Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 6.

The Chairman drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Members who have an interest to declare are asked to:

  a)  State the Item Number in which they have the interest

  b)  The nature of the interest

  c)  Whether the interest is personal, or personal and prejudicial

Any Member who is unsure about the above should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer prior to the meeting in order to expedite matters at the meeting itself. 

There were none.

There was none.

At the time of publication no notifications had been received.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chairman.

There is no report attached. There will be a presentation at the meeting.

Ian Savigar – Divisional Director Customer Services and Graham Dove – Group Manager Cutomer Services, introduced this item and gave a presentation to the Panel covering the following: (A full copy of this presentation is held on the minute book for this Panel – Democratic Services, Guildhall)

·  Welfare reforms/Timeline

·  Scale

·  Fraud Investigation Service

·  Localised Council Tax Support

·  What are we doing/can we do?

·  Universal Credits

·  Overall Issues

·  What are we doing?

Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

Ian Savigar explained that the authority would need to find £1million in order to continue the scheme as it is as there would be 10% less funding. He further explained that 17% of claimants at the Job Centre have used online facilities but with this new scheme the Government were expecting 80% (now lowered to 50%) of applications to be completed online. Councillor John Bull questioned how this would work.

Members expressed their concern about this expectation. Councillor Gerrish stated that this scheme will add to the pressure on the most vulnerable residents. He added that there must be people who can help claimants fill in forms. He stated that he felt that the Government had got this wrong and must protect the most vulnerable. Graham Dove explained that he had told representatives at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) every month that 50% was too high an expectation but that they are determined to go down the online route.

Andrew Pate – Divisional Director Resources explained that this authority is good at helping people face to face and has an efficient service as a result of this and has to be careful not to lose all of this benefit for customers with the  new system. Ian Savigar explained that he did feel it was right in principle to have one system but that he was concerned about the delivery mechanism. The Council’s role as provider of joined up one stop shops with a whole range of services being easily accessed and signposted from one place could be lost.

Panel members discussed whether they should have a review on this. Councillor Roberts stated that he doubted whether much could be achieved with an internal review. Councillor Gerrish stated that the Panel could help to develop policy when the final version of what is being proposed is clear. He added that we should have a scheme the same as neighbouring authorities. The pros and cons of working with other authorities was discussed. The Panel talked about holding a half day session on this issue where representatives from the DWP and Job Centre could be invited. Andrew Pate – Strategic Director Resources, explained that there were two issues, firstly Council Tax Benefit and secondly implementing and delivery of Universal Credits. He advised that a half day session would need to be at the right time to influence the agenda and that this would probably be early in the new year.

Graham Dove explained that on 4^th October  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

There is no report attached. There will be a presentation at the meeting.

Angela Parratt – Head of Transformation introduced the item and gave Members a presentation covering the following:

·  About the Change Programme

·  Change Programme benefits and deliverables

·  How the work is managed

·  Progress to date

·  What’s next?

·  Challenges coming up

The Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

Following a question from Councillor Barrett, Andrew Pate – Strategic Director Resources, explained that £8million is the recurring annual saving expected four years into the programme and this is on track.

Councillor Laming stated that he understood the dilemma of a spread of services with a few staff in each, he stated that the priority should be to cut services (rather than staff) such as the Mayor, Chair of Council or Council Connect magazine. The Director explained that the Change Programme was about finding ways to do things better and the choices around budget savings were separate to this.

Nigel Roberts stated that there had to be boundaries to externalisation. Councillor Bull stated that the more that is outsourced, the harder it is for the local councillor. There was some debate around changes in the authority with Academies and Social Enterprise.

Panel members discussed the merits of joining with other authorities. The Director explained that there had been discussions around joining with other authorities for certain things notably specialist services and that these discussions would be ongoing. He explained that there was a partnership with Bristol City Council regarding procurement as we share the same markets.

The Panel noted the report.

The Political Group Leaders have asked for consideration to be given to the establishment of a Scheme for the Appointment of Honorary Aldermen and Honorary Alderwomen of Bath and North East Somerset to recognise the contribution to the community made by former long serving councillors.

The Resources Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel is asked to recommend to Council whether a Scheme for the Appointment of Honorary Aldermen and Honorary Alderwomen be approved.

There is no report attached. This will be a verbal update.

Councillor David Bellotti – Cabinet Member for Community Resources updated the Panel on the following:

·  Elections will take place next year for a Police Commissioner. The Community Safety budget will come under the new Police Commissioner but it will remain the Council’s role to scrutinize Community Safety. There were some questions such as would the new Police Commissioner be able to discontinue the taxi warden service. Councillor Bellotti explained that a more detailed report would be sent to the appropriate Policy Development Panel along with a report to this Panel detailing the resources implications. Councillor Laming (River Champion) asked if river safety would come under the Police Commissioner’s remit. Councillor Bellotti stated that he thought it would still be the Council’s responsibility.

·  Councillor Bellotti stated that he wished to clear up a misunderstanding regarding the funding of a Homelessness Hostel. He explained that he had not cancelled this project and the £3million, it had in fact not existed in the capital programme in the first place.

·  Councillor Bellotti updated the Panel on Keynsham Regeneration – he explained that officers were already speaking to three or four major retail companies. He explained that he would have a full update at the November meeting of the Panel.

·  The Cabinet Member updated the Panel on 2011/12 budget monitoring, he explained that there was pressure in some areas such as mental health and adult services. He also explained that parking income was not as good as it had been in previous years.

The Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

Following a question from Councillor Gerrish regarding pressures on the corporate estate, Councillor Bellotti explained that most shops are let and while there is not a significant problem yet, it is good to keep informed of this issue.

Please find attached Future Panel Workplan for consideration.