Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Rodney Chambers (Leader), Howard Doe (Housing and Community Services) and Mike O’Brien (Community Safety and Enforcement). 

The record of the meeting held on 7 September 2010 was agreed and signed by the Deputy Leader as correct.  

Neil Davies (Chief Executive) declared a personal interest, on behalf of those staff present, on agenda item 4 (Medium Term Financial Plan), regarding the proposals as set out in paragraph 13.4 of the report.  

This report set out the major financial issues facing the Council over the next three years. It was noted that the future budget requirement, incorporating investment in meeting strategic objectives allied with demographic change would exceed available resources, even without the threat of significant reductions in government support. The detail of the government funding would be announced on 20 October 2010 and Medway would be informed of its grant by the end of November/early December.  

The report set out the assessment of likely available resources. This would be determined by the support from Central Government through formula grant, area based grant and dedicated schools grant, and also the amount raised locally by council tax.

The report provided details of the Council’s spending priorities across the Council’s directorates and it was noted that there was a proposal to freeze employees’ progression on the Council’s incremental scales.

The report provided details of the Council’s Value for Money Strategy and appendix 1 to the report set out progress against its objectives.

The report also set out the timetable for the development of the draft budget setting proposals and it was noted that business and service planning would run concurrently leading to the development of the Council Plan.

Reasons:

This is a preparatory document to meet the budget process and timetable set out within the constitution.

This report set out the proposed amendments to the Council Plan (policy framework document) in light of changes to some inspection regimes and in-year budget reductions agreed by Council on 29 July 2010.  

The proposed amendments had been considered by Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 23 September 2010, in accordance with the Council’s policy framework rules, and the Committee’s views were set out in an addendum report.

Reasons:

It is important that the Council Plan reflects the current position and reflects changes to some inspection regimes and in year budget reductions.

This report set out potential procurement and other issues that had arisen from works carried out at Woodlands Primary School, Gillingham and identified further work needed together with the budgetary provision to carry it out.

The report set out the detail of how the proposals to undertake the works had been developed including the authorisation for budget allocation, budget monitoring, project management, procurement for the works and the current position. The report also included an options appraisal to enable further works to be carried out.

An addendum report was tabled at the meeting which provided the Cabinet with information on the Children and Adults Capital Programme approval process and information on works at the school.

The Cabinet accepted this as an urgent matter to enable the required works to be carried out.

Reasons:

To ensure that procedures are in place to protect the Council from any financial mismanagement and to ensure that it obtains value for money in all circumstances.

To ensure that Woodlands Primary School can continue to operate as a 2 form of entry (FE) school, at the lowest possible cost to the Council.

This report set out proposed changes to the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and the Council’s procurement framework to ensure that its processes were more streamlined, whilst remaining robust.

The Council had approved a move to a risk based procurement system in December 2006 and a number of revisions to this process were proposed given that since that time, the local government procurement landscape had changed considerably with greater exposure to risk and market challenge.

It was noted that the Audit Committee would also be considering this report on 28 September given that proposals for changes to codes of practice on tenders and contracts formed part of the Committee’s terms of reference. The Committee’s views would be submitted to Council on 14 October 2010 for consideration.

A flowchart was tabled at the meeting which summarised the proposed changes to the procurement process.

The Cabinet accepted this as an urgent item to enable it to be referred to Council on 14 October 2010 for decision.

Reasons:

The revised rules will ensure that the Council’s procurement framework remains robust, whilst streamlining our processes.

This report set out the key findings and recommendations of the Children and Adults Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s in-depth review of healthy eating among children and young people in Medway. The Committee considered this report on 9 September 2010 and paid tribute to the efforts of headteachers, teachers and catering staff of schools that they had visited during the course of the review. It was noted that a Diversity Impact Assessment was included in appendix 2 to the report.

This report set out the results of an Employment Land Review Consolidation Study, which had been commissioned to inform the Local Development Framework and would also be important in delivering the Council’s Economic Strategy. The Study followed guidance issued by Communities and Local Governement and asked how much employment floorspace would be required in the future and was it of the right type and in the right location.

The report set out the conclusions of the study including a new jobs target of 21,500 by 2026 and that, overall, no further land releases were required to meet the overall needs of the area. 

Reasons:

To provide an up to date and accurate evidence base for the preparation of the Local Development Framework and to facilitate the delivery of the Economic Development Strategy.

This report gave details of the forecast outturn for the 2010/2011 financial year projected based on actual income and expenditure from April 2010 to July 2010.

It was noted that on 25 February 2010 the Council had set gross revenue spending at £625million and a General Fund net budget requirement of £182.713 million for 2010/2011. It was noted that Council agreed to revenue savings totalling £3.057 million on 29 July 2010 in response to the public expenditure reductions announced by the government in May 2010.

The monitoring report indicated that after management action, the outturn forecast for 2010/2011 stood at a £650,000 overspend. After excluding the forecast underspend on the dedicated schools grant funded services the overspend on the General Fund was £1.164 million. It was noted that the forecast overspend of £650,000 would be offset by any reserve contribution to meet the once-off costs associated with budget reductions, including any shortfall arising from part year effect. This was currently forecast to be £534,000.

An analysis of the budget position for each directorate was set out in the report and accompanying appendices.

Reasons:

Cabinet has the responsibility to ensure effective budgetary control to contain expenditure within the approved limits set by Council. Where a budget overspend is forecast, Cabinet supported by the corporate management team must identify measures to remove any excess expenditure.

This report gave details of the capital monitoring position for the period from April 2010 to July 2010, with a forecast outturn for 2010/2011 and future years.

It was noted that on 25 February 2010 the Council had approved a capital programme for 2010/2011 and future years of £116m. Having incorporated schemes rolled forward from the 2009/2010 capital programme and some further funding announcements the capital programme now approached £124m.

The report commented on the delivery of the capital programme, which was now in excess of 200 individual schemes, and updated Members on a number of issues. The current forecast showed that £93 million of the programme was forecast for spend during 2010/2011. It was noted that Council (29 July 2010) agreed to a number of measures to compensate for a loss of £908,500 funding against the approved Local Transport Plan programme and the loss of £1,006,775 of expected Public Service Agreement reward grant.

Reasons:

Cabinet has the responsibility to ensure effective budgetary control to contain expenditure within the approved limits set by Council.

This report presented information on vacancies that officers had requested approval to commence recruitment for, following the process agreed by Cabinet on 7 January 2003 (decision number 9/2003).

Appendix 1 to the report provided details of the posts and included supporting Portfolio Holder comments.

Reasons:

The posts presented to Cabinet support the efficient running of the Council.

This report set out the options appraisal for the proposed procurement process for the provision of a Consultancy Services Framework which would encompass services in relation to the design of any relevant municipal, highways and civil engineering projects. The report had been considered by the Procurement Board on 8 September 2010 and its views were set out in paragraph 8 of the report.

An exempt appendix set out the finance and whole-life costing implications to the Council.

Reasons:

The proposed framework will: strongly support corporate, local, national and international objectives; represent best value and mitigates financial risk; represent an efficient and responsive method of procurement and contracting; be procured robustly and compliantly to mitigate the risk of future challenge and negates the risks associated with providing this service internally.

This report provided details of the management of the Learning Platform contract to date and how it was meeting its intended objectives. The Cabinet had awarded the contract to Uniservity in January 2008 and the report set out the history of the contract together with an analysis of contract performance and lessons learned. It was noted that the Procurement Board had considered this report on 8 September 2010 and its views were set out in paragraph 11 of the report.

Reasons:

The contract is well within budget and is meeting the original objectives of the procurement.

The Learning Platform is enhancing opportunities for teaching and learning and supports Medway core values and priorities.