Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will read the following announcement:

“I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be recorded for subsequent repeated viewing on the Internet and copies of the recording could be made available for those that request it.

By being present at this meeting it is likely that the recording cameras will capture your image and this will result in the possibility that your image will become part of the broadcast.

You should be aware that this may infringe your human and data protection rights. If you have any concerns please speak to the webcasting officer.

Please could I also remind members to put on their microphones before speaking by pressing the button on the microphone unit”

The Chairman made a short address to remind all present that the meeting would be broadcast on the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings. The Cabinet Committee noted the Council’s Protocol for Webcasting of Council and Other Meetings.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 10 December 2007 (previously circulated).

            RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2007 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) To declare interests in any item on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest pursuant to the Council’s Code of Member Conduct.

Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, together with paragraphs 6 and 25 of the Council Procedure Rules contained in the Constitution require that the permission of the Chairman be obtained, after prior notice to the Chief Executive, before urgent business not specified in the agenda (including a supplementary agenda of which the statutory period of notice has been given) may be transacted.

In accordance with Operational Standing Order 6 (non-executive bodies), any item raised by a non-member shall require the support of a member of the Committee concerned and the Chairman of that Committee. Two weeks’ notice of non-urgent items is required.

It was noted that there was no other urgent business for consideration by the Cabinet Committee.

(Performance Improvement Manager) To consider the attached report.

The Finance, Performance Management and Corporate Support Services Portfolio Holder presented a report concerning the Use of Resources Auditor Judgement for 2007. The Portfolio Holder reported that local authorities were responsible for ensuring that they had proper arrangements in place to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public money. The Use of Resources Assessment involved the Audit Commission in assessing the Council’s overall performance against five key lines of enquiry: financial reporting; financial management; financial standing; internal control; and value for money. The Council was rated for each key line of enquiry using the following scale: 4 performing strongly; 3 performing well; 2 performing adequately; and 1 performing inadequately. The report produced by the Audit Commission had identified the key findings and conclusions of the assessment, along with opportunities for improvement in the future. For 2007, the Council’s score had risen to a 3, indicating that the Council had performed well in its use of resources.

The Director of Finance & ICT indicated that the report had confirmed the provisional score reported at the Cabinet Committee’s previous meeting. The Leader of the Council stated that the result was pleasing for the Council and congratulated the officers involved for their efforts.

            RESOLVED:

That the improvement in the Council’s annual Use of Resources Assessment score to a 3 for 2007 be noted.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

The Finance, Performance Management and Corporate Support Services Portfolio Holder presented a report regarding the supply of the Council’s electoral register to the Audit Commission as part of the National Fraud Initiative. The Cabinet Committee was reminded that a full report on this matter would be considered by the Audit and Governance Committee at its meeting scheduled for 30 January 2008.

The Portfolio Holder reported that the Audit Commission had requested an electronic copy of the electoral register from each District Council, in order to crosscheck those persons claiming Council Tax or Housing Benefit and identify any possible cases of fraud. The request had been presented as pertaining to information that the Commission was entitled to under the Audit Commission Act 1998, however a number of Councils had not complied with the request, supported by the Association of Electoral Administrators and the legal opinions of numerous Monitoring Officers, due to a possible conflict with the Representation of the People Regulations 2001.

Since the last meeting of the Cabinet Committee on 10 December 2007, the Corporate Governance Group had been monitoring the situation. The Audit Commission had issued a Leading Counsel’s opinion, which appeared to support their case. The Information Commissioner had issued an opinion stating that further advice was being sought from the Electoral Commissioner due to their specialist knowledge of electoral law. The Electoral Commissioner had issued an opinion stating that the Electoral Registration Officer should seek legal advice in order to determine whether Section 6 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 constituted a valid enactment under the Representation of the People Regulations 2001. Consequently, the Corporate Governance Group had concluded that the legal position had not been sufficiently clarified to enable the Council to withstand a legal challenge if the requested data was released.

The Director of Finance & ICT stated that the conflicting legal opinions regarding this issue had led to the current uncertainty, hence the recommended action for the Audit and Governance Committee was to await further developments before deciding whether to release the Electoral Register to the Audit Commission. It was acknowledged that the Council’s Use of Resources Assessment score could suffer in the future if the electoral register was not released to the Audit Commission, however the Corporate Governance Group had felt that the release of the register at the current time constituted a bigger risk. The Leader of the Council felt that the correct approach had been adopted in the current circumstances.

            RESOLVED:

(1)            That the initial response of the Corporate Governance Group, Electoral Registration Officer and the Monitoring Officer to the National Fraud Initiative data matching exercise by the Audit Commission be noted;

(2)            That the current position be noted, following a further report considered by the Corporate Governance Group at its meeting on 16 January 2008; and

(3)            That, following the receipt of advice from both the Information Commissioner and the Electoral Commissioner, further developments be awaited before a final position be taken by the Council.

(Director of Finance & ICT) To consider the attached report.

The Finance, Performance Management and Corporate Support Services Portfolio Holder introduced a report about the proposed Council Budgets for 2008/09, before inviting the Director of Finance & ICT to provide a summary for the benefit of the Cabinet Committee.

The Director of Finance & ICT stated that the largest Continuing Service Budget (CSB) growth items for next year were £331,000 for the end of subsidy on reinstatement grants made between 1987 and 1991 under section 541 of the Housing Act 1985, and £250,000 for the Safer, Cleaner and Greener Corporate initiative. The largest single CSB saving of £604,000 had resulted from the tendering exercise for the new waste management contract, whilst the Corporate Restructuring had also provided significant savings of £506,000. The current CSB total of £16.828million was £28,000 above the budget guideline target, however a contingency of £175,000 had been included, which could be reduced accordingly if necessary.

In respect of the District Development Fund (DDF), the Director of Finance & ICT reported that the largest items of expenditure were £288,000 for the generation of the Local Development Framework, £130,000 for the non-Housing Revenue Account (HRA) building maintenance programme, and £100,000 to complete the comfort cooling programme. The current DDF programme of £1.078million exceeded the budget guideline by £78,000, however it was felt that, as the outturn would be unlikely to exceed £1million, this excess was not felt to be significant.

The Director of Finance & ICT announced that, in relation to the budget guideline of not increasing the District Council Tax by more than the rate of increase in the Retail Prices Index, with the Retail Prices Index figure currently 4%, the proposed increase in the District Council Tax of 2.5% was within the Council’s target. Additionally, with current projections indicating that the Council’s reserves would be £6.1million by 2011/12, or approximately 34% of net budget requirement, the Council’s target of not allowing General Fund balances to fall below 25% of net budget requirement would also be met. As previously reported, the Formula Grant settlement for the three-year period 2008/09 to 2010/11 had resulted in small increases for the Council of 1%, 0.5% and 0.5% respectively.

The Cabinet Committee’s attention was drawn to some of the significant risks and uncertainties for 2008/09. The effects of the new National Concessionary Fares Scheme would not become clear until midway through the year. A budget provision based upon the estimated costs provided by the current consultants to the countywide scheme had been included in the budget. The recent substantial increases in utility prices and the potential for higher than budgeted wage settlements were also areas of concern, along with the pending clarification of whether the Department of Communities and Local Government would provide a capitalisation direction to cover the pension deficit payments for 2007/08 and subsequent years.

The Assistant Head of Finance (Accountancy) reported upon the 2008/09 budget for the HRA. The balance of the HRA was expected to be £5.9million at 31 March 2009, a deficit of £404,000 for 2008/09 due to the £2million  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.