Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Cook, Forman, King, Lee and Mapp. The Chairman had also passed on the apologies of Father Cradduck who had been unable to attend the meeting to lead prayers.

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

No interests were disclosed.

                                                                                                                  (Enclosure)

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2016 were proposed and seconded. An amendment to the minutes was proposed and seconded so that the minutes would read:

“...political composition of working groups, how the documents relating to the working parities and minutes of the working parties would be recorded and made publicly available, the number of scheduled public meetings...”

The Leader reassured members that considerations of the working group would go before the relevant policy development group for discussion and, where appropriate, onward recommendation.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was lost and a vote was taken on the minutes as presented in the agenda pack, which was carried.

                                                                                                                  (Enclosure)

The Council noted the Chairman’s engagements.

Report number CFM358 of the Leader of the Council, the Executive Member, Resources and the Executive Member, Housing.                                                              (Enclosure)

Decision:

PART A

In relation to the General Fund - Revenue

a.     to set a General Fund budget requirement of £12.403M for 2016/17 shown at Appendix A (inclusive of special expenses) of report number CFM358 taking into consideration the savings and efficiencies shown at Appendix B

b.     to approve a Council Tax increase of £5 (Band D equivalent) for 2016/17

c.     to note the indicative base estimates for 2017/18 and 2018/19 as detailed in the summary at Appendix A of report number CFM358

d.     To approve the fees and charges as shown at Appendix C of report number CFM358

In relation to the General Fund – Capital

e.     approve the General Fund Capital programme for 2016/17 to 2020/21 detailed at Appendix D page 1 of report number CFM358

f.      approve the Capital Financing statement detailed at Appendix D page 2 of report number CFM358

In relation to the General Fund - Reserves and Balances

g.     to approve the use of reserves as detailed at Appendix E of report number CFM358

Management and prudential indicators

h.     to approve the Treasury Management Strategy provided at Appendix F of report number CFM358

In relation to the Housing Revenue Account - Revenue

i.       to approve dwelling rent decrease of 1% providing an average rent of £80.09 (an average rental decrease of 81p per week)

j.       to approve an increase in garage rents of 1.5%

k.     to approve a decrease of 1% in service charges for communal facilities and community rooms

l.       to approve the Housing Revenue Account for the year 2016/17 (including the  items at Appendix H in the report) and indicative years 2017/18 and 2018/19 shown at Appendix G of report number CFM358

In relation to the Housing Revenue Account - Capital

m.   approve the indicative Housing Investment Programme for 2016/17 to 2020/21 detailed at Appendix I page 1 of report number CFM358

n.     approve the Capital Financing statement detailed at Appendix I page 2 of report number CFM358

In relation to the Housing Revenue Account - Reserves and balances

o.     to approve the use of the reserves as detailed at Appendix J of report number CFM358

Pay Policy Statement

p.     to approve the pay policy statement shown at Appendix K of report number CFM358

PART B

That the following amounts be calculated by the Council for the year 2016/17 in accordance with Sections 32 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended)

a)   £65,121,156 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32 (2) (a) to (e) of the Act (including special expense and parish precepts).

b)    £51,378,667 being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 32 (3) (a) to (c) of the Act.

c)      £13,742,489 being the amount by which the aggregate at a) above exceeds the aggregate at b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 32(4) of the Act, as its budget requirement for the year.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

Report number LDS168 of the Chairman of the Constitution Committee.    (Enclosure)

Decision:

That the Council approves the recommendations made by the Constitution Committee at its meeting on 1 February 2016 that:

1.1  Local Authority Controlled Company

1.1.1     A new Article 12 be added to the Council’s Constitution to establish a Shareholder Committee to support the development of a wholly owned local authority company

1.1.2     The Terms of Reference as shown at Appendix 2 of report number LDS168 are incorporated into the Constitution at the new Article 12

1.1.3     The numbering of subsequent articles be amended to include the new Article 12

1.1.4     These recommendations take effect at the Annual Council meeting on 21 April 2016

1.2  The timing of meetings remain as currently scheduled

1.3  Voting to appoint representatives on outside bodies remains as currently set out in the Constitution at Article 4.13.7

1.4  The proposed changes to the policy development groups, as agreed at Council on 21 January 2016, should be implemented from the annual council meeting on 21 April 2016

The Chairman of the Council, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Constitution Committee presented its recommendations from the meeting held on 1 February 2016. In summarising report number LDS168, he explained that the Committee had considered arrangements for the creation of a Shareholder Committee as part of the development of a Local Authority Controlled Company. It had also considered other issues as requested by Council: the timing of meetings, arrangements for voting on appointments to outside bodies and the date of implementation for changes to the policy development groups agreed at Council on 21 January 2016. The proposals were seconded.

Separate votes were taken on each point, all of which were carried.

Report number LDS169 of the Chairman of the Welland Independent Remuneration Panel.                                                                                                                  (Enclosure)

Decision:

1.1       That the Council adopts the recommendations made by the Welland Independent Remuneration Panel:

a.    That travel and subsistence expenses should be met for all Councillors on Working Groups provided that they have been appointed in a properly constituted Meeting Body comprising more than one Political Group and that the membership of the Working Group is open to all Members of that Meeting Body.

b.    That the same principle should apply for a Councillor invited to serve on a Working Group but not on the parent Meeting Body.

c.    That, whilst recognising that the role of Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the new Shareholder Committee is likely to justify an enhanced Special Responsibility Allowance for the post holders, it is premature at this moment to take an objective judgement on the matter. The matter should be revisited when the workload and increased responsibilities are clearer.

1.2       That the Constitution be amended to incorporate the revisions to the approved Scheme of Remuneration

Members were invited to consider the report of the Welland Independent Remuneration Panel, which the Council had asked to meet to consider the payment of mileage and subsistence allowances for members of properly constituted working group meetings of PDGs and the Scrutiny Committee where membership comprised only one political group. The panel was also asked to come to a view on the payment of special responsibility allowances for the chairman and vice-chairman of the local authority controlled company shareholder committee. The Panel’s report and its recommendations were presented in report LDS169.

The Panel’s recommendations were proposed, seconded and, on being put to the vote, agreed.

From:  Councillor Ashley Baxter

The council notes that:

1.     Across the country, many public services have been outsourced to private sector providers. Local government outsourcing doubled under the last parliament.

2.     The award of tenders to private sector partners is often beset with difficulty. It is not a guarantee of efficiency or value for money.

3.     Outsourcing has often failed to deliver the expected savings to the taxpayer, and failed to lead to better service provision. In-house provision can provide better value for money and more flexibility at a time of severe budget cuts.

4.     Research shows that the public want to see more transparency and accountability over outsourcing contracts, and they want public ownership to be the default for running services.

The council believes that:

5.     Transparency is needed in the provision of public services. Public service contracts and performance and financial data of providers should always be available. Freedom of Information legislation should apply to private companies running public services.

6.     Accountability is needed in the provision of public services. Meaningful consultation with the public and other stakeholders regarding service delivery objectives should take place before any outsourcing or privatisation.

7.     Public ownership should be the default, so a public interest case must be made for any outsourcing or privatisation. There should always be an in-house bid on the table if services are contracted out (or an explanation given why not).

8.     Social value must be the over-riding priority whenever contracts are awarded.

The council resolves to:

9.     Consult local residents and stakeholders before Council services (above the value of £50,000/annum) are outsourced to the private sector.

10.  Give consideration to in-house provision before the tender process commences for new contracts as well as for existing contracts due to expire.

11.  Publicly commit to the principles of transparency and accountability in relation to the provision of public services.

A notice of motion had been submitted by Councillor Baxter:

The council notes that:

1.     Across the country, many public services have been outsourced to private sector providers. Local government outsourcing doubled under the last parliament.

2.     The award of tenders to private sector partners is often beset with difficulty. It is not a guarantee of efficiency or value for money.

3.     Outsourcing has often failed to deliver the expected savings to the taxpayer, and failed to lead to better service provision. In-house provision can provide better value for money and more flexibility at a time of severe budget cuts.

4.     Research shows that the public want to see more transparency and accountability over outsourcing contracts, and they want public ownership to be the default for running services.

The council believes that:

5.     Transparency is needed in the provision of public services. Public service contracts and performance and financial data of providers should always be available. Freedom of Information legislation should apply to private companies running public services.

6.     Accountability is needed in the provision of public services. Meaningful consultation with the public and other stakeholders regarding service delivery objectives should take place before any outsourcing or privatisation.

7.     Public ownership should be the default, so a public interest case must be made for any outsourcing or privatisation. There should always be an in-house bid on the table if services are contracted out (or an explanation given why not).

8.     Social value must be the over-riding priority whenever contracts are awarded.

The council resolves to:

9.     Consult local residents and stakeholders before Council services (above the value of £50,000/annum) are outsourced to the private sector.

10.  Give consideration to in-house provision before the tender process commences for new contracts as well as for existing contracts due to expire.

11.  Publicly commit to the principles of transparency

In proposing his motion Councillor Baxter spoke about the Council’s commitment to delivering the best possible public services in the best way. While he recognised that there were some examples of successful public/private partnerships delivering local authority services he also referred to some that had proved less successful. He also connected provision of a quality service with a provider that had a local interest that went beyond the terms of its current contract. Councillor Baxter explained that the intention of his motion was to ensure that full public consultation was undertaken if the Council considered outsourcing any of its services, that an in-house approach should be considered alongside a proposal to tender or re-tender to the external market, and to ensure that any decision to outsource was transparent and accountable, providing the public with the same opportunities to interrogate the contract as if it was being delivered by the Council.

The motion was seconded. The following amendment was then proposed and seconded:

This Council resolves that:

·         Against the backdrop of very clear and continued financial constraints and as discussed by the Resources PDG at their meeting on 8 October 2015, this council will continue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

The meeting was closed at 17:02.