ORGANISATION SCRUTINY
COMMITTEE
RECORD OF MEETING
HELD ON 7TH JANUARY 2008
Present (for whole or part of the
meeting)
Councillor A C Johnson; Chair
Councillors W T Beard, J A Beech, D H D
Charlesworth, R E Dodd, B Evans, Z S Krizanac,
J Lewis, A Moran and D J
Straine-Francis
Apology:
Councillor H W Curran
In Attendance:
No Member made any declaration of
interest in any item of business on the agenda.
36 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.
37
RECORD OF MEETINGS
RESOLVED: That the
Record of the Meeting held on 12th November 2007
and the Special Meeting held on 3rd December 2007
be approved as correct.
38 BOARD
BUSINESS.
38.1 Board
Meeting – 3rd January 2008
Timetable of Public Meetings –
2008/2009
It was reported that at its meeting held on
3rd January 2008, the Board had accepted the Committee’s
recommendation in respect of the frequency of Council
meetings. The revised timetable would be submitted to Annual
Council on 14th May 2008.
38.2 Provisional
Items
The Committee considered the Board’s Forward
Plan for February and March 2008.
38.3
Responses/Referrals from the Board or Council
There were no responses or referrals from the
Board or Council on this occasion.
39 DRAFT
BUDGET 2008-2009
Paul Goodwin (Assistant Director – Accountancy
and Audit) was in attendance for discussion of this item.
It was noted that Full Council would be
discussing the draft budget at its meeting in February. The
following comments were made –
>
Potential impact in view of Local Government Review.
Clarity would be provided in the near future.
>
Recommended Projects 2008-2012
Confirmed that the Capital Strategy up-date had informed this
schedule.
>
Car Park increases: Members were of the view that charges for
car parking should only be made if there was reinvestment in the
maintenance of those car parks; to do otherwise amounted to a
“stealth tax”. Members asked for clarification about the use
of the additional income prior to consideration by Full
Council.
The Committee was informed that £135,000
which would be raised in 2008/2009 from increasing charges in
August 2008 and that further clarity on the plans for reinvestment
in the car parking infrastructure in the year would be provided.
Members were also informed that the increase would result in some
£200,000 extra income in a full year and that this would help with
future budget sustainability.
>
Concern about “double-taxation”; for example, the Borough Council
covered the cost of all parish and town council elections.
> De-criminalised
parking: In response to a Member’s question, the Committee
was informed that any surplus income from this source would
initially be applied to offset the set-up costs of the service.
Any surpluses generated beyond that, in the future, it was
understood would be “ring-fenced” by the County Council for use
within Crewe and Nantwich Borough.
RECOMMENDATION TO BUDGET
BOARD:
That the charges for Crewe and Nantwich
Markets be retained at the current rate.
40 WORK
PROGRAMME
40.1 ICT
Services for Members
In the absence of the Executive Director
(Treasury and Corporate Support) it was agreed to defer this to the
next meeting.
40.2 Procurement
At the previous meeting, the Committee had
agreed that it wished to appoint a Working Group on this topic,
acknowledging that owing to the capacity of Treasury and Corporate
Support, the review could not be undertaken until April.
AGREED:
(a) That Councillors W T Beard and B Evans be
appointed to the Working Group; and
(b) That the review be undertaken after May
when there would be greater clarity in respect of the new unitary
councils.
40.3 Climate
Change Task Group
The Committee received for information the
Notes of a Meeting of the Climate Change Task Group (Local Economy
and Environment Committee) held on 6th December
2007.
41 DATE OF
NEXT MEETING
3rd March 2008
………………………………………………Chair