Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2016

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting on 18 January 2015 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 no 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 consider for approval the final report of the Apprenticeships Task and Finish Group for submission to Cabinet.

The Committee received the report of the Apprenticeships Task and Finish Group for approval to be submitted to Cabinet. Councillor J Weston, chairman of the Task and Finish Group, provided an overview of the review which had taken place between October 2015 and March 2016 and explained the Group’s recommendations which were contained in the report. Both Councillor Weston and Councillor B Roberts commented on how they had enjoyed taking part in the review and thanked the officers who had contributed to their work.

Councillor D Stockton, as Cabinet Member for Regeneration, thanked the Task Group for the report and suggested that it was timely in relation to the important issue of apprenticeships.

A supplementary report which proposed some updates to the Group’s report had been published and submitted to the Committee. The Committee was requested to approve the report and the Group’s recommendations with the proposed updates included to ensure the report was accurate and up to date.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Apprenticeships Task and Finish Group’s report be received;

(b)  That the recommendations contained in the Group’s report be approved;

(c)  That subject to the proposed updates being included the Group’s report be submitted to Cabinet on 12 April 2016; and

(d)  That a response to the Group’s recommendations be requested from Cabinet at the Committee’s meeting on 18 July 2016.

To consider for approval the final report of the Section 106 Agreements Task and Finish Group for submission to Cabinet.

The Committee received the report of the Section 106 Agreements Task and Finish Group for approval to be submitted to Cabinet. Councillor H Wells-Bradshaw, chairman of the Task and Finish Group, provided an overview of the review which took place between December 2015 and March 2016 and explained the Group’s recommendations which were contained in the report. Members of the Task Group commented on the excellent response rate to the member survey which was conducted during the review and highlighted that this was an issue that a lot of councillors were interested in.

David Malcolm provided the Committee with an update on the recruitment of a new Section 106 Officer which was raised as an issue in the Group’s report. He suggested that a new officer would be in post within a few weeks.

On behalf of his Cabinet colleagues Councillor D Stockton thanked the Group for their report and suggested that Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) would be important in raising funds from development in future. The Committee Chairman highlighted that the Committee was expecting to receive a briefing on CIL in the near future.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Section 106 Agreements Task and Finish Group’s report be received;

(b)  That the Group’s recommendations be approved for submission to Cabinet on 12 April 2016; and

(c)  That a response to the Group’s recommendations be requested from Cabinet at the Committee meeting on 18 July 2016.

To consider a progress report on the Skills and Growth ASDV prior to the company’s full launch on 1 April 2016.

Julian Cobley, Head of Investment, provided an overview of the progress being made in setting up the new Alternative Service Deliver Vehicle (ASDV) for Skills and Growth. The new company was due to be launched on 1 April 2016 and would be called ‘The Skills and Growth Company’. This name was chosen to enable expansion beyond the boundaries of Cheshire East created by partnership opportunities, particularly across the Cheshire and Warrington Enterprise Partnership footprint but also potentially into Greater Manchester and Staffordshire.

The Company had been operating in shadow form since January 2016 during which time officers had been preparing the business, tackling risks and carrying out necessary changes to terms and conditions for employees transferring over. In setting up the company officers had taken lessons from previous ASDVs set up by the Council.

The Company would be based at the Sandbach Enterprise Centre which was considered a good location in the centre of the Borough, easily accessible to customers and close to the Council’s head quarters. Officers were currently finalising the business plan for the contract between the Council and the Company which would included detailed performance targets and priorities (four skills based priorities and four growth based priorities).

Councillor D Stockton, Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration, stated that the Company was being created to help the borough compete with Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region in attracting funding from Government and European Funds.

The Committee requested that an update on progress during the first six months of operation be provided at a future meeting so that it could monitor performance.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the update report be noted

(b)  That a report on progress in the first six months of the Company’s operation be requested for a future meeting.

To review the current Work Programme

The Committee gave consideration to its work programme. The Committee agreed that the current schedule of meeting meant that there was a long period of time between formal meetings therefore a meeting in May 2016 should be added to the calendar. A request to consider how a private landlords register could be introduce to Cheshire East was made. The Chairman stated that they would consult the Cabinet Member responsible for Housing on a potential item.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the work programme be noted

(b)  That an additional meeting of the Committee be scheduled to take place on 16 May 2016 at 14:00.