Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Dr. D. W. P. Booth JP.

Councillors Mrs. M. A. Sherrey JP and R. D. Smith declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 7 (Artrix Service Level Agreement) as members of the Bromsgrove Arts Centre Operating Trust and left the meeting during the consideration of this item.

The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 29th July 2009 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record.

(a)       To receive and note the minutes

(b)       To consider any recommendations contained within the minutes

The minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Board held on 28th July 2009 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes be noted.

No meetings had been attended by the Leader or other Cabinet Members.

Consideration was given to a report that summarised the development of the car parking operation through investment and the introduction of pay on foot, together with the option to introduce Civil Parking Enforcement.  During the discussion the Head of Street Scene and Community was asked to liaise with officers at Redditch Borough Council who had recently introduced Civil Parking Enforcement.  It was noted that it was intended there would be consultation on the operational delivery of the proposals with the Disabled Users Group and the Equality and Diversity Forum.  Following discussion it was

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the purchase of the Chipside software for parking management at a cost of £5,000 to be met from existing budgets be approved;

(b)       that the deletion of the Shopmobility Assistant post and utilisation of the savings together with an additional £6,500 to fund an additional Civil Enforcement Officer be approved;

(c)        that the opening of Shopmobility on Saturday mornings to be funded from savings within the parking service budget be approved;

(d)       that delegated authority be granted to the Head of Street Scene and Community to negotiate an agency agreement for Civil Parking Enforcement with Worcestershire County Council, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the report and that if an agreement cannot be reached details be reported to Cabinet for further consideration at a future meeting;

(e)       that an additional ten parent and child spaces be provided at various locations within Council car parks;

(f)         that the limited waiting spaces, with the exception of the four spaces for disabled drivers on School Drive car park, be converted back to standard spaces as soon as possible;

(g)       that the Dolphin Centre car park be converted to a permit only car park with effect from 1st January 2010;

(h)        that the Customer Charter and Procedures and Parking Appeal Policy, as set out in the report, be approved and adopted; and that delegated authority be granted to the Head of Street Scene and Community to review the Customer Charter and Procedures and the Parking Appeal Policy and make any revisions or amendments in the future in consultation with the Portfolio Holder;

(i)         that a reduction in parking charges on Hanover Street car park from 80 pence per hour to 70 pence per hour be approved, and that the all day fee on the same car park of £4.00 be reduced to £3.00 with effect from 1st January 2010;

(j)         that a new 30 minute charge of 40 pence be introduced on long stay car parks with effect from 1st January 2010; and

(k)        that a new three hour tariff set at £2.10 be introduced at the  Churchfields Multi-Storey and Stourbridge Road car parks with effect from 1st January 2010.

RECOMMENDED:

(a)       that the increase to the Capital Programme in 2009/2010 of £165,000 to fund the introduction of pay on foot on Recreation Road South and Churchfields car parks to be funded from working balances be approved;

(b)       that the additional funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

Consideration was given to a report on the proposed Service Level Agreement between Bromsgrove District Council and the Artrix Operating Trust for the provision of services at the Arts Centre.  Following further discussion, it was agreed that the Deputy Head of Street Scene and Community revise the wording of section 7 of the Service Level Agreement - Obligations of the Council, in line with the decision of the Cabinet on 22nd June 2005 (Minute No. 38/05 refers).

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the proposed Service Level Agreement, out-turn measures and monitoring arrangements, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be agreed, subject to the revision of section 7 of the agreement as detailed above; and

(b)       that authority be delegated to the Deputy Head of Street Scene and Community, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to finalise the contents (as referred to in section 3.8 of the report), arrangements and implementation of the Service Level Agreement with the Operating Trust.

The Leader informed Members that he had been interviewed by BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester regarding this issue and left the room during the consideration of this item.  The Deputy Leader, Councillor G. N. Denaro took the Chair.

Consideration was given to a report outlining proposals for the future of the market hall site.  Members requested that the Executive Director - Partnerships and Projects investigate possible alternative storage facilities for the market hall stalls.

RECOMMENDED that the proposal to demolish the market hall as the first stage in the preparation of the site for redevelopment be approved and that the Council approve the release of appropriate funding of £35,000 from 2009/2010 balances to fund the demolition project costs.

The Cabinet considered a report on the proposed Council Plan 2010/2013 which recommended that the Council’s Vision and Council Objectives be re-confirmed, that the number of priorities be increased from four to six and presented outline budget bids/key deliverables for delivering the required improvement on the priorities to meet residents’ expectations.  Following discussion on the six priorities it was agreed that the Assistant Chief Executive amend the key deliverables as agreed:

RECOMMENDED:

(a)       that the Vision and Council Objectives be reconfirmed;

(b)       that a fifth corporate value: value for money be added;

(c)        that the analysis of the Council’s national, regional and local context be noted;

(d)       based on the above context be noted and the following new set of priorities be agreed;

1.      Economic Development

2.      Town Centre

3.      Value for Money

4.      One Community

5.      Housing

6.      Climate Change

(e)       that the outline key deliverables for each priority be approved, subject to the amendments as referred to in the preamble above, and potential budget bids; and

(f)         that each portfolio holder be directed to work with the relevant Director and Head of Service on developing budget bids and savings.

Consideration was given to a report setting out a proposal to reduce the volume of Committee papers with a view to achieving increased use of electronic access together with new arrangements for access to Council and Committee documents containing confidential or exempt information.  The Monitoring Officer confirmed that the Chief Executive would not make a decision on formal requests to receive paper copies but that such requests would just be noted in order to produce a definitive list.  The Head of E-Government and Customer Services responded to questions from Members.

RECOMMENDED:

(a)       that, with effect from 1st October 2009, paper copies of agendas, reports and minutes be provided only for the Members of each Committee, the full Council meeting, potential public attendees at Council and Committee meetings, and for officer attendees on request, subject to the exclusion of those Members who opt to rely purely on electronic access;

(b)       that any Members who wish to rely purely on electronic access to Committee documents may do so on a voluntary basis by notifying the Chief Executive;

(c)        that, with effect from 1st October 2009, the electronic transmission of general Council correspondence including letters, decision notices, updates, the Forward Plan, notices of events and training sessions, etc., be confirmed as the standard method of delivery to Members, and that any Member who wishes to continue to receive paper copies be required to submit a formal request to the Chief Executive before this date requesting exemption from electronic delivery;

(d)       that, with effect from January 2010, the Council cease the twice-weekly post to those Members who voluntarily agree to collect post from their pigeonholes;

(e)       that the access to information procedures be amended with effect from 1st October 2009 as follows:

(i)         that access to reports and background information containing exempt information be restricted to Members of the Cabinet or relevant Committee and appropriate officers only;

(ii)        that attendance by a Member at a meeting of the Cabinet or Committee of which he/she is not a member following a resolution to exclude the public and press if the business to be transacted contains exempt information be permitted and that the Member be entitled to receive a copy of the exempt report and retain it;

(iii)       that any requests from other Members for access in accordance with Members’ statutory, constitutional and common law rights be considered on  a case by case basis by the Council’s Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Chairman of the relevant Committee;

(iv)       that, in the event of the Cabinet being required to make recommendations to the full Council on reports containing confidential or exempt information, the full report be included as part of the private agenda pack for the relevant meeting of the Council;

(v)        that the Monitoring Officer be designated in the Council’s Scheme of Delegation as the Proper Officer for the purposes of Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2000; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

The Cabinet considered a report on the Council’s performance and financial position at 30th June 2009 (quarter 1, 2009/2010).  It was requested that more detailed information on sundry debtors be included in future reports.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that it be noted that 61% of Performance Indicators for which data was  available were improving or stable;

(b)       that it be noted that 61% of Performance Indicators for which data was available were achieving their Year to Date target;

(c)        that it be noted that 89% of Performance Indicators for which data was available were predicted to meet their target at year end;

(d)       that the successes and areas for potential concern as set out in 4.1.1 of the report be noted;

(e)       that the current financial position on Revenue and Capital, as detailed in the report, be noted;

(f)         that the release of £163,000 from earmarked reserves as set out in Appendix 6 of the report, be approved; and

(g)       that the budget virements listed in Appendix 7 of the report be approved.

The Cabinet considered a report on the Council’s performance at 31st July 2009 (period 4).

RESOLVED:

(a)       that it be noted that 43% of Performance Indicators were stable or improving;

(b)       that it be noted that 63% of Performance Indicators that had a specific target were meeting their target as at the month end, and that 93% were projected to meet their target at the year end;

(c)        that performance figures for July 2009, as set out in the report, be noted;

(d)       that the particular areas of improvement as summarised in section 3.4 of the report be noted; and

(e)       that the Performance Indicators of particular concern as set out in section 3.5 report be noted.

Consideration was given to a report detailing the action plan in respect of improving Value for Money within the Council and updating Members of the progress in procurement activities.

RESOLVED that the Value for Money Action Plan be approved.

Consideration was given to the Improvement Plan Exception Report for July 2009 together with corrective action being taken.  The Executive Director - Partnerships and Projects was requested to provide an update on the Climate Change Matrix to the next Cabinet meeting.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)       that it be noted that, for the 83 actions highlighted for July within the plan, 80.7 percent were on target [green], 13.3 percent were one month behind [amber] and that there were no actions over one month behind [red].  In addition, it was noted that 6 percent of actions had been reprogrammed or suspended with approval, including the suspension of the Budget Jury (due to the ongoing shared services projects).

The Cabinet considered a report on the Worcestershire Enhanced Two Tier (WETT) Programme.  It was reported that the councils within Worcestershire had a shared vision and ambition for developing the way the authorities worked together to improve the quality of life for local communities by establishing and embedding an Enhanced Two Tier approach to delivering a number of key services.  The Chief Executive responded to questions from Members on Regulatory Services.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

"RESOLVED: that under Section 100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act, as amended, the relevant paragraph of that part, in each case, being as set out below, and that it is in the public interest to do so:-

RESOLVED: that under Section 100 I of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the items of business the subject of the following minutes on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of “Exempt Information” as defined in part I of the Schedule 12A to the Act, as amended, the relevant paragraphs of that part being set out below, and that it is in the public interest to do so:-

The minutes of the meeting of the Shared Services Board held on 21st July 2009 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes be noted.

The Cabinet considered a report on the CCTV and Lifeline shared service business case.  Members were asked to note that section 3.8 of the report should read "1st July 2010", and not "1st July 2009".

RECOMMENDED that the CCTV and Lifeline Shared Service business case, including its respective recommendations, in line with the minutes of the Shared Services Board 21st July 2009 be approved.

The Cabinet considered a report relating to the ICT shared service business case.  Members were asked to refer to the supplementary documentation.

RECOMMENDED:

(a)       that the business case in respect of a shared ICT service be received and noted;

(b)       that the delivery of a shared ICT service by a single ICT team hosted by Bromsgrove District Council be approved;

(c)        that both Councils proceed with the items in phase one with the necessary Capital cost of £238,100 being split equally between Redditch Borough Council and Bromsgrove District Council;

(d)       that both Councils approve the release of the necessary Capital Reserves (see (c) above) and the associated Revenue costs of £60,000 to be included as a budget bid for consideration as part of the review of the Medium Term Financial Plan;

(e)       that the existing Redditch Borough Council Capital budget allocated to IT improvements be used to fund some aspects of phase one of the project in order to reduce the overall expenditure of £238,100 (see (c) above); and

(f)         that the detailed business cases for phases two and three outlined in the document to be required in line with the wider shared service agenda be noted.