Agenda item

Joint report of Assistant Head (Partnerships) and Accountancy Services Manager. 

The Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance, Revenues and Benefits have been invited to attend the meeting for this item.

The Panel received a report from the Leader of the council in respect of the second quarter performance review team (PRT) cycle for 2011/12 recently undertaken by individual cabinet members. The report had been considered by the Leader on 17 November 2011, and was due to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 6 December 2011.

The second quarter of individual cabinet member PRT meetings for 2011/12 had taken place between 2 and 9 November 2011. These were presented by service heads covering each portfolio area and related corporate priority. 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.

Individual Cabinet Members had also been provided with financial reports for Quarter 2 covering their portfolio and service areas and provided with reasons for any variances and actions being taken to address these.

Following a review of the experiences from Quarter 1 PRT meetings, the guidance supporting the PRT reports had been amended slightly to include a description of the underlying principles behind the RAG (Red, Amber and Green) ratings so that a more consistent approach was developed in determining the council’s overall performance.

These ratings for both Corporate/Service Plan Outcome Delivery and council Project and Programme Delivery were set out in the report. 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 September 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:

·         Adactus top up grants – the Panel queried whether it was possible for the properties to be leased or rented in the short term while the council waited for the housing market to improve. It was advised that currently the houses were not in a fit state to be let, and that the council was currently awaiting an announcement from the government which should enable officers to provide a report to council regarding the properties.

·         Central Promenade Morecambe, Urban Splash development – Members queried as to why this particular area had been flagged as ‘amber turning red’. It was advised that options were being considered in line with the Morecambe Area Action Plan.

·         Partnership working (work with partners to support the Children’s Trust Board) – the Panel highlighted that the comments included on this item indicated that the council was not currently meeting its statutory requirements for safeguarding. It was advised that this issue had been flagged internally, and that a number of steps had been identified for action by officers to address capacity issues in this area. The issue was expected to move comfortably into Green.

·         Major budget variances – members discussed the savings which had been made across all services by deleting vacant posts. It was queried whether this had had an impact on service delivery. It was reported that if a post was vacant but needed to be filled, it would only be filled on a 1 year contract, and posts which were not contributing to service delivery would be deleted. The Chief Executive advised that the council was able to delete posts because it was narrowing the services which it wanted to provide.  If the council were to decide that it wanted to do more in the next 12 months then it would be necessary to increase staffing.

·         Car parking – Members discussed issues surrounding car parking in the district. It was considered that further work was necessary in order to determine why the number of people using car parks had decreased.

·         Salt Ayre variances – the Panel queried the high level of variances at Salt Ayre Sports Centre. It was advised that this was caused by a number of factors, including the influence of increased local competition, both from new pitches at Lancaster and Morecambe College, and the Globe Arena, and the new sports centre at Lancaster University. The Leader of the Council advised that the council was in dialogue with other local authorities who had encountered similar issues in relation to provision of sports facilities, and that it was considering how other authorities had been able to make their facilities more successful. The Chief Executive advised the Panel that Cabinet was also due to consider the issue.

The Panel agreed that an officer should be requested to attend a future meeting of the Panel to address the concerns of the Panel regarding variances related to Salt Ayre Sports Centre.

Councillor Rollins asked whether suitable accounting arrangements were in place to demonstrate eligible spend in relation to external contributions on projects such as affordable housing, as failure to do so could result in claw back of such contributions.  It was agreed that a response to the question would be provided by an officer and circulated by Democratic Services.

Councillor James asked questions relating to the level of interest which the council was receiving on its investments. The Accountancy Services Manager advised that this query would be addressed as part of the Treasury Management report which was scheduled to be considered by the Panel at its meeting on 21 February 2012.

The Chairman advised that Panel that she had submitted a number of questions relating to Treasury Management to the Accountancy Services Manager and requested that answers be provided when the Panel received the Treasury Management report at its meeting scheduled for 21 February 2012. The questions were distributed to members at the meeting and are appended to these minutes. The Chairman requested members to submit any additional questions regarding Treasury Management to the Accountancy Services Manager in advance of the meeting. The Accountancy Services Manager advised that responses to the questions would be provided at the meeting on 21 February 2012, it was advised that a copy of the Chairman’s questions would be appended to the minutes of the meeting.

Resolved:

“(1)      That the reports be noted.

 (2)       That the Chief Executive be requested to identify an officer to attend a future meeting of the Panel to address the concerns of the Panel regarding variances relating to Salt Ayre Sports Centre.

 (3)       That a response be provided to Councillor Rollins question relating to external contributions on projects such as affordable housing, and that this be circulated to members of the Panel when available.

 (4)       That members be requested to submit any questions which they would like to ask regarding Treasury Management to the Accountancy Services Manager prior to the Panel’s meeting on 21 February 2012.