15th September 2005 - Minutes

PRESENT:            Mr N A Ridley – Chairman

Mr N A Bennett Mr M P Booth Mrs S P Clarke Mr D J Read

Mr C M Spence Mr H N Todd Mrs S M Wigglesworth Mr L H Young

Mr A C Bavington was unable to be present.

Mr C J Hunt attended the meeting in order to present the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee referred to in Minute No. 57 below.

52  DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Mr C M Spence declared a personal interest in Item 15 – CAST, by virtue of his membership of Suffolk County Council but indicated that his interest was such that he was able to speak and vote on the matter concerned.

53 MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 August 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record subject to the addition of Mr L H Young to those Member’s present at the meeting.

54 PETITIONS

None received.

55  QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

None received.

56            ISSUES ARISING FROM OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEES (OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY RULES 33 AND 34)

None received.

57       RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES

Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee Minute No. 25 – Review of the Council’s Housing and Homelessness Strategies and HRA Business Plan

Mr C J Hunt, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee presented the recommendations of that Committee which had been made following consideration of the Housing Panel’s Report (Paper E111).

During the discussion of this item concern was expressed over the membership of the Choice Based Lettings Development Group referred to in Section 4B of Paper E111.  It was suggested that whilst there was no objection to part of the Group’s membership coming from the Housing Panel the remaining Members should be agreed at the Council Meeting  following consideration by the Group Leaders.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL

(1)        That the updated Affordable Housing Programme, as detailed in Appendix 1 to Paper E111 be approved.

(2)               That (a) a Choice Based Lettings Development Group be established to undertake the tasks detailed in section 4B of Paper E111 (b) the Group’s membership includes 5 elected Members, at least three to be Housing Panel Members.  The remaining two appointments to be made at Council following consultation with Group Leaders.

(3)               That the current allocation of £100,000 per annum for Registered Social Landlords to provide affordable housing be increased to £200,000 per annum, subject to consideration through the Council’s Service and Financial Planning process.

(4)        That up to twelve properties a year in the Babergh District be provided for successful asylum seekers from Ipswich Borough Council as part of a Suffolk wide agreement as detailed in Section 4D of Paper E111.

(5)        That the temporary posts of Estate Ranger (Post JO32T) and the Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator (Post JO29) be made permanent and that 100% of Post JO32T and 25% of Post JO29 be funded by the Housing Revenue Account. Further, that the remaining 75% of Post JO29 be funded from the General Fund, subject to consideration through the Council’s Service and Financial Planning process and subject to the funding split being reviewed after 12 months.

58            RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FROM TASK GROUPS

Redevelopment of Clibbon House, Great Cornard

Mrs S M Wigglesworth, as Chairman of the Housing Panel introduced Paper E135 regarding the proposed redevelopment of Clibbon House, Great Cornard. 

It was noted that the Council had previously agreed to carry out a review of the Council’s Sheltered Housing Service which detailed plans for the future of the Council’s 15 Sheltered Housing Schemes.  One of the recommendations was that a feasibility study should be undertaken into the improvement or redevelopment options for the Council’s Sheltered Housing Scheme at Clibbon House, Great Cornard.  Paper E135 detailed the results of the feasibility study and the evaluation of the options considered by the Housing Panel.

It was reported that upon receipt of the Planning Permission for the redevelopment a full valuation of the site would be undertaken.

RESOLVED

That the site at Clibbon House, Great Cornard be transferred to Flagship Housing Group at up to nil cost on the following conditions:

(a)            Flagship Housing Group arrange for the demolition and redevelopment of the site to provide approximately 20 new affordable homes.

(b)        That an agreement for Babergh to have nomination rights to all vacancies in perpetuity being entered into.

(c)                That a local group be established, which will determine the tenure type, density and property mix of the new dwellings as detailed in Option F of Paper E135.

59 STRATEGY COMMITTEE WORK PLAN

The Head of Legal and Administrative Services submitted a report (Paper E136) on items identified for future meetings of the Strategy Committee. 

It was agreed that the appropriate officers would investigate the possibility of submitting a report to the appropriate Committee relating to the effects, implications and risks as a result of climate change and increased carbon dioxide levels.

RESOLVED

That the Work Plan set out in Paper E136 be noted.

60        RISK MANAGEMENT AND ACTION PLAN

Geoff Kistner, Corporate Director and the Head of Finance and Performance Review presented a report (E139) advising that strong arrangements for Risk Management are needed if the Council is to achieve its Corporate objectives and plans.  The report outlined a revised and updated Risk Management Strategy and Action Plan and outlined how Risk Management should be embedded in business processes and the culture of the Council.

During the consideration of this item discussion related to concern over key risks for the Council and our priorities and how this linked with the Corporate Plan.

RESOLVED

(1)               That the Risk Management Strategy attached as Appendix 2 to Paper E139 be adopted subject to the words “avoiding or” being added prior to the word “implementing” in paragraph 1.1.1

(2)       That the Risk Management Action Plan attached as Appendix 3 to Paper E139 be adopted subject to the deletion of the words “and key risks to be addressed” in the first table of Appendix 3.

(3)        That the Overview and Scrutiny (Stewardship) Committee carry out further investigations into the Risk Profile contained in Appendix 4 of Paper E139.

61            “GROWING STANSTED AIRPORT ON THE EXISTING RUNWAY” CONSULTATION

The Acting Head of Planning Policy and Economic Development submitted a report (Paper E138) advising that the Council had received an invitation to comment on the consultation document “Growing Stansted Airport on the Existing Runway”. 

Paper E138 summarises the consultation document and had attached to it as an Appendix a proposed response for submission to the British Airport Authority (BAA) Stansted.

Circulated at the meeting was additional information concerning paragraph 4.9 of Paper E138 and a proposed alternative paragraph 2 to the proposed response to BAA Stansted.

The Committee considered the proposed response to BAA Stansted and were in general agreement to the letter contained as an Appendix to Paper E138 subject to the following amendments:

Paragraph 2-  Alternative circulated at the meeting subject to the noise levels during the extended hours not exceeding beyond existing levels.

Paragraph 3-  Penultimate sentence to be amended to “It is hoped that this work would allow for a meaningful consideration of transport impacts affecting Babergh, Suffolk and particularly the A131 in the market town of Sudbury”.

Paragraph 4- Final sentence to be amended to “Subject to satisfactory responses to the issues raised above, the Council still has reservations about the principle of Stanstead airport expansion as described generally in the consultation document”.

The response to include reference to environmental impact, transport infrastructure and clarification of economic development, other relevant authorities to be included in consultation.

RESOLVED

That subject to Mike Hammond, Corporate Director being authorised to incorporate appropriate amendments to reflect the comments referred to above he be authorised to submit a response to BAA Stansted on the “Growing Stansted Airport on the Existing Runway” consultation.

62 PROCUREMENT ACTION PLAN

The Head of Finance and Performance Review reported that the e-Government Steering Group has approved the acquisition of appropriate software in order to implement the above project for this year.  This will enable the Council to process orders and services electronically both internally and with suppliers and will result in significant savings.  The estimated capital cost of the project is £55,000 and the payback in terms of efficiency savings should equate to this amount annually.  E-Procurement is one of the Government’s service transformation priority outcomes and is also one of the key national strategy implementation milestones for March 2006.

Where possible and appropriate, the Council purchases new software modules from our existing suppliers in order to avoid the overhead costs associated with interfacing different systems.  Contract Procedure Rules provide for an exemption to be made from the need for more than one tender to be invited if the goods/services to be supplied are required in the interests of standardisation for maintenance or for other special reasons.  Therefore it is proposed that Agresso, the existing supplier in this case supply the software and associated services.

The Head of Organisational Development submitted a report (Paper E137) providing an update on the CAST project and seeking approval for actions to pursue the next stage of the project, in particular to approve a pilot exercise and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and to determine how to meet costs associated with implementing the project.

The Head of Organisational Development also referred to additional papers (Paper E137A and E137B) which had been circulated prior to the meeting providing further updates to Paper 137.

RESOLVED

(1)               That the update on the CAST Project be noted.

(2)               That approval be given to a pilot Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) exercise to cover processes in Revenues and Development Control as detailed in Paragraph 3.4 of Paper E137. 

(3)               That the additional cost of £54,000 in 2005/06 be funded from the £250,000 earmarked in the General Fund Reserve for the Transformation Agenda. 

(4)               That the Service and Financial Planning Group be asked to consider an Outline Plan and options for 2006/07, and that the remaining £200,000 in the General Fund Reserve for the Transformation Agenda and the additional £250,000 in the General Fund Reserves be considered as possible sources of funding for any proposals for expenditure in the 2006/07 budget. 

(5)               That, subject to any necessary funding decisions, in accordance with Contracts Procedure Rule No 2 (a) an exemption to Contracts Procedure Rule No 3 be approved, to allow a contract to be entered into with Bailey and Hodges Management Consultants to provide consultancy assistance related to development and delivery of the Council’s change management programme, without the need to invite any other tenders.

(6)               That an exemption be given from the Council’s Contracts Procedure Rules to enable the Strategic Support for customer access to be procured from one of the four organisations on the IDeA select list as referred to in paragraph 5 of Paper E137B without seeking competitive tenders.

(7)               That subject to the receipt of a satisfactory tender from the organisation selected by the group representing SCEG, for the provision of the Strategic Support, the Council enter into a contract for the said services.