Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Kirk, B Long and Martin Chisholm, Assistant Director.

To approve the minutes from the Corporate Performance Panel held on 17 October 2022.

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The minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair, subject to the following amendment, which was agreed by the Panel:

CP48:  Formal Complaints against the Borough Council – 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 – RESOLVED 3) be amended to read:  Freedom of Information requests published on the Council’s website.  Officers agreed to highlight the link to previous FOI requests.

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.

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The Monitoring Officer advised Cabinet Members who were a company director to declare an interest.

Councillor G Middleton declared an interest as a Director of the Alive West Norfolk Board.

Councillors S Dark and J Moriarty declared an interest on as a Norfolk County Councillor on Call-in of Cabinet Members Delegated Decision - Council Tax Support scheme 2023/2024:  Draft Scheme for Working Agee Customers for Consultation.

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.

Call-in of Member Delegated Decision -  Council Tax Support Scheme 2023/24: Draft Scheme for Working Age Customers for Consultation - REPORT TO FOLLOW

The Chair advised that there was an item of urgent business to discuss the Call-in of the Cabinet Members Delegated Decision - Council Tax Support scheme 2023/2024:  Draft Scheme for Working Age Customers for Consultation which would be considered under CP63.

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 a decision on that item is taken.

Councillors R Blunt (Zoom), C Joyce (Zoom) and M de Whalley (in person) were present under Standing Order 34.

There was no Chair’s correspondence.

To be considered as Urgent Business: Call-in of Member Delegated Decision - Council Tax Support Scheme 2023/24: Draft Scheme for Working Age Customers for Consultation - REPORT TO FOLLOW

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Call-in of Cabinet Members Delegated Decision

Council Tax Support Scheme 2023/2024:  Draft Scheme for Working Age Customers for Consultation

Councillor Morley presented the call in and outlined the reasons why he had called in the Cabinet Members Delegated Decision.

The Chair invited any of the supporters to address the Panel.

Councillor C Joyce, supporter of the call-in addressed the Panel and outlined his reasons for supporting the call-in by Councillor Morley.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor Sandell, Portfolio Holder for People and Communities addressed the Panel.

The Chair invited the Panel to debate the call-in.

The Panel debated the call-in.

The Revenues and Benefits Manager responded to questions in relation to:

·         Responses received from Norfolk County Council and the Police.

·         Draft scheme and consultation exercise undertaken for a 6 week period.

At the invitation of the Chair, the Leader, Councillor Dark addressed the Panel.

Councillor de Whalley addressed the Panel under Standing Order 34.

Councillor Morley summed up the reasons why he had called in the Members Delegated Decision.

The Panel voted on the call-in.

RESOLVED: The Panel did not uphold the call-in.

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The Assistant to the Chief Executive explained that the monitoring report had been developed to demonstrate progress against the Council’s Corporate Business Plan and contained information on the progress made on the key actions up to the end of September 2022.

The Panel was informed that there were currently 48 agreed actions in place to progress the Council’s Corporate Business Plan.  The monitoring report indicated that 29 of the actions were on track, 12 actions were slightly behind, 1 action was significantly behind, 1 action was on hold and 5 actions had been completed.

Members were advised that additional performance information was available in the Q1 2022/2023 corporate monitoring report, reviewed at the Corporate Performance Panel on 3 October 2022.  The report comprised of a revised suite of indicators agreed by portfolio holders and management team as the key performance measures to monitor key council services and impacts on borough wide issues, all indicators were linked to the Corporate Business Plan priorities.

In response to questions from Councillor Humphrey on recruitment issues within the Council, the Assistant Director, Central Services explained that recruitment was a challenge for a range of services and the Council was using a range of methods to recruit to vacancies and advised that nationally there was a skills shortage in some professional area.  The Panel was advised that the council was also looking at a new style of advertisement, promoting the benefits of living and working in West Norfolk, where advertisements were placed and the recruitment process.

Following further questions from Councillor Humphrey on apprenticeships, the Assistant Director, Central Services explained that the national criteria for apprenticeships was matched to relevant roles within the Council.  It was noted that the council worked with the College of West Anglia and other organisations on the apprenticeships schemes available with the authority.

In response to questions from Councillor Morley on 2.1 – Develop out town centres, etc and the RAG ratings, the Chief Executive explained why the RAG ratings were amber/green at the present time and that it was hoped that the ratings would be green in the next report.

In response to questions from the Chair, Councillor Moriarty on the delay with the financial statements for 2020/2021, the Assistant Director, Resources explained that the 2019/2020 Statement of Accounts were behind schedule and were expected to be signed off in February 2023, the earliest date available identified by the external auditors when they would have the available resource.  The Committee was advised that this was having a knock-on impact/delay in commencing the audit of the financial statements for both 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 which in turn, will affect other work priorities and deadlines in the coming months/year.  It was highlighted that the timetable for the audit of the financial statements was set by the external auditors.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance commented that the delay by external auditors was a national problem and the public sector auditors were  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP64

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The Monitoring Officer explained that the purpose of the report was to place before Members the report to Cabinet in relation to the governance review of the Council’s companies, due to be considered by Cabinet on 15 November 2022.

The Panel’s attention was drawn to the following sections of the report:

·         Appendix 2 – Governance Review Action Plan.

·         Recommendation 1 – Cabinet hereby establishes a sub-committee to be known as ‘the Shareholder Committee’ and sets the terms of reference as shown in Appendix 1 to the report as the terms of reference for the Shareholder Committee.  Cabinet delegates full authority to the Shareholder Committee to carry out its terms of reference. 

·         Terms of Reference – paragraph 3.1 – the following change would be made prior to Cabinet on 15 November:  The Shareholder Committee shall comprise of 3 Cabinet Members to be selected by the Leader on an annual basis to allow flexibility.

The Monitoring Officer responded to comments and questions in relation to:

·         Quorum for Shareholder Committee and flexibility for substitutes.

·         Section 4 - Options considered: Shareholder function, Shareholder Advisory Committee (pros and cons).

·         Council’s preferred option – Shareholder Committee.

·         Role of Shareholder Advisory Committee.

·         Scrutiny opportunities using the Council’s scrutiny procedures /call-in of decisions.

·         Terms of reference to be set by Cabinet not required to be included in Council’s Constitution.

·         Status of Alive Management Ltd.

·         Meetings of the Shareholder Company – documents being available for Councillors to access on Mod Gov, meetings to be held in open session for transparency purposes unless reason identified as to why an item should be considered in exempt session.

The Portfolio Holder for Business, Culture and Heritage highlighted the importance of better governance for Council companies and that advice had been sought from the Monitoring Officer.  The Portfolio Holder added that the majority of comments made by Councillor Morley would be taken on board to allow scrutiny to be undertaken.  In conclusion, the Portfolio Holder advised that the report offered the best way forward for Council owned companies and highlighted the importance of getting this right.  The Portfolio Holder advised that the comments made by the Panel would be taken into account before a decision was taken by Cabinet.

The Leader, Councillor Dark gave some context to the report and explained that Cabinet recognised that there was a need to look at the governance.  Councillors were reminded that for a number of years the legal service was outsourced but was now being brought back in-house together with the Monitoring Officer. The Leader commented that the law and best practice was always evolving and that in reality the report looked across the country at different models in operation, but the option of the Stakeholder Committee had been identified as the preferred option for the Council.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor Joyce addressed the Panel and outlined the pros and cons of the preferred option and added that there could be a change  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP65

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The Senior Internal Auditor explained that a request was received by Internal Audit to undertake a review of the Towns Fund management and governance arrangements, in particular the Towns Deal Board (TDB).

The Panel’s attention was drawn to the following sections of the report:

·         Appendix A – Findings, Risk and Recommendations (1 – 10).

·         Appendix B – BCKLWN compliance with Towns Fund Guidance (June 2020) regarding the set-up of a Town Deal Board.

·         Appendix C – Management Response to Appendix A.

The Senior Internal Auditor outlined other factors that must be considered alongside the report:

1.         The only guidance available at the time the Towns Deal Board was created was via the Towns Fund Prospectus dated November 2019. (The TDB had to be set up by the end of January 2020 as per government funding requirements)

2.         The Towns Fund Guidance was not published until June 2020

3.         In terms of transparency requirements within the Prospectus there were no specific measurements for these in terms of time frames (these were introduced in the Towns Fund Guidance in June 2020) Such as page 63 of the June 2020 guidance which states “All Board papers to be published on the Lead Council’s website in advance of the meeting (within 5 clear working days)”

4.         As at the last check of the minutes of TDB meetings these were now all up to date and available on the Vision King’s Lynn website

5.         Towns Fund Guidance at 5.5 states - Take into account all the guidance in this document and the prospectus, including clean growth, community engagement, mitigating against Covid-19 related challenges, etc. You should set out how each aspect is relevant to your context rather than feel you have to take everything on board as a blueprint.

Members were advised that the Agendas and Minutes of the Town Deal Board could be viewed on Vision King’s Lynn website.

The key issues and options considered were outlined as set out in the report.

The Senior Internal Auditor/Chief Executive responded to questions and comments in relation to:

·         Why West Winch and North Runcton Parish Councils had not been included in the consultation exercise and potential links into future Town Deal projects.

·         Identifying future funding opportunities that aligned with the vision and priorities set out in the Town Investment Plan.

·         Frequency/Schedule of Town Deal Board meetings.

·         Number of recommendations which had already been completed.

In response to questions from the Chair, Councillor Moriarty on external funding set out at 3.28, page 14 of the Town Funds Guidance June 2020 and how the Town Deal Board was set up, the Senior Internal Auditor advised that there was work carried out by the Auditor who had written an exception report of the information looked at and included in the Agenda.  The guidance referred to initial engagement with businesses and the private sector, the Senor Internal Audit drew attention to the report circulated with the agenda -  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP66

To Councillor G Middleton:

"In  conclusion,  the  Portfolio  Holder  for  Business,  Culture  and  Heritage explained that the previous Coastal Pressures Group had identified the pressures faced by residents and stated that the next step as Cabinet Member  was  for  himself  to  have  discussions  with  Norfolk  County Council and ask that the group be set up and that the Borough Council would play an active role."

Members are invited to submit any other questions prior to the meeting.

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Coastal Pressures Group

The Portfolio Holder Business, Culture and Heritage explained that discussions had been held but had not led to any solid commitment.  The Portfolio Holder added that he would continue with discussions and keep the Panel updated on the outcome.

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The Panel noted the Cabinet Forward Decisions List.

The Chair invited the Members to consider any items which they felt should be presented to the Corporate Performance Panel.

To note the Panel Work Programme.

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The Panel noted the work programme.

The Chair invited Members to submit any items for consideration to be discussed at sifting meetings.

The following item was identified for 5 April 2023:

·         H & M Post Project Evaluation – Lessons Learnt

To note that the date of the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 4 January 2023 at 4.30 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will be held on 4 January 2023 at 4.30 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

To consider passing the following resolution:

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”.

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RESOLVED:  That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Waste and Recycling Manager presented the report and responded to questions and comments from the Panel.

The Assistant Director, Property and Projects presented the report and responded to questions and comments from the Panel.

To receive the annual report from the Council’s representative in an observing role.

Councillor Rose, the Borough Council’s representative presented the annual update report and responded to questions and comments from the Panel.