Agenda and minutes

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of discloseable pecuniary interests were made.  

The priorities for 2013/14 which had been reported previously and a list of priorities and initiatives which had been completed were presented. The work programme and broad priorities relevant to the portfolios for Scrutiny Committee Resources for 2014/15 were presented. The priorities and detail would be refined and developed over the coming months, to include outcomes and targets, and would be published in September 2014 in the Council’s Corporate Plan. 

Councillor Edwards presented the Leader’s priorities for the forthcoming year. He referred to the medium term financial plan as the City Council continued to face ongoing monetary challenges.  It was appropriate to have a meaningful consultation with the public over funding and budget changes in the next four years, and he would seek the support of the Scrutiny Committees to look at the individual areas of the Council. The City Council would have to become more self-sufficient in terms of funding and continue to develop the city’s economic growth, looking at income generation through attracting new business and income from business rates.

Councillor Pearson presented the priorities within the remit for Enabling Services and commented on the new priority to progress the renewable and energy efficiency programme to reduce the day to day energy running costs of the Council’s estate. The ICT proposals were progressing, and there was an impact on every aspect of the Council’s business, but the changes would make the IT Service well placed for the future.

Councillor Hannaford presented the priorities within the remit for the Portfolio Holder for Customer Access.  He reported on work currently being done to incorporate Credit Union in the work of the Help Me System and he anticipated bringing forward a report to Committee once these plans had developed.  Every effort had been made to continue to take a personal approach to managing the challenges of the welfare reform and that was reflected in the approach being taken by Customer Access Staff.  A review of the Customer Services centre opening hours had been done and revised hours implemented.  There had been some initial discussion as to how the Customer Service Centre could develop into more of a community hub, with a wider range of financial and social advice available with other partners.

Councillor Edwards gave the following response to a Member’s question, as he

was aware of the need for the city to look attractive at all times and particularly next year during the Rugby World Cup celebrations,  He referred to recent discussions with the County Council over the level of weeds in the city, but there was an issue over funding of the work to remove them.

Councillor Pearson gave the following responses to Members’ questions:-

·    he welcomed an opportunity to find a way for the public to be able to rate services and contact made through the web site.

·    the Strategic Management Team would consider a proposal for an employee survey and an action plan to support employees in managing the changes that would take place over the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Scrutiny Programme Officer presented the report updating the progress and work of scrutiny within the City Council’s political framework for the period 2013/14 following the appointment of the Scrutiny Programme Officer in July 2013, including a synopsis of the Task and Finish Group investigations, a review of the proposals for the Scrutiny system and timetabling/plans for 2014/15. The work had helped to encourage the profile of accountability to be raised. The Annual Scrutiny Work Programme meeting was due to take place on 14 July, which would allow Members the opportunity to examine the existing work schedule, review the task and finish groups and prioritise any new task and finish groups as well as receiving nominations for agreed groups for the following year.

A Member commented on the inclusion of the Audit and Governance Committee. A Member also welcomed the report and sought clarification on the proposals for change for the coming year and further review of Scrutiny. The Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support stated that a forthcoming meeting of the Scrutiny Review Working Group would ensure cross party discussions with the group leaders and other representatives of the political groups and their deliberations would be reported to Executive and Council.

A Member thanked the Scrutiny Programme Officer for the hard work and achievement in drawing together the report and felt that the role of a dedicated scrutiny officer had been a great benefit to the Council.

Scrutiny Committee -  Resources:-

(1)     supported the report and were content with the progress and direction of Scrutiny over the past year, together with the proposals on direction for the forthcoming year; and

(2)     approved the Annual Scrutiny report for public circulation on the Council’s web site.

The Assistant Director Finance presented a report on the overall performance for the 2013/14 financial year and the position regarding investments and borrowings at 31 March 2014. He responded to a number of Members’ comments and confirmed that the Council had successfully completed the sale, at auction, of its outstanding monies held in Landsbanki. Glitnir had also repaid in full the funds invested during 2011/12, although the proportion repaid in Icelandic Krona remained invested in Iceland due to restrictive currency movements, but he anticipated that the restrictions would be lifted in the future and the funds returned.  He also explained the investment strategy was made on the basis of the usual financial risks assessments in accordance with the strict investment portfolio approved by Council.

Scrutiny Committee  - Resources noted the Treasury Management report for the 2013/14 report and recommended approval by Council.

The Human Resources Business Manager presented the report which provided the following information which were attached as appendices to the report:-

·           comprehensive profile of the Council’s workforce (as at 31 March 2014), benchmarked where appropriate against the Labour Market Statistics for Exeter as captured by the 2011 Census and the workforce profile as at 31 March 2013.

·           HR performance data in respect of people resources and sickness absence during 2013-14

·           information in respect of approach to Learning and Development activity for 2013-15

A Member referred to the level of sickness which had decreased from previous years, and enquired whether a comparator figure was available for local authorities.  The Human Resources Business Manager stated that since the demise of the Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) this information was no longer gathered nationally and was at the discretion of the individual local authority to continue to make the calculation. 

Scrutiny Committee  - Resources noted the report.

The Assistant Director Finance and Principal Projects Manager presented the report which updated Members in relation to New Homes Bonus received from the Government, and how it had been spent, particularly the element available to communities through the Local Infrastructure Fund. He referred to the New Homes Bonus for 2014/15 which totalled £2,774,994 of which £250,000 was allocated to the Local Infrastructure Fund, £120,000 was set aside for capacity building and neighbourhood plans in the General Fund, and £36,000 had also been set aside for ward projects.  The balance would be held to fund the new Swimming Pool and Leisure Complex as well as reduce the debt held by the City Council.

The Principal Project Manager presented a table showing the distribution of Local Infrastructure Fund grants around the city. Groups were able to bid to fund projects, and, if any group was interested, they should contact him to make sure they met the eligibility criteria before they submitted their bid.

A Member enquired if the Natura 2000 mitigation initiative funding could be used to fund other improvements such as in St James, not only for green infrastructure projects but also social aspects and combating anti-social behaviour. The Chief Executive said that, unfortunately, this was not a permitted use of the fund.

Scrutiny Committee - Resources offered their continued support for use of the New Homes Bonus in the ways described in the circulated report, particularly in the use of the Local Infrastructure Fund to fund projects which filled gaps in the provision of community facilities across the city.

The Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support presented the report on allowances paid to Elected Members in 2013/14.

A Member welcomed the openness and transparency and felt that the schedule should have shown a pension contribution for those Councillors who were members of the Local Government Pension Scheme.  In response, the Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support advised that the pension eligibility for Members had changed and was now closed to new entrants and only continuing for existing members until the expiry of their term of elected office.  A Member considered the employer contribution should be shown, but not the individual councillor contribution.

Scrutiny Committee - Resources noted the allowances paid and expenses claimed by Members in 2013/14.

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following items on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part I, Schedule 12A of the Act.

The Assistant Director Finance presented the report and sought approval to enable the Council to progress with an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) shared service with two other local authorities (East Devon and Teignbridge District Councils).  He responded to a Member’s enquiry regarding the transfer of terms and conditions to new and existing staff, and also provided clarification on the management structure.  A Member welcomed the report and suggested this would ensure a robust and resilient back up service. It was considered that an opportunity for Members to receive a Briefing on the new shared service would also be arranged in due course.

Scrutiny Committee Resources noted the report and recommended that Executive and Council approve the following:-

(1)        implementation of a shared Information and Communications Technology (ICT) service between Exeter, Teignbridge and East Devon Councils, according to the detail set out in the Updated Business Case and Implementation Plan circulated with the report; 

(2)        creation of a stand-alone limited company (“the Company”) to be called Strata Service Solutions Ltd which is wholly owned and controlled equally by the three councils to deliver the ICT shared service; 

(3)        delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive & Growth Director, in consultation with the Leader of Exeter City Council, to finalise and sign legal agreements in line with the Updated Business Case and Implementation Plan;

(4)        delegated authority be given to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Deputy Chief Executive, to transfer the remaining ICT budgets for FY 2014/15 as at go-live date (expected to be 1 November 2014 ) to the shared service (Strata) and to transfer future budgets as per the payment plan in the Updated Business Case;

(5)        the budget for this Council’s share of the implementation costs as set out in the circulated report;

(6)        transfer of the ICT staff to the new company (under TUPE) at the go-live date; 

(7)        transfer of all ICT assets to the company at the go-live date;

(8)        the appointment of Chris Powell as the Interim Chief Operating Officer of the company from 1 August 2014, with the expectation that recruitment for the final post will be competitive and conducted through an internal and external campaign starting in September;

(9)        transfer of the line responsibility for all ICT staff from 1 August 2014 to the Interim Chief Operating Officer.  However staff will remain employees of the council until formal transfer; and

(10)      the creation of a Joint Executive Committee and Joint Scrutiny Committee, the terms of reference for which will be set up, following a formal report to Council agreeing this constitutional change.