ORGANISATION SCRUTINY
COMMITTEE
RECORD OF MEETING HELD ON
3RD MARCH 2008
Present:
Councillor A C Johnson; Chair
Councillors W T Beard, J A Beech, D H D
Charlesworth, K Healey and Z S Krizanac
Apologies: Councillors R E
Dodd, B Evans, J Lewis and A Moran.
In Attendance:
Lisa
Carr Policy
and Performance Officer
No Member made any declaration of
interest in any item of business on the agenda.
46 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.
47 RECORD OF
MEETINGS
RESOLVED: That the
Record of the Meeting held on 7th January 2008 and the
Record of the Special Meeting held on 21st January 2008
be approved as correct.
48 BOARD
BUSINESS
48.1 Board
Meeting – 6th March 2008
Members were invited to comment on the
following Board reports which fell within the Committee’s
remit.
(5) Annual
Audit and Inspection Letter 2006/2007
(6) Use
of Resources Review
(19)
Best Value Performance Indicators – Progress to 31st
December 2008
(22)
Local Code of Corporate Governance
(23)
Early Termination Policy – Discretionary Compensation Payments
AGREED: That no
comments be submitted to the Board in respect of these items.
48.2
Exclusion of Press and Public
RESOLVED: That
the press and public be excluded from the meeting during
consideration of the following items pursuant to Section 100(A)(4)
of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involved
the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the
Act.
48.3 Exempt Board
Reports (6th March 2008)
The Committee was invited to comment on the
following items which had been withheld from public circulation and
deposit.
(26) Write-Offs
(27) Planning and
Development : Staffing
AGREED: That no
comments be submitted to the Board in respect of these items.
48.4
Re-admittance of Press and Public
RESOLVED: That the
press and public be re-admitted to the
meeting.
48.5
Provisional Items (Board’s Forward Plan)
The Committee received the Board’s Forward
Plan for June 2008.
48.6 Responses/Referrals
from the Board or Council
There were no responses or referrals from the
Board or Council on this occasion.
49
PERFORMANCE MONITORING – BVPIs – TO 31ST
DECEMBER 2007
Lisa Carr, Policy and Performance Officer was
in attendance for discussion of this item.
The Committee considered the report of the
Policy and Performance Officer which detailed performance for the
period 1st April 2007 to 31st December
2007. The report also gave details about the Government’s
introduction of 198 new national indicators, of which 64 were
proposed for collection at district level.
Following notification of the new indicators,
a further report would be submitted and the Committee would be
invited to select both National Indicators and Local Service
Indicators which fell within the remit of the Committee.
AGREED: That the report
be received.
50 2007/2008
FINANCIAL MONITORING – 1ST APRIL
2007 – 31ST DECEMBER 2007
Paul Goodwin, Assistant Director (Accountancy
and Audit) was in attendance for discussion of this item.
The Committee was referred to agenda item 7 of
the Board agenda for 21st February 2008 which informed
Members of actual expenditure and income in the current financial
year to 31st December 2007, compared with profiled
budgets. The report also summarised the projected out-turn
for the year end.
AGREED: That the report
be received.
51 CAPITAL
PROJECT MONITORING
The Committee had agreed to include the
monitoring of capital schemes within its work programme.
The report of the Executive Director, Treasury
and Corporate Support, provided Members with an opportunity to
review progress in the delivery of the Capital Programme,
particularly the “landmark” projects and other schemes with
significant budgets.
Attention was drawn to the Capital Project
Monitoring Statement for the year 2007/2008, attached as an
appendix to the report, covering the period to 31st
January 2008, and showed, for each project -
A.
Previous year remaining budgets brought forward (i.e. budgets
approved but not fully spent, as at 1st April 2007.)
B.
Budgets for the 2007/2008 year.
C. Total
budget at 1st April 2007 (being A plus B above).
D. Actual and
committed expenditure up to 31st January 2008.
E.
Budget remaining at 31st January 2008.
Specific comments were made on the following,
and questions by Members were responded to by the Executive
Director and Assistant Director, together with the Head of Leisure
Operations and the Queen’s Park Restoration Project Manager, as
appropriate.
Ø Queen’s
Park Restoration
The schedule of works was due to be completed
by December 2010 but it was expected that the completion date would
be brought forward to 2009.
The Project Manager was preparing an
information board for display in Queen’s Park. A smaller
version would be made available for other publicity drives to keep
members of the public informed of progress and to provide a
timetable of works. Arrangements were also being made for
“drop-in” sessions to be held at Queen’s Park Café.
Ø New
Cemetery Land/Infrastructure
The Committee was reminded that at Budget
Council on 27th February 2008 an additional £144,000 had
been included in the budget for 2008/2009 for infrastructure at
Weston.
Ø
General
During discussion, the potential loss of
schemes in the Capital Programme, as a result of LGR, was
raised. The Committee was informed that projects in excess of
£1m would be subject to Shadow Authority approval, particularly
those where the revenue implications were in excess of £100,000 per
annum. It was expected that new financial regulations would be laid
before Parliament in April 2008, following which there would be
greater clarity on projects.
AGREED: That the report
be received.
52
NEXT MEETING
It was noted that there were no other
scheduled meetings in the current Municipal Year.