ORGANISATION SCRUTINY
COMMITTEE
RECORD OF MEETING
HELD ON 12TH NOVEMBER 2007
Present:
Councillor A Moran; in the Chair
Councillors W T Beard, J A Beech, D H D
Charlesworth, H W Curran, R E Dodd, S Z Krizanac and J Lewis
In Attendance: (for whole or part of
the meeting)
Roger
Booth District
Emergency Planning Officer
Lisa
Carr Policy
and Performance Officer
Apologies:
Councillors A C Johnson and D J Straine-Francis
Councillor A Moran declared a personal
interest in Board agenda item 9 (Appeal Contribution – Future
Unitary Structures for Local Government) on the basis that he was a
Member of Cheshire County Council, and agenda item 19 (All Saints
Churchyard, Nantwich – Maintenance of Closed Churchyard) on the
basis that he was a regular member of the church congregation.
Councillor H W Curran declared a personal
interest in Board agenda item 22 (Proposed Sale of Council-owned
Open Space (RT.1 Land) off Minshull New Road, Crewe) on the basis
that he had been in discussion with an interested party about the
sale of the land.
No other Member made any declaration
of interest in any item of business on the agenda.
27 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.
28 RECORD OF
MEETING
AGREED: That the Record of the
Meeting held on 17th September 2007 be approved as
correct.
29 BOARD
BUSINESS
29.1 Meeting
15th November 2007
The Committee was invited to submit comments
to the Board on the following reports which fell within its
remit.
> Corporate
Strategy – Review
No comments to Board
> 2007-2012
Revenue Strategy
No comments to Board
> Capital
Investment Strategy 2007-2012
No comments to Board
> Appeal
Contribution – Future Unitary Structures for Local Government
Comments to the Board
A motion was moved that the following
comment be submitted to the Board.
“That the Committee does not support making
a contribution of £20,000 to Congleton Borough Council in respect
of costs incurred in an appeal to the Court of Appeal.”
The matter was put to the vote and the
motion was defeated. It was AGREED that the
Board be advised of the majority and minority view.
(Note: In accordance with Procedure Rule
No. 18(2) Councillor H W Curran requested that his vote be recorded
to show that he had voted against the recommendation as detailed on
the Board report.)
>
Tax Base for Council Tax and Discount for Second Homes
No
comments to Board
>
Best Value Performance Indicators – Progress Report For Quarter 2 –
2007-2008
The Policy and Performance Officer was in
attendance for this item, and addressed not only the Board’s item,
but also the Committee’s agenda item 6 which summarised performance
activity on the key basket of the Committee’s Performance
Indicators to 30th September 2007.
Attention was drawn to the following –
BVPI.12 – Sickness Absence: There had
been a decline in performance on this indicator; the decline
had coincided with the implementation of Job Evaluation. Much
of the long-term sickness absence was owing to an increase in
depression and stress, some of which was work-related.
The uncertainty surrounding LGR was
also considered to be a contributory factor.
LCH.105 – Local Authority Website Rankings
There had been a reduction in performance
during the recent launch of the new website, but an improvement in
performance was expected in the near future.
No
comments to Board
>
2007/2008 Financial Monitoring Report – to 30.Sept.2007
Harvey Woodward, Senior Accountant
Harvey Woodward, Senior Accountant spoke to
this report, which had also been included as Committee Agenda item
No. 7.
No
comments to Board
>
Asset Management Action Plan
The Executive Director (Treasury and Corporate Support) spoke to
this report, which had also been included as Committee Agenda item
No. 8.
No
comments to Board
>
Parliamentary Polling District and Polling Places Review
Comments to the Board
AGREED:
(a) That the Board be asked to consider the
introduction of a mobile polling station to be sited at Coole
Lane/French Lane End, Baddington.
(b) That the Board be informed that the
Committee supported Option 8 (c) in the report.
All Saints Churchyard, Nantwich – Maintenance
of Closed Churchyard
The report sought authority for the Executive Director (Direct
Services) to offer partial care management and control of Parts A
and B of the churchyard.
The issue of closed churchyards had been
discussed at the previous meeting in the context of infra-structure
assets. In response to a Member’s question, it was reported
that this churchyard was owned by the church and, consequently,
could not have been included as a Council asset. The
Committee was informed that, in general, when a churchyard was
closed, it could be transferred for maintenance purposes to the
Council. This was an option available to Parochial Church
Councils, under the Local Government Act 1972 (Section 215) and in
these circumstances, the Council could not refuse to accept
liability.
The proposal in the report provided for
satisfactory maintenance of the churchyard.
29.2
Exclusion of Press and Public
RESOLVED: That
the press and public be excluded from the meeting during
consideration of the following item pursuant to Section 100(A)(4)
of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that it involved
the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph
3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act.
>
Land at Minshull New Road, Crewe
No
comments to Board
> Cash Collection
Service
No
comments to Board
>
Health and Fitness Suite Partnership Arrangements
No
comments to Board
29.3
Re-Admittance of Press and Public
RESOLVED: That the
press and public be re-admitted to the meeting.
29.4
Provisional List of Items
The Committee considered the Board’s Forward
Plan for January, February and March 2008. It was noted that
a report on Mayoral Nomination 2008/2009 had been omitted. It was
expected that this would be submitted to the Board meeting in
January 2008.
29.5
Responses/Referrals from Board or Council
It was noted that there were no responses or
referrals from the Board or Council on this occasion.
30 WORK
PROGRAMME
30.1
ICT Service Provision for Members
Keith Sutton, ICT Services Manager was in
attendance for discussion of this item.
At the previous meeting, the Terms of
Reference for the review of ICT Service Provision had been approved
by the Committee. The first stage of the review was to receive an
analysis of issues raised with the Help Desk and the report of the
ICT Services Manager was now submitted.
The objective of the review was to ensure that
ICT services were meeting Members’ business needs
effectively. The approach adopted by the ICT Manager was
noted as follows -
> Issue of survey
to establish user satisfaction
> Identify cost for
services
> Identify computer
usage per Councillor
> Current log of
outstanding calls
> Analysis of Help
Desk calls raised to indicate patterns and opportunities for
improvement
> Review of survey
to identify training needs
> Review of options
for future ICT provision
> Address concerns
and preferences of Councillors
> Speed of
resolution
Keith Sutton was in attendance for discussion
of this item and spoke to the report answering Members’ questions,
as appropriate.
The report concluded that for some Members
computer facilities were a mechanism to communicate using e-mail;
for others, it had become a vital tool in their duties as
Councillors. The survey indicated that some Members were
using the system in excess of 20 hours a week whilst others used it
for only 5 hours a week, logging on daily.
It was acknowledged that there were disparate
needs and it was suggested that individual solutions for each be
explored to reach a solution which would fit the individual working
pattern for each Member.
AGREED:
(a) That training in the use of Microsoft
Office and in particular Microsoft Outlook (e-mail) be provided for
Members;
(b) That training be provided on the Content
Management System (CMS) for those Members who required it;
(c) That ICT explore with individual Members
their service-needs and tailor those to the Member’s own working
pattern. (It was noted that this could be accommodated within
existing budgets.); and
(d) That “downtime” (ie unavailability of the
service) be monitored.
30.2
Emergency Planning
Paul Eeles (Emergency Planning Officer) and
Roger Booth (District Emergency Planning Officer) were in
attendance for discussion of this item.
Paul Eeles outlined the background to the
current Emergency Planning Service. The Civil Contingencies Act
2004 established a new statutory framework for civil protection at
local level. Prior to this Act, Cheshire County Council was
the responsible authority for emergency planning.
A partnership arrangement had now been
established (the Cheshire Emergency Planning Consortium) and Roger
Booth was a member of this group.
Roger Booth outlined the role of the
consortium, the key issues it addressed, and difficulties
encountered.
The following issues were raised during the
discussion –
> Reference was
made to the serious incident at the industrial premises on Weston
Road, Crewe on 4th June 2007 when the major emergency
planning procedure had been invoked.
Following that incident, Paul Eeles had met
with emergency services and other agencies to review the experience
and revise plans if appropriate.
> Chemical sites,
and others which were perceived to be hazardous, were not,
necessarily, those which presented the most threat; such
facilities were well-prepared for emergencies with rigorous
emergency procedures in place. There were other facilities in
the county which were potentially hazardous; a local
fireworks factory was cited as an example.
>
Terrorism: In response to a Member’s question, it was
confirmed that this had now moved up the political agenda.
Reference was made to the Local Resilience Forums (which were
created as a response to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004) and were
regularly attended by both the Emergency Planning Officer and the
District Planning Officer.
In the longer-term, Members would receive
appropriate training/briefing on emergency planning procedures. In
the meantime, Members of the Committee were invited to an
emergency planning recovery exercise to be held on
7th December 2007 at Marshfield Bank Community Centre
(9.00 am – 12.30 pm). First responders, members of the LSP
Co-ordination Group and the Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnership had also been invited to attend; any Member
interested could attend.
Following the presentation, Paul Eeles and
Roger Booth withdrew from the meeting.
30.3
Procurement
The Committee was invited to consider the
referral from Councillor John Hatfield, raised at the previous
meeting. Councillor Hatfield was in attendance and spoke to
the item.
If the review was accepted, the Committee
would examine all aspects of Council purchases and contracts for
goods and services and to consider the following–
>
Purchasing protocols.
>
Financial
Standing Orders and Regulations as to Contracts.
> Joint
purchasing arrangements with other Councils via the Cheshire
Procurement
Group.
> Current
performance indicators for purchasing activities and supporting
data, if necessary.
> The
effectiveness and value-for-money of current contract management
arrangements which would include data on the number and values of
contracts let in 2007/2008 and the identification of those which
were tendered. During this part of the process, consideration
would be given to whether the processes complied with protocols and
standing orders.
>
The
value-for-money offered by the stores operations and purchasing
service at Pyms Lane Depot.
> The
AGRESSO purchasing & ledger system, particularly its scope for
enhancement and planned developments.
>
The
potential for purchasing consortiums, e-auctions and the arguments
or reasons on either side of purchasing cards.
Members were reminded that, at the present
time, there was no capacity for Officer support for the review, and
if the Committee wished to include this in its work programme, it
was suggested that it be deferred.
AGREED:
(a) That the Committee include “Procurement”
in its work programme;
(b) That, at its January 2008, the Committee
establish a Working Group to undertake this review, following which
it could be scheduled into the Committee’s work programme.
30.4 Climate
Change (Task Group Established by Local Economy
and Environment Sub-Committee)
The Committee received two sets of minutes
of meetings of the Climate Change Task Group (established by the
Local Economy & Environment Scrutiny Committee), which had met
on 25th September 2007 and 1st November
2007.
The Committee was invited to re-consider
appointing a Member to the Task Group. It was recalled that
at its meeting in July 2007, Members had agreed that it was more
appropriate for the Local Economy and Environment Scrutiny
Committee to review the topic. The Committee re-affirmed its
decision and AGREED not to appoint to the Task
Group.
30.5
Draft Timetable of Public Meetings – 2008/2009
The Committee considered a first draft of the
Timetable of Public Meetings – 2008/2009 which was due for
submission to the Board in January 2008.
Reference was made to the recent Council
meeting when minutes of meetings had been omitted from the Record
of Meetings. An explanation had been provided to all Members
of Council, to the effect that the service standard of 2-weeks was
complied with; minutes had been issued to the Website Manager
for up-loading onto the website, but the minutes had been
unavailable for inclusion in the Record of Meetings (issued on
1st October).
A Member suggested that Full Council meetings
be re-scheduled to allow a 3-week gap between the end of the cycle
of Committee meetings. This would allow all minutes from the
appropriate cycle to be included in the Record of Meetings,
enabling Members at Council to ask questions of Committee
Chairs.
AGREED: That, at its
meeting in January 2008, the Board be asked to consider scheduling
Full Council meetings one week later than indicated on the draft
timetable submitted to ensure that all minutes from each cycle of
meetings were available for inclusion in the Record of
Meetings.
(It was noted that if the suggestion were
not possible, an explanatory note would be included in the report
submitted to the Board in January 2008.)
31
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
7TH January 2008
………………………………………………Chair