Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J G Coxon, D Everitt, V Richichi and N Smith.

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.

No interests were declared.

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.

No questions were received.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2014.

It was moved by Councillor J Cotterill, seconded by Councillor J Geary and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2014 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Legal and Support Services

The Deputy Monitoring Officer presented the report to Members, drawing their attention to the recommendation to postpone the annual review of the Constitution due to the pending legislation that would have an impact once enacted. 

Councillor S Sheahan asked how long this process would take and whether officers had confidence that this could be completed within the next 6 months.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer stated that he had every confidence that it could be completed within this timescale, as the Statutory Instrument had been published, as had a guidance note, and he was confident that a report could be brought to the next meeting.

Councillor S Sheahan asked if there were any additional forthcoming matters that could have an impact upon the Constitution.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer responded that delegated authority had been granted to the Monitoring Officer to make any minor consequential changes to the Constitution.  He added that all legislative matters which officers were currently aware of were outlined in the report.

Councillor S Sheahan referred to the proposal in respect of the recording of meetings.  He commented that it would embrace the spirit of the legislation if the Council webcast its meeting in the same manner as Leicestershire County Council.  He added that this would save people the bother.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that this would be a question of costs and practicality, which would need to be investigated.

Councillor S Sheahan requested a breakdown of the costs to enable this to be considered.

Councillor J Geary commented that he had no problem with the report and asked what impact there would be on staffing levels, and how much staff time this would take to implement.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that he could see no major impact upon staffing levels in respect of making the requisite amendments to the Constitution, however there could be an impact in terms of the management of meetings.  He added that this would be unknown until it was clear what was required and this could be reported back to a future meeting.

Councillor A C Saffell commented that he had no problem with the recommendation, however he felt that at 600 pages the Constitution was too long and repeated itself in places.  He stated that he did not want to impose any additional burden to implement the required changes, but felt that it ought to be possible to remove parts of the Constitution so that it didn’t eventually reach 1,000 pages.  He added that in the commercial world you would never see a document anywhere near that long and felt that the shorter it was, the better.

The Deputy Monitoring Officer accepted the comments.  He advised that the Constitution was based on the Model Constitution, and was one of the shortest in the county at around 300 pages.  He stated that as part of the review he would endeavour to shorten the document, however the Council was bound by legislation insofar as what should be included.

It was moved by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Director of Services and Head of Finance

The Director of Services introduced the item and sought agreement of the meeting to present the subsequent item, entitled “Updating the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan”, concurrently as the two reports were inextricably linked.

The Director of Services presented the reports, drawing Members’ attention to the final number of additional non-decent homes identified.  He added that in addition to these 305 properties, there were a further 91 properties which, at the time of the original bid, were believed to have qualified for backlog funding.  However, as part of the survey work undertaken, it had transpired that these 91 properties had become non-decent after April 2012 and therefore did not qualify.  As a result of this, there would be a reduction in the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) grant of £618,895.  He added that these properties would still require improvement works as they were non-decent, however there would be no funding available for these works.  Therefore, in addition to the shortfall identified in respect of the 305 properties which were never included in the original programme, the total shortfall was £3,063,165.  He advised that the report to Cabinet sought their view and agreement to fund that shortfall to enable all Decent Homes works to be completed by the target date of April 2015.  He referred Members to paragraph 5.7 of the first report which set out what was believed to be the most prudent options for funding the shortfall.  He pointed out that if Members decided to fund the shortfall, the amount currently identified would be the absolute maximum amount required, as it was likely that some properties had been sold through the right to buy process, and some tenants could refuse improvement works.  He advised that if a tenant refused improvement works, they were required to sign a form to evidence the refusal, and the property would then become decent for the purposes of the HCA.  He added that works would subsequently be completed when the tenant vacated the property.

The Director of Services referred Members to the financial impact of funding the shortfall as set out in the second report and the potential implications which were indicated.  He advised that the principal focus at present was to accrue enough funds by 2021/22 to repay the initial loans against the housing stock.  At present, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Business Plan indicated a small shortfall of £112,000 due to changes in the housing market.  He commented that the housing market was very fluid and there were likely to be further changes that would need to be taken into account.  He advised that to date, an increased assumption in respect of properties sold under the right to buy scheme had been built in due to a substantial increase over the last 3 years, which had had an impact upon income.  He advised that an increased vacancy rate had also been built in to reflect the current position.  He added that the 2013/14 budget setting process had also been reflected in terms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Director of Services and Head of Finance

It was moved by Councillor S Sheahan, seconded by Councillor A C Saffell and

RESOLVED THAT:

Cabinet receives the comments of Policy Development Group at its meeting on 29 July.

Report of the Head of Finance

The Head of Finance presented the report to Members, highlighting the changes to the strategy.  He advised that corporate risks would now be reported to Cabinet each quarter as part of the performance management framework.  He invited comments and suggestions from Members.

Councillor S Sheahan asked whether the quarterly report to Cabinet would also be referred to the Audit and Governance Committee.

The Head of Finance responded that the corporate risk register would be reported to Cabinet and subsequently to the Audit and Governance Committee.  He added that this formed part of the Council’s internal controls and was a requirement as part of the Annual Governance Statement.

Councillor S Sheahan sought clarification on how it was decided what should be included in the risk register.  He asked if contingencies were examined.

The Head of Finance responded that the risk register emanated from the business plans produced by each team.  He advised that issues could be escalated either from the team directly or identified by the Corporate Leadership Team as a cross-cutting risk.  He added that advice had also been sought from the Council’s insurers and a workshop had been undertaken with the Corporate Leadership Team, which had informed the risk register.  He explained that the risk register was a dynamic document and was reviewed each quarter.

Councillor S Sheahan asked if the external auditors had the opportunity to comment on the risk register.

The Head of Finance advised that external audit were fully engaged.  He added that this formed part of the governance process and was fed into the September meeting.

Councillor N Clarke referred to paragraph 1.1 of the strategy and highlighted the first bullet point in respect of protecting the health, safety and welfare of employees.  He commented that this should also include contractors and agency staff.  He also asked why employee lost time injury rates had not been included in the report to Cabinet in the last year, and felt this should be included in future.

The Head of Finance responded that he was happy to put forward the suggestion to include contractors and agency staff in the objectives.  He stated that he could not provide an answer in respect of the employee lost time injury rates and would explore the reasons why this had not been included.

It was moved by Councillor S Sheahan, seconded by Councillor N Clarke and

RESOLVED THAT:

Cabinet receives the comments of Policy Development Group at its meeting on 29 July.

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

Councillor J Geary referred to the item in respect of the refuse transfer facility.  He commented that this was a decision for Leicestershire County Council and asked how the District Council would influence it.

The Director of Services advised that it was a matter for Leicestershire County Council to decide whether to place the facility in Coalville, however it would be located on property owned by the District Council, and as such there would be financial implications.

Councillor S Sheahan requested an item on the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  He requested that Policy Development Group have sight of this prior to the report to Cabinet if possible.  It was agreed that the possibility of rescheduling the next meeting be investigated to accommodate this.

Councillor S Sheahan referred to the request from Councillor T Neilson in 2012 to set up a sub group to look at the effectiveness of the Community Engagement Strategy. 

Councillor T Neilson clarified that at the time of the original request, the strategy had only been recently introduced and it was decided to include this in the work programme for 2014/15.

Councillor A C Saffell referred to his suggestion 2 years ago for Members to ride around the district to see the outcome of previously approved planning applications.  He felt that this would assist Members in learning the effect of their decisions.  He commented that this had been agreed by the Committee and had appeared in the minutes, however he had heard nothing about the matter since.

The Director of Services responded that he would look into this further.