Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interests.

The Portfolio Holder is asked to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2017 as a correct record.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder signed, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2017.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder agreed the following:

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder refused the following application:

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder considered a  report summarising recent applications for funding from the Community Chest grant funding scheme during 2017-18.

Regarding the application from Guilden Morden Primary School, the Portfolio Holder noted that Councillor Cicely Murfitt supported the application, but concluded that there was insufficient community use for the application to be compliant with Community Chest scheme criteria.

The total remaining in the budget was £16,669.62 and, at this meeting, the Portfolio Holder awarded £9,383.50. Therefore, the balance carried forward to the next meeting would be £7,286.12.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder agreed the following:

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder refused the following application:

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holderapproved the Rural Settlement List for 2018-19 as attached at Appendix A to the report from the Executive Director, and authorises its publication.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder considered a report requiring him to determine the boundaries of Rural Settlements for the administration of Rural Rate Relief (“Village Shop Relief”) in accordance with section 42B of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997.

He noted that, since boundaries had been last reviewed in 2016, Teversham had been removed from the list because its population now exceeded 3,000.

In response to a point raised by Councillor John Williams, the Revenues Manager said that, when next reviewed (for the year 2018-19) account would be taken of the fact that Teversham was partly in the ward of Cherry Hinton.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder approved the Rural Settlement List for 2018-19 as attached at Appendix A to the report from the Executive Director, and authorises its publication.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder noted the report, and recommended to Full Council (at the January 2018 meeting) that the current scheme be continued into 2018-19 with minor technical changes where necessary.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder considered a report reviewing the operation of the 2016-2017 and 2017-18 Localised Council Tax Support Scheme (LCTS).

He referred to paragraph 13 of the report, and commended the scheme.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder noted the report, and recommended to Full Council (at the January 2018 meeting) that the current scheme be continued into 2018-19 with minor technical changes where necessary.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder received and noted a report reviewing the current performance of the Revenues & Benefits Section.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder welcomed the contents of the report, and asked that his appreciation be conveyed to those staff concerned.

The press and public are likely to be excluded from the meeting during consideration  of the Appendices relating to the following items, namely

Agenda Item 8 (Treasury Management) in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act), namely Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Agenda items 9 and 10 (Sickness Absence and Retention and Turnover) in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act), namely information relating to any individual, and paragraph 2 of the same Schedule, namely Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

In the interests of transparency, the Portfolio Holder said he would only go into private session if those present wanted to discuss information contained in the restricted appendices. Nobody wanted to do so and, accordingly, items 8,9 and 10 were considered in public.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder received and noted a report on the performance of the Treasury Management function.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder received and noted a public report providing an analysis of staff absence due to sickness.

Councillor John Williams highlighted the need to monitor the effective costs involved. In reply, the Head of People and Organisational Development confirmed that the monetary figures within the report represented salary cost for the absent employee.  The figures did not include costs associated with covering the absence, such as temporary agency worker costs or overtime. The Portfolio Holder asked the Head of People and Organisational Development to keep him updated on a regular basis.

The Head of People and Organisational Development explained the process being established to improve the effective management of sickness absence.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder requested that, so far as was feasible, the corporate information provided to him should be broken down by service areas, and relevant information should be shared with the Portfolio Holders responsible for those services.

The Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder received and noted a report providing an analysis of the turnover of staff between 1 July and 30 September 2017.

The Portfolio Holder said that he was not too concerned about the figures at this stage, but noted that there were significant “pinch points”. He agreed with Councillor John Williams that an analysis of staff turnover by service area would be helpful. The position relating to 3C Shared Services staff was also mentioned, and the Head of People and Organisational Development undertook to raise this through the Shared Services Board.

The Portfolio Holder will maintain, for agreement at each meeting, a Work Programme identifying all matters relevant to the Portfolio which it is believed are likely to be the subject of consideration and / or decision by the Portfolio Holder, or recommendation to, or referral by, the Portfolio Holder to Cabinet, Council, or any other constituent part of the Council.   The Programme will be updated as necessary.  The Portfolio Holder will be responsible for the content and accuracy of the Work Programme.

Those present noted the work programme attached to the agenda.

Tuesday 19 December 2017 at 6.00pm

Those present noted that the next Finance and Staffing Portfolio Holder meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday 19 December 2017starting at 6pm.