29th August 2006 - Minutes

BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY

(STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON TUESDAY, 29 AUGUST 2006

PRESENT: Ms J A Jenkins – Chairman

Mr J M Owen and Mrs W J Sadler were unable to be present at the meeting.

Mr H N Todd attended in order to present the Report of the Procurement Task Group referred to in Minute No. 30 below.

25 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

There were no declarations of interest.

26 MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2006 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

27 PETITIONS

None received.

28 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

None received.

29 WORK PLAN

The Head of Corporate Services submitted a report (Paper F75), which provided details of the Committee’s anticipated work for the remainder of 2006/07, including items which may be the subject of Call In Procedures.

It was noted that it was no longer considered necessary for the Procurement Task Group to report to the Committee’s meeting scheduled for 10 October 2006. In addition, the Report on General Fund Savings through implementation of the Procurement Strategy and Action Plan, scheduled for the meeting to be held on 28 November 2006, was deleted.

RESOLVED

That the Work Plan submitted as Paper F75 be noted.

30 PROCUREMENT UPDATE

Mr H Todd, Chairman of the Procurement Task Group presented a report (Paper F76) by the Group setting out progress made on improving the Council’s procurement arrangements and savings identified in relation to commodity purchases. The Head of Finance provided further information on key issues and answered questions raised by Members.

It was noted that the General Fund Budget for the current year included an allowance for ongoing savings of £30,000 per annum on commodity purchases. From work done to date, it was likely that this target would be met, with savings of almost £25,000 either already achieved or in progress.

Members’ attention was drawn to a number of improvements being put into place including updated Contract Procedure Rules. A summary of the main changes was attached as Appendix 2 to Paper F76 and it was proposed to submit the finalised revisions to the Strategy Committee for approval. Members did not consider it necessary to receive the Task Group’s proposed forward looking plan and revised Contract Procedure Rules before they were considered by the Strategy Committee.

It was noted that currently the Central Buying Consortium and the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation were the main buying agencies used by Babergh. However, other agencies, including the Central Government Buying Agency, would be investigated.

RESOLVED

(1) That the progress made on procurement matters as set out in Paper F76 be noted.

(2) That it be noted that a report is to be submitted to the Strategy Committee concerning the forward looking plan and revised Contract Procedure Rules, as set out in paragraphs 4.14 and 4.15 respectively of Paper F76.

31 REVENUE BUDGET – QUARTERLY MONITORING REPORT

The Head of Finance presented a report (Paper F77) setting out the first quarterly review of expenditure and income against budgets for 2006/07.

In the ensuing discussion the following were among the points noted:-

• Investment income and income from Local Land Charges were higher than expected.

• In relation to the new free concessionary travel scheme for senior citizens, it was too early to tell whether the additional government allocation to Babergh of £350,000 was sufficient. The situation would be monitored carefully. It was noted that the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee would be receiving a report on progress in due course.

• In 2005/06 income through the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme had been a little higher than expected and this might happen again in 2006/07. It would be for the Service and Financial Planning Group to recommend whether this additional income should be earmarked for supporting local businesses.

• The Audit Commission had suggested that future budget monitoring should be related to operational activity indicators that are lead indicators of net spending requirements. At its meeting on 28 November 2006 the Committee was due to receive an Integrated Performance and Financial Management Report, and Appendix 2 to Paper F77 set out a potential list of key operational indicators which could be relevant to future scrutiny and monitoring of the budget by Members as part of the Integrated Report.

• In relation to the final bullet point in paragraph 4.3 of Paper F77, it was noted that expenditure on council housing void properties was not part of the General Fund.

• In relation to Customer Access and Service Transformation (CAST) (referred to on page 2 of Appendix 1 to Paper F77) it was agreed that the papers for the CAST Board meeting scheduled for 11 September 2006 would be circulated to all Committee Members.

RESOLVED

(1) That the position on 2006/07 budget variations as set out in Appendix 1 to Paper F77 and the key areas highlighted in Sections 4.3 to 4.7 of the report be noted.

(2) That officers continue to work with Heads of Service on action plans to deal with any unfavourable variations.

(3) That the proposed strengthening of the Council’s budget and performance monitoring arrangements be noted and that further details in relation to this be included in the next quarterly monitoring report to Members.

32 CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING

The Head of Finance and the Head of Contract and Asset Management presented a joint report (Paper F78) setting out progress on the current year’s Capital Programme to the end of June 2006 under the agreed performance management arrangements.

Details of projects where money had been carried forward from 2005/06 were set out in Appendix B to the report. It was noted that the Service and Financial Planning Group would reconsider the position on budget carry forwards in assessing the revised capital programme for the current year and what arrangements were appropriate for allocating any of this to other projects which were not currently in the capital programme.

Members requested that a corrective action report be prepared for the Committee’s meeting on 10 October 2006 on projects where there appeared to be little progress in 2006/07, and in particular on:

• Improvements to public conveniences
• A131 traffic management enhancement.

RESOLVED

That the overall position on the Capital Programme at the end of June 2006 including progress on work carried over from the previous year as set out in Paper F78 be noted.

33 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT – QUARTERLY REPORT

The Head of Corporate Services presented a report (Paper F79) setting out the 2006/07 end of first quarter figures for the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) and Local Performance Indicators (LPIs) included in the 2006/07 Corporate Plan.

The Head of Customer Services provided further information about those PIs set out in Table 2 of Paper F79 relating to Benefits and Council Tax. It was noted that it was too early for the full benefits of the new application process to be evident in the performance figures.

RESOLVED

That the performance information contained in Paper F79 be noted.

34 DISTRICT AND PARISH/TOWN COUNCIL ELECTIONS IN 2007 – POSTAL VOTING

The Head of Corporate Services submitted a report (Paper F73) on the ramifications of all-postal voting at future elections. A report on postal voting had been requested by Members prior to the passage of the Electoral Administration Act 2006, which had become law in July and impacted significantly upon the practicalities of running all-postal pilot elections. The report also indicated that the Corporate Plan required the Council to decide whether or not to apply to run a pilot scheme at the elections in 2007 in order to increase voter turn-out and that, of all pilot schemes tried so far, only all-postal voting had substantially affected turn-outs.

The Electoral and Administrative Services Manager provided detailed information and answered Members’ questions. In the ensuing discussion the following were among the points noted:-

• In order for Babergh to be able to run any type of pilot scheme, the Council would need to obtain permission from the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Electoral Commission. Permission would only be granted if it could be shown that the pilot would provide some added value or enhance the knowledge gained from previous pilot projects.

• It was noted that in the 2003 Local Elections turn-out across Suffolk had been as follows:-

• One of the Council’s service priorities was to raise individual and community ambitions and encourage active citizenship.

• Previous pilots had shown that all postal voting improved turn-out. However, it was significantly more expensive than the traditional method and it gave rise to concerns about security – a recent survey had found that only 37% of the electorate believed postal voting to be safe.

• In the 2003 Local Elections the turn-out had been below 25% in Great Cornard North, Great Cornard South, Pinewood, Sudbury North and Sudbury South. It was suggested that the Council might consider running a pilot scheme in which an all postal vote was carried out in these five wards. The estimated cost of such a project was £17,000 and approximately 16,000 electors would be affected.

• It might be argued that a decision to carry out such a pilot scheme would lead to increased publicity for the Local Elections, possibly having a beneficial effect on turn-out throughout the District.

• Paragraph 4.23 of Paper F73 set out measures which could be taken to increase turn-out by means of a publicity and awareness campaign. It was suggested that it might be possible to write to all the electors in a particular area and include a postal voting application form.

RECOMMENDED TO STRATEGY COMMITTEE

(1) That the report on District and Parish/Town Council Elections in 2007 (Postal Voting) set out in Paper F73 be noted and that the following action be taken:-

(a) Officers to contact the Department of Constitutional Affairs to ascertain whether a pilot postal voting system would be possible in the following five wards in Babergh: Great Cornard North; Great Cornard South; Pinewood; Sudbury North; and Sudbury South.

(b) If the Department of Constitutional Affairs indicates that it may consider applications to run all-postal elections in 2007, that a pilot bid be pursued in accordance with the deadlines that will be set by the Department.

(c) If the Department of Constitutional Affairs indicates that it will not be seeking such applications, that the measures set out in paragraph 4.23 of Paper F73 be undertaken, subject to funding being made available, and with particular emphasis on publicising the availability of postal voting in the five selected wards.

RESOLVED

That a further report on District and Parish/Town Council Elections in 2007 be submitted to the Committee at its meeting scheduled for 28 November 2006.

35 LOCAL LAND CHARGES – PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The Head of Corporate Services submitted a report (Paper F74) setting out the latest performance trends for the Local Land Charges service. It was noted that currently the service was returning 99.3% of standard searches within 10 working days. The staff concerned were congratulated on this achievement.

RESOLVED

That the performance trends set out in Paper F74 be noted.

Note: The Committee adjourned for refreshments between 10.55 a.m. and 11.15 a.m.

The business of the meeting was concluded at 12.40 p.m.

…………………………………….

Chairman