Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Saturday Market Place, King's Lynn PE30 5DQ. View directions

Contact: Wendy Vincent, Democratic Services Officer, 01553 616377, email:  wendy.vincent@west-norfolk.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

CP13

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  Councillor D Pope be appointed Vice-Chairman for the meeting.

 

CP14

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs A Dickinson and J Moriarty and D Gates, Executive Director – Central and Community Services.

 

 

CP15

Minutes pdf icon PDF 71 KB

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

CP16

Declarations of Interest

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.

Minutes:

Councillor C Manning declared an interest in item 7:  Called In Item - Portfolio Holders delegated decision on the Finance Assistance, Small Grant Scheme as the Bridge for Heroes was his chosen charity when he was Mayor in 2015/2016.

 

Councillor B Ayres declared an interest in item 7:   Called In Item - Portfolio Holders delegated decision on the Finance Assistance, Small Grant Scheme as he had previously raised funds for Bridge for Heroes charity.

 

Councillor G Middleton declared an interest in item 7:   Called In Item - Portfolio Holders delegated decision on the Finance Assistance, Small Grant Scheme as he a volunteer at Bridge for Heroes, but received no monetary payment.

 

CP17

Urgent Business Under Standing Order 7

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.

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.

 

CP18

Members Present Pursuant to Standing Order 34

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.

Minutes:

Councillor P Kunes for Agenda Item 7:  Called In Item - Portfolio Holders delegated decision on the Finance Assistance, Small Grant Scheme.

 

 

CP19

Chairman's Correspondence (if any)

Minutes:

There was no Chairman’s correspondence.

 

CP20

Called In Item - Portfolio Holders delegated decision on the Finance Assistance, Small Grant Scheme pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor Dark invited Councillor Hudson to present the call in of Cabinet Members Delegated Decision – Financial Assistance Small Grants Scheme.

 

Councillor Hudson addressed the Panel and outlined the reasons why she had called the Cabinet Member’s decision in as set out below.

 

“I submitted my call in of the grant to Bridges for Heroes (BfH) on the following points:

 

  • We need to know more about the budget and overall funding.
  • Who is running the project.
  • Are the people involved properly qualified.
  • Why is this project being limited to one particular group.
  • To use a title of " Reminiscence Project" is misleading.
  • To focus on Operation Banner brings in to question that this particular project is still under scrutiny.

 

The COE, Ray Harding, allowed the call in on the question of budget and funding. It was his thought that the other points had been answered by Cllr Nockolds email, dated 26 June. However, the Chairman asked that I comment on all points of the call-in.

 

The application for funding is unclear on how the scheme will operate. It states a fully qualified practitioner will run the groups. What does this mean. If BfH have run these sort of courses in the past, as is implied, they should know who will be leading and what their qualifications are. 

 

No timetable has been presented for the project, although we are told that the volunteers receiving tutoring in how to conduct such sessions will receive  3 by 2 hour sessions over 6 months.

 

I would question the validity of this as full training.

 

I am also concerned about the aim of the project as it concentrates on Northern Ireland. According to the grant application 4050 persons will benefit from this course over a period of time.  This figure, in my opinion, is suspect. Possibly a tying error?

 

My main concern is the finance applied for. They didn't apply for a grant towards costs but a grant for all of the money, being £2307.00.  This was reduced by the panel to £2,000.00.

 

We have been asked to pay for 73 hours of staff costs at £18 per hour; total £1,524.00

 

When compared to National Wage Rate of £8.21 or Living wage -£9 .00, this is double that amount.

 

The 9 hours training for volunteers is also charged at £18 per hour.  Questions the type of training.?

 

Office expenses are charged at £20 per hour for 24 hours.

 

These charges are not justified.  The application does not provide enough information and should the Council really be paying out this sort of money when we pay our own back office works between £9.19 and £10.67.

 

In rebuttal to questions - It is seen that we all support the Armed Forces but we should know more about the working of the groups who apply for funding.”

 

The Chairman thanked Councillor Hudson for presenting the reasons for the call-in and provided the Panel with an overview of Operation Banner who would be celebrating their 50th  ...  view the full minutes text for item CP20

CP21

Exclusion of Press and Public

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”.

Minutes:

The Chairman advised that item 9  - Hunstanton Sailing Club would be deferred to 9 September 2019, so there was no requirement to exclude the press and public.

CP22

Exempt Report: Hunstanton Sailing Club

Minutes:

RESOLVED: The item be deferred to the next meeting on 9 September 2019.  The Sailing Club be requested to provide details on:

 

·         Background information on the two grants received from the Borough Council and how they had met the criteria for the grants received from the Borough Council, particularly in relation to events for children.

·         Sailing weekend events to attract visitors – attendance numbers.

·         What the Sailing Club did to encourage the public to use the facility including the bar.

 

 

 

 

CP23

Nominations to Outside Bodies and Partnerships - Hunstanton Sailing Club Development Sub Committee (deferred from previous meeting) pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman reminded the Panel of the concerns raised at the previous meeting on 10 June 2019 and invited comments as to whether the item should be deferred to the next meeting.

 

Previous representatives appointed explained that they had experienced difficulty with the Sailing Club communicating the dates of meetings.

 

Councillor Humphrey referred to grants the Borough Council had given to the Sailing Club and that monitoring of the expenditure and benefits was in place which was part of the conditions.  The Sailing Club had attended previous Panel meetings to provide an update.  It was highlighted that if there were issues to resolve then a stronger presence from the Borough Council was required and emphasised the necessity for a Borough Councillor to attend meetings in an observer role. Councillor Humphrey suggested that the Chairman write a letter to the Sailing Club setting out the Council’s concerns.

 

Councillor Pope concurred with the comments made by Councillor Humphrey.

 

Councillor Collop provided an overview of the issues he had experienced whilst he was the Borough Council’s appointed representative.

 

The Chairman outlined the options available to appoint a Borough Councillor Representative.

 

Following comments from the Panel, it was

 

RESOLVED:  Councillor C Rose be appointed as the Borough Council’s representative/observer.

 

CP24

2018/2019 Full Year Corporate Performance Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Minutes:

The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager reminded Members that the corporate performance monitoring report was in place to monitor progress against agreed performance indicators for the year.  The report contained information on the corporate performance monitoring undertaken during 2018/2019.

 

The 2018/19 monitoring report showed that 56% of targets had been met, and performance had improved against target for 20 indicators.

 

The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager presented the report and drew Members’ attention to the following sections:

 

·         Section 1 – Introduction.

·         Section 2.2 – The number of indicators which would be monitored for 2018/2019.

·         Section 2.3 – The percentage of indicators that had met the target for 2018/2019 had increased by 7% compared to 2017/2018, and actions were in place for the 10 indicators which had not met the target as shown in the Action Report.

·         Section 2.4 – i) Overview of Performance by Portfolio and ii) Overview of Performance by Directorate.

·         Page 26 – Action Report Full Year 2018/2019.

In response to a question from Councillor Ryves on how the individual targets were calculated, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Officer explained that the methodology would be explained in the next report – agenda item 12.

 

Councillor Beal referred to indicator CO3 - % of rent achievable on industrial estates and commented that this appeared to be good news.  The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that the performance had caught up and the target was set at 90%, but that 93.11% had been achieved.

 

In response to the Chairman on indicator CE6 - % of freedom of information requests given final response within deadline, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that targets were set in discussion with the Executive Director and Portfolio Holder and targets were set taking into account the expectation with the resource available and to maintain the targets set.

 

RESOLVED:  The Panel:

 

1)            Reviewed the performance monitoring report.

 

2)            Agreed the actions outlined in the Action report.

 

CP25

Corporate Performance Monitoring - Target Setting for 2019/2020 pdf icon PDF 134 KB

Minutes:

The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager presented the report and explained that the Council’s performance management framework included quarterly monitoring and reporting of performance.  Each quarterly performance report was presented to the Corporate Performance Panel.

 

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

 

·         Section 1 – Introduction.

·         Section 3 – Key changes to indicators for the 2019/2020 year.

·         Page 37 onwards – Performance Target Setting 2019/2020.

Councillor Bambridge asked what was the definition of a rough sleeper and how the number of rough sleepers was calculated.  The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager undertook to liaise with the Service Manager and circulate a response to the Panel.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Ryes, if the Borough Council obtained comparative data  from  other councils, the Policy, Performance and Policy Manager explained that the Council did not specifically undertake a comparative exercise, because if would be necessary to compare the Borough Council with a similar size authority who recorded data in the same way.  However, if this was an area of interest to Members, research could be undertaken to see if there was a district council similar to the Borough Council.  The Panel was advised that benchmarking exercises had been carried out.

 

The Leader explained that there was a national framework for key performance indicators which were benchmarked with other local authorities in the UK, this however, presented advantages and disadvantages and gave examples if King’s Lynn was compared to a London borough, there were different issues with key performance indicators.

 

Councillor Ryes referred to indicator EV6 - % of food interventions achieved asked for an explanation what a food intervention was.  The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager undertook to liaise with the Service Manager and forward a response to the Panel.

 

In response to a question on HS3 – number of households with a homelessness declaration, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager undertook to seek clarification from the Service Manager  on what was a homelessness declaration was or how this was defined and circulate a response to the Panel.

 

Following questions on indicators HS11 to HS15, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that the indicators demonstrated good performance and a revised format would be included in the report in line with the new Corporate Business Plan.

 

The Chairman commented that it would be helpful if the notes could explain why an indicator had been identified as a priority indicator, for example, if it was a national indicator and why the indicator had been set.

 

Councillor Ryves referred to Indicator BD1 % of rent achievable on industrial estates and asked if the % could be shown in numbers.  The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager undertook to look at how the information was collated.

 

RESOLVED:  The Panel reviewed and noted the Council’s proposed performance indicators and targets for the 2019/2020 year.  Performance against the indicators would be reported to the panels via the quarterly performance monitoring reports and associated action reports.

 

CP26

Q4 2018/2019 Corporate Business Plan Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 552 KB

Minutes:

In presenting the report, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that the Corporate Business Plan monitoring report had been developed to demonstrate progress against the Council’s Corporate Business Plan.  The report contained information on the progress made on the key actions up to the end of Quarter 4 2018/2019.

 

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

 

·         Section 2.4 – Current key actions per corporate priority at the conclusion of Q4 2018/19.

·         Section 2.5 – Breakdown of key actions by priority.

·         Page 46 – Executive summary by Corporate Business Plan outcomes.

·         Page 47 – Corporate performance indicators which had been introduced to capture key performance measures for each of the Council corporate priorities.

·         Page 48 – Detailed progress by Corporate Business Plan priorities.

In response to a question from Councillor Pope on Priority 1 – Progress towards £3.1m savings per annum, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that the figures shown were cumulative.

 

Councillor Humphrey commented that in the past targets which had only minimally failed the target were highlighted in red.  Councillor Humphrey suggested that it would be helpful if, in future reports those targets could be highlighted in amber.

 

Councillor Ryves commented that from a corporate view the progress on targets was good and expressed concern that there were a significant amount of green flags and ask for an explanation.  In response the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that there were a number of pieces of work which were ongoing and the commentary advised that the majority of targets were progressing on track.

 

The Leader advised that both Executive Directors and Portfolio Holders had to set challenging targets with the resource available.  It was explained that new actions could be included when identified, but would need to link with the agreed corporate priorities.  There would be the opportunity to re-focus on targets when drafting the new Corporate Business Plan.

 

RESOLVED:  The Panel reviewed the Q4 2018/2019 Corporate Business Plan monitoring report.

 

CP27

Cabinet Forward Decision List pdf icon PDF 59 KB

Minutes:

The Panel noted the Cabinet Forward Decisions List.

 

CP28

Panel Work Programme 2019/2020 pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To note the Panel’s Work Programme for 2019/2020.

Minutes:

Councillor Humphrey stated that the Panel received the annual complaints report and that there was an online form to submit a complaint, but he could not find a form on the website to submit a compliment and asked whether this could be achieved.

 

The Chairman commented that the Panel should look at both complaints and compliments received.

 

The Leader advised that there was a formal complaints process.  He explained that he had received a letter from Festival Too thanking the Council for its support.  The Leader explained that the letter had been scanned and copy to all staff involved and would be published in the staff magazine and the Member’s Bulletin.

 

The Portfolio Holder, Commercial Services undertook to investigate how compliments received could be recorded.

 

CP29

Date of Next Meeting

To note that the date of the next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel will take place on 9 September 2019 at 6.00 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Corporate Performance Panel would take place on 9 September 2019 at 6.00 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, King’s Lynn.