Agenda and minutes

The Chairman invited nominations for the Vice-Chairman of the Budget and Performance Panel for the Municipal Year.

It was proposed by Councillor Johnson and seconded by Councillor Archer that Councillor Whitelegg be Vice-Chairman of the Budget and Performance Panel for the Municipal Year.  There being no further nominations, the Chairman declared the proposal to be carried.

Resolved:

That Councillor Whitelegg be Vice-Chairman of the Budget and Performance Panel for the Municipal Year.

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 30^th March 2010 (previously circulated) 

The Minutes of the meeting held on 30^th March 2010 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

Councillor Heath arrived at this point.

The Chairman advised that, with the agreement of the Committee, the next item of business would be brought forward in the agenda to allow the Leader of the Council to leave the meeting.

Report of Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council presented his highlight report in respect of the fourth and final quarter of Performance Review Team meetings for 2009/10 recently undertaken by individual Cabinet members. 

The report provided a strategic summary of how the Council had performed in delivering its Corporate Plan targets for 2009/10 using exception information from the quarter 4 PRT meetings with individual Cabinet members, and was in accordance with the Council’s Performance Management Framework, which required the regular reporting of performance into the Panel as part of the Performance Review Team cycle of meetings.

The Corporate Financial Monitoring Report of the Head of Financial Services for Quarter 4, which monitored report of expenditure and income for 2009/10 and set out an indicative corporate picture of the Council’s financial performance relating to the period ending
31^st March 2010, was also presented for the Panel’s consideration.  The report summarised the variances reported through services’ quarterly PRT meetings and identified any omissions, updates and/or actions required.

The Leader reported on the agreed actions and progress.  A detailed question and answer session followed, when Members requested further details on specific points.  With reference to agreed action 4, quarter 3 – number of affordable homes (NI 155), Councillor Whitelegg was concerned that not enough was being done to effect provision.

It was proposed by Councillor Dennison and seconded by Councillor Heath:

“(1)      That Overview and Scrutiny Committee be requested to establish a Task Group to investigate the feasibility of using land in public ownership for the provision of additional affordable housing and to establish initiatives with Housing Associations and Partners to provide affordable housing.

(2)        That Councillor Whitelegg be involved in scoping the work.”

Upon being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in favour of the proposition, whereupon the Chairman declared the proposal to be carried.

Resolved:

(1)        That the reports be noted.

(2)        That Overview and Scrutiny Committee be requested to establish a Task Group to investigate the feasibility of using land in public ownership for the provision of additional affordable housing and to establish initiatives with Housing Associations and Partners to provide affordable housing.

(3)        That Councillor Whitelegg be involved in scoping the work.

The Leader of the Council left the meeting at this point.

Oral report from one of the Chairs

The Head of Community Engagement requested that, with the agreement of Committee, the agenda item be deferred to the next meeting of the Panel.

He advised that one of the seven objectives of the Member Development Strategy 2010-11 was to enable Members to gain more understanding of the Lancaster District Local Strategic Partnership (LDLSP), and the Panel’s terms of reference include scrutiny of the performance of the Partnership.

It was reported that, at the end of the financial year, each Thematic Group provided an annual report, and it was suggested that these could form the basis of a written report, which it was proposed be presented to the Panel’s next meeting by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the LDLSP.

Resolved:

That the agenda item be deferred to the next meeting of the Panel to allow the Head of Community Engagement to present a written report in conjunction with the attendance of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the LDLSP and that other members of Council be invited to attend that meeting in accordance with the Member Development Charter.

Oral report of Head of Community Engagement

The Assistant Head (Partnerships) reported that responsibility for the City Council’s Service Level Agreements had transferred to the new Community Engagement Service and advised that she was Lead Officer.

It was reported that details were being drawn together on the non-housing voluntary organisations receiving funding of over £1,000 per annum that had a service level agreement with the Council.

The service level agreements were being scoped in terms of costing and delivery and to see how they linked to Council priorities and objectives.  Cabinet Portfolio Holders would be consulted.

Resolved:

That a report be presented to the meeting of the Panel on 7^th September 2010.

Report of Head of Democratic Services

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report to update Members regarding the Panel’s Work Programme.

In accordance with Members of Budget and Performance Panel being entitled to give notice to the Chief Executive that they wish an item relevant to the Panel’s Terms of Reference to be included on the agenda for the first available meeting, two requests had been received, as follows:

 (1)       Request from Councillor Heath regarding:

            Williamson Park

A report to include:

(a)        Current management arrangements;

(b)        Staff turnover and reasons for this;

(c)        Finances;

(d)        Current and future plans for improving the Park and its management;

(e)        To what extent different stakeholders (staff, park users, councillors, and so on) are involved in developing these plans.

It was reported that Cabinet had requested a report on Williamson Park and, in view of this, Councillor Heath asked that a briefing note be presented to the Panel following Cabinet’s consideration of the report.

(2)        Pension Liabilities

A briefing note from officers on pension liabilities and the impact of these liabilities on the budgets of the Council up to and including 2014-15, which includes:

(a)        The impact of pension liabilities on the revenue budget in each of these 5 years;

(b)        The breakdown of pension liabilities by service and department of the Council;

(c)        The relationship between voluntary redundancy on pension liabilities (whether it is financially beneficial to the Council to embark on voluntary severance/redundancy taking into account lump sums and pension enhancement of staff leaving Council service);

(d)        Blue sky thinking about how to reduce pension liabilities (taking into consideration how other local authorities have tackled this issue).

Members were advised that the Chief Executive had advised that he did not feel point (b) was relevant and that point (c) was a policy issue for Personnel Committee.  The Panel agreed that (b) should be excluded but that (c) be retained.

The Panel considered the matters for consideration in the Work Programme (Appendix B to the report).

Resolved:

(1)        That a briefing note be provided on the report to Cabinet regarding Williamson Park.

(2)        That a briefing note be provided on Pension Liabilities in relation to points (a) (c) and (d), to include details regarding the pension legislation.

(3)        That the report from the Climate Change Officer Working Group regarding consideration of sustainable staff travel plans as part of their remit be presented to the Panel’s meeting on 13^th July 2010.

(4)        That the presentation regarding the Community Engagement Service and the future management of Partnerships, Performance, Projects and Programmes be deferred and presented to the Panel’s meeting on 7^th September 2010.

(5)        That briefing notes on the outstanding items in the Panel’s Work Programme be presented to the Panel without delay, including the report on Invest to Save schemes that would provide a greater rate of return than Council investments.

(6)        That the Panel’s Work Programme include the presentation of a written report from the Head of Community Engagement to its meeting on 13^{th  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.}