Agenda, decisions and minutes

None received.

The minutes of the last meeting had been circulated with the agenda.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 16 November 2010 be agreed and signed as an accurate record.

None declared.

None received.

Report of the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Working Group on Cheltenham Festivals

The Chairman advised members that the report of the Cheltenham Festivals Joint Working Group (CFJWG), had previously been reviewed by both Social & Community and Economy & Business Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committees. 

He noted a technical correction to item 5.6 of the original report, which had been amended to reflect exactly, recommendation 5 of the report.  The report had been amended and republished but not before the papers for this meeting had been circulated.

Councillor Duncan Smith, Chairman of the CFJWG introduced the report as circulated with the agenda. 

The Scrutiny Committees recognised that the relationship between the Council (CBC) and Cheltenham Festivals (CF) was important to both organisations, but acknowledged that it had changed over time.  The 3 year Community Investment Grant to CF from CBC was coming to an end , at a time when CF were embarking on an ambitious 3 year business plan and as such a joint working group was established. 

The group had met 8 times in the last 18 months, 3 of which were joint meetings with CF.  Members had included Councillors Smith and Hay (previously Rawson) from Social & Community and Councillors Barnes and Surgenor (previously Hutton) from Economy & Business Improvement. 

The terms of reference (2.2 of the report) set out the remit for the group.

Initial meetings were side tracked by the tender exercise CBCs new Box Office system at the Town Hall.  There was some disagreement about the needs of each organisation and a number of meetings focussed on achieving a mutually beneficial compromise.  Ultimately CF had additional requirements to those of CBC and as such took the decision to purchase their own Box Office system (Tessitura).  Despite this, the group supported the decision of the Cabinet Member Sport and Culture to purchase INFX as the system of choice for the CBC. 

The focus then returned to the 3 year business plan of CF.  The group had concerns about some of the assumptions that had been made within the business plan.  Whilst CF was independent of the Council, there was an expectation from the community that it would support CF were it required, so ultimately the group wanted assurances that the plan was financially deliverable and managed risks appropriately. 

Concerns of Officers and Members with regards to the financial projections made by CF in the business plan were raised with them (Appendix 2 of the O&S report) and both were satisfied that the projections were sound and robust, but clearly the financial crisis posed an element of risk. 

A number of key issues were identified that the group felt needed to be resolved urgently in order to allow progress (3.7 of the report).

Growth assumptions were largely based on increased use of the gardens and whilst CF were confident that discussions with Officers were at an advanced stage, members were acutely aware that nothing had been formalised.  This would need to be agreed by the end of the year in order to allow sufficient time for CF to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Chief Finance Officer

The Principal Accounting Technician introduced the report as circulated with the agenda.  He explained that since the adoption of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice, there was a need to produce two outturn reports rather than one, as in previous years.

The report outlined the current levels of lending and borrowing for the Council and the Officer highlighted specific points from within the report.

Cabinet Member Finance and Community Development had what he said were obvious points to make.  Whilst interest rates were low, quantitative easing had, had an impact on inflation. 

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED THAT in compliance with the requirements of the CIPFA Code of Practice, the report, which summarised the treasury management activity during the first six months of 2010/11, be noted by Cabinet.

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report as circulated with the agenda, which provided members with an overview of the council’s performance at the half-way stage of the year. 

A new performance regime had started earlier in the year and this had become more useful as time had progressed. 

This had been considered by the Economy & Business Improvement (E&BI) Overview and Scrutiny Committee who had raised a number of issues;

The way in which it was populated and monitored admittedly there was room for improvement. 

Areas over which the council did not have direct control should be clearly identified.

Quarter 3 was due to end in a matter of weeks and yet it was only now that Quarter 2 data was being considered, though this had ended in September. 

A specific performance issue raised by E&BI had been absence levels, which whilst above target, were not dissimilar to other local authorities. 

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services felt strongly that all Overview and Scrutiny Committees should review performance data relating to their individual areas, rather than the sole responsibility lying with E&BI.

The Chairman confirmed that it was an evolving process and commended Officers for the presentation of the data.  An underlying concern of his was that the detailed performance did not always match the overview performance.  He wouldn’t disagree that all Overview and Scrutiny Committees should see the performance data. 

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED THAT copy form agree decision text

RESOLVED THAT the corporate performance of the organisation at the end of Quarter 2 be noted by Cabinet.

Report of the Cabinet Member Corporate Services

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services introduced the report as circulated with the agenda and stressed the importance of Cabinet being aware of the corporate risks which may impact the council. 

He acknowledged that there were some issues and improvements that could be made, suggesting that the data should be presented in the order of, score first, then details of mitigation, the revised score and finally it should indicate when the mitigation has been actioned.

The Chairman echoed the importance of Cabinet reviewing the register, if only to satisfy themselves that the Assistant Directors were managing risk appropriately. 

Cabinet Member Built Environment was pleased to see that risks were being managed and ultimately removed from the register.

There were no further risks identified at this stage.

Upon a vote it was unanimously

RESOLVED THAT the report be noted by Cabinet, with no further risks identified.

Leader Briefing

The Leader advised that he had attended the Gloucestershire Conference where the partnership structure had been discussed. 

He confirmed that phase 1, the review of the leadership structure, had been completed and as a result the GSP, CESB and ABG were being replaced with a Leaders Board.  Membership would include the 7 council Leaders, chairs of the Police Authority and PCT as well as 2 Chief Executives, 1 County and 1 District. 

This had been generally supported but there had been debate about the lack of voluntary sector input and this was a concern shared by Cheltenham and Gloucester.  A task and finish group would look at the best approach to include the voluntary sector.  

Phase 2 would see CBC review how their partnerships worked.  

The Leader confirmed that he had received a letter from the Electoral Commission, who having reviewed the performance of the Returning Officer, confirmed that all expected standards had been met.  This was good news.

The South West Regional Structure was being reduced, the proposal being, that only South West Employers and a small lobbying structure be retained. 

Councils had been asked if they supported this, which the Leader confirmed he did, especially lobbying and stressed that leaving would trigger £58k worth of pension liability for CBC. 

Cheltenham’s provisional response had been that they wished to retain the South West Employers and their final response was required by the 18 January 2011.

Cabinet Member decisions taken since the last Cabinet meeting

• Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Higher Level Stewardship Application – a decision by Cabinet Member Sustainability on 19 November 2010
• Sale of Land to the rear of 44 Sandford Mill Road – a decision to be made by the Cabinet Member Built Environment  

The Chairman confirmed that there were no further decisions taken in addition to those set out on the agenda.  

The Cabinet Member Sustainability expanded upon the decision he had taken (Leckhampton Hill and Charlton Kings Common Higher Stewardship Application).  

Moving from Entry Level Stewardship top Higher Level Stewardship was potentially quite exciting for the Council.  Whilst up to now, at Entry Level, some positive outcomes had been achieved, this had required 20% funding by the Council, with Natural England meeting the other 80% of costs.  The Higher Level Stewardship would provide greater opportunities to develop the area and would enable the Council to apply for 100% funding.  This would also include a grant from Natural England of approximately £10k per annum, which admittedly was not a large sum but given that there were minimal associated costs to the Council, this was an added benefit.