EXECUTIVE BOARD

 

RECORD of a meeting of the Executive Board held on Monday, 15 July 2002 at 9.30 a.m. in the Luttrell Room, County Hall, Taunton.

 

PRESENT

Cathy Bakewell (in the chair)

Mr D Busby

Mr T G R Carroll

Pauline Clarke

Mr A F Gloak

Claire Gordon

Mr C Hill

Paddy Macmaster

Jill Shortland

Mr J E Smeaton

Other Members Present: Mr A J Govier and Mrs E M Waymouth.

Apologies for Absence: None.

 

 

192.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – agenda item 2

 

Mr D Busby declared a personal interest under agenda item 6B (Capital Strategy  - page 19 – Conservation) in relation to the Taunton and Bridgwater Canal. His interest was neither clear nor substantial. He therefore remained present at the meeting for the item and took part in the decision.

 

In relation to Item 17 (Fire Brigade Workshops) the following members declared the personal interests shown:-

·                     Claire Gordon – member of the Hestercombe Gardens Trust appointed by Somerset County Council;

·                     Mr J E Smeaton – near neighbour of Hestercombe and member of the Friends of Hestercombe;

·                     Mr A F Gloak – acquainted with the treasurer of the Hestercombe Gardens Trust.

None of these interests debarred the members from taking part in the debate or voting where appropriate.

 

193.

RECORD – 1 JULY 2002 – agenda item 3

 

The Record of the meeting held on 1 July 2002 was taken as read and signed as correct.

 

194.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME – agenda item 4

 

None.

 

195.

LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT (LPSA) – agenda item 5

 

The  Board considered the first draft of the LPSA – a three year agreement between the County Council and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for specific improvements in service delivery.

 

Members noted that the comments of the Scrutiny Committee would be considered by the Group detailed in (2) below.

 

RESOLVED:  

 

(1)        to note the draft LPSA submission;

 

(2)        to nominate the following core group of Executive Members to work with the PSA Officer Group in prioritising the targets and conducting preliminary discussions with Government representatives:-

 

            Liberal Democrats (3)             Pauline Clarke

                                                            Claire Gordon

                                                            Jill Shortland

 

            Conservatives (1)                   To be nominated by the Conservative Group

 

            Labour (1)                               David Busby

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

196.

CORPORATE PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN 2002 – 2006 – agenda item 6A

 

The Board considered this document setting out priorities for the County Council’s property estate for the next three years.

 

In response to a comment about

 

·                     the potential benefit in providing out-of-hours youth facilities at schools, officers undertook to clarify how the funding set aside for a new youth centre for Bishops Lydeard/ Cotford St Luke would be utilised, and to supply information to Board members in this connection;

 

·                     the evolving nature of building control legislation and the consequent need to involve District Council building control officers earlier in the development of capital projects in order to avoid unnecessary time delays and costs, officers undertook to include in the Asset Management Plan text which enabled a ‘stand-alone’ advisory group of building control officers to be established, or for this group to be included in another officer-level body.

 

RESOLVED:   to approve the draft Corporate Property Asset Management Plan 2002-2006 for submission to the Government Office for the South West.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

197.

CORPORATE CAPITAL STRATEGY 2002 – agenda item 6B

 

The Board considered this document which was designed to inform the County Council’s approach to determining capital investment priorities, and to explain how the capital programme was implemented and monitored.

 

Members noted that Appendices E and F had not been completed and had therefore not been included with the papers for the meeting. Officers undertook to circulate both appendices to members of the Executive Board for comment prior to the Capital Strategy being finalised.

 

With regard to the Investment Strategy for Lifelong Learning as set out in Appendix B to the report, it was noted that, as a result of recent government advice, the Education Asset Management Plan would also need to reflect the priorities contained in the Education Development Plan, which might necessitate a change in the Local Policy Statement.

 

RESOLVED:  

 

(1)        to approve, in principle, the draft 2002 Corporate Capital Strategy for submission to the Government Office for the South West;

 

(2)        to delegate responsibility to the Corporate Director (Treasury) to finalise the document in conjunction with the Executive Portfolio-holder (Finance).

 

REASON:        in accordance with the recommendation.

 

198.

REVENUE BUDGET 2001/02 OUTTURN – agenda item 7A

 

The Board considered this report summarising the overall financial performance of the County Council against the revenue budget for 2001/02 and the use of earmarked reserves in the year.

 

RESOLVED:  

 

(1)        to approve the following specific requests to have overspends amounting to £1.563m written off to General Reserves:-

 

 

Outturn

£m

School and Post-16 Transport

0.444

Countryside & Heritage Services

0.035

Highways, Transport & Planning

0.189

Waste Services

0.170

Social Services

0.130

Corporate General

0.315

Treasurer’s Department

0.094

Personnel Service

0.014

SCS Central Despatch

0.030

Fire Brigade

0.066

Coroner’s Service

0.076

Others

0

Total unmanageable overspends

1.563

 

(2)        to approve the return to general reserves of £218,000 of the County Farms carry forward, as detailed in paragraph 3.10 of the report;

 

(3)        to approve the request that the ongoing costs and potential liability arising from the Lands Tribunal case in relation to Dimmer Lane, Castle Cary should be treated as a corporate cost funded from general reserves rather than a service cost, as detailed in paragraph 3.13 of the report;

 

(4)        to note the level of carry-forwards and other reserves that services are holding, as detailed in section 6 of the report;

 

(5)        to initiate a review of reserves to ensure that there is consistency of treatment across all services and to help simplify the use of reserves - the review to be reported to the Corporate Director (Treasury) in time for the next estimates cycle (revised estimates for 2002/03 and forward estimates 2003/04), as detailed in paragraph 6 of the report;

 

(6)        to approve an ongoing virement requested from 2003/04 by the Director of Financial Services for £120,000 from ICT Services in order to ensure a balanced budget, and to attach “1st Call status” to the ICT 2003/04 Medium Term Financial Plan bid for major corporate IT initiatives, as detailed in paragraphs 3.25 and 3.26 of the report;

 

(7)        to approve a one-off virement within 2002/03 requested from the Head of the Personnel Service to allow the movement of £98,500 of trading surpluses (from Dillington Advertising and Somerset Staffing) to specific reserves for key personnel projects, as detailed in paragraph 3.29 of the report.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

199.

CAPITAL OUTTURN 2002/02 – agenda item 7B

The Board considered this report regarding capital programme activity in 2001/02.

 

With regard to the overspend on the Bridgwater Northern Distributor Road (BNDR), members were reminded that an investigation was underway into the circumstances that had led to the cost increases, to identify if there was any way that the additional works could have been anticipated or allowed for as a contingency.  The Environment and Transport Policy Panel would in due course discuss the findings of the investigation, firstly to understand the reasons for the cost increases and secondly to see if there were any lessons to be learned in preparing future major scheme bids. As a part of the investigation, a member asked that clarification be given about whether any of the cost increases related to protestor action, other than those associated with Whitegate Field.

 

RESOLVED:  

 

(1)        to note the report and, in particular, the work which was continuing in order to identify procurement strategies for delivering a high volume capital programme, in relation to both property and highways investment (paragraphs 4.2, 4.6, 8.1 (iv), 8.2, 10.1 of the report refer);

 

(2)        to receive a capital progress report from the corporate Capital Expenditure and Monitoring Group (CEMOG) in October 2002, setting out proposals for reducing future capital programme slippage (paragraph 8.3 of the report refers);

 

(3)        to agree the financing of the Wide Area Network equipment purchase from the internal Capital Fund (paragraph 3.5 of the report refers);

 

(4)        to approve the proposed re-allocation of resources (paragraph 3.14 of the report refers), which allocates £0.250m from the 2001/02 capital programme to contribute towards cost increases on the Bridgwater Northern Distributor Road (BNDR) major scheme (paragraph 3.16 of the report refers);

 

(5)        to recommend the County Council to submit a bid in the Local Transport Plan Annual Progress Report for an additional £0.266m (paragraph 3.14 of the report refers) to contribute towards cost increases on the BNDR major scheme (paragraph 3.16 of the report refers);

 

(6)        to approve the use of £0.149m Supplementary Credit Approval in 2002/03, to develop mental health services in Somerset (paragraph 8.1 (iii) of the report refers).

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

200.

REGIONAL WHITE PAPER – ‘YOUR REGION, YOUR CHOICE: REVITALISING THE ENGLISH REGIONS’ – agenda item 8

 

The Board considered this report regarding the County Council’s response to this Government White Paper.

 

RESOLVED:  

 

(1)        to note the publication of the Government Regional White Paper “Your Region, Your Choice: Revitalising the English Regions”;

 

(2)        to authorise the Corporate Director (Economy, Transport and Environment) to finalise and submit a response to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the Regional White Paper in consultation with the Leaders of the three political groups.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

201.

COMMISSIONING STRATEGY – SERVICES FOR OLDER PEOPLE – agenda item 9

 

The Board considered this Strategy, which had been drawn up following a comprehensive look at services for older people, incorporating the final report and Improvement Plan of the Best Value Review of Services for Older People.

 

RESOLVED:   to endorse the Commissioning Strategy – Services for Older People.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

202.

FEES PAYABLE FOR CARE HOME RESIDENTS WITH ‘PRESERVED RIGHTS’ – agenda item 10

 

The Board considered this report seeking ratification of a decision taken under delegated powers to amend the level of payments previously agreed by the Board on 4 February 2002 for elderly nursing home residents with ‘preserved rights’.

 

RESOLVED:   to ratify the decision to pay £370 per week for elderly nursing home residents with ‘preserved rights’ plus an additional £10 per week for homes with quality accreditation, from 8 April 2002.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

203.

CORPORATE PARENTING ROLE – agenda item 11

 

The Board considered this report.

 

RESOLVED:   that the Visitors Group, on behalf of other members of Council, takes on the corporate parenting role for children looked after by Somerset County Council, which involves monitoring the Council’s performance in respect to such children and advising the Council in respect to policy and practice.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

204.

SOMERSET CULTURAL STRATEGY – agenda item 12

 

The Board considered this report.

 

RESOLVED:   to recommend the County Council to adopt the document ‘Celebrating Somerset’s Culture, Something to Declare’ as the Council’s Cultural Strategy.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

205.

BEST VALUE REVIEW OF CULTURAL SERVICES: FINAL REPORT AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN – agenda item 13

 

The Board considered this report regarding decisions required following adoption by the Scrutiny Committee of the Final Report and Improvement Plan of the Best Value Review.

 

Members noted that the resources required to put the actions detailed in the Improvement Plan into effect had not yet been identified. Members noted that it was likely that appropriate bids would need to be considered in the Medium Term Financial Plan process and reported through the Scrutiny Committee.

 

RESOLVED:   to support the Improvement Plan, and to ask the Corporate Director (Culture and Heritage) to identify how the resources required to put the actions detailed in the Plan into effect can be found.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations.

 

206.

FUTURE BUSINESS – agenda item 14

 

Members noted that the latest edition of the forward plan of Executive Board business had been published on 14 June 2002 and covered the period July to October 2002. The next edition of the plan would be published on 17 July 2002 and would cover the period August to November 2002.

 

(a)        Magistrates Courts

 

An update was given about Avon and Somerset Magistrates’ Court Committee’s (MCCs) long-term accommodation strategy and its review of the optimum number of petty sessions areas in Avon and Somerset. Members noted that the MCC had deferred making a decision regarding the long-term future of the courthouses at Frome, Minehead and Wells in order to:-

 

·                     await the White Paper on criminal justice due out later in July 2002 which was expected to indicate the future strategy of Central Government with regard to the provision of court accommodation;

 

 

·                     engage with local authorities, with the Countryside Agency and with other Criminal Justice Agencies to explore options for maintaining a court service in the areas affected without necessarily being obliged to maintain a court building.

 

Members were also advised that the MCC had decided to defer further consideration of the proposed Petty Sessional Areas (PSAs) changes within the Sedgemoor and Mendip PSAs until the future of the courthouses in and around those areas had become clearer. With regard to the proposed amalgamation of the West Somerset and Taunton Deane PSAs, the MCC had decided to seek an order to combine these twos PSAs because it was satisfied that a bench of only sixteen Justices in West Somerset was not sustainable in the longer term.

 

(b)        Local Government Finance – Formula Grant Distribution Paper

 

Members were advised of the potential impact for the County Council of proposals contained in a Government consultation document on possible changes to the formulae used to distribute grant to English local authorities. An information sheet had recently been issued to members and the issue would be discussed at the next meeting of the Finance Policy Panel. All members of County Council would be invited to attend the Panel meeting.

 

207.

INFORMATION SHEETS – agenda item 15

 

No items were raised.

 

208.

EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC  – agenda item 16

 

RESOLVED:   under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the basis that if they were present during the business to be transacted there would be a likelihood of disclosure to them of exempt information of the following descriptions:

 

·                     the amount of any expenditure proposed to be incurred by the authority under any particular contract for the acquisition of property or the supply of goods or services;

 

·                     any terms proposed or to be proposed by or to the authority in the course of negotiations for a contract for the acquisition or disposal of property or the supply of goods or services.

 

Records 209 an 210 have been excluded from this copy of the Record because they contain exempt information. Their contents are summarised below.

 

NON-CONFIDENTIAL MINUTE

 

209.

FIRE BRIGADE WORKSHOPS – agenda item 17

 

The Board considered this confidential report.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)        to agree in principle to the request from the Chairman of the Hestercombe Gardens Trust to relocate the Fire Brigade workshops and stores in advance of a positive decision for full funding for the development of the Hestercombe estate by the Heritage Lottery Fund;

 

(2)        to approve a mechanism to commit the County Council if necessary to the relocation before further consideration at the next Executive Board in September 2002.

 

For the purposes of paragraph 2.07 of the Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rules set out in the Constitution regarding the “call-in” of executive decisions, the Board agreed that its decisions summarised above should be implemented without delay as a matter if urgency in the event that it was necessary to commit the County Council to the relocation before further consideration at the next Executive Board in September 2002.

 

REASONS:     pursuant to Minute 33 of its meeting held on 12 November 2001, the Board was satisfied that the Fire Brigade workshops and stores could be relocated in advance of a positive decision for full funding for the development of the Hestercombe estate by the Heritage Lottery Fund provided that a number of conditions could be met.

 

210.

CONTRACTS FOR WASTE – agenda item 18

 

The Board considered this confidential report.

 

RESOLVED:  

 

(1)        to delegate authority to the County Waste Services Manager to conclude negotiations with Wyvern Waste Services Limited to transfer the landfill disposal element from the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) contract to the main landfill disposal contract;

 

(2)        further to (1) above, to approve a supplementary budget allocation in 2002/2003 which meets Wyvern Waste’s price for so doing, and to agree a base budget addition of the same value for Waste Services from 2003/2004 onwards;

 

(3)        to agree to a 3-month trial of a specialist security firm to combat trade waste from entering the County Council’s HWRC;

 

(4)        further to (3) above, to support the funding of such a trial from the invest-to-save element of the internal fund.

 

REASONS:     in accordance with the recommendations. With regard to (4), members considered that it was more appropriate to fund the 3 month trial from the invest-to-save element of the internal fund rather than as a supplementary budget allocation.

 

 

(The meeting ended at 1.15 p.m.)

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN

 

0702c007.cxc.doc