position as at 31 March 1998 showed a balance of £3,757,940, an increase of £239,210 on the projected balance intimated to the Committee at its meeting on 19 March 1998 (para 310). Attention was drawn, however, to a number of factors which could have an effect on the actual balance at 31 March.

NOTED

502 REVENUE BUDGET 1997/98 - MONITORING REPORT: CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S 502

DEPARTMENT

SUBMITTED: Report dated 6 April 1998 by the Director of Finance on the position of the Revenue Budget 1997/98 for the Chief Executive's Department as at 4 March 1998.

NOTED

503 NON-HRA CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1997/98 - FINANCIAL POSITION 503

SUBMITTED: Report dated 15 April 1998 by the Director of Finance on the financial position of the Non-HRA Capital Programme 1997/98. The report advised of a request made by the Special Waterfront Working Group at its meeting of 12 March 1998 that the cost of the official opening of the Waterfront Leisure Complex, estimated at £10,000, be added to the Capital Programme 1997/98.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be noted that since the last report a further £1,200,000 slippage has occurred in the Capital Programme 1997/98 and that the Chief Executive will be submitting a report on this matter to the next meeting of the Committee; and

(b) That the request made by the Special Waterfront Working Group that the cost of the official opening of the Waterfront Leisure Complex, estimated at £10,000, be added to the 1997/98 Capital Programme be granted.

504 NON-HRA CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99 504

SUBMITTED: Report dated 22 April 1998 by the Director of Finance on the position of the Non-HRA Capital Programme 1998/99.

NOTED

505 THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT: OPERATION 505

SUBMITTED: Report dated 15 April 1998 by the Chief Executive requesting the Committee to determine its response to the consultation document issued by the all-party consultative steering group on the Scottish Parliament which had been established by the Secretary of State for Scotland with the responsibility for bringing together views by 31 May 1998 on the operational needs and working methods of the Scottish Parliament.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed to establish a cross-party working group comprising 4 Members of the Majority Group (Councillors Mulholland, Jackson, McGhee and Robertson (Y)) and 2 Members to be nominated by the Minority Groups to meet in early course following the Council meeting on 14 May 1998; and

(b) That all Members of the Council be invited to submit their views on the operation of the Scottish Parliament to the working group.

506 COMMISSION ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT 506

SUBMITTED: Report dated 15 April 1998 by the Chief Executive advising that the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament intended to carry out an extensive programme of consultations and discussions and in this connection, would wish to visit each of the 32 local authorities before the end of June. The report requested the Committee to consider the arrangements for the visit which it was suggested should take place on Friday 19 June 1998.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed that the visit by the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament should take place on Friday 19 June 1998; and

(b) That briefing sessions for all Members be held on 25 May and 8 June 1998 both at 3.30 pm.

507 CHILDREN (SCOTLAND) ACT 1995 - CHILDREN'S SERVICES PLAN 507

SUBMITTED: Report dated 14 April 1998 by the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) on the progress made in the development of the Children's Services Plan and advising of the responses received as part of the consultative exercise which had ended on 20 March 1998.

DECIDED:

(a) That the progress made in developing the Children's Services Plan as required in terms of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 be noted; and

(b) That it be agreed that the Children's Services Plan, incorporating any relevant comments submitted during the consultation period, be formally published by the Council.

508 "WORKING TOGETHER FOR A HEALTHIER SCOTLAND" - A CONSULTATION GREEN 508

PAPER

SUBMITTED: Report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) advising that reports on the Consultation Green Paper "Working Together for a Healthier Scotland" had been considered by the Social Work and Housing and the Economic Development Committees both of which had remitted the matter to the Policy and Strategy Committee for a co-ordinated response and recommending that this be prepared by the Chief Executive based on the contents of the two reports and incorporating further comments received from the Directors of Education Services and Leisure and Recreation.

DECIDED: That it be remitted to the Chief Executive to prepare the Council's formal response to the consultation document "Working Together for a Healthier Scotland" based on the contents of the two reports submitted to the Social Work and Housing and Economic Development Committees and incorporating further comments received from the Directors of Education Services and Leisure and Recreation.

509 GARDEN TIDY SCHEME 509

SUBMITTED: Report dated 14 April 1998 by the Director of Leisure and Recreation on a request received from the Leisure and Cultural Services Committee on 9 April 1998 that additional funding be made available to provide a garden tidy service offering 5 cuts. It was recommended that the scheme for 1998/99 should be costed on the basis of providing a service for 1650 people and that this cost would be approximately £178,000.

DECIDED:

(a) That funding of £178,000 be provided in 1998/99 to ensure that an effective garden tidy scheme is provided;

(b) That it be remitted to the relevant Officers to pursue any alternative options for providing a garden tidy service with a view to reducing as soon as possible the direct funding requirement; and

(c) That it be remitted to the Chief Executive to submit a further report to the Committee on options for achieving savings up to the funding requirement of £178,000.

510 CLOSURE OF 1997/98 ACCOUNTS: REQUEST FOR OVERTIME 510

SUBMITTED: Report dated 29 April 1998 by the Director of Central Services on a request received from the Corporate Business Committee on 28 April 1998 that additional provision of up to £12,000 be made within the Finance overtime budget to meet the revised date for submission of the draft accounts which had been brought forward from 31 August to 30 June following an amendment to the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 1985.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be agreed to provide funding of up to £12,000 for overtime payments to staff within the Department of Finance to meet the revised draft accounts submission date; and

(b) That it be remitted to the Director of Finance to take all possible steps to contain the additional costs within the existing budget.

511 INVERCLYDE REGENERATION PARTNERSHIP 511

SUBMITTED: Report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) on the current position of the Priority Partnership Area Budget 1998/99, advising of the progress made by the Inverclyde Regeneration Partnership's strategy groups and seeking approval for a number of individual project budget allocations.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Priority Partnership Area Budget for 1998/99 and beyond as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be noted;

(b) That the 5 revenue projects detailed in Appendix 2 to the report be extended to 31 March 1999 at a cost of £275,814;

(c) That funding be provided in 1998/99 for the various capital projects detailed in Appendices 3(a) and 3(b) to the report to allow for their continuation and completion;

(d) That the progress to date made by the three partnership strategy groups be noted;

(e) That the developments made in respect of the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan be noted; and

(f) That it be remitted to the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) to report to the next meeting of the Committee on the various items agreed, in particular the expenditure proposals made by the three strategy groups.

512 RESOLUTION: EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS 512

On the motion of the Convener it was agreed unanimously that, in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the undernoted item of business on the grounds that consideration of the item involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 6 & 8 of Part I of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

513 INVERCLYDE REGENERATION PARTNERSHIP - APPENDICES 3(A) AND 3(B) 513

There were submitted appendices setting out for consideration tenders received for alterations to and extension of the Paton Street Hall, Greenock together with the consequent Priority Partnership Area Capital Budget allocation for 1998/99. The Committee agreed to accept the lowest tender, note that a report will be submitted by the Chief Executive relative to the project and note the capital expenditure implications all as detailed in the Appendix.