SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (CORPORATE RESOURCES)

 

 

Minutes of a meeting held on 9th September 2008.

 

Present:  Councillor J.F. Fraser (Chairman); Councillor C.L. Osborne (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Mrs. P. Drake, K. Hatton, G. John, Mrs. K.A. Kemp, Mrs. A.J. Moore, N. Moore, A.C. Williams, E.T. Williams and Miss. S.J.C. Williams.

 

Also present: Councillor G.C. Kemp.

 

 

306     MINUTES -

 

RESOLVED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 29th July 2008 be approved subject to the inclusion of Councillor G.C. Kemp’s name being included in the last sentence of the preamble to read as follows “the information tabled at the meeting including the Cabinet Member’s response (Councillor G.C. Kemp)”; and that the minutes of 13th August 2008 be approved as a correct record.

 

 

307     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -

 

No declarations were received.

 

 

308     CORPORATE PLAN 2006-2010 ANNUAL MONITORING (CMT) -

 

Progress made against the actuals contained in the Council’s Corporate Plan 2006-2010 was considered by the Committee.  Schedules containing “Key Targets” and “Actions” in respect of those issues falling within the remit of the Scrutiny Committee, namely community leadership, lifelong learning, community wellbeing, the environment, regeneration and corporate resources.  The schedules provided an update on progress for 2007/08 and, as previously, the Cabinet Members and officers had been identified for each target and action in the Plan being shown as:

 

·     completed or on track for completion within agreed timescales

·     concerns about outcomes not being achieved within agreed timescales

·     significant risk of outcomes not being achieved within agreed timescales.

 

Councillor N. Moore referred to progress in respect of sickness absence management arrangements.  The Operational Manager for Corporate Policy and Communications indicated that clarification was required concerning the accuracy of the 2007/08 figures which were currently being validated.  However, in the meantime, an action plan was still currently being progressed.  The Head of Finance and Property confirmed that a report would be shortly submitted to the Corporate Management Team for consideration regarding this issue and would then be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration in the near future.  In addition, a Working Group previously established regarding sickness absence was examining particular issues where procedures were currently being operated within directorates of the Council.  Some concerns still remained regarding data capture and related reporting of information.  The Group were examining alternative ways of presenting data to allow managers to manage performance more effectively. 

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T the Director of Learning and Development submit a progress report to the next meeting of this Scrutiny Committee regarding sickness absence management arrangements.

 

(2)      T H A T the progress made on implementing the Council's Corporate Plan 2006-2010 be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

(1)      To ensure that the Scrutiny Committee was fully apprised of issues surrounding sickness absence arrangements within the Council.

 

(2)      To ensure Members are aware of progress made.

 

 

309     IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2008/09 (CX) -

 

The draft Improvement Plan 2008/09 had been forwarded under separate cover prior to the meeting.  The Operational Manager for Corporate Policy and Communications confirmed that the draft Plan contained all available performance information required by the Welsh Assembly Government together with a number of local indicators which measured corporate priorities.  The Plan was continually evolving as information was provided by managers and, as such, was not yet fully completed.  Such information would be included prior to the final draft being presented to the Council on 8th October 2008. 

 

Reference was made by Councillor N. Moore to the position with regard to the continuance of National Statutory Performance Indicators (NSPIs).  The Operational Manager for Corporate Policy and Communications indicated that some NSPIs had been deleted from the Improvement Plan as a direct result of WAG no longer requiring such to be collected.  The Operational Manager also referred to core data indicators BNF which in some instances were also no longer required to be collected by WAG and the Local Government Data Unit.  In such instances these had been deleted.  For local performance indicators, the information was no longer of use in managing performance.  Councillor Moore requested that where performance indicators were no longer collected, an appropriate explanation be provided within the published Improvement Plan so that it made it clear to the members of the public why the information would not be provided.  The Operational Manager confirmed that such clarification could be included in the draft Plan prior to its publication.

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Improvement Plan for 2008/09 as currently drafted be endorsed.


Reason for recommendation

 

To ensure that actions are taken to improve services and to agree the Plan within required timescales.

 

 

310     REVENUE MONITORING: 1ST APRIL 2008 - 31ST JULY 2008 (DFICTP) -

 

The Head of Finance and Property indicated that the projected outturn for 2008/09 Revenue Budget was forecasting a balanced budget on the Council Fund and the Housing Revenue Account. 

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position with regard to the Authority’s 2008/09 Revenue Budget be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

So that Members are aware of the projected revenue outturn for 2008/09.

 

 

311     CAPITAL MONITORING: 1ST APRIL 2008 - 31ST JULY 2008  AND TREASURY MANAGEMENT (DFICTP) -

 

The Committee received a report on progress on the 2008/09 Capital Programme for the period 1st April 2008 to 31st July 2008, including, where necessary requested changes to the Programme.  These changes related to:

 

Director of Social Services

Youth Service Capital Grant - WAG had approved the sum of £169,807 for use within the Youth Service. It was proposed that the grant be put towards the provision of a mobile youth provision which would combine both detached and outreach work with the addition of a  “youth centre on wheels”. It was requested that the 2008/09 Capital Programme be increased by £169,807 in order to proceed with the procurement of a new bus.

 

Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration

Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) - the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) had awarded this Authority a grant of £46,740. The grant covers the year’s implementation of the Council’s ROWIP, which was adopted in November 2007, and was likely to be followed by further annual grants. It was requested that the 2008/09 Capital Programme be increased by £46,740 in order that procurement may proceed.

 

Holton Road Public Realm Improvements - additional funding from WAG was received at the very end of 2007/08. The funding was received for the above scheme which is still ongoing. It was therefore requested to increase the Capital Programme by £258,000, to account for £233,000 WAG grants and £25,000 from Council reserves. 

 

Penarth Headland Link - following discussions with WAG regarding the clawback on grant awarded for the aborted Penarth Headland Link project, it had now been agreed that the grant income of £2.4 million that had been previously received by this Authority would be repaid over a 5 year period commencing 1st August 2008 when the first instalment of £500,000 becomes due.

 

Appendix 2 provided non-financial information on capital schemes with a budget of over £100,000. Where a budget shown in Appendix 1 was more than £100,000 but was made up of several schemes that individually are less than £100,000, the scheme is not included in Appendix 2.

 

It had also been indicated that the maximum lending limit with the Council’s external Fund Manager was approaching the previously agreed limit and to enable a greater degree of flexibility it had been proposed to increase this limit to £25 million.

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T the position with regard to the 2008/09 Capital Programme be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T the Cabinet proposal to amend the maximum holding which may be placed with Investec Asset Management, the Authority’s appointed external fund managers from £20 million to £25 million be noted.

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

(1)       So that Members are aware of the projected Capital outturn for 2008/09.

 

(2)       So that Members are informed of the proposed increase in the lending limit with the Authority’s external fund manager.