Meeting documents

BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET COUNCIL

COUNCIL EXECUTIVE

Wednesday 4th April 2007

PRESENT -:

Councillor Paul Crossley - Leader

Councillor Francine Haeberling - Social Services

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE - Transport and Highways

Councillor Jonathan Gay - Children's Services

Councillor Gerry Curran - Sustainability and the Environment

Councillor Malcolm Hanney - Resources

Councillor Vic Pritchard - Community Safety, Housing & Consumer Services

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. He expressed his thanks all Executive members for working so well together for 4 years in an Executive comprising 3 political groups.

Councillor Dawson replied that the items requested by Parishes were two years old and Parish priorities might have changed in the intervening period.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE asked whether Councillor Dawson did not agree that each year, a sizeable amount was left unallocated so that special projects could be included which had not at first been recognised.

Councillor Dawson replied that officers would need to be aware of such special projects, but that without proper consultation they would not become aware of them.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney asked, since a previous motion on Zero Waste had been passed that caused difficulties with West of England partners, and in his view the March proposals if passed would have caused similar difficulties, whether Councillor Dawson would agree that it would have been inappropriate to pursue the later motion.

Councillor Dawson replied that the essence of her concerns was to stress the importance of Zero Waste, which she felt was not being honoured.

Councillor Gerry Curran said that he wished to refute any suggestion that officers were not doing all they could to encourage Zero Waste.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE said that the new parking charges were implemented recently and would deal with the Transportation deficit. Advice was being taken on the way parking is operated.

Councillor Jonathan Gay said that officers were working very hard to ensure that youth front-line services would not be impacted by the new budgets.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney said that with regard to Waste Project, no capital commitments had yet been made and the new Council would have to consider the issues. In general, the Council had broken even every year under the current Executive despite heavy costs related to large items such as bus passes. Efficiency savings were constantly being considered.

Councillor Francine Haeberling said that all Councils had found the Learning Difficulties budget very hard to manage. Some of the most expensive outside placement were being reconsidered and could only be made with Director or Assistant Director agreement. She said that some external placements would be brought back in-house but only when right for the client. The Council continued to support existing placements.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney seconded the proposal. He said that in meetings held with officers, he had emphasised the need to link performance more closely with resources and risk, so as to avoid missed targets due to changing budgets.

Councillor Vic Pritchard pointed out how pleased he was to note that the Housing Service had been awarded a 4* rating.

Rationale

None.

On a motion from Councillor Paul Crossley, seconded by Councillor Malcolm Hanney, it was

(1) To note the contents of the report;

(2) To ask Directors and Head of Service to consider in the light of the corrective actions identified whether additional actions are required to improve performance.

Councillor Vic Pritchard seconded the proposal and said that the authority continually delivered exceptional youth offending levels. He expressed some caution that the Plan was very target oriented but said that he appreciated that the service was obliged to work to the targets despite the fact that some targets were not appropriate in every case either for offender or victim.

Councillor Paul Crossley welcomed the Plan. He emphasised that the youth justice issue sought to address the problems of a minority of young people, mainly around alcohol and drugs.

Rationale

None.

On a motion from Councillor Jonathan Gay, seconded by Councillor Vic Pritchard, it was

(1) That the Youth Justice Plan fulfils the requirements of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;

(2) To accept the Youth Justice Plan as Council policy;

(3) To note the improving youth justice performance reported in the Youth Justice Plan;

(4) To adopt the local priorities set out in the Youth Justice Plan;

(5) To ask the Education, Youth, Culture and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Panel to monitor progress on the Plan in 6 months' time and participate in the establishment of future priorities.

[Councillor Gerry Curran left the meeting at 10:25]

Councillor Paul Crossley, in proposing the item, said that the chosen targets were the means by which the Council would be judged by Government when deciding how to allocate future pump-priming funding. The targets aimed to stretch the community partnership, not replace existing Council funding. He emphasised the breadth of consultation which had taken place over a long period of time in the selection of the final list of stretch targets.

Councillor Crossley wished to thank the Head of Policy and Partnership and his entire team for their commitment.

Councillor Jonathan Gay seconded the proposal. He responded to the point made by Councillor Bellotti relating to Item 11 by saying that even though the Council performed very well, there were still 220-230 young people not in full time education or employment. The stretch target would enable the service to concentrate on this small number of people and hopefully to make an impact. By targeting this group, there would be savings in other budgets down the line which highlights the pump-priming nature of the target.

Councillor Vic Pritchard agreed with Councillor Bellotti that some housing priorities should be reconsidered.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney expressed some concerns - for example, over the fact that there were 160 sub-targets - but welcomed the reduced list of main targets. This would enable the PCT and other partners to have a clear view of the aims of the exercise. He warned against duplication of effort and said that the Council must fully involve its partners.

Councillor Paul Crossley agreed with Councillor Hanney. He expressed determination to deliver on the stretch targets, which would attract further funding. He thanked Peter Duppa-Miller for his contribution to the process.

Rationale

An option of not using the Business Improvement Service (BIS) to conduct this analysis was considered but rejected on the grounds that use of the BIS was the best way of ensuring that the Pump Priming Grant was subject to rigorous analysis in terms of sustainable improvement over time.

On a motion from Councillor Paul Crossley, seconded by Councillor Jonathan Gay, it was

(1) To approve the proposals set out in the report for the use of LAA Pump-Priming Funding;

(2) That reporting against delivery of the LAA stretch targets will take place through the Council's quarterly performance reporting system;

(3) That monitoring of expenditure of pump-priming grant will be reported though the Council's financial reporting system.

[Councillor Paul Crossley, Councillor Francine Haeberling and Councillor Jonathan Gay as representatives of their respective political groups, made closing comments in which they thanked all the members, officers and public who had enabled the Council Executive to achieve a number of exciting and innovative projects, with the commitment to public service being paramount and the mix of political opinions not preventing constructive collaboration.]

The meeting ended at 10:40am

Chair(person)

Date Confirmed and Signed

Prepared by Democratic Services