Councillor M R Jones; Chair

Councillors W T Beard, J A Beech, D H D Charlesworth, Z S Krizanac, J Lewis and

M J Weatherill

 

 

Mr D Buxton                          Auditor -  Baker-Tilly

Mrs P Davis                           Customer Service Development   Manager

Mr P Goodwin                       Assistant Director Accountancy and Audit

Mrs C M Jones                      Democratic Services Committee Officer

Mr A Wenham                       Chief Executive

Mr H Woodward                    Accountant

 

Apologies:                           Councillors R E Dodd, R Jones and A C Johnson

 

11        DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

No Member made any declaration of interest in respect of any item of business on the agenda.

 

12        WHIPPING DECLARATIONS

 

In accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Performance and Overview Procedure Rules, Members were invited to declare in respect of items where the whip had been applied.  No such declarations were made.

 

 

13.1         AGREED:  That the Record of the Meeting held on 12^th June 2006 be approved as correct.

 

13.2         AGREED:  That the Record of the Special Meeting held on 28^th June 2006 be approved as correct.

 

14         HOME WORKING

 

The Committee considered the report of the Customer Services Development Manager which set out the concept of home-working, financial implications and benefits to staff and the Authority.    

 

The report proposed a trial which would cost approximately £850 per home worker, covering the cost of Broadband connection and various equipment requirements.  If the trial was successful there would be a need for a major up-grade to the Council's Broadband connection to ensure that the connection was of the same standard as that for office-based workers.

 

Members commented about the ability to measure the job out-put of home-workers and raised the issue of potential breaches of confidentiality in respect of documents kept in the home, which could be viewed by family members.

 

The Committee was invited to comment on the following proposals -

 

(1)               That expressions of interest be sought from staff across the Authority, and following appropriate health and safety checks and discussions with unions and managers, working from home be funded, with a view to a target of 50 home-workers by Spring 2008.

 

(2)               That, following discussions with Cheshire County Council, investment be made in the Broadband connection to enable home-working to be "rolled out" across the authority.

 

(3)               That consideration be given to appointing a dedicated ICT technician to support both "customer-facing" staff and home-workers to ensure that any interruption in service is dealt with promptly.

 

 

15         AUDIT AND INSPECTION PLAN 2006-2007

 

David Buxton (Baker Tilly) was in attendance for this item.

 

The plan set out the indicative programme of audit and inspection work to be undertaken during 2006/2007.  There were two main facets to the work

 

§                    Financial statements

§                    Key financial systems to ensure satisfactory arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and the use of resources

 

Within "use of resources", there were several strands which included value-for-money, and would be the subject of a separate opinion.  The work would also review the Best Value Performance Plan and associated Performance Indicators. They would also check the process for gathering quality data, completeness of that data and some detailed work on individual indicators.

 

In response to a Member's question about the calculation of the fee and the number of days' work which it represented, Mr Buxton stated that fees were not calculated on a "days" basis;  there was a complex formula used for such calculations.  An up-date could be provided during the year if there were any significant deviations from expected progress.

 

Following Mr Buxton's presentation of the Plan, he withdrew from the meeting.

 

16         BOARD BUSINESS

 

16.1         Board Meeting 27^th July 2006

 

The Committee was invited to comment on the following Board reports which fell within its remit.

 

Item 5	Progress Report on the 2006-2011 Corporate Strategy	No comments to the Board
Item 6	Progress Report on Corporate Projects	No comments to the Board
Item 7	Annual Consultation Plan Up-date	No comments to the Board
Item 9	Budget Monitoring Statement 2006-2007	No comments to the Board
Item 12	Disposal of two Council-owned sites at St Paul's Street, Crewe	No comments to the Board
Item 14	Union Consultation Process	No comments to the Board
Item 16	Health and Safety Annual Report	No comments to the Board

 

 

The Committee considered the Board's Forward Plan for September, October and November.

 

 

It was reported that at its meeting held on 15^th June 2006, Councillor Hatfield  (Portfolio Holder for Human Resources)had welcomed the suggestion received from the Committee that, in view of the increase in long-term sickness absence (BVPI.12), it would be willing to set up a working group to consider the issue of early diagnosis intervention.

 

There were no responses/referrals from Council.

 

 

The Committee considered the report of the Assistant Director (Accountancy and Audit) which provided details of the out-turn, compared with revised budgets, in respect of services covered within the Committee's scope of responsibilities.

 

 

The report of the Executive Director (Treasury & Corporate Support) provided the Committee with information in relation to actual expenditure and income in the current financial year for the period 1^st April to 30^th June, compared with profiled budgets.

 

 

19.1    Working Group Recruitment Policies, Practices and Procedures

 

It was noted that arrangements were being made for the first meeting of the newly-formed Working Group.

 

 

            4^th September 2006

 

 

 

.................................................Chair