Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mary Dooley.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business to be considered at the meeting.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

Members were requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 18^th November 2019.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Clive Moesby

RESOLVED that the minutes of a meeting of the Executive held on 18^th November 2019 be approved as a true and correct record.

Recommendations on page 12

RESOLVED – That -

(1)       Executive notes the development of the Council Vision 2019-2023 and recommends it to Council for adoption. 

(2)       That the Joint Strategic Director – Place, in consultation with the Leader, be authorised to make any minor amendments to the Council Vision 2019-2023 prior to submission to Council.

Executive considered the report of the Leader which presented the draft Council Vision 2019-2023 and requested that it be recommended to Council for adoption.

Transitional arrangements had been put in place for 2019/20 following the end of the 2015-2019 Corporate Plan, to allow for the development of a new plan following the May 2019 elections.

A new Council Vision 2019 – 2023 had been developed and was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. This Vision was to replace the Corporate Plan and outlined the key areas that the Council was to focus on during 2019-2023.

The Vision aimed to provide a flexible and adaptable approach to performance management, with the role of Scrutiny being central. The Scrutiny Committees were to be fully involved in the development and monitoring of the performance management framework to support the Vision. Workshops had been arranged with Scrutiny Committees in early 2020 to progress this.

In addition, Executive and Council were to receive an Annual Report which would identify key achievements and challenges, celebrate successes and identify areas of work which require focus over the forthcoming year(s).

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregorand seconded by Councillor Sandra Peake

RESOLVED – That -

(1)       Executive notes the development of the Council Vision 2019-2023 and recommends it to Council for adoption. 

(2)       That the Joint Strategic Director – Place, in consultation with the Leader, be authorised to make any minor amendments to the Council Vision 2019-2023 prior to submission to Council.

REASON FOR DECISION:

Following consultation with Scrutiny Committees, the proposed Council Vision 2019-2023 was presented to Executive prior to submission to Council for formal adoption. 

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

The aims and priorities within the draft Council Vision had received broad support. All comments had been considered and those concerning more operational matters or suggestions for service improvements were to be shared with departments for consideration and further action where appropriate.

Recommendations on page 17

RESOLVED - That progress against the Corporate Plan 2019-2020 targets be noted.

Executive considered a report of the Portfolio Holder – Corporate Governance in relation to the quarter 2 outturns for the Corporate Plan 2019-2020 targets. The report set out progress on all key tasks and performance indicators that contributed directly to the priority within the Council’s Corporate Plan.

Out of the 26 targets, 22 were on track (85%) and 4 were on alert (15%). Actions being taken to address the targets on alert were detailed in the report.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Clive Moesby

RESOLVED - That progress against the Corporate Plan 2019-2020 targets be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION:

This was an information report to keep Members informed of progress against the corporate plan targets, noting achievements and any areas of concern.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

Not applicable to this report as it provided an overview of performance against agreed targets.

Recommendations on page 30

RESOLVED - That Executive notes the overall performance on compliments, comments and complaints and customer service standards.       

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder – Corporate Governance which provided information on the Council’s performance in relation to its customer service standards.

Members commented that the report demonstrated excellent service standards were being achieved, highlighting particularly that front line services such as Revenues and Benefits, which were the first point of contact for customers, were performing well.

It was commended that the Council had received ten decisions from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman; eight were ‘closed after initial enquires’; one was ‘not upheld, no maladministration’ and one was ‘upheld, maladministration and injustice’. Executive were informed that that this last complaint was a complex one and the criticism was about a delay in putting the person back on the housing waiting list which had now been resolved. It was noted that such findings against the Council were very rare.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Sandra Peake

RESOLVED - That Executive notes the overall performance on compliments, comments and complaints and customer service standards.       

REASON FOR DECISION:

The report was to keep Elected Members informed of volumes and trends regarding customer service standards and compliments, comments, complaints and to maintain and improve upon Customer Service targets.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

Not applicable as the report was to keep Elected Members informed rather than to aid decision making.

Recommendations on page 43

RESOLVED – That the contents of this report be noted.

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder - Partnerships and Transformation which provided a comprehensive overview of the various programmes, initiatives and activities that the Partnership Team had been involved in over the last 12 months.

Key achievements that were highlighted in the report and other achievements made subsequently included:

·                Collaboration with the Lloyds Bank Foundation (LBF) and recent confirmation that Bolsover had been selected as one of eight local authority areas nationally that the LBF wanted to partner with for ongoing work to test new ideas and re-design services

·                The receipt of £54,000 to Bolsover Partnership from Public Health Localities and Place Based Programme for a two year ‘Social Connectedness’ programme

·                The receipt of £207,361 funds from a second tranche of the Controlling Migration Fund from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

·                A social return on investment for the Raising Aspirations Year 8 Resilience programme at Heritage High School of £21.72 for every £1 invested (measurement derived from the HACT tool using the Shortened Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Survey)

·                The launch of the second phase of the Business Growth Fund, making available £200,000 of grant funding to businesses demonstrating growth potential

·                Significant social value outcomes achieved through the B@Home Partnership including 4485 young people engaged, 43 work experience opportunities, and 8 apprenticeship starts

·                Social value outcomes valued at £1.2m from the Council’s investment in the Grants to Voluntary Organisations programme

The case study in the report on the pilot of the Physical Activity and Lifestyle (PALs) programme was praised.

Executive discussed the Raising Aspirations programme. It was queried whether the vulnerable groups taking part in the programme included gifted and talented students. It was commented that these students sometimes fail to meet their potential without appropriate support. Members were advised that the students selected for the programme were from varied criteria, including gifted and talented students. Other criteria included low confidence, suffering from anxiety, and poor academic results, such that the students would not be able to self-identify.

Members recognised the importance of the Council’s partnership working, the achievements already made and the works that needed to be continued.

The Leader informed Executive that the Local Government Association Peer Review that the Council had recently held had highlighted partnership working as a particularly successful aspect of the Council’s work.

Moved by Councillor Steve Fritchley and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED – That the contents of this report be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To receive a comprehensive overview of projects, funding and initiatives that the Partnership Team was involved with and to ensure Partnership funding was targeted to best effect.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

Options were considered as an integral element of all commissioning processes.

Recommendations on page 104

RESOLVED - That Executive approves the Strategic Risk Register as at 30^th September 2019 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder – Finance and Resources in relation to the Council’s Strategic Risk Register as at 30^th September 2019. 

The report ensured that Executive were kept informed concerning the Council’s latest position on Risk Management and Partnership working and were able to exercise effective control of the Council’s Risk Management arrangements. 

In relation to the first risk in the register, Executive were informed that the Council’s preparations for the UK leaving the EU were progressing and that multi-agency conference calls had been reinstated following the election.

A comprehensive review of the Council’s risk management framework was being undertaken to ensure that the continued effective and systematic management of risk would be achieved.

A new Risk Management Strategy was being produced which would include the following revised approach:

·      The nature of ‘risk’  - both the ‘threats’ and the ‘opportunities’

·      The benefits of a robust risk management approach

·      The Council’s risk appetite

·      Risk categorisation – Operational, Governance, Strategic

·      Project and Partnership risk

·      The Council’s risk management approach and arrangements including a new ‘Risk Management Group’

·      Roles and responsibilities including Senior Risk Officer and Senior Information Risk Officer (SRO and SIRO)

Future reports will more closely reflect the ‘Risk Management Strategy’ and the work plan of the ‘Risk Management Group’.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED - That Executive approves the Strategic Risk Register as at 30^th September 2019 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To enable Executive to consider the risks identified within the Strategic Risk Register / Partnership Arrangements in order to assist in maintaining effective governance arrangements, service and financial performance.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

This report enabled Members to consider whether the Council had adopted an appropriate approach to its management of risk and partnerships. As this report was part of the approach to help ensure the effective management of risk / partnerships there was no alternative to receiving this report. 

Recommendations on page 120

RESOLVED - That Executive approves:

(1)          the revised General Fund budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1 and detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

(2)          the revised Housing Revenue Account budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.

(3)           the revised Capital Programme for 2019/20 as set out within Appendix 4 to the report.

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder - Finance & Resources which sought approval of the 2019/20 revised budgets for the General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme. 

General Fund Revenue Account

The original budget showed a funding deficit of £0.083m.  The current budget position was a surplus of £0.261m.  This included the council tax increase £0.112m, the quarter 1 vacancy savings of £0.093m and transformation programme items of £0.139m.

Although the General Fund surplus remains unchanged from the current budget figure of £0.261m, lots of movement within the budgets has taken place.  A clear objective in the exercise was not to make any budget changes that would have had a significant adverse impact on the service provision being delivered.

The key variances within the revised budget were:

Housing Revenue Account (HRA)

Taking account of the proposed budget changes detailed in the report, the HRA was anticipated to deliver a surplus in the current financial year of £0.155m, which was £0.132m higher than the current budget.

Capital Programme

As part of the revised budget process, officers estimated the likely level of spend in the current financial year.  As a result £1.712m was removed from the current budget and put into 2020/21 as this was when the work was likely to be undertaken.  The proposed estimated outturn for 2019/20 was therefore a budget of £18.057m.

There were no issues to report with regard to the financing of the 2019/20 capital programme.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED - That Executive approves:

(1)          the revised General Fund budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 1 and detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

(2)          the revised Housing Revenue Account budget for 2019/20 as set out in Appendix 3 to the report.

(3)           the revised Capital Programme for 2019/20 as set out within Appendix 4 to the report.

REASON FOR DECISION:

The purpose of the report was to set revised budgets as early as possible within the financial year to ensure that identified budget savings were realised, that all budget managers were working to the revised budgets and to allow any planned changes to be delivered. The improved position on both the Council’s main revenue budgets reflected a combination of favourable circumstances during the year, together with careful budget management and the ongoing policies of progressing the transformation agenda in order to reduce the underlying level of expenditure in line with the ongoing reductions in the level of government grant. The savings achieved would be used to support service delivery to residents and tenants in future financial years.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

General Fund and Housing Revenue Account  ...  view the full minutes text for item 518.

To move:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.” [The category of exempt information is stated after each item].

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Steve Fritchley

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed. [The category of exempt information is stated after each Minute].

(Paragraphs 1, 3 and 4)

Recommendations on page 134

RESOLVED – That -

(1)        Executive notes the progress made with the service review.

(2)        Executive supports further detailed work and considers final, costed recommendations at a future meeting.

(3)        Executive supports the development of a detailed improvement plan for the joint service.

(4)        formal consultation with the Trade Unions be progressed, following evaluation of revised job descriptions.

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder – Street Scene & Environmental Health which provided an interim update on progress with the Environmental Health and Enforcement Review. The report also identified emerging improvement themes and topics, outlined draft proposals for further consideration and summarised the next steps.

Moved by Councillor Deborah Watson and seconded by Councillor Nick Clarke

RESOLVED – That -

(1)        Executive notes the progress made with the service review.

(2)        Executive supports further detailed work and considers final, costed recommendations at a future meeting.

(3)        Executive supports the development of a detailed improvement plan for the joint service.

(4)        formal consultation with the Trade Unions be progressed, following evaluation of revised job descriptions.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To progress the full review of the service in order to ensure that it can operate in a modern, efficient and effective way. 

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

The option of not progressing further with the review was considered but rejected as not sustainable. 

(Paragraphs 3)

Recommendations on page 144

RESOLVED - That Davlyn Construction Ltd be appointed to undertake the works as outlined within this report as per the tender sum.

Executive considered the report of the Portfolio Holder - Housing and Community Safety which sought approval to award a contract to Davlyn Construction Ltd to undertake the Safe and Warm Scheme Upgrade Scheme together with additional modernisation works at Ashbourne Court, Shirebrook and Parkfields, Clowne.

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED - That Davlyn Construction Ltd be appointed to undertake the works as outlined within this report as per the tender sum.

REASON FOR DECISION:

Following a procurement exercise, taking into account both cost and quality criteria, Davlyn Construction Ltd was assessed as being the most economically advantageous bidder.

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

Due to the existing condition of the communal heating system there was potential risk for failure of the boilers. It was not economically viable to replace the boilers and there was further complication due to the deteriorating condition of the existing pipe work infrastructure.