Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  Councillor  S Dark be appointed Chair for the Municipal Year 2021/2022.

RESOLVED:  Councillor Mrs A Dickinson be appointed Vice-Chair for the Municipal Year 2021/2022.

Apologies for absence were received from Alexa Baker and Vanessa Dunmall.

The minutes of the meeting held on 31 July 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

Councillors M de Whalley, C Morley and A Ryves (via Zoom) were presented under Standing Order 34.

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Councillors M de Whalley, C Morley and A Ryves (via zoom) were in attendance under Standing Order 34.

Councillor Kemp thanked the Assistant Director for the presentation and referred generally to risk management and the lessons learned report, that recommended particular officer’s attendance at the Officer Major Projects Board Meeting and added that it may be a recruitment issue, Eastlaw were not always present and there was also a continuing issue regarding the register and charges against council property.  The Assistant Director explained that the last 18 months had been tricky and it was fair to say that there had been capacity issues, particularly in relation to legal services and that sometimes attendance at meetings was difficult.  The Chief Executive commented that legal support was an issue and explained that recently a report had been considered at the Corporate Performance Panel and would be presented to Cabinet 3 August for the appointment of a full-time Monitoring Officer.   Currently the council only had a part-time Monitoring Officer arrangement with Eastlaw and the council was therefore conscious of the need to sure up the legal support.

Councillor Collingham made the following observations:

·         How the council’s major housing projects compared with other similar councils.  It would be useful to have a summary of projects prior to the commencement of the meeting and what the council hoped to achieve.  It was also be useful if the side bar could be collapsed so the presentation could be seen on the whole screen.

·         Use of consultants – Councillor Collingham commented she been involved with the Regeneration and Development Panel over the past 11 years and had yet to feel comfortable regarding the money spent on consultants.  The council  had a lot of experience in the meeting room and beyond and through working groups, together with officers could do the grass roots work ourselves.

Under Standing Order 34, Councillor Morley addressed the Board  and highlighted the following issues: 

·         Resourcing – and referred to the last Audit Committee meeting when the S151 officer said that following questions I raised, the reserve fund was not as badly affected as was thought because of staff efficiencies,  I commented that this was not efficiencies as the council had just lost staff and had not yet been replaced and that was noticed in reactions received through Members Inquiries Box and elsewhere that resource of officers was an issue at the moment and needed addressing.

·         Staff change programme – associate staff had not taken risk mitigation processes as seriously as they should have and gave examples.  The staff training change programme should set out personal objectives and performance management structures.  The last  Corporate Risk Register highlighted that it had not taken seriously West Winch  or Parkway and also presented misleading information regarding the major projects programme and provided examples, including due diligence not undertaken regarding subsidiaries.  Councillor Morley commented that he was waiting assurances from the Monitoring Officer that Eastlaw had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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An additional meeting of the Member Major Projects Board would be scheduled during the last week of September/early October 2021.

3 November 2021, 10.00 am in the Assembly Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

It was noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Member Major Projects Board will take place on 3 November 2021, 10.00 am in the Assembly Room, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King’s Lynn.

An additional meeting would be scheduled end September/early October 2021.

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

For information only:  Agendas and Minutes from the Officer Major Projects Board

12 August 2020

17 September 2020

15 October 2020 – Meeting cancelled

11 November 2020 – Meeting postponed

16 December 2020

20 January 2021

25 February 2021

25 March 2021

21 April 2021

24 May 2021

21 June 2021

The Member Major Projects Board received the Agendas and the Minutes from the Officer Project Board meetings held on:

12 August 2020

17 September 2020

16 December 2020

20 January 2021

25 February 2021

25 March 2021

21 April 2021

24 May 2021

21 June 2021

Officers present responded to questions and comments from the Member Major Projects Board on the Confidential Minutes of the Officer Major Projects Board meetings.