Issue - meetings

Report of the Leader

Resolved that:

1.      The Chief Executive be authorised to sign the letter in appendix 3 to the report on the basis that further clarification is provided, to his satisfaction, on the proposed mechanism for the apportionment of liabilities and assets and subject to consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member Finance, Borough Solicitor and the Chief Financial Officer.

2.      Subject to the above, the South West Councils’ Secretariat be advised that Cheltenham Borough Council is in favour of pursuing the Employers Plus option and will enter into membership of new arrangements on that basis, subject to them being viable and the annual subscription costs not exceeding those currently paid.

The Leader introduced the report. He explained that the Council is a member authority of South West Councils (SW Councils) and pays a subscription to support the running of a secretariat.  Given the current budget situations of member councils, reductions in government funding to the regions and indeed the demise of many regional structures, South West Councils are requesting councils to confirm whether or not they wish to remain a member. The council’s liabilities have been set out for both options. 

The alternative proposal was to establish a smaller organisation called an ‘Employers Plus’ option which would be in a  position to provide ongoing human resources advisory support and networking opportunities with other councils but would not be undertaking the range of activities that are currently provided through the current model.   There is a meeting of the SW Councils Resources and Management Committee on 11 February and the council has been requested to provide confirmation of their position.

An amendment to the report had been circulated to members at the start of the meeting. Under financial implications it should read, “the financial liabilities of the proposal and options are set out in paragraphs 1.4 to 1.6 of the report”, the contact officer being the Head of Financial Services.

The Leader indicated that 28 out of the 41 councils had already indicated their support for SW Councils continuing and therefore he felt confident that it would continue to be a viable organisation going forward. He also noted that the resulting annual subscriptions would be less than the council had currently budgeted for.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services gave his support for continued membership. He felt that SW Councils provided a national voice and were particularly valuable in employer/union negotiations. They also provided a valuable training and development network to members and officers.

Resolved that:

1. The Chief Executive be authorised to sign the letter in appendix 3 to this report on the basis that further clarification is provided, to his satisfaction, on the proposed mechanism for the apportionment of liabilities and assets and subject to consultation with the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Member Finance, Borough Solicitor and the Chief Financial Officer.
   
   
2. That subject to above, the South West Councils’ Secretariat be advised that Cheltenham Borough Council is in favour of pursuing the Employers Plus option and will enter into membership of new arrangements on that basis, subject to them being viable and the annual subscription costs not exceeding those currently paid.