To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors WU Attfield and PM Morgan and also from Councillor H Bramer (Cabinet Member (Resources)) and Councillor RJ Phillips (Leader of the Council).

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

GUIDANCE ON DECLARING PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AT MEETINGS

The Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct requires Councillors to declare against an Agenda item(s) the nature of an interest and whether the interest is personal or prejudicial.  Councillors have to decide first whether or not they have a personal interest in the matter under discussion.  They will then have to decide whether that personal interest is also prejudicial.

A personal interest is an interest that affects the Councillor more than most other people in the area.  People in the area include those who live, work or have property in the area of the Council.  Councillors will also have a personal interest if their partner, relative or a close friend, or an organisation that they or the member works for, is affected more than other people in the area.  If they do have a personal interest, they must declare it but can stay and take part and vote in the meeting. 

Whether an interest is prejudicial is a matter of judgement for each Councillor.  What Councillors have to do is ask themselves whether a member of the public – if he or she knew all the facts – would think that the Councillor’s interest was so important that their decision would be affected by it.  If a Councillor has a prejudicial interest then they must declare what that interest is and leave the meeting room.

The following declarations of interest were made:

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 April 2008.

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 April 2008 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

There were no suggestions from members of the public.

To seek the views of the Committee on the draft recommendations from the Service Delivery Review of the Council’s Service Delivery Partnership with Amey.

The Committee’s views were invited on the draft recommendations from the Service Delivery Review of the Council’s Service Delivery Partnership with Amey Wye Valley Ltd.

A draft report on Phase 2 of the review had been circulated separately to the Committee.

The Director of Environment and Culture introduced the report.  He said that a great deal of work had gone into the review, reflecting the importance attached to addressing the Partnership’s shortcomings in delivering services that were highly visible to the public.  The future emphasis needed to be on addressing issues as they arose, quickly and efficiently.

The Acting Head of Highways and Transportation presented the detail of the report.  The two stated objectives of the review were to review alternative forms of delivery with a view to securing annual savings to the Council of £1 million and to improve the current level and quality of service.  He explained how the review had been conducted and how 18 possible delivery options had been reduced to 3: the improved business as usual model; the managing agent model, which would give greater responsibility for planning to Amey; and the integrated services model, with services delivered by an integrated organisation staffed by employees of both Amey and Herefordshire Council and managed by a single manager reporting to both organisations.

The aim was to develop a model tailored to meeting the needs of Herefordshire.  It had been concluded that the improved business as usual model would not achieve the degree of improvement or level of savings required.  The other two models offered a potential basis for negotiation.

He emphasised the extent to which the financial savings were estimates and dependent on successful implementation of the model and could not be guaranteed.

He also drew attention to the appendices to the report setting out the scope of the contract, a description of the 3 shortlisted service models, a summary of the methods used in estimating potential staff savings and the Amey capability statement.

In the course of discussion the following principal points were made:

·         In response to a question, the principle of the “watchman” scheme it was proposed to include in the Herefordshire service model was explained.  The scheme was in place in Bedfordshire and had improved links with local communities, providing a single local contact with a delegated budget and a remit to target resources.

·         A number of examples were given of where service was not currently being delivered to the required standard by Amey.

·         There was discussion of how savings could be achieved without an adverse effect on service delivery.  The Director said that the savings were to be achieved without reducing service.  There was considerable duplication of effort at the moment with an unnecessary degree of checking.  Where there was a clear outcome to be achieved, as in the emergency response to the 2007 summer flooding, the partnership worked well.  That was the approach that needed to be fostered.

·         It was noted that Bedfordshire, where the managing agent model, involving  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a Scrutiny Development Plan for 2008/09. 

The Committee considered a Scrutiny Development Plan for 2008/09.

The Head of Policy and Performance presented the report explaining the basis on which the proposed Plan had been developed.

In the ensuing discussion the following principal points were made:

·         The Committee noted that the Chairman was discussing the possibility of an external evaluation of the Scrutiny function by the Leadership Centre. 

·         That it was important that the principal focus on scrutinising key issues where the function could have a positive impact.  Processes and structures should be developed to support that objective and not become an end in themselves.

·         That the role of scrutiny needed to be clearly communicated to the public.

·         That the programme of enquiry visits to other authorities should be progressed promptly.

·         It was requested that the proposals for work shadowing needed to be carefully considered and appropriate briefings given to staff beforehand.

·         In response to a question the Legal Practice Manager confirmed that there was no discrete budget for Scrutiny and explained that the approach had distinct advantages to the function, compared to authorities who operated a capped budget.

RESOLVED: That the Scrutiny Development Plan 2008/09 as appended to the report be adopted.

To consider the updated Procurement Strategy.

(Councillor PJ Edwards declared a personal interest)

The Committee considered the updated Procurement Strategy.

The Strategic Procurement and Efficiency Manager presented the report.  He noted the contribution the Strategy could make to meeting the Government’s efficiency targets and how efficiency savings formed part of the Audit Commission’s Use of Resources Assessment and consequently the overall rating of the Council’s performance.

In the ensuing discussion the following principal points were made:

·         That the Council’s policy commitment to supporting Fairtrade needed to be explicitly reflected in the Strategy. 

·         It was noted that the Strategy welcomed the use of local suppliers but the hope expressed that this use could be further encouraged.

·         It was confirmed that the Council was aware of the approach of some other authorities in inviting tenders via the internet.  Consideration was being given to how the Council might benefit from a similar approach.

·         It was asked whether there was sufficient staff resource within the procurement function, noting the employment of two consultants in connection with the letting of the contract for some second class post to TNT.  The issue of whether social sustainability was considered as part of the procurement process was also raised.  The Director replied that a project was underway with the West Midlands Centre of Excellence to review the organisation of the procurement function.  It was, however, important to note that the function had had some important successes.

·         The question of whether West Mercia Supplies purchased green electricity was discussed.  The Strategic Procurement and Efficiency Manager agreed to write to Members clarifying the position.

RESOLVED:  That the updated Procurement Strategy should be amended to reflect the Council’s policy commitment to supporting Fairtrade.

To inform the Strategic Monitoring Committee of the Council’s proposed Backward Looking Annual Efficiency Statement for 2007/08.

(Councillor KG Grumbley declared a personal interest.)

The Committee considered the Council’s proposed Backward Looking Annual Efficiency Statement for 2007/08.

The Head of Financial Services presented the report.  He noted the attention paid to efficiency savings in external assessments of the Council’s performance and that the Council had exceeded its target for 2007/08.  He drew attention to the forthcoming change to arrangements in 2008/09 whereby all savings submitted as part of the Annual Efficiency Statement had to be “cashable”, currently a mix of “cashable” and “non-cashable” savings being eligible for inclusion.

In the ensuing discussion the following principal points were made:

·         It was observed that the target for savings from partnership working with Amey had not been achieved and neither had the target for a saving as a result of a reduction in supervision between the client and Amey.

·         It was suggested that the extent to which staffing vacancies were attributable to turnover or to planned management action should be made clearer in future statements.

·         The saving attributable to the decision not to uplift certain contracts in line with inflation was discussed. 

·         The Head of Financial Services agreed to provide clarification to the Committee on the saving target relating to improving the affordable housing gap.

·         The contractual relationship with HALO Ltd, provider of leisure services, and whether there might be potential financial benefits from adopting a similar approach for delivering other Council services was discussed.  It was noted that this was being considered.

RESOLVED: That the proposed Backward Looking Annual Efficiency Statement for 2007/08 be noted.

To consider the final revenue and capital budget outturn for 2007/08.

The Committee considered the final revenue and capital budget outturn for 2007/08.

The report to Cabinet on 29 May 2008 was appended to the report.

The Head of Financial Services presented the report highlighting where there had been developments since the provisional outturn had been reported to the Committee in April.

The net Directorate overspend had been £900,000.  The final revenue outturn for the Council as a whole had been a net underspend of £591,000 taking account of items such as income from financing transactions, unbudgeted income from the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Scheme and additional dividend income from West Mercia Supplies as a result of increased use for procurement.

He drew attention to the creation of a number of new specific reserves and the Joint Management Team’s recommendation, accepted by Cabinet that the net underspend should be used to fund a reserve for rationalising office accommodation.

In the course of discussion the following principal points were made:

·         The financial implications of the national extension of free bus travel to over 60s including reduced income from car parking were noted.

·         The financial implications of schools achieving foundation status were also discussed. 

·         The provision of a reserve associated with the Whitecross High School Private Finance Initiative and the potential ongoing implications were noted.

·         In response to a question the Head of Financial Services agreed to clarify the position regarding the winter maintenance reserve.

RESOLVED:  That the final outturn for 2007/08, the use of the carry forward of unspent budget into 2008/09 and the creation of new reserves be noted.

To consider the Committee’s work programme.

The Committee considered its work programme.

The Chairman said that it would be helpful for Members to be supplied with an overview of the Council’s new management structure and key officer contacts.

RESOLVED: That the current work programme serve as a basis for further development.

To consider the findings of the Working Group appointed to consider the office accommodation strategy.

This item discloses information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

RESOLVED That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of this item on the grounds that there would be disclosure of information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Summary of Proceedings during which the Public were excluded

(Councillors PJ Edwards and MD Lloyd-Hayes declared personal interests.)

The Committee endorsed the findings of the Working Group it had appointed in April 2008 on the proposed process and timetable for developing an integrated office accommodation strategy for the PCT and Council.