Policy and Strategy Committee

Tuesday 4 April 2006 at 3.00 pm

Present:  Councillors Blair, Forbes, Fyfe, Hill, McCabe, Mitchell,  Roach,  Robertson, Snoddy and White.

Chair:  Councillor Blair presided.

In attendance:  Chief Executive, Depute Chief Executive, Director of Community Services, Director of Education Services, Solicitor to the Council, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Performance Management and Policy Development, Head of Property Services, Mr A Dempster (for Head of Social Work Services) and Managing Solicitor (Committees/Contracts).

278

Remits from Committees

278

It was noted that there were no remits from Committees.

279

Revenue Budget 2005/06 - Period 10

279

There was submitted a report dated 15 March 2006 by the Chief Financial Officer on the position of the 2005/06 Revenue Budget as at Period 10 (31 January 2006).

Noted

280

General Fund Revenue Budget 2005/06 - Period 10

280

There was submitted a report dated 21 March 2006 by the Chief Financial Officer (1) on the position of the General Fund Revenue Budget 2005/06 as at Period 10 (31 January 2006) and (2) appending a position statement in respect of earmarked reserves.

Decided:

(1)   that approval be given to the list of projects for earmarking into 2006/07 as detailed in appendix 3 to the report and that authority to amend the list be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer;  and

(2)   that otherwise, the position of the 2005/06 General Fund Revenue Budget be noted.

281

Chief Executive’s Capital Programme 2005/06 to 2007/08

281

There was submitted a report dated 14 March 2006 by the Chief Financial Officer on the position of the Chief Executive’s Capital Programme 2005/06 to 2007/08.

Decided:

(1)   that the Committee note the progress of the specific projects detailed in the appendix to the report;  and

(2)   that the report be otherwise noted.

282

Non-HRA Capital Programme 2005/08

282

There was submitted a report dated 20 March 2006 by the Chief Financial Officer (1) on the current position of the 2005/08 Non-HRA Capital Programme and (2) comparing projected expenditure against available resources.

Noted

283

2006/07 Efficiency Reviews and Key Performance Measures

283

There was submitted a report dated 20 March 2006 by the Chief Executive (1) on the progress in respect of the approved Efficiency Reviews and (2) on the proposed reporting mechanism for the approved Key Performance Measures.

Decided:

(1)   that the Committee note the position in respect of the 16 approved Efficiency Reviews;

(2)   that approval be given to the addition of Procurement to the Efficiency Reviews approved by the Council on 9 February 2006;  and

(3)   that the Committee endorse the approach for reporting and monitoring the Key Performance Measures via the Policy and Strategy Committee.

284

Treasury Management - Strategy 2006/07

284

There was submitted a report dated 22 March 2006 by the Chief Financial Officer on the operation of the treasury function for the forthcoming year as required under Treasury Management Practice 6 “Reporting Requirements on Management Information Arrangements”.

Decided:

(1)   that approval be given to the Prudential Indicators and Strategy outlined in the report;

(2)   that approval be given to the amendments to the Treasury Management Practices as set out in appendices 2 and 3 of the report;  and

(3)   that approval be given to the Prudential Indicator reporting proposals set out in paragraph 12.1 of the report.

285

Council House - Rent Arrears Update

285

There was submitted a report dated 16 March 2006 by the Depute Chief Executive on the level of rent arrears relating to Council houses as at 16 March 2006.

Noted

286

Financial Inclusion Fund

286

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive (1) on the progress of the submission to the Scottish Executive for funding under the Financial Inclusion Fund for the Inverclyde Financial Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan 2006-2008, a copy of which was appended to the report, and (2) seeking approval to implement the initiative.

Decided:

(1)   that the award of £600,000 for 2006/07 and 2007/08 to deliver the outcomes identified in the report be noted;

(2)   that approval be given to the implementation of the initiative and that it be delegated to the Head of Personnel Services to deal with staffing issues;

(3)   that it be remitted to the Head of Community Care and Strategy to implement the Financial Inclusion Initiative through, and in collaboration with, the Corporate Working Group;  and

(4)   that progress reports on the work of the Financial Inclusion Initiative be submitted to the Committee on a six monthly basis.

287

Corporate Performance Management Arrangement

287

There was submitted a report dated 13 January 2006 by the Chief Executive seeking approval to take forward Corporate Performance Management arrangements.

Decided:

(1)   that the Committee note the terms of the report and remit it to the Chief Executive to establish the appropriate arrangements to take forward the development of a Council Performance Management framework;  these arrangements to take account of the resources available to the Council, the development of the Corporate Plan, the plans for efficiency reviews and key performance measures and the appropriate level of external support;  and

(2)   that a report on progress be submitted to the meeting of the Policy and Strategy Committee to be held in May 2006.

288

Corporate Plan

288

There was submitted a report by the Director of Community Services seeking approval of a new draft Corporate Plan, a copy of which was appended to the report, and the consultation process set out in the report.

Decided:  that the draft Corporate Plan be approved and that agreement be given to the consultation process set out in paragraph 4.1 of the report.

289

Riverside Inverclyde

289

There was submitted a report dated 22 March 2006 by the Depute Chief Executive and the Chief Financial Officer on (1) the latest position in respect of Riverside Inverclyde and (2) the actions required to prepare an operational plan for its delivery.

Councillor Blair informed the Committee of the recent appointment of Mr Alf Young as Chair of the Urban Regeneration Company.

Decided:

(1)   that the Committee note the progress to date in respect of Riverside Inverclyde and in particular welcome the award of Urban Regeneration Company status by the First Minister on 28 February 2006;

(2)   that the Committee endorse the recommendations for future action contained in Section 4 of the report and that future reports on progress in this area be made to the Environment and Regeneration Committee;

(3)   that the Chief Executive allocate adequate resources to the Riverside Inverclyde project to ensure that the timescales outlined in the appendix to the report are achieved; 

(4)   that the Committee welcome the appointment of Mr Alf Young as Chair of the Urban Regeneration Company;  and

(5)   that the Committee’s appreciation of the efforts of the Depute Chief Executive and other Officers involved in working towards the award of Urban Regeneration Company status be noted.

290

Progress Report - Better Neighbourhood Services Fund

290

There was submitted a report by the Depute Chief Executive on the progress of the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund (BNSF) since January 2006.

During the course of discussion, the Depute Chief Executive confirmed that expenditure of the entire £12m allocation would be completed by mid-April.

Noted

291

Progress Report - Community Regeneration  Fund

291

There was submitted a report by the Depute Chief Executive on the progress of the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) since January 2006.

Noted

292

COSLA Excellence Awards

292

There was submitted a report dated March 2006 by the Chief Executive on (1) the COSLA Excellence Awards, appending details of 2005 project winners, and (2) the submission of two applications by the Council for the 2006 awards.

The Head of Performance Management and Policy Development advised the Committee that the two projects submitted by the Council had been long leeted.

(Councillor Mitchell left the meeting during consideration of this item of business).

Decided:

(1)   that Members note the winning projects in the COSLA Excellence Awards in 2005;

(2)   that the themes emerging from the winning projects be noted and that it be noted these will be taken on board by the Corporate Management Team as part of the development of the Council’s Improvement Plan;

(3)   that it be noted that the Corporate Management Team will consider projects that could be prepared for submission in future rounds of the COSLA Excellence Awards;

(4)   that the Committee be informed about the outcome of applications submitted to the COSLA Excellence Awards;  and

(5)   that it be remitted to the Chief Executive to examine and report on a scheme for  excellence awards within the Council.

293

Smoke Free Public Places

293

There was submitted a report dated 7 March 2006 by the Solicitor to the Council seeking the Committee’s views on the procedure to be adopted by the Council in dealing with requests for hearings in respect of fixed penalty notices issued under the provision of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005.

Decided:

(1)   that it be remitted to the Licensing and Registration Panel to deal with hearings requested under the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005;  and

(2)   that authority be delegated to the Solicitor to the Council to deal with the administration of requests for hearings under the Act.