Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Osborne.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.</AI3>

Background:

This report set out proposed governance arrangements for the Medway Norse Ltd Shareholder Board. It explained that in July 2023 the Cabinet had determined that three Cabinet sub-committees would be established, one for each LATCo.  Unlike the other LATCos, which were wholly owned by Medway Council, Medway Norse was a partnership with the Norse Group, which was wholly owned by Norfolk County Council and therefore changes had required greater levels of collaboration.

The report proposed changes to the Council’s appointment of Directors to the Board and proposed the establishment of three liaison boards covering specific operation functions for the Council, to strengthen oversight. It was acknowledged that as work continued to embed the new arrangements some further changes may be required at a later stage.

Reasons:

To improve the corporate governance of the Council’s LATCo. The appointment of the officers to the Board of Directors will facilitate greater influence on the decision making by Medway Norse. The separation of roles, responsibilities and duties between client officers and the service provider avoids potential conflicts of interest that may arise.

Background:

This report presented the draft Business Plan for Medway Norse which had originally been drafted in 2023. Due to the change in administration and the subsequent work to review the joint venture (JV), the Business Plan had not been ratified in 2023 and was therefore presented as a draft document for discussion only. The Business Plan had been drafted by Medway Norse without any input from Medway Council at this point and further work was required under the new governance arrangements to agree a strategy for the JV. The Business Plan would then be redrafted and resubmitted to the sub-committee to be ratified.

An Exempt Appendix to the report set out the draft Business Plan. The Sub-Committee commented that the development of the strategy was key in then developing the Business Plan and it was acknowledged that there were strong elements which should be retained, such as development of staff and should also be developed to synergise with the One Medway Council Plan and its core values around community, the environment and Social Value.

It was envisaged that an updated Business Plan would be ready to be presented to the Sub-Committee’s next meeting.

Reasons:

To consider how Medway Norse should proceed with its development of the Business Plan.

The Committee agreed that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the exempt material relating to agenda item 5 because consideration of these matters in public would disclose information falling within one or more categories of exempt information contained in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 6 and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Committee considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Background:

This report set out the Strategic Risk Register for Medway Norse Ltd. This had been prepared by the company in accordance with the approach and scoring methodology adopted by the Council.

The Risk Register which was regularly reviewed by the Board, was comprehensive, including closed risks and those being managed under ‘business as usual’, in addition to those which required further management action. Of the 60 risks identified in the register, 16 were deemed high risk and a further 11 very high, which the Sub-Committee was requested to note. It was added that a number of the high risk items would reduce in severity once firm governance arrangements were in place and embedded. The Sub-Committee were also assured that Medway Norse had a strong relationship with the Council’s ICT.

An Exempt Appendix to the report set out the Medway Norse Ltd Strategic Risk Register.

Reasons:

In order to fulfil its role as shareholder,on behalf of the Council, the sub-committee must be regularly updated regarding the risks affecting the company and its activity and the action being undertaken to manage those risks.