Agenda and minutes

There was an apology from Councillor G Barton

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2014

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting on 13 October 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest

To provide an opportunity for Members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the Agenda

There were declarations of party whip

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Note: in order for officers to undertake any background, it would be helpful if members of the public notified the Scrutiny Officer listed at the foot of the Agenda t least one working day before the meeting with brief details of the matter to be covered.

There were no members of the public present who wished to speak

To submit feedback and questions to the Property Information Officer regarding Members’ use of WebGIS and the user guide developed for Members.

Paul Mickleburgh attended the meeting to receive feedback from the Committee regarding their use of WebGIS and user guide following Paul’s demonstration at the previous meeting.

Paul informed the Committee that general feedback received about the system from general users had been good so far and that the number of people finding information for themselves, as opposed to making a planning enquiry, had increased.

Members of the Committee were pleased with the system suggesting it was easier to use and extremely useful for finding out about planning their ward.

RESOLVED – That Paul Mickleburgh be requested to inform all members of the Council about WebGIS and provide them with the user guide via email.

To consider a report on the progress made against recommendations regarding support for Cheshire Neighbours Credit Union submitted to Cabinet by the former Finance Policy Development Group in February 2014.

Sharon Angus-Crawshaw, Partnerships Manager, and John Weir, Cheshire Neighbours Credit Union (CNCU), presented a progress report on recommendations made to Cabinet by the Finance Policy Development Group (PDG) in February 2014 regarding Council support for CNCU.

The following actions were highlighted:

·         CNCU was now operating from the Council’s offices at Delamere House and in six libraries were staff have been trained to provide information and take payments for CNCU.

·         CNCU was currently services for approximately 1% of employees of Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council. CNCU wanted to target at least 10%.

·         CNCU was currently struggling to get volunteers. One suggestion for this was that the current trend for recently retired people is to be performing child care roles for their grandchildren rather than having time to volunteer.

·         There was some CNCU information on the Council’s website further work was needed to get full coverage.

·         CNCU’s links with registered social landlords had improved which gave it access to a wider market for its jam jar accounts. The delayed introduction by the Government of Universal Credit had restricted the take up of jam jar accounts.

·         CNCU had employed three apprentices through a Government scheme who had all gone on to gain employment elsewhere.

·         The Finance PDG’s recommendation to offer CNCU memberships to care leavers had not yet been progressed.

In addition to updating the Committee on progress made against Finance PDG recommendations, John Weir informed the Committee that CNCU had made a request to Councillor Raynes as Finance Portfolio Holder for financial assistance to enable CNCU to continue operating.

The Committee was pleased with the progress that had been made regarding the majority of the Finance PDG’s recommendation and wished to see further progress on those that had not yet been undertaken. Regarding CNCU’s request for financial assistance the Committee was unable to make any recommendation to the Portfolio Holder, having not received sufficient information to consider it in effectively. However the Committee acknowledged the value to the Borough and the Council of the work of the credit union and wished to see a resolution to the request as soon as possible.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the progress made on the Finance PDG’s recommendation to Cabinet to noted.

(b)  That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to contact appropriate officers to progress the Finance PDG’s recommendation in relation to care leavers.

(c)  That the Scrutiny Officer be requested to write to Councillor P Raynes to request that that a resolution to the Cheshire Neighbours Credit Union’s (CNCU) request for financial assistance be reached as soon as possible to avoid potential uncertainty about the credit union’s future.

To consider and agree to terms of reference for a task and finish review of Strategic Asset Management

(Cover Report and Proposed Scoping Document Attached)

The Committee considered the establishment of a task and finish group to review the Strategic Asset Management & Delivery Plan. Julian Cobley was present to discuss the proposed terms of reference which the Committee had requested at the previous meeting.

Julian explained that the Strategic Asset Management Plan was due to be submitted to Cabinet for approval in February and suggested that a task and finish group would be able to critically review the plan in January and present a report to Cabinet on its findings also at the February meeting.

RESOLVED – That the proposed terms of reference be accepted and a task and finish group be formed with the following members: Councillors F Keegan (chair), S Corcoran and J Wray.

To consider for approval the High Growth City Task and Finish Group’s draft report.

(Cover Report Attached, Draft Report to Follow)

The Committee received copies of the High Growth City Task and Finish Group’s draft report. The Chairman introduced the report and gave an overview of the work the task and finish group had undertaken during its review.

The Committee considered the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations for approval to be submitted to Cabinet for consideration. It was noted that the report had been produced in a short time frame and some further amendments were required to ensure the report was accurate.

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the Committee approve recommendations A-F at 2.1 of the Task and Finish Group’s report.

(b)  That the Task and Finish Group’s be submitted to Cabinet subject to minor amendments and correction of typographical errors

To note the forward plan, identify any new items, and to determine whether any further examination of new issues is appropriate.

The Committee examined the Forward Plan

RESOLVED – That the Forward Plan be noted

To review the current Work Programme

The Committee considered its work programme.

RESOLVED – That the Work Programme be noted