Action taken by the Chairman
To note details of action taken by the Chairman since the last meeting as follows:
1. Waiving of Finance Procedure Rule 5.30
§ Free Swimming for under 16year olds.
§ Appointment of an Interim Places Director
§ Procurement of suitably experienced advice and resources on shared services
2. Urgent decision Standing Order no 25
§ Appointment of Interim Head of Children's Services.
Minutes:
The Chairman reported that he had taken the following action since the last meeting:
1. Decision taken under Urgency Procedure Rules - Free Swimming Programme
To approve acceptance of the Government’s Free Swimming Programme offers of funding for the 16 and under age category, and capital improvements, so that a formal response of this decision can be made to the Department for Culture and Media and Sport by 24 October 2008. A report to explore how the programme would be taken forward would be submitted to Cabinet.
The reason for urgency was that on 10 September 2008 Cabinet confirmed its intention that Cheshire East participate in the Government’s Free Swimming Programme for persons aged 60 and over, from 1 April 2009 and a response was sent to the Department for Culture Media and Sport to that effect, by the 15 September deadline. Cabinet approved an expression of interest on a further element of the scheme to provide free swimming for 16s and under, and funding for swimming pool modernisation. The deadline for response was 24 October.
2. Decision taken under Urgency Procedure Rules – Director of Places
Following the decision of the selected candidate for the post of Director for Places not to take up the offer of employment, and the decision of the Staffing Committee on 20 October 2008, the need arose to source an interim Director to fulfill the duties of the post on a temporary basis pending permanent recruitment to the post.
The reason for urgency was that due to the specialist nature of the role, the volume of work being undertaken by the emerging shadow Council and the need to ensure a smooth transition at this critical time in the Council’s development, and the time which it would take to recruit a permanent candidate to the post using external advertisement. The following action was proposed:
2. To waive the Finance Procedure Rules, under Rule 5.30 thereof, on the basis that circumstances have arisen which in the opinion of both the Interim Chief Finance Officer and Interim Monitoring Officer (being the equivalent officers within Cheshire East Council of the County Finance Officer and County Solicitor), warrant an exception to the requirements for competition, to include when an emergency requires an immediate contract (which should in any event be procured from an approved list of suppliers where available), noting that there is no such “list of approved suppliers” in this case.
3. To seek the services of an Interim Director for Places from Gatenby Sanderson, with whom the Council already has a working relationship on other procurement matters, and since verbal enquiries with two other leading suppliers of the same kind of services have established that similar costs would be incurred whichever supplier was utilised.
3. Decision taken under Urgency Procedure Rules – Shared Services
Following consideration by Cheshire East of the ... view the full minutes text for item 30