Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs. L. Hodgson, Worcester City Council be elected as Chairman of the Joint Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

RESOLVED that Councillor M. Braley, Redditch Borough Council be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P. Mould, Redditch Borough Council, D. Thain and A. Hardman (substitute for D. Thain), Worcestershire County Council.

No declarations of interest were received.

The minutes of the meeting of the Worcestershire Shared Services Joint Committee held on 28th February 2011 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes be approved as a correct record.

The Committee considered the Worcestershire Regulatory Services Annual Report for the period 1st June 2010 to 31st March 2011.

The Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services thanked Members for attending the recent Worcestershire Regulatory Services Joint Committee Update Sessions.

The Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services informed the Committee that under the Worcestershire Shared Services Partnership Agreement the Joint Committee was required to receive the annual report at its annual meeting.  Members were asked to note that Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) did not start operating until 1st June 2010 and therefore the annual report would cover the period from 1st June 2010 until 31st March 2011.

The Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services responded to Councillor C. B. Taylor, Bromsgrove District Council regarding communication and the difficulties he had encountered whilst trying to contact and locate WRS officers at Wyatt House.  He informed Members that he had been made aware there had been some communication problems and that WRS would be fully launched during July 2011 to ensure that both the public and officers were made aware of WRS contact details and relocation to Wyatt House.

The Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Resource, Bromsgrove District Council responded to Councillor P. Grove, Malvern Hills District Council regarding financial information detailed in the annual report.

RESOLVED:

(a)               that the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) Annual Report 2010 / 2011 be noted; and

(b)               that a copy of the WRS Annual Report 2010 / 2011 be forwarded to the Chief Executive of each member authority.

Mr. I. Edwards, Regulatory Services Project Manager provided Members with a summary of the progress against plans for the period 29th February 2011 to 23rd June 2011.  He informed Members of the key tasks and achievements within each work stream and the revised project end date which had been extended by 3 months.  The original project end date of March 2012 had been moved to June 2012 following the revised dates for the delivery of the transformation work and the subsequent impact this had on the start of the ICT procurement and development process.

The Committee considered a report which detailed the financial position for the period June 2010 to March 2011.  The report reflected the final position for the financial year 2010 / 2011 subject to external audit review in July / August 2011.

The Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Resources, Bromsgrove District Council introduced the report and informed the Committee that the formal Statement of Accounts would be presented to the next meeting of the Joint Committee.  The report requested that Members considered the savings accrued during the year and the proposal to return 50 percent of this saving to the participating member authorities.

The Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Resources, Bromsgrove District Council responded to Councillor P. Grove, Malvern Hills District Council regarding miscellaneous expenses.

Further discussion followed on the budget monitoring and the need for more detailed information to be provided on miscellaneous expenses.

RESOLVED:

(a)               that the financial position for the period June 2010 to March 2011 be noted; and

(b)               that the refund of £300,000 to the participating Councils from the 2010 / 2011 underspend based on the original 2010 / 2011 partner shares, as set out below, to be repaid in 2011 / 2012, be approved.