the projected underspend of £235,790 reported to the Committee on 11 June 1998 (para 660) and detailed the various significant items which had resulted in the present position. The report also advised of requests received from the Education Services Committee and the Economic Development Committee for supplementary revenue estimates.

DECIDED:

(a) That the request made by the Education Services Committee at its meeting on 11 August 1998 for a supplementary revenue estimate in respect of the projected contract cleaning overspend be approved up to a maximum sum of £100,000, this to be the subject of further discussion between the Department of Education Services and the Contract Services Division, and that it be remitted to the relevant Officers to take all necessary action to minimise the level of expenditure;

(b) That the request made by the Economic Development Committee at its meeting on 13 August 1998 for a supplementary revenue estimate to fund 3 secondments to the Economic Development Department in 1998/99 be approved up to a maximum sum of £50,000 and that it be remitted to the relevant Officers to take all necessary action to minimise the level of expenditure; and

859 REVENUE BUDGET 1998/99 - MONITORING REPORT: CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S 859

DEPARTMENT

SUBMITTED: Report by the Director of Finance on the position of the Revenue Budget 1998/99 for the Chief Executive's Department as at 24 June 1998 and requesting the Committee to consider a virement request to enable the projected overspend of £6,290 in respect of Emergency Planning, Supplies and Services to be funded from the Conferences and Courses budget.

DECIDED:

(a) That the virement request in the sum of £6,290 be granted; and

(b) That the report be otherwise noted.

860 VEHICLE REPLACEMENT PROGRAMME 860

SUBMITTED: Report dated 30 July 1998 by the Director of Central Services advising that the Corporate Business Committee at its meeting on 9 June 1998 had agreed to the acceptance of tenders for the provision of sweepers and vehicles included in the previously approved Vehicle Replacement Programme, at a total cost of £720,491.88, and had remitted it to the Policy and Strategy Committee to determine within the current financial year the appropriate method of financing for the purchase of the vehicles.

DECIDED: That in the meantime, provision be made within the current Capital Programme and that it be remitted to the Director of Finance to determine the most appropriate method of financing for the purchase of the vehicles.

861 NON-HRA CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99 861

SUBMITTED: Report dated 6 August 1998 by the Director of Finance on the financial position of the Non-HRA Capital Programme 1998/99. The report advised that the latest estimated shortfall in Capital Allocation in 1998/99 was £7,048,000, an increase of £913,000 since the last report to the Committee and set out the reasons for the increase in the projected shortfall. The report also advised of remits from (i) the Education Services Committee that the £527,000 funding previously allocated for works at St Kenneth's Primary School be utilised for other education projects; (ii) the Special Waterfront Working Group relative to additional costs totalling approximately £53,500 in respect of the Waterfront Leisure Complex project which were the subject of a report by the Director of Legal Services later in the Agenda; and (iii) the Economic Development Committee that the cost of purchasing/fitting holding bars onto the Council's paladin bin stock, estimated at £30,000, to make the bins compatible with the new lift mechanisms purchased by the Corporate Business Committee be added to the Vehicle Replacement Programme costs.

DECIDED:

(a) That approval be given to the request made by the Education Services Committee at its special meeting on 30 June 1998 that the £527,000 funding previously allocated for works at St Kenneth's Primary School be utilised for other education projects;

(b) That it be agreed to note the remit from the Special Waterfront Working Group in respect of additional costs totalling approximately £53,500 for increased consultant fees and defect/modification works at the Waterfront Leisure Complex which was contained in a report by the Director of Legal Services later in the Agenda;

(c) That it be noted that the Property and Technical Services Department will submit a detailed technical report on the Waterfront Leisure Complex costs to the next meeting of the Committee and that every effort will be made to recover all additional costs from appropriate third parties wherever possible;

(d) That the request made by the Economic Development Committee at its meeting on 13 August 1998 that the cost of purchasing/fitting holding bars onto the Council's paladin bin stock, estimated at £30,000, be added to the Vehicle Replacement Programme costs be approved; and

(e) That the report be otherwise noted.

862 EDUCATION CAPITAL BUILDING PROGRAMME 1998/99 862

SUBMITTED: Report dated 29 July 1998 by the Director of Central Services on a request received from the Education Services Committee at its special meeting on 30 June 1998 that approval be given to the utilisation of the funding previously allocated for works at St Kenneth's Primary School on the basis detailed in the report and that a number of these projects be progressed as part of the Major Repairs Budget in accordance with the procedure agreed by the Corporate Business Committee at its meeting on 28 April 1998.

DECIDED:

(a) That approval be given to utilisation of the funding previously allocated for works at St Kenneth's Primary School on the following basis:-

PROJECT	APPROXIMATE COST	TIMESCALE
Additional works at St Ninian's Primary School	£45,000	1998/99
Maintenance/reduction works at Glenburn School	£180,000	1998/99
Maintenance works at St Stephen's High School	£100,000	1998/99
Enhancement works at the Kelly Street Nursery School	£97,000	1999/2000
Minor maintenance/decoration works at Boglestone Primary School to accommodate new unit	£15,000	1998/99
Inverkip Primary School - Further maintenance works	£40,000	1998/99
Clune Park Primary School - Installation of gas-fired boilers	£50,000	1998/99
TOTAL COST:	£527,000

(b) That authority be granted for the following projects to be dealt with as part of the Major

Repairs Budget and that tenders be invited and delegated authority be granted for the acceptance of the lowest tender in each case in accordance with the procedure agreed by the Corporate Business Committee on 28 April 1998 (para 486):-

Maintenance/reduction works at Glenburn School - £180,000

Maintenance works at St Stephen's High School - £100,000

Clune Park Primary School - Installation of gas-fired boilers - £50,000; and

(c) That it be noted that the remaining projects will be the subject of reports when necessary to the appropriate Committee.

863 NON-HRA CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99 - FINANCIAL POSITION 863

SUBMITTED: Report dated 29 July 1998 by the Director of Finance on the financial position of current and proposed projects in both the Non-HRA Capital Programme 1998/99 and the Urban Programme 1998/99.

NOTED

864 CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99 - TECHNICAL PROGRESS 864

SUBMITTED: Report dated 14 July 1998 by the Director of Property and Technical Services on the technical progress of the Capital Programme 1998/99.

NOTED

865 MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS 865

SUBMITTED: Report dated 5 August 1998 by the Director of Leisure and Recreation on current developments relative to the Millennium celebrations, setting out possible sources of funding in this regard and requesting the Committee to consider appointing a Millennium Events Co-ordinator on a fixed term basis.

DECIDED:

(a) That the Corporate Events Working Group be utilised to consider proposals for funding Inverclyde Council events to celebrate the Millennium and to submit reports thereon to the Committee in due course;

(b) That no action be taken at the present time in relation to the appointment of a Millennium Events Co-ordinator but that consideration be given at a later date to the possible secondment of an existing Council employee to undertake this work;

(c) That all possible sources of funding for Millennium schemes and events be explored including the possible provision of monies from the Common Good Fund; and

(d) That proposals as to how Inverclyde Council could best celebrate the Millennium be the subject of further reports to the Committee.

866 GRANTS TO VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS - USE OF EMERGENCY POWERS 866

PROCEDURE

SUBMITTED: Report dated 7 August 1998 by the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) advising of the use of the emergency powers procedure in terms of

Standing Order 66 to make a grant of £300 to "The Factory" Youth Club.

NOTED

867 GRANTS TO VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS 1998/99 867

SUBMITTED: Report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) setting out the recommendations of the Sounding Board on requests from voluntary organisations for grant aid during 1998/99.

DECIDED: That the grants to various voluntary organisations as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report totalling £14,410 be approved.

868 FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: THE STONES OF SCOTLAND 868

SUBMITTED: Report dated 3 August 1998 by the Director of Central Services on a request received from the organisers of the "Stones of Scotland" project for the Council to make a commitment to provide a sum of £5,000 towards the erection of a "Stones of Scotland" sculpture on a site situated at Regent Park, Edinburgh overlooking the site of the new Scottish Parliament.

DECIDED: That the report be noted and no action be taken.

869 TRANSFER OF SCOTTISH HOMES HOUSING STOCK - PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT 869

OF LOCAL HOUSING COMPANY

SUBMITTED: Report dated 3 August 1998 by the Director of Central Services requesting the Committee to consider the proposed establishment of a local housing company for the purpose of managing transferred Scottish Homes housing stock in Port Glasgow and attracting funding for improvement works, as recommended by the Social Work and Housing Committee at its meeting on 28 July 1998.

DECIDED: That the Committee approve the establishment of a local housing company for the purpose of managing transferred Scottish Homes housing stock in Port Glasgow and attracting funding for improvement works and that it be remitted to the Director of Housing and Customer Services to take all necessary action in this regard.

870 "MAKING THE CONNECTIONS" - A REPORT BY FORWARD SCOTLAND ON BEST 870

VALUE AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

SUBMITTED: Report dated 14 August 1998 by the Director of Central Services advising that the Economic Development Committee at its meeting on 13 August 1998 had agreed to note the terms of a report by the Chief Environmental Services Officer on Forward Scotland's report "Making the Connections" which seeks to strengthen the links between Best Value and sustainable development and had remitted the report's key conclusions and recommendations to the Policy and Strategy Committee for consideration of a future policy development and with a view to establishing a formal link between the Council's policies on Corporate Strategy, Best Value and Local Agenda 21.

DECIDED: That the recommendation of the Economic Development Committee be approved and that the matter be remitted to the new Corporate Management Team with a view to a further reports on proposals being submitted to the Committee in due course.

871 BASIC GRADE CLERICAL POSTS - GRADING STRUCTURE 871

SUBMITTED: Report dated 19 August 1998 by the Director of Central Services advising that the Corporate Business Committee at its meeting on 18 August 1998 had agreed a grading structure for basic clerical posts within the Council and had requested the Policy and Strategy Committee to approve funding of £19,900 to allow implementation of the proposals.

DECIDED: That the request for funding of £19,900 to allow implementation of the grading structure for basic clerical posts within the Council agreed by the Corporate Business Committee at its meeting on 18 August 1998 be approved, the expenditure to be contained within existing budgets.

872 RESOLUTION : EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS 872

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 items of business on the grounds that consideration of the items involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the respective paragraphs of Part I of Schedule 7(A) of the Act as are set opposite each item:-

Item Paragraph(s)

East India Harbour, Greenock Waterfront 6 & 8

Town Centres CCTV Project: Report on Tenders 6 & 8

Best Value Regime: Members' Steering Group 8

Greenock Waterfront Leisure Complex: Adjustment of Contract Sum 6, 8 & 9

Greenock Waterfront Leisure Complex: Request for Additional Funding 6, 8 & 9

873 EAST INDIA HARBOUR, GREENOCK WATERFRONT 873

There was submitted a report by the Director of Central Services on a request received from the Economic Development Committee at its meeting on 13 August 1998 that provision be made within the current Capital Programme for acquisition and development of the East India Harbour area and the Committee agreed to the request, all as detailed in the Appendix.

874 TOWN CENTRES CCTV PROJECT - REPORT ON TENDERS 874

There was submitted a report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Social and Community Development) on tenders received for a CCTV system covering the town centre areas of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock and recommending acceptance of the most favourable tender and a complementary leasing package. The Committee agreed to accept a tender, note that a report on maintenance and other revenue costs will be submitted to its next meeting and to record its appreciation for the work undertaken by the Technical Officers' Group in progressing the project, all as detailed in the Appendix.

875 BEST VALUE REGIME: MEMBERS' STEERING GROUP 875

SUBMITTED: Minute of meeting of the Best Value Regime Members' Steering Group held on 28 April 1998.

NOTED

876 GREENOCK WATERFRONT LEISURE COMPLEX: ADJUSTMENT OF CONTRACT SUM 876

There was submitted a report by the Director of Legal Services on the outcome of the adjustment of the contract sum in respect of the Greenock Waterfront Leisure Complex project which the contract administrator had been required to make taking into account documentation submitted by the contractor in support of his claims and advising of the use of the emergency powers procedure under Standing Order 66 to approve the additional payment as required in terms of the contract. The Committee agreed to note the report, all as detailed in the Appendix.

877 GREENOCK WATERFRONT LEISURE COMPLEX: REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL 877

FUNDING

SUBMITTED: Report dated 31 July 1998 by the Director of Legal Services advising that the Special Waterfront Working Group at its meeting on 16 July 1998 had considered a number of reports identifying additional costs relative to the Leisure Complex project and that the Group had agreed to recommend to the Policy and Strategy Committee that funding for additional costs, totalling £53,497.81, be approved.

DECIDED: That funding for the costs identified in Parts A and B of the Schedule appended to the report be approved in the sum of £53,497.81.