Agenda item

Report of Accountancy Services Manager and Assistant Head (Partnerships).

(Mark Cullinan, Chief Executive declared an interest in the parts of the item that referred to Luneside East and provided no advice on the discussion thereon).

(Councillor Sowden declared a personal interest in that part of the item which referred to Adactus top up grants as he owned property in the area.)

The panel received a report from the leader of the council in respect of the first quarter performance review team (PRT) cycle for 2011/12 recently undertaken by individual cabinet members. The report had been considered by the leader on 5 August 2011, and was due to be considered by cabinet at its meeting on 6 September 2011.

The first quarter of individual cabinet member PRT meetings for 2011/12 had taken place between 22 July and 28 July 2011. These were presented by service heads covering each portfolio area and related corporate priority, a further meeting had been held on 10 August 2011. Each meeting had monitored progress against the actions included in the corporate plan for each cabinet member and any outstanding issues from the previous round of meetings.

The corporate financial monitoring report of the head of financial services set out an indicative corporate picture of the council’s financial performance relating to the period ending 30 June 2011 and summarised the variances reported through services’ quarterly PRT meetings and identified any omissions, updates and actions required. In addition there were specific sections for salary monitoring, capital expenditure and financing, housing revenue account (HRA), revenue collection performance and insurance and risk management.  

Following the leader’s report members asked extensive questions regarding areas of concern, which the leader advised would be referred to the relevant portfolio holders. These included issues relating to the following portfolio areas:

·         Chatsworth Gardens and Bold Street/Marlborough Road – members were advised that a high level report regarding Housing Regeneration would be considered at a meeting of cabinet, the leader of the council invited the panel to put forward questions regarding the issue which could be addressed in the report. 

·         Affordable housing – members were advised that housing regeneration was a new priority in the corporate plan. The panel requested that a briefing note be provided to give an indication of costs at an early stage.

·         Luneside East compensation – the panel were advised that there was currently one claim to the lands tribunal arising from the compulsory purchase order (CPO) which was still outstanding, and that this would remain on the list until the issue was resolved. It was advised that the land tribunal were due to determine compensation following the hearing scheduled for week commencing 3 October 2011, the council had assembled a specialist team to this effect.

·         Luneside East regeneration project – the panel was advised that this had been delayed due to the recession; a revised building agreement had now been agreed with the developer.

·         Adactus top up grants – the panel were advised that there had been funding issues associated with this project, but that all mitigating steps had now been taken. The properties were currently on the market but as yet had not been sold.

·         Vacant shops funding – it was advised that proposals for Morecambe had taken some time to develop and that this had led to delays.

Councillor Scott queried as to whether the council employed any staff with responsibility for maintaining and managing council houses for repairs, painting and decorating. It was queried as to whether this arrangement would be more cost efficient compared to the cost of contracting work out.

The chairman queried as to whether council had ever considered whether it was cheaper to outsource such work to the private sector. It was advised that there were two types of work which were carried out to council housing; scheduled maintenance, which was contracted out, and emergency repairs, which were carried out by in house staff.

Resolved:

(1)                           That the reports be noted.

(2)                           That a briefing note be provided to the panel to provide information giving an indication of costs relating to affordable housing at an early stage in the process.