Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor N Daubney.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 June 2015.

The minutes from the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 18^th June 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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

There was none.

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 discussed.

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 was 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.

There was none.

There was none.

To receive comments, and recommendations from other Council bodies, and any responses subsequent to recommendations, which this Committee has previously made.  Some of the relevant Council bodies may meet after dispatch of the agenda.

There was none.

There was none.

Cabinet Decisions

Members are requested to have available the agenda and any accompanying documents from the Cabinet meeting held on 28 July 2015.

The item from the agenda to be scrutinised is as follows:

Item 10 - Annual Treasury Report 2014/15

Councillor Daubney and L Gore, Assistant Director – Resources are invited to attend for this item.

Cabinet Report – 28^th July 2015 – Annual Treasury Statement 2014/2015

The Chairman and the Vice Chairman had requested that this item be brought to the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee for consideration by the Committee.

The Chairman referred to the references to the King’s Lynn Innovation Centre within the report and the loan which was taken out, on behalf of Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services Ltd (NWES), with Suffolk County Council for the Local Enterprise Partnership.  The Chairman asked if the loan was being repaid by NWES and requested an update on the project’s finances.

The Assistant Director - Finance explained that the arrangements were requested by the Local Enterprise Partnership and the agreement was that the Council took out the loan and had a back to back loan agreement with Suffolk County Council and NWES.  The Council had not released the full loan to NWES, it was being released on a phased basis following expenditure reports and receipts.  The Assistant Director - Finance explained that the interest was compounded in the loan and would be repaid by NWES in accordance with the loan agreement. 

The Chairman commented that the Leader of the Council was on the Board of Directors at NWES.  The Chief Executive explained that the Leader of the Council was a Council appointed representative on the Board of Directors.  The Chief Executive explained that it was not a condition of the loan that a Council representative be appointed to the Board of Directors, however the opportunity arose to have a Council representative and the Leader was appointed.  The Chief Executive explained that the Leader of the Council declared an interest when the King’s Lynn Innovation Centre was being discussed at meetings of the Council and left the room so that he took no part in any discussions.

The loan would be repayable, in full, three years after completion of the building, this would give NWES a chance to have an income stream and be fully operational.

The Chairman commented that the arrangements were a good way for the Council to encourage economic development in the Borough.  He asked who would own the building at the end of the period and it was confirmed that NWES would, once the loan had been fully repaid.  The Borough Council were the land owners.

Councillor Blunt asked if the project had been successful so far and if any problems had been encountered.  The Chief Executive commented that the project had been successful in that it had enabled the build to commence and had also assisted with the Council’s case to submit an application for Enterprise Zone status.  If the application was successful it could help trigger further development in the area.  The Council was playing an enabling role with the King’s Lynn Innovation Centre and hoped to widen this role in the future to assist with further development opportunities.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Chief Executive explained that the Council was currently looking at expanding their ownership  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSC:33

Thursday , 17 September 2015 at 6.00 pm

The next meeting of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to take place on Thursday 17^th September 2015 at 6.00pm.