Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Council Offices, Coalville

Contact: Democratic Services  01530 454512

Items
No. Item

38.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors J Geary and P Purver.

39.

Declaration of Interests

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

40.

Public Question and Answer Session

To receive questions from members of the public under rule no.10 of the Council Procedure Rules. The procedure rule provides that members of the public may ask any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

Minutes:

No questions were received.

41.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 151 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2018

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2018.

 

Councillor T Eynon asked for the following amendments:

 

a)     Minute number 32, Draft Capital Programmes 2018/19-2022/23 – Councillor T Eynon asked that her comments be amended to reflect that it was not the elevator that prevented people attending meetings but the access in general, as no more than two wheelchair users could be on the first floor at one time.

 

b)     Minute number 35, Joint Strategic Growth Plan Consultation – Councillor T Eynon asked for a paragraph to be amended and to read as follows:

 

‘At this point a heated discussion ensued between a number of Members, in response to a comment from the Chairman, regarding Planning Committee decisions and affordable homes, which due to its political nature was not relevant to the item being considered.’

 

Councillor D Harrison queried whether this amendment was appropriate as the matter was being dealt with under a separate process outside of the meeting.  The Chairman was happy with the proposal as he felt it was a fair amendment.  Members agreed.

 

It was moved by Councillor D Harrison, seconded by Councillor S Sheahan and

 

RESOLVED THAT:

 

Subject to the above amendments, the minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2018 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

42.

Medium Term Financial Strategy pdf icon PDF 138 KB

Report of the Deputy Section 151 Officer

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Executive addressed the Committee.  She thanked Members for attending the rescheduled meeting to consider the Medium Term Financial Strategy which detailed a new way of setting the budget by covering a five year period.  It also promoted self-sufficiency and a clear direction for the Council.

 

The Head of Finance informed Members of a change of wording to the recommendation within the report as follows:

 

‘It is recommended that Policy Development Group comment on the Medium Term Financial Strategy before it is presented to Council on 27 February for endorsement.’

 

The Head of Finance reported that the new Medium Term Financial Strategy encouraged Members to look beyond the current planning period in considering actions to address future deficit years and self-sufficiency targets in respect of the General Fund, and consider financing or alternative actions to address the long range forecasts for the Housing Revenue Account, as well as the medium range five year forecasts for the Capital Programme.   She also referred Members to the tables at section seven regarding funding versus budgeted expenditure, General Fund in-year position forecast, Self-Sufficiency Reserve illustration, Self-Sufficiency target forecasts and illustration of savings to be achieved to 2023.

 

In response to a question from Councillor N Smith, the Head of Finance referred to section three of the strategy which mentioned the UK economy in relation to the decision to leave the EU.  She explained that it was difficult to predict what the impact would be but it was something that would be monitored.  The Chief Executive added that work was being undertaken with major businesses in the District as to their predictions on this topic and information was currently being collated across Leicestershire by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.

 

In response to a question from Councillor S Sheahan, the Chief Executive explained that in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the approval of the Medium Term Financial Strategy was the decision of Cabinet and was agreed at the last meeting.

 

Councillor S Sheahan raised the following questions and comments:

 

·      Councillor S Sheahan was pleased to see that officers were properly taking into account what might happen to finances, considering the sacrifice that had been made with freezing council tax and the future in-year deficits that were detailed at paragraph 3.3 of the report.  He was very interested in how the Self-Sufficiency Reserve was going to be used for supporting local infrastructure and sustainable growth, and asked for some examples.  The Chief Executive responded that the Self-Sufficiency Fund could be used for a multitude of things but focusing on sustainable growth, local businesses could be supported if needed within a number of areas such as productivity.  Also, if businesses needed to bridge a gap then a number of funding streams could be investigated through the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership in order to bring growth forward.  Overall it was about identifying opportunities to generate income into the Council and identifying areas to make efficiency savings.  Councillor S Sheahan stated that it was not clear how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

STAR Survey Report pdf icon PDF 413 KB

Report of the Head of Housing

Minutes:

The Strategic Director of Housing and Customer Services presented the report to Members and highlighted the headline results of the survey.  Although satisfaction levels had improved in the majority of areas since the survey was last conducted in 2015, improvements were still required regarding communication as well completing repairs first time.  There would also be focus on the complaints process and a plan has been put into place to deal with the issues with car parking.

 

Councillor S Sheahan was pleased that benchmarking analysis was going to be undertaken and was very interested in the results.

 

In response to a question from Councillor S Sheahan, the Director of Housing and Customer Services gave reassurances that he would be actively acting on the results of the survey to make further improvements.  Councillor S Sheahan was not convinced as it was hard to tell if the service was improving overall as Members no longer received the full picture, he asked if the service was improving.  The Strategic Director of Housing and Customer Services responded that the service was improving and the results of survey proved that.  He added that the service was regularly monitored and there was various tenant panels which reported to Cabinet.  However, results of some previous benchmarking has shown that the service was in the lower quartile of landlords, so he was aware that there was still improvements to be made.

 

Councillor N Clarke was pleased to see the increase in satisfaction levels but was concerned about a number of areas.  In particular ‘Council listening to views and acts upon them’, which had improved only slightly and was at 54 percent, he hoped the proposed improvements to Customer Services as referred to in the previous agenda item would have an impact. 

 

Councillor N Clarke commented on the low result regarding how anti-social behaviour was dealt with as this was often raised during his casework and was an important issue.

 

Councillor N Smith commented that anti-social behaviour was the responsibility of the Police Service and in hid experience, it was not always taken seriously.  The Chairman explained that tenants had conditions within their tenancy regarding anti-social behaviour and he believed this was what the survey questions were based on. 

 

Councillor N Clarke raised concerns that only 84 percent of those surveyed were happy with their homes, considering the amount of money that had been invested in the Decent homes Programme he would have expected that figure to be higher.

 

Councillor N Clarke was pleased that focus was being placed on completing repairs first time.  In relation to the decrease in satisfaction for getting hold of the right person, he referred to comments made by the Chief Executive at a previous Council meeting regarding empowering officers and hoped this would help in the future.

 

The Chairman commented that he would like to see a customer survey undertaken on the District as a whole which could be delivered along with the annual council tax letter. 

 

Councillor T Eynon asked for some further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

44.

Items for Inclusion in the Future Work Programme pdf icon PDF 284 KB

To consider any items to be included in the work programme. The plan of forthcoming Cabinet decisions and the current work programme are attached for information.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED THAT:

 

The Future Work Programme be noted.