Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Group held on 10th September 2018.

The minutes of the meeting of the Group held on 10th September 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

No disclosures were made.

No declarations were made.

No questions were submitted.

No questions were submitted.

A report of the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces to appraise the sites for a cemetery in Loughborough following consultation on the viable options will be considered for pre-decision scrutiny. This is in order to make recommendations to the Cabinet as appropriate.

A report of the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces was considered setting out the site options for a new cemetery (item 06A on the agenda filed with these minutes).

          The Lead Member for Loughborough, the Strategic Director for Neighbourhoods and Community Wellbeing and the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces attended the meeting to assist with consideration of the item and gave the following responses to issues raised:

(i)         All the three sites proposed were considered suitable options but Allendale Road was chosen as the preferred site previously as it was the easiest site to bring into action as well as its good location and proximity to the town centre.

(ii)        The Nanpantan site was subsequently chosen as the preferred site due to a number of factors: the strong public support received, the capacity available, good public transport links and not being overlooked. The longevity of the site was referred to as making the site the most viable. The Nanpantan ground could offer more than 200 years capacity. This was considered to be the preferable option rather than choosing a smaller site and looking for another one in a relatively short space of time.

            RESOLVED that the Cabinet be informed that the Group supports the recommendations as set out in the report of the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces.

Reason

Having considered the report and asked questions of the Lead Member for Loughborough and the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces on the matter, the Group concluded that it would be appropriate for the Cabinet to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

A report of the Head of Customer Experience to consider which of one or more options for the future provision of the revenues and Benefits service should be progressed. The report will be considered by the Group to make recommendations as appropriate to the Cabinet.

A report of the Head of Customer Experience was considered seeking agreement from Cabinet on the next steps in the decision-making process for the delivery of the Revenues and Benefits Services post 2020 (item 06B on the agenda filed with these minutes).

          The Lead Member for Performance of Major Contracts and the Strategic Director for Corporate Services attended the meeting to assist with consideration of the item and gave the following responses to issues raised:

(i)         The option of bringing the service back in house would require a significant amount of work and investment. An IT hosting solution would need to be procured whereas Capita already had systems in place and had the resilience in their team to ensure the continuity of the service.

(ii)        The option to join the shared services scheme was discussed and the Group was advised that there was some work to do in understanding the service level agreements in place and the existing agreements between the Councils.

(iii)       Risk and resilience were considered the most important considerations when looking at the future of the service. A larger, shared arrangement was considered the preferred option as that offered flexibility and better opportunities for managing risks and provided a resilient basis for the service delivery.

(iv)       Capita was noted to have made genuine efforts to improve their performance recently and the hope was that would continue. Extending the current contract was perceived to be the lowest risk option which was considered preferable. There was an option to extend the contract for up to 5 years but the shorter period would also be feasible.

(v)        Capita’s financial position had improved as they had consolidated some of their assets and raised capital to help the business keep running. Their position was now considered stable. There was also a contingency plan in place as there was for all major contracts to ensure business continuity should the existing contractor become unable to provide the service.

(vi)       The Council would be piloting a flexible working scheme that included home working and would look at the security measures in place to protect data sharing. It was expected that the shared service partnership already had a system in place to meet security requirements and the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

            RESOLVED that the Cabinet be informed that the Group supports the recommendations as set out in the report of the Head of Customer Experience.

Reason

Having considered the report and asked questions of the Lead Member for Performance of Major Contracts and the Strategic Director for Corporate Services on the matter, the Group concluded that it would be appropriate for the Cabinet to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

A report of the Cabinet setting out its responses to recommendations of the Group on pre-decision scrutiny items.

A report of the Cabinet was considered setting out its responses to the recommendations of the Group on pre-decision scrutiny items (item 7 on the agenda filed with these minutes).    

RESOLVED that the Cabinet’s responses to the Group’s recommendations be noted.

Reason

The Group was satisfied that it added value where appropriate and welcomed the Cabinet’s consideration of the Group’s views and recommendations as part of its decision making process.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support setting out the list of forthcoming Executive Key Decisions and the Group’s Work Programme for consideration, in order to identify items for future scrutiny.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support was considered, to enable the Group to consider its work programme and forthcoming Key Decisions and decisions to be taken in private by the Cabinet in order to schedule items for pre-decision scrutiny and to provide an opportunity for members of the Group to raise suggestions on issues for scrutiny (in addition to pre-decision scrutiny) which fell within the Group’s remit, for scheduling by Scrutiny Management Board (item 8 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Group considered the report (and further information on the forthcoming Key Decisions and decisions to be taken in private by the Cabinet provided by the Chief Executive at this meeting) and agreed to schedule items for pre-decision scrutiny prior to the next Cabinet meeting, but that the following pre-decision scrutiny items should be added to its work programme at this stage:

·         Discretionary Houses in Multiple Occupation Licensing Scheme Options – December 2018

RESOLVED that the Group’s current work programme be noted and updated following this meeting, in accordance with the decisions taken during consideration of this item and at this meeting and any items of pre-decision scrutiny that require changing due to their reprogramming by the Cabinet.

Reason

To ensure effective and timely scrutiny, either to provide Cabinet with advice prior to it taking a decision or to ensure that the Council and external public service providers and partners were operating effectively for the benefit of the Borough.