for other areas of enforcement will be reported to Cabinet – starting with the next meeting in June. In parallel with this work the website is being reviewed to provide a user-friendly ‘report it’ function and accessible explanations of the approach the Council takes in the many areas of enforcement it is involved in. |
| | *The Council's Enforcement Policy and the Local Enforcement Plan for Planning |
| 10. | Cabinet is asked to fund up to £1 million as a capital investment to upgrade and replace as appropriate the Borough Council's amenity and footway lighting columns to adoptable KCC standard and to transfer as many of the assets as possible to KCC. This will be funded through borrowing with the revenue savings used to repay the debt. To agree the removal of amenity and footway lighting where deemed not necessary by KCC and/or the Borough Council and where a third party e.g. Parish Council does not wish to adopt. |
| | *Council Owned Amenity and Footway Lighting |
| 11. | Exempt Appendix A |
| | Exempt Appendix B |
| | Exempt Appendix C |
| 11. | The Ashford Model Railway Museum company (known as AIMREC) is seeking a long term loan agreement from the Council to purchase land at the former Klondyke railway works in Newtown for the Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre that received planning permission on 16th March 2016 subject to a section 106 Agreement. The purchase of the land owned by Kier will enable the company to apply for significant funding from various sources including a capital grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The report includes draft heads of terms between the Council and AIMREC. The new centre will showcase to local people and visitors significant railway models international national and local rail and other exhibits from the past present and future. The company’s business plan shows that the centre can substantially diversify and boost Ashford’s tourism and visitor economy with an anticipated 500000 visitors per annum. |
| | Support for the Ashford International Model Railway Education Centre (AIMREC) |
| 12. | Local Plan and Planning Policy Task Group – Notes of the Meetings held on 31st March and 13th April 2016 |
| | Part IV – Information/Monitoring Items |
| 13. | Ashford Strategic Delivery Board – Notes of the Meeting held on the 22nd April 2016 |
| 14. | To set out the latest Schedule of Key Decisions to be taken by the Cabinet of Ashford Borough Council. |
| | Schedule of Key Decisions |
| 15. | Items for Future Meetings |
| 16. | Part V – Cabinet Member Reports - None for this Meeting |
| | Part VI – Ordinary Decision Items - None for this Meeting |