Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2018.

Minutes of the meetings held on 24 April 2018 were agreed by Members present and signed by the Chair.

Minutes of the meetings held on 24 April 2018 were agreed by Members present and signed by the Chair.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Cllr D Collins

Cllr D Collins

To receive any declarations of interest

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered -

(i)            must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent

and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal interest which is also prejudicial

(ii)            may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a dispensation.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in Part 2 of the Code of Conduct for Members

[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the start of the meeting]

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements and ask questions in accordance with the rules as to Public Participation.

There was no public participation.

There was no public participation.

There were no referrals to Cabinet

There were no referrals to Cabinet.

There were no referrals to Cabinet.

The Forward Plan was noted and agreed, with following comments/amendments;

Cllr Sutton referenced Item 2 and advised he is pre warning there may be slippage on The Bury, may have to come to July Cabinet, but will not affect bid to HLF.

Cllr Sutton requested an addition to June meeting; HH Town Centre Parking Access & Movement. 

The Forward Plan was noted and agreed, with following comments/amendments;

Cllr Sutton referenced Item 2 and advised he is pre warning there may be slippage on The Bury, may have to come to July Cabinet, but will not affect bid to HLF.

Cllr Sutton requested an addition to June meeting; HH Town Centre Parking Access & Movement. 

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND;

That Council;

1.    Approve the carry forward of unspent reserve funded budgets from 2017/18 to 2018/19 (see Appendix D of the report to Cabinet, £315k slippage into 2018/19)

2.    Approve the use of the Housing Revenue Account surplus to fund an increased Revenue Contribution to Capital

Decision

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND;

That Council;

1.     Approve the carry forward of unspent reserve funded budgets from 2017/18 to 2018/19 (see Appendix D of the report to Cabinet, £315k slippage into 2018/19)

2.     Approve the use of the Housing Revenue Account surplus to fund an increased Revenue Contribution to Capital

Reason for decision

To agree details of the provisional outturn position for the:

· General Fund

· Housing Revenue Account

· Capital Programme

Corporate objectives

Delivering an efficient and modern council

Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer:  

No further comments to add.

S.151 Officer:

This is a S.151 Officer report.

Advice

Cllr Elliot introduced the report and expressed his view that we are getting better at managing and forecasting, also recognised the challenges ahead of us to meet future saving targets.

JDeane added that this year we finished within 0.4% of budget, commenting that there are some positives to be drawn on accuracy and forecasting and adding that with expected reductions in government funding over next few years we will see a more challenging budgetary environment. 

Cllr Sutton referred to the £240k generated by volume of planning applications.  JDoe confirmed it was a good year for income.

Cllr Williams commented that we have made quite significant savings and have better financial control in terms of coming in on budget and producing our budget.  Emphasising that the saving requirements referred to are going to be significant in terms of challenge.

Cllr Tindall referred to the £1.2m mentioned in the report as retained for upgrade fire safety work, advising he read somewhere that central government will pay for replacement of panels for remedial work arising from Grenfell fallout.  He asked, is it the intention that this fire safety work will be panel replacement? In which case, if read correctly, the government will be funding it?

MGaynor advised we do not have any buildings where we could apply for funding, this upgrade work is to ensure we are doing the upmost to ensure all our tenants and leaseholders are safe in all of our buildings.

Cllr Griffiths advised there was some panelling on a new build, which was changed, but would not have qualified for funding due to building height.  There was also another build still in the planning stages where there was intention to use panels, for which the plans were changed.

Recommendations agreed.

Voting

None.

Cabinet approved the new Workforce Equality and Diversity Strategy. 

Decision

Cabinet approved the new Workforce Equality and Diversity Strategy. 

Reason for decision

To approve the new Workforce Equality and Diversity Strategy. 

Corporate objectives

Modern and Efficient Council – Having a diverse workforce will improve productivity and morale and ensure that we are better able to represent and support our local communities.

It will also contribute to improve retention rates and ensure that we build and develop institutional knowledge and capability.

Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer:  

The strategy will help to ensure that the Council meets its statutory equality obligations and ensure that the Council does not discriminate against any person, and is therefore recommended for approval.

S.151 Officer:

No direct financial implications.

Advice

Cllr Harden advised this is part of the Corporate People Strategy, to develop support and promote equality across Council.  There are 5 commitments within Strategy, as set out in report.

There were no questions.

Recommendations agreed

Voting

None.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND;

That Council approves the changes to the redundancy multiplier as set out in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

Decision

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND;

That Council approves the changes to the redundancy multiplier as set out in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

Reason for Decision

For Cabinet to approve the changes to the redundancy multiplier and recommend to Council that these are implemented.    

Corporate objectives

Delivering a modern and efficient Council – To ensure our existing terms and conditions are modern and attractive for staff whilst also offering value for residents.

Monitoring Officer/S.151 Officer comments

Monitoring Officer:  

This report was not on the Council’s forward plan and therefore the consent of the chairman of the Finance and Resources Overview and scrutiny committee was obtained to treat this matter as an urgent report.

S.151 Officer:

All redundancy cases are assessed on a case by case basis and the business case to justify any decision has to provide value for money.

Redundancies will only be approved if the financial business case Is positive, hence there should be no direct financial impact on the existing budget, but future redundancy business cases will provide less savings to the council.

Advice

Cllr Williams advised this follows some dispute over T&C changes to redundancy, which lead to further negotiation with the result that we have amended our original decision, as set out in report.  Recommendation is to ask Full Council to approve the revised proposal.

Recommendations agreed.

Voting

None.

To consider passing a resolution in the following terms:

That, under s.100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12A Part 1 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 the public be excluded during the items in Part 2 of the Agenda for this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that, if members of the public were present during those items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council and third party companies/organisations.

Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, Part 1, paragraph 3.

That, under s.100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12A Part 1 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 the public be excluded during the item in Part 2 of the Agenda for this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that, if members of the public were present during this item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council and third party companies/organisations and also contains legal advice which may be subject to a claim for legal privilege. (Minute CA/125/17)

Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, Part 1, paragraph 3 and 5.

That, under s.100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12A Part 1 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 the public be excluded during the item in Part 2 of the Agenda for this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that, if members of the public were present during this item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council and third party companies/organisations and also contains legal advice which may be subject to a claim for legal privilege. (Minute CA/125/17)

Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, Part 1, paragraph 3 and 5.

Details can be found in the Part ll decision sheet.

Details can be found in the Part ll minutes.