Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting.

S Lye was elected Chairman of the meeting.

Recommendation:

To consider the payment of an allowance towards acquiring computer equipment and materials for use in accessing information regarding the Council’s agenda and minutes via the Internet.

Attached is a copy of a report considered recently by the Council’s ICT and E Government Standing Scrutiny Panel.

The Scrutiny Panel is proposing, subject to the views of the Remuneration Panel, that a grant of £500 per annum be paid to each member to enable them to receive electronic notification of and internet access to papers for Council meetings and associated information.

The Panel noted that the Council had agreed an IT Strategy for Research and Democratic Services with the aim of setting timescales for the implementation of an electronic Committee Management System and to determine the means for Member Connectivity to the Council's network.

Members had been canvassed on the provision by the Council of IT equipment but over 70% of the respondents had advised that this was not their favoured option as they already had equipment in their homes and did not want another computer provided by the Council.

Following a tendering exercise during the Autumn of 2004, Nte (product name Modern.Gov) had been appointed to provide an electronic Committee Management System.  Implementation of the system had taken place during the period January-March 2005 and the system had become live on 1 April 2005.

Since 1 April, the Council had:

(a)        gone live on its website with all publicly available agenda and minutes;

(b)            undertaken a printed distribution review to establish the need for paper copies and implemented as far as practicable (results of the review); and

(c)            discussed and drafted a Member Connectivity Scheme.

The Panel considered the proposed Connectivity Scheme based on an annual grant of £500.00 to each member.  In order to obtain the grant it was proposed that members would need to undertake to:

(a)        provide their own computer with Internet access capability;

(b)        provide their own Broadband access to the Internet via a provider;

(c)        provide their own paper and print consumables except Members' headed stationery which would continue to be provided by the Council; and

(d)        only be provided with paper copies of agenda for those committees on which they were a member or were otherwise required to attend (e.g. as a member of the Cabinet).

A Scott and S Hill reported that in researching the Scheme, officers had found two other examples of authorities providing a grant for this purpose, Basildon Council (£500 per annum paid monthly) and East Cambridgeshire Council (£375 per annum).  However, most authorities who had undertaken Connectivity Schemes had provided  equipment and were prescriptive about its use.  Those Schemes were resource intensive in view of the officer support required.  Budget provision of £28,000 per annum had been available since 1 April 2005 but any scheme was unlikely to be implemented until January/March 2006.  It was understood that at present less than 20 Members of the Council did not have their own computer although it was recognised that the majority probably did not currently have Broadband.

I Willett advised that the proposed grant was in effect a proposal that the basic allowance be increased by £500 for each member.  Accordingly, the views of the Panel were being sought on the principle and the proposed amount of the grant.

The Panel questioned whether the grant would be taxable.  It was suggested that if it was used solely for Council purposes it should not be taxable.  It was pointed out that if the grant was taxable, the members in the higher tax  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To consider the attached report regarding the scheme in relation to (a) Licensing Committee; (b) Overview and Scrutiny; and (c) Cabinet.

The Panel considered a report regarding possible changes to the Scheme in relation to (a) Licensing Committee;

(b)            Overview and Scrutiny;

(c)            Cabinet

The Panel was advised that currently the Panel had implemented a basic allowance of 80% and special responsibility allowance at 40% of the figures originally recommended by the Panel.  I Willett further advised that it was for the District Council to consider questions of implementation but that changes to the Scheme could not be made without the Council first having considered a report from this Panel.

(a)            Licensing Committee

The Panel noted that in February 2005, the Council had assumed responsibility for the licensing of persons, premises and events involving the sale of alcohol.  This included off licences, public houses, clubs, restaurants, supermarkets and the proprietors of those premises.  The licensing provisions also covered special events held which involved the sale of alcohol.  Over the period 7 February to 24 November 2005 all licence holders were required to apply for the transfer of a licence to the District Council from the Magistrates' Court.  Following 24 November 2005, all licences would in future be issued by the District Council.  Prior to these changes in the law, the Council had been responsible for entertainments licensing (public and private), hackney carriage licensing and hire car vehicles together with a wide range of other licences of various sorts.  These original licensing functions remained with the District Council.

I Willett advised that in the light of these changes, the Council had altered its arrangements for dealing with licensing applications and renewals.  A new Licensing Committee (replacing the former Licensing Panel) had been appointed.  The Committee comprised 15 Members including a Chairman and Vice-Chairman and had decided that any three councillors drawn from the main committee should constitute a sub-committee to hear and rule on applications.  Some aspects of the new licensing regime had been delegated to the Head of Environmental Services and there were provisions whereby objections to decisions made by him under delegated authority could be aired before the sub-committee.

The Panel considered the Licensing Committee's terms of reference, the list of functions and delegated authorities and the Council's Statement of Licensing Policy.  The Panel was advised that the period from February to November 2005 could be seen as a transitional phase.  The Council had been required to process a large number of licence transfers in a relatively short period and in order to meet the workload a Licensing Sub-Committee had been meeting at regular intervals, sometimes weekly/sometimes fortnightly.  After November 2005, it was not clear would need to continue at this frequency.

The Panel reviewed the special responsibility allowances in respect of Licensing Committee Members.  Currently the Scheme provided for payment of £630.00 per annum (40% of the full amount) to the Chairman of the Licensing Committee.  There was no specific provision for other members of the Licensing Committee to receive additional payments to reflect special responsibility allowances and the special responsibility allowance was only payment to councillors who had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Recommendation:

To consider the need to make new recommendations regarding the rates to apply regarding re-imbursement of travelling expenses for car use.

The Leader of the Council has received a number of representations about the increase in fuel prices. The view expressed is that the rates per mile currently applied by the scheme do not reflect that increase.

The mileage rate has not changed since 2000/01, which was the last year in which the Government specified a maximum rate. It is now up to councils to determine their own rates after considering the views of their independent panels.

When the new proposals were introduced, the Local Government Association in consultation with Employers’ Organisation agreed to circulate the annual mileage rates for employees as guidance for councils and panels when considering the rates for members.

This Council’s current rates for members are:

Not exceeding 999cc – 34.6p a mile

Not exceeding 1199cc – 39.5p a mile

Exceeding 1199cc – 48.5p a mile.

The current rates for employees (casual users) which took effect on 1 April 2005 are:

451 - 999c – 38.7p a mile

1000 - 1199cc – 42.0p a mile

1200 – 1450cc – 52.7p a mile

The employees’ rates are based on a price of 82.45p per litre for unleaded petrol (based on actual pump prices in the first two weeks of January (as surveyed by the Automobile Association on behalf of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) in accordance with a jointly agreed formula for calculating the allowances each year).

The Panel is asked to consider the request for an increase in mileage rates and report to the Council accordingly.

I Willett advised the Leader of the Council had received a number of representations about the increase in fuel prices.  The view being expressed  was that rates per mile currently applied by the scheme did not reflect that increase.

The Panel was advised that the mileage rate had not changed since 2000/01, which had been the last year in which the Government had specified a maximum rate.  It was now up to councils to determine their own rates after considering the views of their Independent Remuneration Panels.  When the new proposals had been introduced, the Local Government Association in consultation with the Employers' Organisation had agreed to circulate the annual mileage rates for employees as guidance for councils and panels when considering the rates for members.

The Panel noted that the Council's current rates for members were:

Not exceeding 999 c.c. - 34.6p per mile

Not exceeding 1199 c.c - 39.5p per mile

Exceeding 1199 cc - 48.5p per mile

The current rates for employees - (casual users) which had taken effect on 1 April 2005 were:

451      - 999 c.c.      38.7p per mile

1000    - 199 c.c.      42.0p per mile

1200    -1450 c.c       52.7p per mile

The Panel agreed to recommend that the rates to apply regarding the reimbursement of travel expenses for car use by members should equate to the rates paid to employees.