Resources Select Committee Minutes 03-03-05

61. MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2005 were confirmed.

62. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations at this stage.

63. URGENT BUSINESS – LAND TRANSACTIONS

The Chairman agreed to an item of Urgent Business which would be taken later in the meeting.

64. FORWARD PLAN

The Head of Select Committee and Review Team advised members of the items of relevance which were contained in the Forward Plan for the period March – June 2005.

Members asked when a report on the outcome of the print unit review was coming to the Select Committee and were advised that there was a need to consult with print unit staff first. The Select Committee asked why as nothing had as yet been available for scrutiny enabling recommendations to be made. Members also asked that the consultant attend the meeting to answer questions.

GAGS Accountability did not appear on the Executive Forward Plan. The Chairman of the GAGS Programme Board would be asked for an explanation as the Executive had been asked to consider this item and make a recommendation back to the Select Committee 7 April 2005 meeting.

Members questioned when St Mary’s Road Car Park, Cowes was to be considered by the Executive and were advised that the survey on the viability of the £100 parking ticket was still being looked into. The Select Committee believed there was a problem with the placing and installation of the holding tanks. The Portfolio Holder advised that 3 sites had been looked at and it was part of the ongoing negotiations with Southern Water and he would bring an update back to the April 2005 meeting.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GAGS PROGRAMME BOARD :

The Chairman of the GAGS Programme Board be asked to check the status of the GAGS Accountability report recommended to the Executive and report back to 7 April 2005 meeting.

65. QUARTERLEY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REPORT – QUARTER 3 (2004-05)

(During the debate Mr P D Joyce declared a personal and prejudicial interest as he was a Director of F W Marsh)

The Select Committee questioned why there had been a drop in the percentage of invoices for commercial goods and services paid by the authority within 30 days of receipt especially as this was a nationally set CPA Indicator. The Council’s Payment Section was monitoring the situation and advising the appropriate Heads of Service. Prompt payment was important to smaller firms who supplied the Council. The Portfolio Holder for Resources indicated he would take the item to the next Informal Executive with an eventual recommendation that all invoices should be paid within 30 days.

The Head of Human Resources gave an outline of the People Management Framework. Members noted the number of working days per employee lost due to sickness absence and asked if staff were monitored who came into work whilst ill. There was some concern over stress related absence which accounted for 20% of all absences throughout the Council although Service Heads monitored their own areas. An employee was referred to occupational health if they were signed off with stress.

The Select Committee was reminded that a Healthy Workforce Task Group had previously been in existence and a lot of work had been done through that Task Group. The Portfolio Holder for Resources indicated that the Isle of Wight Council were still below the national average of other Local Authorities although it did not compare so well with the private sector. Members asked that a report on sickness absence be brought to the next meeting to include a break down of figures for each Directorate, but to exclude any of the figures for schools.

Members asked why schools were excluded when looking at the percentages for Women into Management and were advised the Government indicated how the figures had to be analysed. If schools were included in the figures then the Council would have an approximate 50/50 split. The Select Committee noted that the figures for the third quarter took the Council out of the bottom quartile for the first time. Pru Grimshaw would take over as lead officer for the Women into Management Group when the Director of Adult and Community Services left the Council and David Pettitt would be the lead on Diversity.

The Head of Human Resources told members that the Council had done well with their Modern Apprentices over the last few years with many of them going on to full time employment. The development at Pan was to include a clause that any contractors used would have to employ a certain number of apprentices.

The Head of Organisational Development advised the Select Committee that progress on e-government was measured by two lists, the Electronic Service Delivery Tool Kit List and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) Priority List.

Corporate GIS could not be progressed across the authority as there were insufficient resources available. Additionally there was a lack of funding to progress the Land and Property Gazetteer. The Select Committee asked how many additional staff had been taken on and the cost of that and were advised that there were two on twelve month contracts costing £50,000. An additional £100,000 was expected from the ODPM by the end of March 2005. Work to upgrade the Network and Outlook had been carried out enabling the Council to carry out its core business. Members questioned the amount that had been spent on the electronic agenda and asked for a report to be brought to the 7 April 2005 Resources Select Committee with a financial breakdown monies spent so far.

Work that had been done on the Customer Relationship Management system had put the Council ahead of the game in some areas. Members questioned the low number of types of interactions that were enabled for electronic delivery and were advised that the dip had occurred because of the new measuring methodology introduced by the ODPM. In future the QPMR would show the new profile. There were 700 processes to be e-enabled by December 2005 and the Head of Organisational Development anticipated that he could achieve at least 90% of those.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR RESOURCES :

The Informal Executive be advised of the non compliance by some departments of payment of invoices within 30 days of receipt especially as this was a nationally set CPA indicator, so that an appropriate recommendation from the Executive could be made.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES :

A report on sickness absence be brought to the 7 April 2005 Resources Select Committee to include a break down of figures for each Directorate but to exclude any of the figures for schools.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT :

A report showing the financial breakdown of monies spent so far on e-government be brought to the 7 April 2005 Resources Select Committee.

66. BUDGET MONITORING REPORT AS AT END OF JANUARY 2005

The Portfolio Holder presented the budget report which set out the spending position on revenue and capital for services within the Committee’s remit as at the end of January 2005.

Members noted that the Land Charges income was slipping and were advised this was due to the state of the housing market which had dropped away since September 2004, thus affecting that department’s targets.

The Select Committee noted that the Members conference expenses and travelling budgets were overspending and asked for a list to be circulated of who had attended which conferences.

Questions were raised as to when payment for the European Elections would be made and the Register of Electors being made available to Third Parties. The Select Committee asked that a briefing be held on what information could be given out from the Register to others as they believed it needed to be properly explained to ensure no breach was made. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services indicated that he would send a written reply to members and include this as part of the Induction Process for incoming members after the May election.

A question was raised with reference to non-domestic rate discretionary relief. Members thought clarification was needed as second home owners believed they were entitled to it. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained he had invested in Case Management Time Recording Software to enable him to recharge his client services on a quarterly basis. The software had taken a while to bed in and was now working well enabling the inclusion of more substantial information.

There was some debate as to the high relocation costs of Engineering Services and were advised that the majority of the cost was down to the installation of ICT and the ducting laid from County Hall to Enterprise House. The original specification of the building was agreed but there were additional requirements needed. Members asked who monitored and subsequently agreed to the extra costs and were advised that every move had to have a business case. The Select Committee asked whether the moves were still self financing and the Asset Manager indicated that the sale of St Nicholas House in Newport would pay for most of the moves, it was anticipated that £850,000 would be raised from that sale. The next priority was to move Fire Service HQ from St Nicholas House although at present there was nowhere specific identified.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF LEGAL AND DEOMOCRATIC SERVICES :

(a) To advise Members of the Resources Select Committee when payment for the European Elections would be made.

(b) A briefing on how the Register of Electors could be used be included in the Induction Process for incoming members after the May 2005 elections.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND HEAD OF LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC SERVICES :

A list of which members had attended which conferences to be circulated to the Select Committee.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF PROPERTY SERVICES :

Details be circulated to members on how much above the budget the accommodation moves to Enterprise House were, why, who authorised them and why was the original estimate so inaccurate.

67. MEMBERS’ QUESTION TIME

Mrs M J Miller asked what was being done to find a replacement Deputy Monitoring Officer. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services indicated that he had recently appointed two new Legal Team Leaders one of which would be the new Deputy.

68. URGENT BUSINESS – LAND TRANSACTIONS

The Chairman agreed to an item of urgent business in accordance with the agreed procedure relating to land transactions.

The Portfolio Holder for Resources told Members of four proposed special purchaser procedures in respect of :

(i) Land at Crossfiield Avenue, Cowes – Residents to acquire the land adjacent to Crossfield Avenue and to maintain it as a neighbourhood garden. A low value decision to be taken by the Portfolio Holder.

(ii) Plot 37 Dodnor Industrial Estate, Newport – The existing leaseholder acquires the freehold reversion of the plot. A low value decision to be taken by the Portfolio Holder.

(iii) Land at Riverway, Newport – The developer of Island Carpets Superstore site at Riverway, Newport acquires surplus land adjacent the access and verge for parking and landscaping purposes. A low value decision to be taken by the Portfolio Holder.

(iv) Hotel site at Esplanade, Ryde – Negotiations be continued for a proposed hotel adjacent Ryde Arena on the basis of a capital premium for the sale instead of a ground rent. A high value decision to be taken by the Executive.

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY THE HEAD OF SELECT COMMITTEE AND REVIEW TEAM :

A copy of the draft report be sent to all members of the Resources Select Committee.

CHAIRMAN