Agenda and draft minutes

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

No declarations were made.

To resolve that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Before asking Officers to present the report, the Chairman, who had requested the Extraordinary Meeting, set out the context for his request.  The decision and actions relating to the Scampton site where some of the most important decisions the District had faced in recent memory, and as such he wished to ensure that all Members had been provided opportunity to express views and be appraised of the current position. 

The Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities was invited to present the report which provided Members with an update on work undertaken to secure the future of the site of the former RAF Scampton.

Members were being asked to note the actions taken and progress to date, which had focussed on developing the possibility to enter into a dual or shared use agreement for the site with the Home Office.

The District Council had been notified that the Home Office had taken legal possession of the entire site, known as RAF Scampton on 28 March 2024. A Special Development Order(SDO) had been laid in Parliament and had come into effect on 11th April 2024.

Whilst the SDO sought temporary permission for the site to be used to accommodate up to 2,000 users, the decision had been taken by the Home Office to reduce the business-as-usual operating capacity down to 800.

As such the Home Office now had legal possession of the land and a formal, temporary planning approval to use the site for asylum accommodation for a period of 3 years, from 11 April, with a six month decommissioning and re-instatement period.

The Corporate Policy and Resources Committee on 21 March had resolved to approve a set of parameters that would be the guiding principles by which the Council would negotiate the possibility of a shared use proposal for the site. The mutually agreeable position was outlined to Members.

The paper set out progress against the 16 parameters approved by Corporate Policy and Resources Committee and these were brought to Members attention in detail.

The Home Office had co-operatively engaged with WLDC to develop a shared use proposal. The principles of the proposal were detailed to Full Council

Work was continuing with the Council’s legal and commercial advisors to fine tune the detail of the headline agreement. It was stressed the principle was to ensure that the headlines in the pre-heads of terms document, allowed the work on the heads of terms, which would be developed in the next phase, to deliver an end legal agreement that was viable, deliverable and in line with the procured arrangements.

Proposed draft key lines of communication were set out in the report, recognising the sensitivities of a headline shared use agreement and the need to balance the local community position with a provision of clarity regarding matters which had generated significant public interest.

At the present time there was not a confirmed date by which the site would become operational for asylum uses. Officers also outlined the unknowns which remained particularly around the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.