Agenda and minutes

The public open forum will commence at 2.00 p.m. and the following formal business of the Council will commence at 2.30 p.m. or whenever the public open forum ends, if earlier.

As there were no questions or requests to speak from the public, the meeting moved to the business to be transacted.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brough, Cook, Dawson, Helyar, Sam Jalili, Jock Kerr, Russell, Susan Sandall, Selby, Stephens, and the Leader – Councillor Mrs Neal.

Members are asked to declare any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

Minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 18 June 2009 and the Extraordinary meeting held on 24 July 2009.

                                                                                                            (Enclosure)

The minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 18 June 2009 were confirmed as a correct record subject to the replacement wording at minutes 24 as follows:

Councillor Joynson declared a personal interest in relation to that part of minute number 28 relating to Disabled Facilities Grants because he was a member of the British Polio Fellowship.

The minutes of the Extraordinary meeting held on 24 July 2009 were confirmed as a correct record subject to:

·              An amendment to record that both Councillor Susan Sandall and Councillor Bob Russell had been present; and

·              an amendment [in bold type] at minute 36,  “Appointment of Chief Executive” the first sentence to read:

Members had previously been circulated with report A1 prepared by the Chief Executive’s Appointment Panel.

                                                                                                (Enclosure)

Circulated with the agenda was a list of the Chairman’s engagements for the period 18 June to 3 September 2009.  These were noted.

The Chairman made the following announcements:

(1)  The Chairman referred to the unveiling of the memorial plaque on St. Peter’s Hill Green, Grantham dedicated to service and civilian personnel who had lost their lives during conflict. The Mayor of Grantham had requested that those members attending the ceremony on Sunday 6 September 2009 be on site at 10am prompt.

(2)  Councillor Chivers would be undertaking a charity parachute jump in Turkey and invited members to sponsor him.

(3) Following the success of last year’s event, the Chairman would be inviting members to join him for Christmas lunch at Belton Park Golf Club.  The provisional date was 14 December.

(4)  The Chairman advised members that he would be abseiling down St. Wulfram’s church on 19 September to raise money for the church and the new war memorial on St. Peter’s Hill.  He welcomed any sponsorship members might wish to offer.

A member made reference to the proposed Christmas lunch and said whilst last year had been an enjoyable occasion, it had been disappointing that only a few officers joined members.  She asked if consideration could be given to subsidising the cost of the meal for staff as it would be nice if more staff could meet informally with members.  A number of members indicated their support for staff being encouraged to attend and the Chairman confirmed he would discuss the matter with the Chief Executive.

Report number CHFCS61 by the Assets and Resources Portfolio Holder.                                                                                                             (Enclosure)

DECISION:

(1)         To approve the Medium Term Financial Plan for the period 2009/10 to 2012/13 as appended to report number CHFCS61;

(2)         To approve a further supplementary estimate in the current financial year of a maximum of £400,000 to meet the costs of the business rates and the management fee of the leisure centres and stadium in South Kesteven subject to Cabinet agreeing interim management arrangements at their meeting on 7 September 2009.  This amount to be met from the capacity building, priority setting and service improvement reserve.

Members had before them report number CHFCS61 attached to which was the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), a document which brought together the Council’s financial position and demonstrated how the revenue and capital finance resources were organised in order to deliver the authority’s priorities.

Before the officer began his presentation, the Deputy Leader reminded members that the report referred to in the agenda papers would not be discussed by Cabinet until Monday and that it was an exempt report.

The Assets and Resources portfolio holder moved the recommendations contained in the report CHFCS61, subject to the addition of the word “further” before supplementary estimate in the second part of the recommendation.  The motion was seconded.

The Corporate Head of Finance and Customer Services explained that since the MTFP had been considered by Cabinet on 3 August 2009 (having previously been reviewed by the Resources PDG on 23 July) there had been clarification about the future delivery of the leisure services and the MTFP had been updated to include this issue.  Before summarising the MTFP, the officer highlighted the present uncertainty surrounding the level of government grant that may be available to local authorities during the latter two periods of the plan.  It was anticipated that the Government would reduce its public spending from 2011/12 the effect of which would be that the grant settlement would be significantly less in real terms than in previous years.  The MTFP reflected this uncertainty and included financial modelling for a 5% and 10% reduction.  Additional pressure would also be brought to bear by the requirement to meet increased efficiency savings.

After highlighting other key pressures on the Council’s finances, the Corporate Head of Finance and Customer Services advised that the Cabinet and senior officers would now be working towards the preparation of a balanced budget.  There would be challenging times ahead based on a variety of potential scenarios and a degree of uncertainty.  The MTFP would need to be kept up to date to meet changing circumstances and resources needed to be aligned to deliver the Council’s stated priorities.  The officer advised that South Kesteven district council was better placed than many other authorities and public sector bodies both within and outside Lincolnshire because of its history of prudent financial management.  This position afforded the Council a window of opportunity to gear itself up for the future and take the opportunities to ensure it was based placed to meet these challenges.

The Corporate Head was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

The Chairman of the Constitution Committee to submit the recommendations of the committee from its meeting held on 13 July 2009.           (Enclosure)

DECISION:

(1)   The Council’s existing Scrutiny Committee be designated the Council’s Crime and Disorder Overview and Scrutiny Committee in addition to its existing role on scrutiny generally, and that the Constitution be amended as follows:

Page 43 – clause 6.1 – Scrutiny Introduction

·        In respect of its duty under the crime and disorder legislation, the Committee may co-opt additional members to serve on the committee in accordance with s.3 of the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) regulations 2009.

Page 43 – clause 6.2 – Terms of Reference of the Scrutiny Committee

·        Discharge the functions of s.19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 and the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations 2009.

Page 44 – clause 6.4

·        Shall meet to review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken, in connection with the discharge by the responsible authorities of their crime and disorder functions as the committee considers appropriate but no less than once in every twelve month period.

·        The Scrutiny Committee may co-opt additional members from those persons and bodies who are responsible authorities with the meaning of s.5 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and from those persons and bodies with whom the responsible authorities have a duty to co-operate under section 5(2) of that Act (the “co-operating persons and bodies”) subject to the provisions set out in that regulation.

The provisions of the Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules at page 183 of the Constitution to be amended to include the relevant provisions of the Crime and Disorder (Overview and Scrutiny) Regulations 2009.

(2)  To endorse the recommendation of the Constitution Committee that delegated authority not be granted to the Corporate Head of Sustainable Communities to undertake prosecutions for offences under Section 1 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

The Chairman of the Constitution Committee presented the minutes from the committee meeting held on 13 July 2009 (copies of which had previously been circulated with the agenda) which contained two recommendations.  The first related to the designation of the Scrutiny Committee as the Council’s crime and disorder overview and scrutiny committee which would be an addition to its existing remit.  This recommendation had been subject to the comments of the scrutiny Committee who had subsequently supported the recommendation before the Council.  The Chairman therefore moved the recommendation which was seconded.  Members, noting this was a statutory requirement, supported the motion.  A member emphasised the importance of the scrutiny function and requested that it received the necessary support it required to meet its ever increasing workload. The recommendation was moved, seconded and carried following a vote.

The second recommendation concern the committee’s decision not to grant delegated authority to the Corporate Head of Sustainable Communities to undertake prosecution proceedings in respect of offences under section1 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.  The committee considered the existing mechanism of securing authority through the non key decision process was sufficient and should not be subject to further delegated authority.  The Chairman of the Committee moved the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee to present the annual Scrutiny report (report number DEM031).                                                (Enclosure)

DECISION:  To note the Annual Scrutiny report for the period May 2008 to April 2009.

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Joynson, presented the annual scrutiny report which provided a summary of the work undertaken by the committee during the course of the previous municipal year.

Councillor Joynson spoke on the difficulty the committee had in determining its remit but felt that central to its role was to try and speak for the community.  He was of the opinion that central government had not helped to clarify this situation.  Having said that, he did consider that although the committee did not have a specific end product, it did approach its work with a positive attitude and debates had covered important, interesting and relevant topics to society in a non partisan way.  He defended any potential criticism that no call-ins had been made last year by stating that this was in fact indicative of the council working well.

Councillor Joynson emphasised the amount of work that was now being given to the scrutiny function by central government such as the crime and disorder duty.  A danger of this is that the focus of the committee could become too thinly spread.  He made a strong plea for the scrutiny committee to be properly resourced in order that it could deal with these increasing demands.  Even so, the committee would inevitably have to prioritise its focus to certain areas.  He concluded by saying that he would like to see more non committee members attend meetings and would be making specific invitations to members to attend future meetings.

In accordance with Access to Information Procedure Rule 17.3, the Leader to submit report number CAB13 on a non key decision taken under special urgency provisions.                                                       (Enclosure)

Report number CAB013 by the Leader was noted.

To note the list of questions asked under Council procedure rule 11.1 as circulated at the start of the meeting and their reference to the relevant Policy Development Group.

No questions on notice from members had been received for this meeting.

From Councillor Mike Williams:

“It is well known that productivity increases when staff feel involved and connected to the organisation in which they work.

To help build positive and productive links between members and officers I would like to suggest to this Council that we should start arranging opportunities and events where staff and members can get together and get to know each other.

This is not a frivolous idea, as the more we know each other and the issues that we need to deal with, the better we will be able to work together for the benefit of the community.  I hope the council will support it.  I am open to suggestions.”

**********

PLEASE NOTE: The Notice of Motion deadline for the Council meeting on 29 October will be: 2.00pm on Friday 16 October 2009.

DECISION:To endorse and support the motion by Councillor Mike Williams that opportunities and events be considered by the Chief Executive, Councillor Williams and any other interested members in order to facilitate members and staff interacting and getting to know each other better.

Councillor Mike Williams presented the following motion:

“It is well known that productivity increases when staff feel involved and connected to the organisation in which they work.

To help build positive and productive links between members and officers I would like to suggest to this Council that we should start arranging opportunities and events where staff and members can get together and get to know each other.

This is not a frivolous idea, as the more we know each other and the issues that we need to deal with; the better we will be able to work together for the benefit of the community.  I hope the council will support it.  I am open to suggestions.”

In support of his motion, Councillor Williams emphasised he considered this a serious issue.  Although it was not possible to know everyone in a large organisation, Councillor Williams was concerned that there now so many officers whom members could either not put a face to a name or did not know even existed.  Members and officers should be working more closely together and he invited any suggestions on how the authority could make this happen.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Farrar who expressed the view that anyone who opposed the idea was a miser.  Several members indicated their support for the principle behind Councillor Williams’ motion.    A member mentioned when she had first joined the Council ten years ago, members and officers met together informally at the Christmas lunch.  This opportunity had been appreciated by staff and the Assets and Resources portfolio holder suggested that the value and importance of this interaction was greater than the cost.

Another member suggested that colleagues should take up the opportunity to shadow officers.  This was a good way to gain an understanding of how the “nuts and bolts” of the organisation worked.  Another member spoke about the difficulty that those from the south of the district faced.  Given the journey time to the headquarters, he would try to fit in as much business as possible during his visit but this often left very little time to get to see and talk informally with staff.

Councillor Williams thanked members for their support and said he had a few ideas for informal events which he had mentioned to the Chief Executive.  He said that staff morale was now picking up and that this should now be built on.

The meeting closed at 3.38 p.m.