Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

Councillor G. N. Denaro declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 (Parish Plans) as a member of Wythall Parish Council.

Councillor Mrs. J. Dyer M.B.E. declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 (Parish Plans) as a member of Wythall Parish Council.

Councillor Mrs. J. M. L. A. Griffiths declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 as a member of Alvechurch Parish Council.

Councillor R. Hollingworth declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 as a member of Alvechurch Parish Council.

Councillor Mrs. M. A. Sherrey JP declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 as a member of Clent Parish Council

Councillor P. J. Whittaker declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 as a member of Tutnall and Cobley Parish Council.

The above declarations were made immediately prior to discussion on the relevant agenda item.

The minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 5th March 2008 were submitted.

RESOLVED  that the minutes be approved and adopted as a correct record.

The Leader welcomed the Council’s Audit Commission Relationship Manager Gary Stevens to the meeting. Mr Stevens then presented the Audit Commission’s Annual Audit and Inspection Letter.

The report included a summary of all audit work undertaken throughout the year together with the Council’s Direction of Travel assessment which had taken place in November 2007. Mr Stevens acknowledged that because of the reporting timescales it was inevitable that the report could not fully reflect the latest situation. It was felt that the report did however fairly reflect the improvement which had been made and reinforced the issues which still required to be fully addressed.

The Leader thanked Mr. Stevens for the work undertaken and the helpful and positive approach adopted which had been of assistance to officers and members.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the report be received and the contents noted;

(b)       that the recommendations from the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter be incorporated into the updated Improvement Plan to be considered in July 2008.

The minutes of the Scrutiny Steering Board held on 4th March 2008 were submitted.

RESOLVED  that the minutes be noted.

The minutes of the Audit Board held on 17th March 2008 were submitted.

RESOLVED  that the minutes be noted.

The minutes of the Performance Management board held on 18th March 2008 were submitted.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the minutes of the meeting be noted;

(b)       that the recommendation in relation to the inclusion of Disabled Facilities Grants as one of the Council’s Corporate Indicators be approved but that the Board be requested to suggest how performance on this could be measured;

(c)        that it be noted that it was intended that further consideration would be given to identifying “key “ issues. 

The Cabinet considered recommendations made by the Scrutiny Steering Board based on the report of the Task Group set up to scrutinise issues relating to Refuse and Recycling. The Leader welcomed the Chairman of the Task Group, Councillor C. R. Scurrell to the meeting. Councillor Scurrell briefly introduced the report and highlighted some key points. He also thanked all officers and members who had contributed to the scrutiny process. 

There was detailed discussion on the recommendations contained within the report and on some general principles in relation to the production of Task Group reports. There was also discussion on some additional work which it was hoped that the Task Group would be willing to undertake. The report was welcomed as a very good report and the Leader thanked Councillor Scurrell and the Task Group members together with the officers for their hard work.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that in relation to Recommendation 1 (NVQ Training for the Existing Workforce), NVQ Training in Waste Management from the Waste Management Industry Training Advisory Board via NEW College be given to all refuse and recycling staff over a two year period commencing in September 2008 with the following conditions:

• Standards for “performance criteria” and “knowledge requirements” specific to this Council be built into the awards;
• The preferred primary assessment method being observation (rather than witness testimonies or personal statements);and
• Performance criteria being observed consistently over a certain time period rather than as a one-off;

(b)       that in relation to Recommendation 2 (NVQ Training for New Employees), it be made a requirement for all new employees to either hold the NVQ in Waste Management or to achieve it within an agreed timeframe;

(c)        that in relation to Recommendation 3 (NVQ Training for Team Leaders), the following NVQ training be given to the three Refuse and Recycling Team Leaders

• Team Leading in Refuse and Recycling via NEW College
• Business Improvement Techniques via Resource Development International               

(It was understood that items (a), (b) and (c) above would be referred to the Head of Human Resources and the Portfolio Holder for Street Scene and Waste Management for discussions on how the training could be best included in the Training Plan)

(d)       that in relation to Recommendation 4 (Commingled Recycling Service), the Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to monitor the progress which Worcestershire County Council is making in relation to building their own sorting plant by 2009, as this will enable a commingled recycling service to be launched (making it easier to recycle and likely to encourage more recycling) and therefore significantly improve this Council’s recycling rates;  

(e)       that in relation to Recommendation 5 (Recycling Additional Materials), Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to continue to encourage Worcestershire County Council Officers to investigate recycling more materials through the Waste Management Forum);

(f)         that in relation to Recommendation 6 (Benchmarking), Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to continue to regularly and systematically benchmark against the top 10-15 local authorities in the recycling league table  ...  view the full minutes text for item 166.

Consideration was given to the Annual External Audit Report 2006/07 issued by the Council’s former External Auditor (KPMG LLP). The report related to the findings from work undertaken by the External Auditors as part of the 2006/07 Audit and Inspection Plan. The report acknowledged clear improvements in a number of areas including the Medium Term Financial Strategy and budget monitoring arrangements.  The report also contained recommendations for further actions and a management response had been included for each of the recommendations.   Following Discussion it was

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the Annual External Audit Report for 2006/07 be noted; and

(b)       that the management responses to the recommendations in the Annual External Audit Report for 2006/07 be endorsed and that officers be requested to include these issues in the new Improvement Plan as appropriate; and

(c)        that thanks be expressed to KPMG LLP and in particular to Mr. A. Cardoza for the assistance they had provided.           

Consideration was given to the updated Improvement Plan Exception Report for January 2008 together with the corrective action being taken.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the revisions to the Improvement Plan Exception Report and the corrective action being taken be noted;

(b)       that it be noted that of the 140 actions highlighted within the Plan for January 2008, 84.3% of the Plan was on target (green), 11.4% was one month behind (amber)  and 1.4% was over one month behind (red). 2.9% of actions had been rescheduled or suspended with approval.

Consideration was given to a report on the possibility of the Council submitting a request for a further Comprehensive Performance Assessment  to be undertaken in November 2008 with the aim of achieving a rating of either Fair or Good. The draft letter attached as an appendix to the report set out the reasons for making such a request but it was reported that this required slight updating. Following discussion it was

RECOMMENDED   that a request be submitted to the Audit Commission for a further Comprehensive Performance Assessment to be undertaken in November 2008 and that the letter attached as an appendix to the report be updated to form the basis of this request.

Consideration was given to a report on the methodology to be used for the integration and adoption of Parish Plans within the district wide Local Strategic Partnership and the Local Development Framework. Reference was also made to discussions on this issue which had taken place at a recent meeting of the Parish Council Forum. It was recognised that Parish Plans could provide a valuable source of local information that could inform the work of the Local Strategic Partnership and integrate with or supplement the Local Development Framework.  It was felt however that further consideration may be required in relation to the procedure to be followed in relation to formally recognising Parish Plans and it was

RESOLVED:

(a)       that authority to finalise the methodology for the integration of Parish Plans within the Local Strategic Partnership and the Local Development Framework be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Portfolio Holder; and    

(b)       that following the finalisation of the process referred to above, a twelve week period of consultation be undertaken within this Authority, the Local Strategic Partnership, Community First/County Association of Local Councils and the County Council.