Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jones and Spikings.

To approve the minutes from the Corporate Performance Panel held on

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The Chair referred to the King’s Lynn Innovation Centre Performance update which had been presented to the previous meeting.  Following advice from the Deputy Monitoring Officer it was advised that the report from the meeting could be published in the public domain as discussed at the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: 1. The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

2. The King’s Lynn Innovation Centre Performance Update report from the September meeting would be made publicly available.

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 any item or simply observing the meeting from the public seating area.

There was none.

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

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.

There was none.

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The Revenues and Benefits Manager presented the report which presented the results of the Council Tax Support scheme consultation for working age people and the proposed scheme for 2025/2026.

It was noted that there were no changes proposed to the current scheme and it was a statutory requirement to carry out the consultation.

The Chair thanked the Revenues and Benefits Manager for her report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

Councillor Osborne commented that the consultation responses were as to be expected.  He felt that a lot of people had been helped by the scheme and it should be supported.

The Chair commented that as there were no changes proposed to the scheme this year, the implication on budgets had already been factored in and embedded into the Council tax bases and Council finances.  He recommended that the scheme continue to be supported.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Morley commented that this was a significant benefit offered by the Council and outlined the additional benefits that residents received.

RESOLVED: That the Corporate Performance Panel supports the recommendations to Cabinet, as set out below.

Cabinet is asked to note the consultation responses and to recommend to Council that the draft CTS scheme for 2025/2026 is implemented as the final working age CTS Scheme for 2025/2026.  This must be agreed by full Council by 31 January 2025 ready for the start of the financial year on 1 April 2025.

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The Corporate Performance Officer presented the report which updated on progress against the Council’s Corporate Strategy and Key Performance Indicators.  Information was presented on progress made up to 30 June 2024.  It was noted that project monitoring had now been included in the monitoring report.  The projects that were carried out by the Council included RAG ratings within the report and it was noted that those that were carried out in conjunction with partners did not have RAG ratings included.

The Panel was informed that trend arrows had also been included for relevant projects and Key Performance Indicators.

A suite of ‘monitor only’ indicators were also included and had been reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team.

The Corporate Performance Officer highlighted that the request which had been made by the Panel previously to include indicators on temporary staff had now been incorporated.

The Chair thanked the Corporate Performance Officer for the report and invited questions and comments from the Panel, as summarised below.

In response to a question from Councillor Ryves, attention was drawn to indicators 4.1 to 4.4 which dealt with homelessness, including the numbers using and spend on Bed and Breakfast accommodation.

Councillor Ryves referred to indicator 3.6 which was to decrease revenue spend by 5%.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Morley explained that work was ongoing throughout the organisation to reduce spend where possible and a cost management reduction strategy had been created.

The Chair, Councillor Long asked if the target to reduce revenue spend included salaries and it was confirmed that it did not, however the Council did have a process in place for managing vacancies.

Councillor Collingham referred to the targets for delivering new homes and raised concern that due to the increase in new homes required by Government this would be challenging.  The Corporate Performance Officer explained that the target for delivery of new homes through Council schemes was performing well, however the target for delivery of new homes across the Borough was out of the control of the Council.

The Leader of the Council reiterated that the Council could not control the delivery of housing from private developers but noted the Council’s good track record in delivering new homes.  He agreed that the increase in housing needing to be delivered was a concern and the point needed to be made to Government that if there was an expectation to deliver additional housing, there ought to be Government support and funding available to enable delivery.

Councillor Kunes agreed that Central Government support was required and referred to the amount of planning permissions that had been granted, but development had not yet taken place.  He commented that developers were often worried that units would not sell, so development had stalled.  Councillor Kunes commented that it needed to be made easier for more people to get Mortgages.

The Vice Chair, Councillor Blunt outlined the implications of not meeting the Governments requirements on delivery  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP53

The Chair informed the Panel that the Taxi Testing Informal Working Group had now concluded their work and would present their findings to the Panel meeting in November.

Councillor Nash requested that the Panel look at the process of holding Statutory Officers to account as he felt the current process was not fit for purpose.  The Chair agreed to look into this with officers.

RESOLVED: The Panel Work Programme was noted.

RESOLVED: The Cabinet Forward Decision List was noted.

RESOLVED: The Shareholder Committee Work Programme was noted.

To note that the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel is scheduled to take place on 30^th October 2024 at 4.30pm in the Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel was an additional meeting which was scheduled to take place on 30^th October 2024 at 4.30pm in the Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.