Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  Councillor H Humphrey be appointed Vice-Chairman for the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors B Anota, Lord Howard, D Tyler and R Bird.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 July 2016.

The minutes from the Corporate Performance Panel held on 18 July 2016 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to Councillor C J Crofts being added as attending as substitute.

Please indicate if there any interests which should be declared.  A declaration of an interest should indicate the nature of the interest (if not already declared on the Register of Interests) and the agenda item to which it relates.  If a disclosable pecuniary interest is declared, the Member should withdrawn from the room whilst the matter is disclosed.

These declarations apply to all Members present, whether the member is part of the meeting, attending to speak as a local Member on an item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

Councillor I Gourlay declared a pecuniary interest in item 9:  Council Tax Discounts for Empty and Unfurnished and Uninhabitable Properties and left the meeting when this item was debated.

Councillors G Hipperson, C J Crofts, J Collop, K Mellish and G Wareham in Item 9.

To consider any business which, by reason of special circumstances, the Chairman proposes to accept as urgent under Section 100(b)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

None.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so and on what items they wish to be heard before the meeting commences.  Any Member attending the meeting under Standing Order 34 will only be permitted to speak on those items which have been previously notified to the Chairman.

None.

None.

The Panel will receive a Powerpoint presentation from the Business Manager and be invited to ask any questions.

The Panel received a presentation from the Business Manager and were invited to comment/ask questions, a summary of which is set out below.

Councillor Collop outlined his case as to why he had requested that the item be placed on the Agenda.

In response to questions from the Panel on overpayments from car parking machines not giving change, the Chairman, Councillor Wareham reminded Members that the Business Manager had advised during his presentation that there was no technology available to allow car parking machines to give change anywhere in the UK.

Following further questions on credit and debit credit card payments, the Portfolio Holder for Human Resources, Facilities and Shared Services explained that a presentation on the replacement of pay and display machines had been given to a previous Panel meeting and explained that if the Council replaced the machines now it would incur a cost to the Council taxpayer.

The Portfolio Holder for Human Resources, Facilities and Shared Services explained that overpayments were utilised through the budget for resources and gave examples of toilet cleaning, street cleansing and refurbishment of the Bus Station.  Councillor Collop commented that the overpayment could be used specifically for King’s Lynn.  He added that the King’s Lynn Area Consultative Committee could determine how the money could be specifically spent to enhance King’s Lynn.  The Leader, Councillor Long reiterated the comments made by the Portfolio Holder and added that the overpayment was placed in the Council’s General Fund and was spent on providing services for the residents of the Borough.

The Business Manager explained that payment could be made by a credit/debit card via a mobile phone, however there was a cost per transaction to the Council.  The Panel was informed that there was a variety of options for payment as set out below:

·         Mobile phone with credit/debit card.

·         Multi Storey Car Park – pay on exit.

·         Ensure users had correct change to pay with coins.

The Personnel Services Manager presented the report which contained information on the corporate performance monitoring undertaken during Q1 2016/2017.

The Personnel Services Manager drew the Panels attention to section 3 – Key points from the Corporate Performance Monitoring Report Q1 2016/17.

Members were informed that additional performance monitoring of indicators consistently not achieving quarterly targets was undertaken by Management Team on a monthly basis.  The indicator CE11 – percentage of supplier invoices paid within 30 days, had been monitored closely as it had not achieved the target of 94% by 1% each quarter during 2015/16.  It was highlighted that as part of the 2016/17 annual target setting process the target for this indicator was changed to 93%.  Performance levels had improved with 96% being reported for Q1 2016/17.

The Personnel Services Manager advised that the Action Report explained the considerable drop in performance (66%) for indicator CE6 – percentage of freedom of information requests given final response within deadline.  As the quarterly figure was calculated on a cumulative basis it was unrealistic to expect this indicator to achieve the 2016/17 annual target of 95%.

In response to questions from the Panel regarding CE6:  % of freedom of information requests given final response within deadline, the Personnel Services Manager explained that there was no delay in processing requests with Eastlaw taking over the work and that the drop in performance was due to staffing issues which were now being addressed.  The Chief Executive advised that there was no additional cost incurred with Eastlaw providing the FOI service and that the requests received ranged from freelance journalists, students or local residents.

Following questions from the Panel on CE11:% of supplier invoices paid within 30 days, the Assistant Director explained that whilst extracting the statistics on invoices during the year delay could occur.  However, she explained that a lean review had been undertaken and the system would move to e-invoicing to speed up the process.

The Chief Executive responded to questions on CE3:  Unintentional priority homeless acceptances per 1,000 households and advised that the Council was doing everything it could to avoid costly bed and breakfast temporary accommodation and explained that this was a national problem and the Council was putting measures in place to manage the situation as effectively as possible.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager responded to questions relating to CE14:  No of days to process new benefit claims and explained that the average time to process a claim was between 19 and 24 days.

RESOLVED: The Panel agreed the actions outlined within the Action Report.

The Vice-Chairman, Councillor Humphrey took the Chair for this item.

The Democratic Services Officer read out the legal advice received in response to Members declaring an interest for this agenda item.

Councillor Gourlay left the meeting.

Councillors G Hipperson, C J Crofts, J Collop, K Mellish and G Wareham remained in the meeting but took no part in the debate/decision.

The Leader, Councillor Long commented that the declaration of interest on certain items occurred on an annual basis and suggested that advice be sought from the Monitoring Officer regarding a dispensation being obtained.

In presenting the report, the Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that the Council had powers to reduce or remove the council tax discount for empty/ unfurnished and uninhabitable properties.  The report outlined those powers and presented options for the Panel to discuss and recommend, along with some issues and questions for the Panel to debate.

Members’ attention was drawn to the following sections of the report:

·         Executive Summary.

·         Issues.

·         Rationale for the Proposal.

·         Options Considered.

·         Preferred Option.

·         Questions and Issues for the Panel.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager responded to questions from the Panel in relation to the News Homes Bonus and explained that the bonus not only applied to new homes built but also bringing empty/derelict buildings back into use.

The Chief Executive responded to questions on the monies received from the Council Tax Discounts for Empty and Uninhabitable Properties and the amounts received by the Borough Council, Norfolk County Council and the Police.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager responded to questions on the number of dwellings brought back into use and advised that the number was based on a working estimate at the time the report was written.

RESOLVED: The Panel supported the preferred option 2 and recommend this option to Cabinet.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager presented the report and explained that the report detailed the options for a discretionary business rates discount within the Enterprise Zone and asked the Panel to agree a preferred option to go to Cabinet and Council for approval.

The Panel was provided with background information.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager outlined the options considered as set out at section 5 of the report.

Members were advised that Option 3 was the preferred option.  It supported businesses occupying properties within the Enterprise Zone whilst avoiding the issue of having a more generous reduction for unoccupied properties within the Enterprise Zone compared to outside it.

Option 3 also supported the KLIC, reducing the business rates liability and allowing them to focus their resources on encouraging new, small, start-up businesses who will hopefully, in time, move into bigger units within the Enterprise Zone.  The nature of the leases for those officers meant that they may be unoccupied on a more regular basis.

It was explained that the discretionary business rates discount for properties in the Enterprise Zone was a new policy and must be approved by Cabinet and Council.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager outlined the additional proposal to extend further the exemption period for unoccupied/industrial properties.

The Panel was advised that the decision to award the discount was fairly straightforward as the cost was fully reimbursed by Central Government.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager responded to questions from the Panel on the following issues:

·         Existing businesses relocating to KLIC.

·         Other business rates reductions and reliefs for businesses located outside the Enterprise Zone.

·         Discretionary Rate Relief Fund which businesses could apply for.

The Chief Executive informed the Panel that a number of enquires had been received from businesses currently operating outside West Norfolk regarding KLIC.

In response to a question on how businesses on the Enterprise Zone could be helped with planning, regulatory and other administrative, the Chief Executive suggested that a response be emailed direct to the Panel.

RESOLVED:  The Panel supported the preferred option 3 and recommend this option to Cabinet.

The Panel will receive a Powerpoint presentation from the Assistant Director.

The Panel received a Powerpoint presentation from the Assistant Director. A copy of which is attached to the Minutes.

The Assistant Director responded to questions on what the cumulative figure would have been if the Borough Council had increased council tax by £5.  She explained that the when the Financial Plan was approved in February 2016, the funding calculation had been based on the core spending power and had included the opportunity to increase council tax by £5.  If the Council had determined to apply the £5 increase the cumulative figure for the first year would have amounted to £200,000.

The Panel noted the Work Programme for 2016/2017.

The Leader reminded the Opposition Members that if they wished an item to be considered by any Panel, they would need to submit the item in accordance with the schedules which had been circulated in order for officers to prepare reports.

To note that the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on Thursday 22 September 2016 at 6 pm in the Committee Suite, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn

The next scheduled meeting of the Panel would be held on Thursday 22 September 2016.

·         Formal Complaints against the Borough Council 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016.

The Panel noted the following report:

·         Complaints against the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016.