Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED –That the minutes of the meeting held on the 12 October 2010 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests and for members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

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 research, it would be helpful if members of the public contacted the Scrutiny officer listed at the foot of the agenda, at least one working day before the meeting to provide brief details of the matter to be covered. 

There were no Members of the Public present who wished to make a statement.

The Portfolio Holders for Procurement, Assets and Shared Services and Performance and Capacity to attend the meeting to answer Members questions on issues raised at the previous meeting during the presentation on Shared Services.

At its meeting held on 12 October 2010, the committee had received a presentation on the range and scope of shared services provided for Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Councils. At that meeting, Members had raised a number of queries which related, amongst other things, to the operation of the Shared Services Joint Committee; the need to have a better understanding of the proposed legal entity in respect of HR and ICT; and future proposals for the former CountyEuropean and External Funding Unit.

Councillors David Brown (Performance and Capacity Portfolio Holder) and Peter Mason (Procurement, Assets and Shared Services Portfolio Holder) both of whom were Members of the Shared Services Joint Committee, attended the meeting and gave explanations in relation  to a number of outstanding queries from the previous meeting. The Portfolio Holders were assisted by the Borough Treasurer.

The Committee was informed that the Shared Services Joint Committee had taken a decision to close the former County European and External Funding Unit a few months ago. Cheshire East did however have a vacant post of External Funding Officer within Cheshire its establishment.

In response to a Members query about the status of each of the current 32 shared services, the Performance and Capacity Portfolio Holder undertook to provide members of the Committee with a position statement on each shared service.

In connection with the creation of a separate legal entity in respect of HR and ICT and other support services, the Borough Treasurer informed the Committee that this would provide an opportunity for new arrangements for Cheshire East and its partners. Two options were currently being explored.

The first option was in the form of a trading operation which would allow the Council to offer to sell services to smaller local authorities and public sector organisations, by trading with such organisations as customers. The second option was a more collaborative model which would allow the Council to work in partnership with other public sector organisations. The two models were not mutually exclusive and a combination of models could be put in place.

A report on CountyFarms was due to be considered by the Committee in January.

RESOLVED

1.      That the Performance and Capacity Portfolio Holder be requested to provide a position statement on each of the 32 shared services and distribute it to Members of this committee via the Senior Scrutiny Officer;

2.      That copies of agendas of the Shared Services joint committee be circulated to Members of this Committee in advance of meetings from now on, and copies of minutes of meetings be also circulated subsequently;

3.      That David Job, CountyLand Agent, be requested to submit a report on the future of Council owned farms to the Midpoint meeting of this Committee to be held on 11 January 2011

To consider a report of the Borough Solicitor.

The Committee considered a report of the Borough Solicitor setting out the 2010/2011 work programme.

At the midpoint meeting on 2 November, Members had informally agreed to set up a Task and Finish Group to review the 4 Business Generation Centres owned by Cheshire East. Subsequent to that meeting, volunteers were sought from this Committee. Three Members volunteered and met on 9 December to scope the review. During the scoping exercise, Members had acknowledged that there were close links between the management of the Business Generation Centres as Council assests and their role in Economic Development and the Task and Finish Group had therefore suggested that an additional place should be created and offered to the Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee.

Members had also requested additional information on the depot rationalisation proposals that were currently being progressed through an officer project group. A report on this matter appeared later on the agenda for this meeting.

Councillor J Narraway referred to the item in the work programme relating to the ICT Harmonisation Monitoring Group and suggested that the terms of reference of this group were too wide and suggested that the focus of the group should be restricted to the Macclesfield Data Centre.

RESOLVED –

1.      That the following Members be appointed to the Business Generation CentreTask and Finish Group:

Councillors     J Narraway

                                    P Findlow

                                    A R Thwaite  

2.      That a place be offered to Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee on the Business generation Task and Finish Group;

3.      That the item relating to ICT Harmonisation be amended to read ‘Macclesfield Data Centre’;

To consider a report of the Borough Solicitor.

On 30 October 2009, the Council had approved a Councillor Call for Action (CCfA) protocol.

The CCfA protocol was intended to strengthen Member involvement at

Ward level through the provision of timely, relevant information on local

issues in line with the principles outlined in the Local Government and

Public Involvement in Health Act which emphasised the importance of

the role of Ward Members as community leaders and advocated their

empowerment to deal with local issues.

To date, there had only been one request received to invoke the CCfA

procedure. Notwithstanding the fact that in that particular case, the

Member concerned did not provide evidence that all available options

to resolve the matters raised in the CCfA had been explored, the range

of problems raised by the Member, did highlight the fact that there was

a gap in the protocol in how cross cutting issues should be handled.

On this occasion, in the absence of any formal advice, the Scrutiny

Chairs Group (SCG) had been consulted informally. This had given Chairmen

and Vice Chairmen of the 5 Overview and Scrutiny Committees an

opportunity to explore at an early stage, the written evidence supplied

by the Member concerned, in support of the CCfA. Additionally,

Members concluded that the SCG was the most appropriate place for

requests for CCfA to be considered, where the subject matter affected

more than one Committee.

The Scrutiny Chairs Group had therefore recommended that the

protocol be amended to give the SCG a role in determining which of

the 5 Overview and Scrutiny Committees should deal with cross cutting

issues.

RESOLVED

That it be recognised that  the Scrutiny Chairmen’s Group should determine which of the 5 Overview and Scrutiny Committees should deal with cross cutting issues raised under CCfA and Council be recommended to authorise the Borough Solicitor to make appropriate reference to the Scrutiny Chairs Group role in the CCfA protocol, by amending section 7of the protocol.

To consider a report of the Head of Assets.

The committee considered a report of the Strategic Director Places regarding a programme to rationalise Council Depots in Cheshire East.

The Council had inherited depots from the three former Borough Councils and

the County Council. Many of the depots were in the wrong locations, were too

small and had buildings in poor condition and did not meet current and

future operational requirements. Efficiencies could be achieved by

amalgamating operations into a reduced number of large depots

A review had commenced to evaluate future options for all depots used for

Cheshire East business. This included Council owned sites used by external

contractors. The review also included sites outside Cheshire East boundaries

which were used in relation to Cheshire East vehicles.

All property implications arising from this review would be taken forward and

resolved as part of the wider Corporate Asset Challenge programme.

The purpose and vision of the review was to:

• Evaluate future options for all depots used for Cheshire East business. This

included Council owned sites used by external contractors.

• Decommission depots that did not meet current and future business needs

within a phased plan

• Explore opportunities for capital receipts and revenue reductions

• Move the Council towards its vision of 2 super depots in Crewe and

Macclesfield

• Ensure that there was the capacity to meet all operational needs during the

transition process

• Rationalise stock held at sites

Expected outcomes of the review were:

• A reduction in the number of operational depots

• Opportunities for alternative uses for surplus depots

• Revenue budget reductions

• Capital receipts from land sales

• Capital receipts from the sale of surplus equipment

• Increase in operational efficiencies

Analysis of the findings and evaluation of options would take place during Dec 2010 –January 2011.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and the Strategic Director Places be requested to provide regular updates on the depot rationalisation project to this committee.

The Chairman to provide a statement on an urgency decision and request to waive call-in.

The Chairman reported upon the circumstances of a decision taken by the Chief Executive under urgency powers in relation to which he had waived the ‘Call-in’ procedure in accordance with the Scrutiny rules contained in the Council’s Constitution. The matter was deemed to be an exempt matter under the access to information Act 1985, and therefore the details of the decision could not be disclosed in the presence of the press and public.

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

The Committee considered items currently listed in the forward plan

RESOLVED – That the forward plan be noted.

To note any consultations referred to the Committee from Cabinet and to determine whether any further action is appropriate.

There were no consultations from Cabinet