MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE RESOURCES SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON WEDNESDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2001 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM

Present :

Mr G S Kendall (Chairman), Mr M J Cunningham, Mr J F Howe (deputising for Mrs J L Wareham), 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 A F Tiltman

Spokesperson :

Mr R R Barry

Also Present (non-voting) :

Mr A C Bartlett

Apologies :

Mr D J Knowles, Mr R A Sutton, Mrs J L Wareham

14. MINUTES

RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2001 be confirmed.

15. URGENT BUSINESS

The Chairman agreed to three items of urgent business which he considered the Select Committee should be aware of.
(a) Update - Vision for Newport
Members were reminded of the informal briefing on 'A Vision for Newport' which was held at Northwood House. A report outlining the findings would be brought to the Select Committee's next meeting due to be held on the 12 December 2001.
RESOLVED :
THAT the position be noted.
(b) Update - Grants Task Group
At the Select Committee's meeting on the 10 October 2001, a Task Group had been established to investigate grants procedures. The Task Group had had one meeting, and was due to meet again in early December 2001. A report detailing the Task Groups findings, would follow.
RESOLVED :
THAT the position be noted.
(c) Call-In of Executive Decision - Senior Management Structure
The Chairman made the Select Committee aware that, with support, he intended to Call In a decision made by the Executive, at its meeting on the 13 November 2001, regarding the Senior Management Structure.
RESOLVED :
THAT the position be noted.

16. SERVICE PLANS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The Select Committee considered the Service Plans from the Strategic Director of Finance and Information. The Service Plans included Financial Services; Revenues and Benefits; Information and Communications Technology and Business Services.
In considering the Service Plan for Financial Services Members were made aware that the full version would be available from April 2002. It was reported that Financial Services had avoided the loss of �1 million per annum through the housing subsidy. It was reported that the pension fund was moving towards being a mature fund which would mean more people would be receiving a pension than paying in to it.
With regard to the Service Plan for Revenues and Benefits the success of the document management system, which had replaced the heavily paper based system, was highlighted. It was reported that the percentage of recoverable overpayments of benefits was 46%. This was due to a change in law by Government which made it more difficult to recover such monies.
Members then considered the Service Plan for ICT and the progress being made towards E-Government. It was indicated that those Members who had received a personal laptop and ICT training were impressed with the service. It was felt that staff ICT training was a key issue that needed to be addressed. Members were advised that both the Council's intranet and internet services were being used by both staff and members of the public.
In relation to Business Services, which included, Customer Services/Post Room; Print Unit and Word Processing, Members were advised that Customer Services was moving towards being a frontline for information to public enquiries. This could reduce the amount of calls that were transferred to other departments. Concern was raised about the issue of security within County Hall and the importance of visitors and staff wearing identity badges was emphasised. It was indicated that security of the building was currently under review.
It was highlighted that a great deal of work for the print unit was being lost to outside organisations. Members felt that with immediate effect all printing orders should go through the Print Unit Manager as he would be the best placed and most experienced person to source such work.
The Measuring Performance Task Group that had been established would investigate Service Plan content and the Select Committee believed that it would be appropriate to await its findings before considering any recommendations.
In view of the time taken to consider the Service Plans presented by the Strategic Director of Finance and Information the Select Committee believed that the remaining Service Plans should be considered at the next meeting
RESOLVED :
(i) THAT the Service Plans from the Director of Finance and Information be noted.
(ii) THAT the Service Plans for the Strategic Director of Corporate and Environment Service and the Head of Paid Service be considered at the meeting due to be held on 12 December 2001.

17. 'GREENING THE WORKFORCE'

The Select Committee received the report of the Personnel Services Manager which outlined the need for greener ways of working within Local Government. Since the subject had previously been raised, a travel to work survey had been conducted and follow up work was still required. Members were advised that the scope of the strategy would include encouraging the use of public transport, establishing car sharing schemes, charging for car parking and a review of the car purchase loan scheme. It was noted that Members of the Council would not be excluded from the 'Greening the Workforce' strategy. The Personnel Services Manager would be preparing a draft Greening the Workforce Strategy.
RESOLVED :
THAT a further report be presented to the meeting due to be held on 24 January 2002.

CHAIRMAN