MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE RESOURCES SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON WEDNESDAY, 13 MARCH 2002 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM
Present :
Mr G S Kendall (Chairman), Mr M J Cunningham, Mr P D Joyce, Mrs M J Lloyd, Mr R G Mazillius, Mrs M J Miller, Mr G P Price, Mr I R Stephens, Mr R A Sutton, Mr A F Tiltman, Mrs J L Wareham
Apologies :
Mr D J Knowles
Portfolio Holder :
Mr R R Barry
Also Present (Non-Voting) :
Mr V J Morey
45. MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2002 be confirmed.
46. URGENT BUSINESS
The Chairman agreed to three items of urgent business, firstly to consider the sale of Inver House, Bembridge, secondly to consider the submission of tenders to the Council and thirdly to consider staff parking at Sea Street
(i) Inver House, Bembridge
(The Chairman declared an interest in this item)
Members had discussed the sale of Inver House, Bembridge, as an item of urgent business, at the Select Committee’s last meeting held on 13 February 2002. At the meeting Members had recommended to the Executive amendments to the proposed terms to grant a 125 year lease to Islecare 97 Ltd. Following advice from the Property Services Manager it was now suggested that the matter should be reconsidered by the Select Committee prior to any decision being taken by the Executive at their meeting on the 26 March 2002.
RESOLVED :
THAT an extra meeting of the Resources Select Committee be arranged to consider the sale of Inver House, Bembridge prior to its consideration by the Executive.
(ii) Submission of Tenders to Council
The Councils’ Tendering procedure had been raised as a matter of concern to the Chairman. It had been highlighted that on two occasions an Island school had been advised of the cost of work to be undertaken at the school and in both instances the tenders had been far greater than that recommended. Members believed that the reasons for this should be investigated.
RESOLVED :
(i) THAT a Task Group be established to investigate the Council’s Tendering procedures
(ii) Members of the Task Group would include :
Mrs M J Miller, Mr R A Sutton, Mr I Stephens, Mr M J Cunningham, Mr P D Joyce, Mr G S Kendall
(iii) Car Parking Order
Members discussed the recent Car Parking Order which had been considered by the Environment and Transport Select Committee on 27 February 2002. The report had included the consideration of staff parking at Sea Street Car park. Members highlighted that staff parking would be considered as part of the Greening the Authority initiative.
RESOLVED :
THAT the position be noted.
47. HEALTHY WORKFORCE STRATEGY
Members received the report of the Personnel Services Manager which outlined the proposed Healthy Workforce Strategy. The Strategy was aimed at improving the health of Council employees and reducing absence within the workforce. Members were advised that the launch of the Strategy on 19 February 2002 had been a success.
Members supported the impetus of the Strategy and it was hoped that it would reduce the authority’s sickness and stress levels. It was noted that the authority’s sickness level was below the national average and this would effect the reduction of sickness levels.
The Select Committee were advised that training of managers in both attendance management and the management of stress had begun and was expected to be completed by the end of March 2002. Members believed that there should be Member involvement in such training issues and were assured that they would be notified of the remaining Manager training sessions.
RESOLVED :
(i) THAT it be recommended to the Executive to approve the adoption and implementation of the Council Healthy Workforce Strategy, including initiatives to promote the health of employees.
(ii) THAT training in all aspects of Attendance Management and the Management of Stress, should be compulsory for all Managers within the Council
(iii) THAT attendance management must be a strategic goal of the Council.
(iv) THAT Personnel Services take responsibility for the regular monitoring and reporting of all absence statistics.
(v) THAT the Healthy Workforce Strategy be referred to the Improvement and Development Agency (IDEA) as an example of Best Practice in Local Government.
(vi) THAT a Healthy Workforce progress report be brought to the Committee in October 2002.
48. ICT UPDATE
Members received a presentation from the ICT Manager addressing the recent ICT problems involving telecommunications, the Microsoft Outlook emailing system and Members ICT.
The ICT Manager reported the extent of the recent telecommunications problems experienced by some Council departments. The telecommunication lines were down for a total of four days. Members were informed that due to the inadequate response from British Telecom in rectifying the problems the ICT Manager was now pursuing the BT Services Manager to ensure better service in the future. It was highlighted that the Seaclose office was still experiencing problems with their lines of communication.
The Councils e-mailing service had suffered a combination of hardware and software faults and was out of use for some time. The ICT department was now moving forward to put in a redundant system which would run in parallel with the main system and act as a backup if faults in the main server occurred in the future
It was reported that Members laptops were now working and access to the Councils’ e-mail facility, intranet and internet had been resumed. Members were informed that there had been a problem with the security systems used to allow members access to these facilities and that the modems built into the laptops had been incompatible with the Council’s system. The manufacturer had undertaken the cost to rectify the problem.
RESOLVED :
THAT the position be noted.
49. CONNECTING WITH THE PUBLIC TASK GROUP
The Select Committee received the report of the Head of Select Committee Support which outlined the Task Groups progress to date. Both a Member led Task Group and a separately led Officer group had worked in parallel to investigate ways of “opening up the Council”. The Strategic Director of Corporate and Environment Services had indicated to the Task Group that adherence to corporate standards was currently being reviewed and it was considered appropriate that a Best Value review, with both Task Group Members and Officers, be established as the best mechanism for moving forward on this issue.
The Best Value review would include three main elements :
Contacting the Council
The Council contacting the public
Consultation
The Chairman of the Task Group emphasized that the effectiveness of the response to telephones calls should be included in the scope for the Best Value review.
RESOLVED :
THAT the Connecting with the Public Task Group be taken forward in the form of a Best Value Review.
50. MINUTES OF THE SOUTH STREET DEVELOPMENT WORKING PARTY
Members received for information the Minutes of the meeting of the South Street Development Working Party held on 1 March 2002 and the recommendation in relation to the relocation of Newport Fire Station. It was noted that this was an issue of particular importance to the Fire and Public Safety Select Committee.
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO THE EXECUTIVE :
(i) THAT the site of St Georges Way provides the best opportunity for the relocation of Newport Fire Station.
(ii) THAT during the development process the following issues be considered :
Size and impact of any proposed roundabout or traffic scheme
SINC designated corridor
Implications for park and ride schemes
Flood plain risk
Impact on local environment
Foul drainage
(iii) THAT the Chairman of the Working Party be authorised to sign the minutes of this meeting as a correct record.
51. FORWARD PLAN
Members considered a number of items that were included within the Forward Plan for March to May 2002 relating to its area of scrutiny. The Select Committee once again indicated that the value of the Forward Plan would be increased if it described decisions to be taken in more detail.
RESOLVED :
THAT the Forward Plan for March to April 2002 be noted.
52. MEMBERS QUESTION TIME
A question was put to the Chairman as follows :
Mrs M J Miller with regard to the Council’s Tendering Procedure. (MQ17/02)
A copy of the question and reply is contained in the Members’ Question Register.
CHAIRMAN