Meeting documents

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no factual questions from Executive members. The Chair referred the matter to the Executive member for Transportation for his attention.

Councillor David Bellotti indicated that he wished to make statements just before Agenda items 12 and 14.

John O'Regan indicated that he wished to speak just before Agenda item 14.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE seconded the proposal and noted that adequate controls had been added to safeguard the Council. He expressed the view that all of the Council's committee meetings scheduled for the Guildhall during the period of the Market should be moved or postponed to free up parking for the Market and to avoid noise disruption to the meetings.

Councillor Paul Crossley agreed that the proposed extension to the lease would be a very good way for the Council to support the small traders. He expressed the view that the lease should be on more commercial rates than in previous years, now the Market is known to be successful for the traders.

Rationale

The car park is in a sensitive location surrounded by listed buildings including residential accommodation in the Empire and offices including the Register Office in the Guildhall itself. There is a public footpath through the car park which must be kept clear at all times and there is parking for the disabled and access for the disabled to the Guildhall from the car park.

The Guildhall market traders seek the opportunity to use the car park during the period of the Christmas Market as a means of generating extra footfall into the Guildhall market.

The format of the market in 2006 demonstrates that the GMTA has found a successful sustainable format in which to operate the market and which addresses the sensitivities of the site as outlined in the report.

As a successful format has been identified it is considered appropriate to grant permission to the use of the car park for the following three years rather than consider the request on an annual basis, subject to the conditions outlined in the recommendations.

None.

On a motion from Councillor Colin Darracott, seconded by Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE, it was

(1) To allow the Guildhall Market Traders Association to hold a market in the Guildhall Car Park for the period of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Christmas Markets (plus two additional days prior to and one day after the market for setting up and dismantling);

(2) That consent is given subject to the following conditions:

(a) That any proposed variations to the format of the market from that held in December 2006 are agreed with the Assistant Director - Property;

(b) That Planning Permission and all other statutory consents are obtained and all conditions (if any) are complied with fully before the market is set up;

(c) That all necessary street trading licenses are obtained before the market is set up;

(d) That each year the GMTA enter a licence with the Council covering their use of the car park documenting the term and agreed covenants and obligations of each party;

(e) That appropriate alternative arrangements are made for users of the displaced parking spaces for the disabled and for users with small children;

(f) That if, in any year, some of the issues listed in the summary are not resolved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Director - Property, especially the handling of refuse, then the Council reserves the right to withdraw permission to use the car park.

Councillor Jonathan Gay agreed with Councillor David Bellotti and said that the proposal offered the best outcome for the service. He said that initial discussions were already under way to explore the possibility of integrating Connexions with the Council's Youth Service. He moved the proposal.

Councillor Francine Haeberling seconded the proposal by saying that she felt the proposals were the only way forward and would prove very positive for young people.

Rationale

(2) That the Connexions service for Bath and North East Somerset Council will continue to be provided by Connexions West of England and that its status be changed to a local authority controlled company from 1 September 2007;

(3) That Bath and North East Somerset, jointly with the other three local authorities, takes over Connexions West of England and the local authorities collectively hold the majority vote;

(4) That the Executive, or delegated appropriate group, nominate to the Board two individuals who will act as Directors on the Connexions West of England Board, one of these would normally be the Director of Children's Services;

(5) That the Board develop existing work to deliver the outcomes required in order to meet statutory requirements and deliver the Connexions specification;

(6) To authorise the Strategic Director for Children's Services to take any steps necessary to implement the Executive's decision.

Councillor Colin Darracott seconded the proposal and congratulated the Council's Treasury team for their foresight in the matter of loans and investments.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE said that it should be clear to those present that although the discussion at this meeting would not be at great length, nevertheless a great deal of informal consideration had been given to the report and to the issues it raised.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney agreed and said that the Council's financial performance was under continuous review and that this paper was a quarterly report which aimed to give the Council a snapshot of the situation.

Rationale

None.

(1) To recommend the Council to:

(3) To delegate authority for updating the Prudential Indicators prior to approval at Full Council on 20th February 2007 to the Strategic Director of Support Services and Executive Member for Resources.

There were no factual questions from Executive members.

Councillor Caroline Roberts made an ad hoc statement in which she stated her concerns about the way the public were advised about possible cuts in the budget, which caused distress. She felt that the way proposals were published should be reconsidered.

Cathy Mallet made an ad hoc statement as a parent of 2 children attending a denominational school in which she said that if the Council Executive were to persist in their policy this would discriminate against a minority and would destroy trust between the elected members and their constituents. She believed that the 1996 agreement between the Council and the Diocese should not be broken or the trust would be lost.

The Chair welcomed Councillor David Bellotti, Chair of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Panel, and invited him to address the Executive.

Councillor Bellotti pointed out that papers from various Overview and Scrutiny Panels, including Service Plans, (attached to the Minutes as Appendix 2) had been circulated to Executive members and were available in the public gallery. He wished to thank the Strategic Director (Support Services), the Assistance Director (Finance) and their team for the outstanding work put into the preparation of the budget. He also expressed thanks to the Democratic Services Manager (Overview and Scrutiny) and her team for their hard work in supporting the Panels during the consultation process.

During his statement, Councillor Bellotti alluded to issues which the Panel felt were important for the Executive to consider and which were detailed in the Panel's report:

Councillor Hanney drew attention to the fact that the Council had performed well and had been awarded 3* status. He said that Overview and Scrutiny must be partners in the budget process and that stakeholders must be consulted by Service Areas indrawing up their Service Plans.

He replied to the question from Terry Reakes by saying that the £3.6m spent so far includes some costs of the Claims Board and some final costs paid to Mowlem. The Risk Reserve includes £2.2m for claims. He said that it was important to minimise the possibility of claims from others against the Council.

Councillor Paul Crossley seconded the proposal and said he was pleased that the Overview and Scrutiny process had been much more inclusive and robust than in previous years. The contributions from Panels had challenged the Executive very well. He drew attention to paragraph 8.2 of the report and said that he would have preferred to have been able to move to a position of equality in Home To School Transport. He felt that it would be important to consider the whole "school run" ethos in future years.

Councillor Crossley emphasised that the government was underfunding this Council by £3m compared even to their own published figures. He said that the whole of the south west region was underfunded and that the government had been particularly slow to correct the anomaly. In contrast to this state of affairs, the authority still consistently sets among the lowest Council Tax of all neighbouring authorities.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE said that it was worrying that local government was finding it increasingly difficult to fund social services against the available taxation base. This year the squeeze is on because of the costs of Single Status negotiations and the growth of social service costs. Such costs can only be met if government grants reflect the realities. He felt that the Home To School Transport decision had been a disgrace and said that he believed the Council should not renege on its agreement with the Diocese.

Councillor Jonathan Gay pointed out that while £89m of the schools budget went straight to schools, only just over £18m remained available for the authority to allocate and from this the entire Home to School Transport costs had to be funded. He pointed out that Head Teachers and the Schools Forum had both supported the original decision. He welcomed the comments made by Councillor Bellotti suggesting the integration of Connexions with the youth service and said that discussions were taking place about the viability of such an approach.

Councillor Gerry Curran also agreed that the youth service management structure should be modernised and that face-to-face youth services must be maintained. He asked for consideration for the needs of non-Christian parents in Radstock who have no choice but to send their children to a faith school or to transport them to a school further away, at their own expense. He believed that these too constituted a minority but received no subsidy at all.

Councillor Francine Haeberling said that she understood that the costs of Home to School Transport did not apply to children already at school; were reduced for second and third children; and would be zero for fourth and subsequent children.

Councillor Malcolm Hanney said that the Executive needed a little time to consider fully the recent comments from Overview and Scrutiny Panels.

Rationale

The other options considered in making the decision are laid out in the supporting report.

To recommend to Council:

(1) That Council:

b) Agrees that no Special Expenses be charged other than Town and Parish Council precepts for 2007/08;

c) Approves the working balances statement at Appendix 1 annex 4 of the report with un-earmarked revenue balances set at £5.5m, with a programme of additions to bring the level to £9m by the end of 2009/10 as shown in Table 7 of Appendix 1 of the report;

d) Agrees that no further use be made of non-earmarked revenue reserves in 2007/08 to finance General Fund revenue expenditure;

e) Approves the individual service cash limits for 2007/08 contained in Annex 1 to the budget proposal.

(3) That Council acknowledges the Section 151 officer's report on the robustness of the proposed budget and the adequacy of the Council's reserves (Appendix 1, Annex 5 of the report) and approves the conditions upon which the recommendations are made as set out throughout Appendix 1 of the report;

(4) That in relation to the capital budget, the Council:

b) Notes the indicative capital payments budgets of £49.270m in 2008/09 and £55.238m in 2009/10 £64.440m in 2010/11 and £19.933m in 2011/12 in as shown in Appendix 1 Annex 3 of the report, and planned funding, and agrees that any further additions to the programme are subject to additional capital resources (government or third party funding and/or capital receipts) and an evaluation of the balance of benefits from additional capital investment and further reducing unsupported borrowing in the light of future years' revenue budget pressures.

(5) To authorise the Assistant Director of Support Services (Finance), in consultation with the Executive Member (Resources) and the Administration Group Leaders, to make any necessary presentational improvements to the draft Budget Proposal prior to submission to Council. This will also include an additional annex to the report setting out the budgets, grants and funding to be aligned and pooled in the first year of the Council's Local Area Agreement.

To recommend to Council:

(6) That Council instruct the SDG to take responsibility for delivering the unallocated further efficiency savings, and to build these into service plans in April, and to report back to the Executive detailing how these will be achieved by July 2007.

(7) That Council instruct the Executive Members to finalise their revenue and capital budgets for 2007/8 within the cash limits and amounts set by Council, and as amended by the allocation of savings in 2.6 above, for inclusion on the weekly decision list no later than mid April 2007 (as part of the approval of service and resource plans).

(8) That Council authorise Assistant Director of Support Services (Finance), in consultation with the Executive Member (Resources) and the Administration Group Leaders to amend the cash limits set out in Annex 1 of Appendix 1 of the report to take account of the final re-allocation of budgets in respect of Single Status and the actual pay award, when this is known..

(9) That Council instruct the Strategic Directors Group to work on ideas for reducing the overall cost base of the Council's services in order to protect essential service delivery into 2008/09 and beyond, with an initial report back to the Executive in July 2007, recommending actions to pursue in this and future years.

(10) That Council agrees that the costs of the efficiency and service transformation team be met as a first call on any carry forward of any underspends in 2006/07, and/or thereafter as a first call on the planned savings.

(11) That Council authorise the Strategic Director of Support Services in consultation with the Executive Member (Resources) and the Administration Group Leaders, to drawn down on the exceptional risk reserve, if required, consistent with the purposes and limits set out in Annex 2 of Appendix 1 of the report.

(12) That in agreeing the service plans within his portfolio in line with the proposed cash limits, the Executive Member for Sustainability & Environment endeavours to ensure that night time street cleaning in the centre of Bath is maintained to current service standards, and that the Executive Member for Tourism, Leisure and Culture endeavours to ensure no charge is made for composting at allotments.

(13) That within the cash limit set, there should be no reduction in the Council's own hanging baskets in Bath.

(14) That the Executive Member for Children's Services should continue to rigorously review expenditure on home to school transport, and that any further savings achieved in 2007/08 (beyond that already assumed in the proposed cash limits) be treated as a contribution to the Corporate efficiency savings target.

(15) That should resources allow, a sum of up to £300k be set aside to maintain face-to-face Youth services (whilst continuing with the restructure) and other front line services, as deemed appropriate by the Executive, from the reductions included within the budget.

(16) That the Executive should re-consider the phasing of payments to the Pension Fund in relation to the deficit should the option prove possible.

(17) That as the figure of £2.2m currently being set aside within the Exceptional risk reserve to deal with Bath Spa Claims Management process is substantial, the Executive should consider a process to enable proper scrutiny of any draw down of that reserve.

(18) That the Strategic Directors Group be instructed to implement a proper process for control of Vacancy Management within the Authority.

(19) That in the context of the ongoing review of the service the school meals service and healthy eating initiative should be supported.

(20) That zero based budgeting should be endorsed as a tool to delivery of more efficient and effective services, and that the current zero based budget initiatives should be speedily progressed;

(21) That the Executive should ensure a proper process for consideration and management of the further efficiency savings target is put in place;

(22) That the Executive Members and Strategic Directors Group are required to make every effort to ensure that these further savings do not substantially affect front line services;

That the Executive agrees:

(23) To amend the budget proposals for presentation to Council to allow £67,000 withdrawal from general reserves to enable the Council to allocate funding of £100,000 in 2007/08 for the UK Youth Games, and that any such payment should be conditional on:

Councillor Malcolm Hanney seconded the proposal. He felt that the Council's project management processes had improved greatly and agreed that it was essential for correct processes to be in place to ensure the quality of future decisions.

Rationale

The new Handbook replaces and enhances previous project management guidance in use within the Council.

A consistent, rational and technical approach to project management has resulted in the production of this Project Management Handbook, together with the project management systems and training.

Increased understanding throughout the Council of project management is being carried out through revisions and additions to the corporate project management training programme. It is available to all relevant staff and is being undertaken to support the implementation of the Handbook.

Best practice throughout the public and private sectors was thoroughly researched. This research, together with consultation within the Council has enabled the Handbook to reach its current consensual status.

(1) That the project management handbook is adopted as the Council's approved approach to project management for all projects including mandatory use of the Project Initiation and Appraisal Form (PID);

(2) That the tools provided and/or referenced within the project management handbook are adopted as the preferred method of project management;

(3) That continuous improvement by way of amendments, corrections, additions and/or deletions be carried out to the project management handbook by reference and/or consultation with the project management handbook "Users Group", and any other interested parties as may be determined by the Director of Development and Major Projects.

Councillor Sir Elgar Jenkins OBE seconded the proposal. He observed that the local area was the strongest in the South West and that is was necessary to build on the economic success of the area.

Rationale

The option of declining to comment has been rejected for the reasons given in the rationale.

Councillor Paul Crossley seconded the proposal.

Rationale

Agree that the document is a public document - but this would prejudice the financial or business affairs of an individual or organisation and would be contrary to the public interest.

(2) To exclude the public from the discussion of Agenda Item 18 "Appointment of Main Scheme Contractor for Combe Down Stone Mines" in order that Executive members may freely discuss the contents of the exempt appendix.

(2) That Milestones and Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) be developed to inform the decision as to the letting of the subsequent stage(s) as per the procurement strategy (agreed by Executive in 2005) and outlined in paragraph 7.1. of the report;

(3) To agree that the letting of subsequent stage(s), once satisfying the requirements identified in (2) above, be a decision delegated to the Director of Development and Major Projects;

(4) That the approach detailed in paragraphs 7.7 - 7.10 of the report be the basis for the project methodology and residents be issued with the Claims Protocol;

(5) That the Council takes "ownership" of parts of the mine complex on both sides of Shaft Road and perhaps also at Entry Hill Quarry for the purposes of the Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mine Regulations 1993 ("MASHAM") to enable those parts to be used in connection with accommodating the bats.