To seek cabinet approval for future management arrangements for the council’s small holdings estate.

The Leader requested that comments and questions be put forward in a sensible and constructive manner.

He acknowledged receipt of a letter signed by group leaders requesting the decision be referred to full council.  Having considered this request in discussion with cabinet members, the Leader confirmed the decision against this, stating that the Cabinet had a clear mandate to decide on this as a Cabinet item.  The decision to be considered today was whether or not to sell smallholdings.  Should the decision be taken to sell, a plan would be produced and which would encompass all questions that would be raised today. The Leader emphasised that rumours that people would be turned out of homes was not accurate and whilst there would be some changes, it was arguably to the advantage of tenants.

In response, the group leader of It’s Our County recognised the constitutional entitlement to make decisions through the Cabinet. However, he explained that the letter intended to point out that this was not necessarily the right thing to do given the significance of the decision. He regarded this as a failure to engage with democracy which showed the council in poor light. The Leader reminded members that this was not the case; group leaders had participated in the review of this matter and following deferral by the previous administration the matter had been on hold for three years. He added that there had been opportunity for all to express opinions and the matter had been through the scrutiny process.

In presenting the item under consideration, the cabinet member for contracts and assets thanked the chairman of the general overview and scrutiny committee and the smallholdings task and finish group for their work on this matter which had helped inform the Cabinet decision. He explained that as resources reducd, the council’s strategy was to focus on those areas which were the Council’s responsibility and which could not be discharged by another party. It was not a duty of the council to manage a farm estate and there were many other agricultural landlords who may be much better placed to do so. The intention was to ensure that the council was securing best value for money for Herefordshire taxpayers in the use of this asset with the aim to use the receipts to help realise important growth opportunities to support Herefordshire’s future economic prosperity through investment in key infrastructure. He added that there had been concern about the loss of farm land, but emphasised that the majority of the agricultural land would not be lost to the county and the majority of tenants would not be affected by the disposal.    The disposals programme would come back to Cabinet for approval and those affected would be supported through the process. He reminded members that the council was not well placed as a landlord to effectively manage and provide the much needed investment and there was a strong case that new owners could do this more effectively. The cabinet member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110