Agenda and minutes

Contact: John Grieve (0113) 22 43836  Email: john.grieve@leeds.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

27.

Declarations of Interest

To declare any personal / prejudicial interests for the purpose of Section 81 (3) of the Local Government Act 2000 and paragraphs 8 to 12 of the Members Code of Conduct.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Ron Grahame declared a personal interest in relation to agenda item 10, Financial Health Monitoring 2011/12 – Month five report, in his capacity as a Director of East North East Homes ALMO, and as a Member of the GMB Union. (Minute No. 36 refers)

 

Councillor Hardy declared a personal interest in relation to agenda item 10, Financial Health Monitoring 2011/12 – Month five report, in his capacity as a Member of West North West Homes ALMO, and as a Member of the GMB Union. (Minute No. 36 refers)

 

Councillor Chastney declared a personal interest in relation to agenda item 10, Financial Health Monitoring 2011/12 – Month five report, in his capacity as a Member of West North West Homes ALMO, and as a Member of the GMB Union. (Minute No. 36 refers)

 

 

28.

Apologies for Absence and Notification of Substitutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notifications of substitutes.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor A Lowe

29.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 5th September 2011

 

(Copy attached)

Minutes:

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development requested a minor amendment to Minute No. 23 Best Value Review, bullet point five, to read as follows:

 

“Perceived differences in attitudes across directorates in managing the necessary business changes associated with successful adoption of IT solutions”

 

RESOLVED – That with the inclusion of the suggested amendment the minutes of the meeting held on 5th September 2011 be accepted as a true and correct record

30.

Commercial Services Fleet Services pdf icon PDF 87 KB

The purpose of this report is to appraise Scrutiny Board of the functions undertaken by Fleet Services, it’s trading position, potential for income generation and the regulatory functions it undertakes.

(Report attached)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Commercial Services Officer submitted a report which apprised Members of the functions undertaken by the Fleet Services, which included; its trading position, the potential for income generation and the regulatory functions it undertakes

 

The following officers attended the meeting and responded to Members questions and comments:

 

-  Julie Meakin – Chief Commercial Services Officer

-  Terry Pycroft – Head of Fleet Services

 

In brief summary, the main areas of discussion were:

 

  • The potential for merging Fleet Maintenance for Parks and Countryside with Fleet Services at the York Road depot
  • The establishment of fleet forums for new vehicles purchases to look at possible utilisation of vehicles across the Authority, share good practice and seek other transport related efficiencies
  • A fleet replacement strategy to ensure a coordinated approach throughout the Authority on transport related spend
  • Vehicle downtime, spare capacity within the fleet and additional leasing charges
  • Alternative fuels
  • External trading

 

RESOLVED

 

(i)  That the report and appendices be noted

(ii)  That further information be brought back to the Board on the following topics:

 

·  Alternative Fuels

·  Vehicle downtime, spare capacity within the fleet, and additional leasing charges

 

(iii)  That arrangements be put in place for the Board to undertake a   site visit to the Fleet Services Depot

 

 

 

 

31.

Members ICT Survey pdf icon PDF 47 KB

To consider a report by the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development setting out the results of an ICT Survey into the ICT Service

 

(Report attached)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief ICT Officer submitted a report which provided feedback on the findings of a survey across all Elected Members undertaken by Corporate ICT Services with respect to Members current IT provision

 

The following officers attended the meeting and responded to Members questions and comments:

 

-  Dylan Roberts – Chief ICT Officer

-  Andy Keightley – Business Relationship Manager

 

In brief summary, the main areas of discussion were:

 

  • 32 Members responded to the survey
  • 67% overall satisfaction rate
  • The need for a basic service
  • The necessity for the service to be more robust
  • Swifter responses to downtime
  • Need to be aware of the contents of the Best Value report, undertaken by the consultancy company, Mouchel Management Consultancy

 

RESOLVED

 

(i)  That the report and appendices be noted

(ii)  To support that the findings of the survey be used to inform a project to update the ICT service provision to Elected Members.

(iii)  That any proposals are developed via the Members ICT Working Group and Member Management Committee

 

 

 

 

32.

Inquiry into Employees Declarations of Interests - Draft Final Report & Recommendations pdf icon PDF 52 KB

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report indicating that the Scrutiny Board (Resources and Council Services) had now completed its inquiry on Employees’ Declaration of Interests which was requested by the former Scrutiny Board (City Development) and is in a position to report on its findings and its conclusions and recommendations resulting from the evidence that has been gathered.

 

(Report attached)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report indicating that the Scrutiny Board (Resources and Council Services) had now completed its inquiry on Employees’ Declarations of Interests which had been requested by the former Scrutiny Board (City Development) and was now in a position to report on its findings and its conclusions and recommendations resulting from the evidence that had been gathered.

 

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development reported that the report, had been  previously circulated to Board Members for comment. A small number of minor corrections had been received .

 

Councillor Bentley requested a further minor amendment, adding the words “and transparent” at the end of the first bullet point, on the section; Introduction and Scope.

 

In line with Scrutiny Board Procedural Rules, the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development also circulated advice from the Head of HR which provided an opinion of the proposed recommendations

 

RESOLVED –

 

(i)  To note the advice provided by the Head of HR

 

(ii)  That with the inclusion of the further suggested amendment, the Board’s final report and recommendations into Employee’s Declarations of Interest, be approved

 

(iii)  To request that a formal response to the recommendations be produced in line with normal procedures for scrutiny inquiry reports as set out in Scrutiny Procedure Rule 14.1

 

33.

Financial Health Monitoring 2011/12 - Month 5 Report pdf icon PDF 57 KB

To consider a report by the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which  provides information for financial health monitoring 2011/12 – Month 5 report

 

(Cover report attached, appendices to follow)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report which provided information for Financial Health Monitoring 2011/12 month 5 report.

 

The Leader of Council, Councillor Keith Wakefield and Doug Meeson, Chief Officer, Financial Management, attended the meeting and responded to Members questions and comments:

 

In brief summary, the main areas of discussion were:

 

  • The proposals for  Leeds City Council to lead on a Commission looking at the role of local government in the 21st Century
  • Localism and it’s implications
  • The role of Elected Members in the new localism agenda
  • Partnership working
  • The need to have dialogue with Central Government, around the implementation of the localism agenda
  • Options for local taxation
  • Budget issues in Children and Adult Social Care
  • Efficiency and savings through better procurement

 

The Chair thanked the Leader of Council for his attendance

 

RESOLVED –

 

(i)  To welcome the input from the Leader of Council

 

(ii)  That the contents of the report and the Council’s Financial Performance for month 5 be noted

 

 

34.

Work Schedule pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To consider a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development on the Board’s draft work schedule, together with the latest Executive Board minutes and Forward Plan

 

(Report attached)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A report was submitted by the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development which detailed the Scrutiny Board’s work programme for the current municipal year.

 

Appended to the report for Members’ information was the current version of the Board’s work programme, the minutes from the Executive Board meeting held on 7th September 2011, together with an extract from the Forward Plan of Key Decisions for the period 1st September to 31st December 2011.

 

RESOLVED – That the work programme, as amended, be approved.

 

35.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

Monday 7th November 2011 at 10.00am in the Civic Hall, Leeds (Pre-meeting for Board Members at 9.30am

Minutes:

RESOLVED – To note that the next meeting will take place on Monday 7th November 2011 at 10.00am in the Civic Hall, Leeds (Pre- Meeting for Board Members at 9.30am)

 

 

(The meeting concluded at 12.20pm)