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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Cabinet/Committee Room, 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk L39 2DF. View directions

Contact: Susan Griffiths 

Items
No. Item

22.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

23.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

Minutes:

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2, Members noted the termination of membership of the Committee of Councillors M Mills, V Cummins, D Stephenson and D Westley and the appointment of Councillors D Evans, C Dereli, T Blane and J Mee for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups.

24.

URGENT BUSINESS, IF ANY, INTRODUCED BY THE CHAIRMAN

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reason of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

 

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

25.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST pdf icon PDF 299 KB

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Borough Solicitor in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position on any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.)

Minutes:

Councillor Wynn declared a non-pecuniary interest in report 16 (Review of Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleansing update) as an employee of West Lancashire Borough Council.

26.

DECLARATIONS OF PARTY WHIP

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rule 16, Members must declare the existence of any Party Whip, and the nature of it, when considering any matter in the following categories:

 

-       The review of any decision of the Cabinet or

-       The performance of any Member of the Cabinet

 

N.B. The Secretary of State believes whipping is incompatible with Overview and Scrutiny.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of a Party Whip.

27.

PUBLIC SPEAKING pdf icon PDF 177 KB

Residents of West Lancashire, on giving notice, may address the meeting to make representations on any item on the agenda except where the public and press are to be excluded during consideration of the item.  The deadline for submissions is 10.00am Friday 16 November 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no items under this Heading.

28.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 331 KB

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 27 September 2018.

Minutes:

RESOLVED              That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 27 September 2018 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

29.

CALL IN ITEMS

There are no items under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items under this Heading.

30.

RELEVANT MEETINGS OF CABINET pdf icon PDF 297 KB

To scrutinise the following Minutes of Cabinet:

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meetings of Cabinet held on 17 October (Extraordinary) and 6 November 2018. 

 

In relation to the Extraordinary Cabinet meeting held on 17 October 2018 comments and questions were raised in respect of minute 47 (Forming a Development Company), particularly in relation to:-

 

·      Governance and management arrangements – in particular Member representation on the Board either in a voting or non-voting capacity and any associated risks

·      Equity investment to be made by the Council

·      Loan funding arrangements (financing)

·      Acquisition of Council owned sites by the Company by way of purchase or licence

·      The types of properties to be built

 

The Director of Housing and Inclusion and the Borough Treasurer provided a response to the questions and queries raised by the Committee.

 

In relation to the Cabinet meeting held on 6 November 2018 comments and questions were raised in respect of minute 56 (Burscough Parish Neighbourhood Plan Submission Version) in particular to the commencement of the next stage of the process.  The Deputy Director of Development and Regeneration gave an undertaking to circulate an action timetable to all Members.

 

RESOLVED  A.      That the minutes of the Cabinet (Extraordinary) meeting held on 17 October 2018 be noted.

 

                        B.      That in relation to minute no. 47 of the above meeting, Cabinet be requested to consider:-

 

i.              The appointment of Council Members on the Board of the Development Company

ii.            The Provision of further clarification on whether the Council owned sites to be acquired by the Development Company should be by way of purchase or licence.

 

                        C.     That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 6 November 2018 be noted.

 

 

Note:   The Committee agreed to exclude the Press and Public during consideration of agenda item 9a (minutes of Extraordinary Cabinet on 17 October 2018) on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 (financial/business affairs) of Part 1 of Scheduled 12A, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. 

 

At this point the Chairman changed the order of business to enable agenda items 16 (Review of Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleansing Update) (Minute 36) and 15 (Commercial Property Investments – Update) (minute 35) to be considered prior to agenda item 9b (minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 6 November 2018).

 

The meeting was re-opened to the press and public for consideration of the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 6 November 2018.

 

 

 

31.

HRA REVENUE AND CAPITAL MID-YEAR REVIEW pdf icon PDF 209 KB

To consider the joint report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion and the Borough Treasurer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the joint report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion and Borough Treasurer as circulated and contained on pages 643 – 651 of the Book of Reports that summarised the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Housing Capital Programme positions for 2018/2019 financial year.  The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 6 November 2018 and was scheduled to be considered by Council at its meeting on 12 December 2018.

 

The Borough Treasurer attended the meeting and provided an overview of the report referring to details as set down in the report and appendices and the Director of Housing and Inclusion responded to a query raised by a Member on anticipated slippage and advised that processes had been put in place by the Investment Team to improve performance on completed schemes this year.

 

RESOLVED:   That the HRA and Housing Capital Programme positions be noted.

 

32.

GENERAL REVENUE ACCOUNT MID YEAR REVIEW pdf icon PDF 143 KB

To consider the report of the Borough Treasurer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Treasurer as circulated and contained on pages 653 – 657 of the Book of Reports that summarised the projected revenue position on the General Revenue Account (GRA) at the mid year point of the 2018/2019 financial year.  The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 6 November 2018 and was scheduled to be considered by Council at its meeting on 12 December 2018.

 

The Borough Treasurer attended the meeting and provided an overview of the report referring to details as set down in the report and appendices.

 

RESOLVED:   That the financial position of the General Revenue Account (GRA) be noted including the position on reserves and balances.

 

33.

Revised Capital Programme pdf icon PDF 157 KB

To consider the report of the Borough Treasurer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Treasurer as circulated and contained on pages 659 – 667 of the Book of Reports that provided an update on progress on capital schemes.  The report had previously been considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 6 November 2018 and was scheduled to be considered by Council at its meeting on 12 December 2018.

 

The Borough Treasurer attended the meeting and provided an overview of the report referring to details as set down in the report and appendices.

 

RESOLVED:   That the progress against the Revised Capital Programme be noted.

 

34.

EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

It is recommended that members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 & 2 (an individual)& 3 (financial/business affairs) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and as, in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Minutes:

RESOLVED              That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 & 2 (an individual  and 3 (financial/business) of Part 1 of Scheduled 12A to the Act and as, in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

35.

Commercial Property Investments - Update

To consider the report of the Director of Development and Regeneration

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Development and Regeneration which provided an update on the most recent commercial property investments made by the Council.  It was noted that Cabinet, at its meeting on 6 November 2018, had agreed an uplift in the level of investment delegated to the Strategic Asset Purchasing Committee to £2 million and that the report would be considered by Council on 12 December 2018.

 

The Deputy Director of Development and Regeneration attended the meeting provided an overview, clarification on the issues raised and responded to questions.

 

 

RESOLVED              That the report be noted.

36.

Review of grounds maintenance and street cleansing update

To consider the report of the Director of Leisure and Environment.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Leisure and Environment which provided an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the grounds maintenance and street cleansing review.  It was noted that the service standards outlined in appendix 2 to the report were agreed at the Cabinet meeting held on 6 November 2018 and that the restructure would be considered by Council on 12 December 2018.

 

The Director of Leisure and Environment attended the meeting provided an overview, clarification on the issues raised and responded to questions, particularly in relation to:-

 

·         Number of teams and how many officers within each team

·         Volunteers (e.g litter picking) and the Council’s obligations

·         Staff training (new Asset management system) (new generic job roles)

 

It was noted that there was no reference to Burscough East in appendix 3 to the report, only to Burscough West.  It was suggested that West be removed from the structure and that reference be made to Burscough only. 

 

In relation to volunteer groups undertaking activities under their own volition, the Director of Leisure and Environment advised that the Council would provide appropriate advice upon request and gave an undertaking to look into the current position, particularly in relation to the provision of council equipment for this purpose.

 

 

RESOLVED              That the report be noted.

 

 

37.

Response Maintenance and Voids Contract Delivery Model

To consider the report of the Borough Solicitor.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor that advised that following consideration by Cabinet at its meeting on 6 November 2018 the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion ‘Response Maintenance and Voids Contract Delivery Model’ had been referred to this Committee for consideration with a request that any agreed comments be referred to the next meeting of Cabinet. 

 

The Director of Housing and Inclusion provided an overview, clarification on the issues raised and responded to questions.

 

RESOLVED              That the report be noted.