Agenda, decisions and minutes

Cllr John Batchelor declared an interest as Chairman of Linton Action for Youth.

The Portfolio Holder is asked to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 13 May 2010 as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 May 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Minute 34(b) – Fear of Crime Survey – it was noted that the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership would be discussing its views on surveying children and young people on fear of crime at its meeting on 25 October 2010.

The Licensing Committee RECOMMENDS to the Leader of the Council, the draft Licensing Policy, as amended at the Licensing Committee meeting held on 22 June 2010 and attached to the report pack on the Council’s website, in order to commence the consultation process. 

The Leader APPROVED the draft Licensing Policy for consultation.

Reason

It is a statutory requirement that the Licensing (2003 Act) Policy is reviewed by the Council every three years.

Cllr Mrs Cicely Murfitt, Chairman of the Licensing Committee urged members of the Council to convey any comments on the draft Licensing Policy before the end of the consultation period which expired on Monday, 4 October 2010.

The Leader accepted the recommendation from the Licensing Committee held on 22 June 2010 and APPROVED the draft Licensing Policy for consultation.

The Leader, together with the Chief Executive and Executive Director (Corporate Services) APPROVED the certification of the figure of £1,628.834 as the actual amount of value for money gains achieved from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010 for reporting to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Reason

The actual amount of value for money gains achieved has to be approved and certified by the Leader, the Chief Executive and the Chief Financial Officer (Section 151 Officer) and submitted to the DCLG by 23 July 2010.

John Garnham, Finance Project Officer was in attendance for this item.

As a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007, all public services were set a target of achieving at least 3% net cash-releasing value for money gains per annum over the period 2008/09 to 2010/11.

Since the start of the 2008/09 financial year, the Council achieved ongoing cash-releasing value for money gains of £1,628,834, exceeding its forecast of £1,564,000 by £64,834.

The Leader, together with the Chief Executive and Executive Director (Corporate Services) APPROVED the certification of the figure of £1,628.834 as the actual amount of value for money gains achieved from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010 for reporting to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) by 23 July 2010.

The Leader considered the report which contained an update on progress on the single joint agreement with the Cambridgeshire Councils for Voluntary Service. The following issues were raised:

·         The agreement was dependent on resources

·         Who would be represented?

·         Was it value for money, particularly in terms of administration?

In conclusion, the Leader requested that further information on what the remit of the Cambridgeshire CVS is and what services/roles they actually deliver be included in the next report for his meeting on 16 September 2010. Action: Gemma Barron/Kathryn Hawkes

Copies of the toolkit will be enclosed with the agenda for those Members/Officers attending the meeting and included in the agenda pack on the Council’s website, www.scambs.gov.uk

The Leader AGREED to adopt the Community Engagement Toolkit for use within the Council.

Reason

Engagement toolkits have been produced by various public sector organisations to assist their staff in engaging communities. Toolkits offer advice and guidance on engagement methods .

As a result of a Cabinet decision on 2 July 2009 and the adoption of the Community Engagement Strategy, a Community Engagement Toolkit was produced which provided guidance for officers and elected members to consider when developing policies and strategies.

The Leader AGREED to the adoption of the Community Engagement Toolkit for use within the Council.

In response to a question raised regarding the number of new tenants returning a customer satisfaction survey, the Corporate Manager undertook to provide the information as a post meeting note within the minutes of this meeting. Action: Paul Howes /Gemma Barron

The Leader requested the names of the Parish Councils that had been invited to attend a forum to examine the workings of the council’s exception sites policy (Action 23 refers). The Corporate Manager undertook to provide the information to the Leader at his next meeting. Action: Paul Howes

The Leader

(a)            NOTED the progress on the action plan, and

(b)               AGREED to the deletion of the actions 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 22 contained in the appendix to the report.

The Leader NOTED the report. 

Peter Harris, Principal Accountant (General Fund and Costing) was in attendance for this item.

The Accountant reported that the year-end figures indicated small net underspends of £2,634 on revenue and £1,135 on capital.

Significant expenditure was funded from Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) Grants and administered by the County Council on a retrospective basis. All funding for 2009/10 had been received, but subsequent payments had been frozen a few days before the meeting and therefore future planned support was unlikely to be realised.

The Leader reported that some grants had already been issued by SCDC, however, the council would not be requesting that the grants be returned. It was also now very unfortunate that the Connections youth bus funded last year, would not be used in the near future as funding to staff the vehicle had been frozen. The Leader announced his intent to inform Council on 22 July of this decision by the County Council to freeze LSP grants and the effect this would have on South Cambs residents.

The Leader NOTED the final actual revenue and capital expenditure for his Portfolio compared with the working budget for the year ended 31 March 2010.

Peter Harris, Principal Accountant (General Fund and Costing) was in attendance for this item.

The Accountant presented the first quarter report for 2010/11. It was noted that as a result of the County Council freezing the funding of LSP grant monies without notice, as reported in the previous item, the reimbursement of LSP expenditure indicated in the appendices to the report was no longer expected, which meant that an overspend of over £57,000 had already occurred on this item and future payment of the council’s commitments would increase this figure. The Leader informed the meeting that the council would honour the commitments already made and would not be asking for grant monies to be returned.

The Leader NOTED the report and accompanying appendices.

The report includes the end of year Performance Indicators 2009/10

The Leader NOTED the contents of the report and appendix.

The Portfolio Holder will maintain, for agreement at each meeting, a Forward Plan 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 plan will be updated as necessary.  The Portfolio Holder will be responsible for the content and accuracy of the forward plan.

The Portfolio Holder NOTED the contents of the Forward Plan with the following amendment:

16 September 2010

Single Joint Agreement with Cambridgeshire Councils for Voluntary Service

11 November 2010

Cost Recovery Policy in respect of Contaminated Land (deferred from 16 September 2010 meeting)

The next scheduled meeting will be held on 16 September 2010. 

It was NOTED that the next meeting would be held at 10am on 16 September 2010.