Sarah Ward
Council: Fareham
Committees:
Activity Timeline
Meetings Attended Note this may include planned future meetings.
79 meetings · Page 1 of 16
Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel - Tuesday, 24th March, 2026 6.00 pm
Licensing Panel - Tuesday, 20th January, 2026 10.00 am
Decisions from Meetings
106 decisions · Page 19 of 22
Food Safety Service Plan 2024-2026
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
To approve the revised Food Safety Service Plan 2024-2026 as required by the Food Standards Agency. The Food Standards Agency requires a detailed Food Safety Service Plan to demonstrate that the Council has adequate arrangements in place to meet its statutory responsibilities as a Food Authority. This should be updated regularly. The Agency has provided detailed guidance as to how the Plans should be set out and the information they should contain; the revised Plan meets these requirements.
Recommendations Approved
Partnership for South Hampshire - Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund Projects Inter Authority Agreement
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
To seek approval from the Executive to enter an Inter Authority Agreement to deliver Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund projects. The Inter Authority Agreement will help facilitate sustainable growth within the Borough, by enabling developers to purchase the mitigation required to achieve nutrient neutrality and, at a later point in time, Biodiversity Net Gain units. The Agreement is designed to mitigate the risk to the Lead Authority and provide a fair mechanism to cover the benefits and liabilities arising from the funds across the PfSH and catchment areas. In 2019, Natural England issued advice to Fareham Borough Council (along with most other authorities in South Hampshire), in respect of all new overnight accommodation (e.g houses, hotels, care homes). The advice highlighted the detrimental impacts of increased levels of nutrients derived from development upon Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation and RAMSAR sites within The Solent (often referred to as Habitat Sites) and the need to mitigate these impacts. Following this advice during 2019 and 2020, whilst the Council was seeking to identify a solution, the Council was only able to issue very few planning permissions for developments containing overnight accommodation as when deciding planning applications, the Council has a legal duty to consider whether any impacts from new development are likely to have a significant effect upon Habitat Sites. Where the is no evidence that an impact can be mitigated, a permission cannot be issued. The agreed solution found was based on an offsetting approach. It was agreed that where proposals could demonstrate that an equivalent amount of nutrients could be prevented from the entering Habitats Sites elsewhere, then a development could be approved subject to a planning condition requiring the developer to demonstrate how the mitigation measure has been identified and agreed. This approach has resulted in a system of mitigation in the form of ‘credits’. The corresponding number of credits, equivalent to the impact of the development, are purchased from a third-party supplier prior to the occupation of the development. Such third-party mitigation schemes take the form of land being removed from agricultural use, and the land being used for alternative uses that limit nitrates entering the ground, including re-wilding and tree planting. This Council has presently identified three such schemes, (two on the Isle of Wight and one in the Winchester District) which can be used to mitigate the impact of nutrients arising from developments in Fareham. The Natural England advice affects local authorities in the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) area. In May 2023 Fareham Borough Council on behalf of PfSH provided an expression of interest to government for funding to provide local authority led nutrient mitigation solutions across The Solent. Funding of £9.6 million, was awarded from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in January 2024 to facilitate the delivery of nutrient mitigation across the Solent sub-region, this funding being referred to as the Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund (LNMF). Fareham Borough Council was identified as the Lead Authority in respect of the fund and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) associated with the requirements of the funding. To manage the relationship between the Lead Authority and the projects being delivered by the LNMF, an inter Authority Agreement (IAA) has been created to facilitate the partnership approach, manage and mitigate risks and ensure that shared benefits and responsibilities are able to be realised by authorities party to the agreement. To be able to benefit from the LNMF projects, PfSH authorities are required to enter the Inter Authority Agreement. This report explains the principles and responsibilities stipulated by the IAA and seeks authority from the Executive to enter it on behalf of the Council.
Recommendations Approved
Communications and Engagement Strategy
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
To seek approval to consult on the Draft Communications and Engagement Strategy, which sets out proposals for how the Council will communicate and engage with our diverse audiences. The creation and implementation of a new Communications and Engagement Strategy is a key project to be delivered under Priority Six of the Corporate Strategy 2023 – 2029 which aims to ensure we are ‘a responsive, inclusive and innovative Council’. The Communications and Engagement landscape has changed during recent years, with many more people consuming news and engaging online. However, a core group of people prefer to engage using more traditional methods. To ensure we continue to meet the needs of our diverse audiences a draft Communications and Engagement Strategy has been developed. This is based around a series of proposed aims, supporting priorities and projects with which to guide better communications and engagement with both external and internal customers of the Council. Approval is sought to consult on the draft strategy.
Recommendations Approved
Food Waste Collection Service
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
To consider the introduction of a food waste collection service across the Borough in March 2026. It is anticipated that the introduction of weekly food waste collections will be mandatory for English Waste Collection Authorities from 31 March 2026. Preparations are already underway to meet this requirement in Fareham. A moderate financial and delivery risk has been identified if supply chain issues delay the availability of new food waste vehicles and kerbside caddies. Given that capital grant funding has already been received, and secure storage is available, it is recommended that the five food waste vehicles and 47,500 kerbside cassies required are purchased as soon as possible, in advance of the finalised Environment Act Regulations and Statutory Guidance being in place.
Recommendations Approved
Vehicle Replacement Programme Annual Review 2024
From: Executive - Monday, 4th November, 2024 6.00 pm - November 04, 2024
To review the Council’s five -year rolling Vehicle Replacement Programme (VRP) and make recommendations for capital expenditure to continue to move to a modern fleet of commercial vehicles and ensure that the Council has a resilient and cost-effective fleet, as well as reducing its carbon emissions. In May 2023, the Executive approved a £3.8M rolling five-year Vehicle Replacement Programme for the Council’s vehicle fleet, to be updated each Autumn to inform budget setting for the following year and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy. The 2023 Programme proposed the replacement of 57 vehicles over the five years to 2028. To date, 19 vehicles have been replaced at a cost of £845,000. Eight were new vehicles, with the remainder used. As at the end of September 2024, two of the replacement vehicles were electric and HVO is used in around one third of the vehicle fleet. The 2024 Annual Review proposes a new rolling five-year Vehicle Replacement Programme to 2029/30, estimating that 50 vehicles will need to be replaced at an estimated maximum cost of £4.68M. All available replacement vehicle options will be considered and assessed against estimated whole life costs, impact on fleet carbon emissions and availability of capital budget. The lifetime cost analysis, which takes account of capital purchase and running costs over a 10-year period, highlights that diesel vehicles remain the cheapest vehicle type at present for most of our fleet. The recommended Vehicle Replacement Programme will reduce the carbon emissions of the Council’s fleet in line with the Council’s aspiration to become net zero by 2030. Subject to other decisions, the five new food waste vehicles will be duelled with HVO when the service commences in March 2026, which will effectively negate the carbon impact of these additional fleet vehicles. The use of HVO in the whole diesel fleet to reduce carbon emissions needs to be balanced against the additional cost.
Recommendations Approved
Summary
Meetings Attended: 79
Average per Month: 3.2
Decisions Recorded: 106