Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Daubney and Wareham.

To approve the minutes of the Resources and Performance Panel held on 27 January 2015 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the Resources and Performance Panel held on 21 July 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Please indicate if there are 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 withdraw 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.

There were no declarations of interest.

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.

There was no urgent business.

Members wishing to speak pursuant to Standing Order 34 should inform the Chairman of their intention to do so an 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.

There were no Members present pursuant to Standing Order 34.

The Chairman reported that he had received correspondence from a complainant regarding Item 10 – Complaints against the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.

The Chief Executive explained that he would provide the relevant information to the Panel under Agenda Item 10.

To receive comments and recommendations from other Council bodies, and any responses subsequent to recommendations, which this Panel has previously made.  (N.B.  some of the relevant Council bodies may meet after dispatch of the agenda).

None.

To receive a progress report.  Representatives from Hunstanton Sailing Club will be available to answer any questions from the Panel.

In the absence of representatives from the Sailing Club being available to answer questions, the Panel discussed the progress report and invited comments from the Portfolio Holder and Ward Member.

RESOLVED:  The item be deferred until the next meeting of the Panel on 29 September 2015 when representatives of the Hunstanton Sailing Club be requested to attend to present an outline Business Plan and answer questions from Members.

The Panel are invited to review and note the Council’s Q1 2015/2016 Performance Monitoring Report and agree the actions outlined within the Action Report.

In presenting the report, the Personnel Services Manager explained that this was the first quarterly report for 2015/2016.

Members were asked to note that, in response to a request from Members of the Panel in July 2015, the Council’s Monthly Budget Monitoring Report, which detailed financial performance monitoring, was now being published on Insite alongside the Corporate Performance Monitoring report.

The Panel’s attention was drawn to section 3.2 of the report which provided details of the 10 new/revised performance indicators which had been added and would be monitored from Q1 2015/16.  It was highlighted that performance indicator CC10 had been added as a new target following a request from the Panel in July 2015.

The Personnel Manager advised that the performance for 35% of the indicators had improved during Q1 2015/2016, which had increased compared to Q1 2014/2015.  The 18 indicators reported under ‘Other’ Q1 2015/2016 would decrease throughout the year as figures for the previous year would become available for comparison purposes.

Members were advised that the opportunity had also been taken to review the performance indicators by Portfolio and by Directorate and the relevant tables were provided at section 4.4 of the report.

The Personnel Services Manager referred to the Action Report on page 12 and explained that fewer indicators had been identified that required further action.

The Panel noted that the full Action Report was available on pages 13 to 17 of the Agenda.

In response to questions from Councillor Devereux regarding indicators to record performance against budget to ensure that the Council was on track, the Chairman, Councillor Humphrey advised that the Monthly Budget Monitoring Report was circulated to all Members and contained financial information.  Councillor Devereux further commented that a set of KPI’s were required to ensure that the Borough Council ran a successful operation.

The Assistant Director advised that the Monthly Budget Monitoring Report had a percentage of such financial indicators and gave examples of capital spend to date and the present revenue variances.  She added that previously the reports had been separate, but had now been placed alongside the quarterly performance monitoring report on Insite.  The Assistant Director explained that officers could look at indicators in the Monthly Budget Monitoring Report if the Panel so wished.

Councillor Devereux added that it would be useful to have the following key financial indicators:

·         Revenue.

·         Cashflow.

·         Capital Spending.

The Chairman, Councillor Humphrey advised that the above indicators were available in the Monthly Budget Monitoring Report, but not presented in the way required.  The Assistant Director undertook to look at the key performance indicators and how they could be presented in future.

The Chairman, Councillor Humphrey referred to Performance Indicator CO3 - % of rent achievable on industrial estates and commented that it had only missed the target marginally and that it had been given a red flag.

Councillor Blunt asked if the missed target could be identified by an amber clour to show where an indicator had only marginally missed its target.  In response,  ...  view the full minutes text for item RP42

To receive the Annual Report.

The Chief Executive referred to the correspondence received by the Chairman relating to the Annual Complaints Report for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.  The Chief Executive provided the Panel with an overview and background details of the two complaints which the Members present noted.  It was also noted that one of the complaints had been omitted from the 2013/2014 summary of complaints (reference CB07).  This complaint had been upheld.

The Chief Executive advised that for Members information, the report for the previous year should have also included an additional justified corporate complaint (CB07) within the Leisure Portfolio.  The corporate complaint was upheld.

In presenting the Annual Report, the Chief Executive highlighted the key points as set out  below:

·         Corporate Complaints:  32 were received during 2014/2017, compared with 37 during the previous year.  Of those complaints, 8 were considered to be justified and 4 were considered to be partly justified.

·         Appendix A of the report set out a summary of the justified complaints.

·         Of the 32 corporate complaints received, 16 went to an Appeal to the Chief Executive (Stage 2) and out of the 16 complaints, 3 were considered to be justified and 3 partly justified.

The Chief Executive outlined the Council’s current complaints procedure and explained that the current procedure worked well.

Councillor Devereux commented on the total cost of compensation £310 and asked what was the cost to the Council to administer the complaints procedure.  In response, the Chief Executive explained that it depended on the complexity of the complaint and advised that it varied from two hours up to as much 40 hours in some isolated cases.  He added that it was important that the public had confidence in the Councils robust complaints procedure.

RESOLVED:  The Panel noted the Annual Report.

To consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager presented the report and explained that it proposed an extension to the Council’s current scheme and Council approval was required.  It was noted that the scheme was reviewed every five years and a review had last been undertaken by the Council in 2010.

The Panel were advised that the Government had legislated to allow Councils to adopt a discretionary scheme of Transition Relief for qualifying ratepayers in their area as the statutory scheme ended on 31 March 2015 and the revaluation had been deferred until 2017.  The cost would be met in full by Central Government.

In response to questions from Councillor Devereux, the Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that Central Government did not meet the Borough Council’s cost of administering the scheme.

RESOLVED:  That the Panel support the recommendation to Cabinet as follows:

Cabinet recommend to Council to adopt the Discretionary Transitional Relief Scheme for 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 as detailed in the report and shown at Appendix A.

To consider the report and make any appropriate recommendations to Cabinet.

In presenting the report the Revenues and Benefits Manager advised that the Council must review and agree its Council Tax Support Scheme each financial year.  The process included consulting with major preceptors, publishing a draft Council Tax Support Scheme and then consulting with interested parties before the final Council Tax Support Scheme was approved.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that the report detailed a review of the 2015/2016 Council Tax Support Scheme, the consultation responses from Norfolk County Council and Norfolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, and the recommended draft 2016/2017 Council Tax Support Scheme to go to public consultation.

The Panel were provided with background information.  It was noted that the Council Tax Benefit was abolished on 31 March 2013 and from April 2013 billing authorities had implemented their own local schemes of Council Tax Support to assist people on low incomes with their council tax costs.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager outlined some of the elements of a local Council Tax Scheme which Central Government had prescribed as set out below:

·         Pension age claimants were excluded from local Council Tax Support Schemes and received Council Tax Support based on a national, more generous, set of regulations, although the cost was still met by local Councils.

·         Vulnerable groups must be considered for protection from any reduction in support compared to the national Council Tax Support Scheme.

·         Work incentives should be promoted.

Members were advised that there was little feedback received following public consultation and compared to the same time last year, the Borough Council’s overall caseload had decreased by 5%.  However, the number of people under the work incentives had increased which was encouraging.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager provided an overview of The Welfare Reform Bill 2015 and Universal Credit as set out in the report at section 3.

Members’ attention was drawn to the other options considered detailed at section 6 of the report.

Councillor Collop commented that the Borough Council did not know what other Councils were proposing and that there were a number of different schemes being operated in Norfolk.  He added that when the Borough Council knew what other Councils were proposing then the Borough Council could make a decision.  In response, the Chairman, Councillor Humphrey commented that there was contact amongst Norfolk Councils, but it was important that the Borough Council made a decision on a draft scheme to go out to consultation.  In conclusion, the Chairman added that in the past the Borough Council’s scheme had been at the correct level for the Borough.

In response to further questions from Councillor Collop, the Revenues and Benefits Manager explained that the reason why the Borough Council’s had the biggest cut was down to the demographics of the area and the number of pension age claimants which had to be protected and informed Members that there were 54% of pensioners in the Borough.

Following further comments from Councillor Collop, the Assistant Director explained that the Borough Council did have information from other Councils and  ...  view the full minutes text for item RP45

To note the Panel’s Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Decisions List.

The Panel noted the Work Programme for 2015/16. 

29 September 2015

Corporate Business Plan – The Panel will receive a presentation from the Policy and Partnerships Manager.

Hunstanton Sailing Club – Progress report.