Agenda and draft minutes

Cllr Reid

Councillor Reid

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2015

The minutes of the last meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive/Head of Paid Service

The Chief Executive, Andrew North, introduced the report and took the opportunity first of all to brief members about progress with the 2020 Vision programme. He circulated a structure chart which had been agreed by the four partner councils the previous week. He informed Members that this would serve as a basis for discussion with scrutiny and staff and would be subject to the decision making process scheduled for October, supported by a business case. He explained that it was envisaged that certain functions would be shared among the four authorities subject to a delegation from the 2020 Partnership Joint Committee. He highlighted that currently Cheltenham was developing the REST project but 2020 would include support services such as revenues and benefits, ICT and customer services. The commissioning of services would be headed by a shared Chief Executive as there would be less capacity corporately. He highlighted that not all services would be in the remit of the joint committee with the commissioning of community engagement and retained services remaining at CBC, although some of these could be shared in the future, such as democratic services.

In response to a question as to how well equipped this model would be in terms of capacity to deal with changes to local government in the shorter/longer term in the light of potential unitary/sub-county authorities discussions, the Chief Executive said this model would have to be re-examined as it was based on the two-tier structure. In reply to a second question on how well equipped the model would be should the two tier structure be retained but with further devolution of powers to the County Council and other partners, the Chief Executive was confident that this model would be fit for purpose.

A further question was also raised as to whether Democratic Services could be included in the model. In response the Chief Executive replied that this was unlikely in the first phase but there was potential for sharing in the future. He emphasised that members would be ultimately responsible for deciding the structure.

Having provided the update to 2020 Vision, the Chief Executive introduced the report on the Restructure of the Environmental and Regulatory Services Division. He reminded members that following their preliminary approval of the triumvirate model at their last meeting, further consultation had taken place with staff, the trade unions and the external consultants. As a result of this the model was regarded as sound. He also informed the meeting that following formal consultation the existing director would move to the Director Environment role, a role to which the employee[s knowledge and skill set were well suited. The current service structure had proved to be not fit for purpose and difficult to manage effectively. He emphasised that the vision was to create a joined up service, managed across the boundaries of existing services providing a holistic approach to both business and residential customers.

The Chief Executive informed members that the proposal was to recruit on a temporary basis to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Report of the Cabinet Member Finance

The Chief Executive introduced the report which was in response to a request from the Director Resources to release capacity in order to deliver on key corporate projects such as the Accommodation Strategy, Vision 2020 partnership and the Asset Management Plan. It was not envisaged that this would be a permanent change. In the interim it was proposed that the role of S151 Officer be taken up by the Deputy Section 151 Officer via a secondment. The Chief Executive took the opportunity to recognise the considerable success the Director Resources had achieved to date in his role and was happy to support him in this extended role.

When asked what the financial implications were for these interim arrangements the Chief Executive reported that GO Shared Services have costed the implications of the proposal at £30k per annum. This cost could be met from the Transformation Challenge Award (TCA) paid to the 2020 vision partners.

The Committee is recommended to approve the following resolution:

 “That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining items of business as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1,2 and 3 of Part 1, Schedule 12A Local Government Act 1972, namely:

·         Paragraph 1; Information relating to any individual.

·         Paragraph 2; Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

·         Paragraph 3; Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

RESOLVED THAT

In accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining items of business as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Part 1, Schedule 12A Local Government Act 1972, namely :

Paragraph 1 : Information relating to any individual

Paragraph 2 : Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

Paragraph 3 :Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Exempt minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2015

The exempt minutes were approved and signed as a correct record.

Monday 5 October 2015

Monday 5 October 2015