Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Pitt. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 21^st November were approved as a true and accurate record. 

Members are asked to declare at this stage any interests that they may have in any of the following items on the agenda.  If any member is unsure whether or not they should declare an interest on a particular matter, they are requested to seek advice from the Head of Legal Services before the meeting. 

 

There were no public questions.

 

 

 

In response to a question from Cllr Herbert regarding errors in the Council’s initial financial modelling, the Chief Executive said that she was in discussion with the Council’s external auditors, Ernst and Young, regarding their review, which would be reported to Civic Affairs. Members would also be updated prior to the Council budget setting meeting on 21^st February.

 

 

The committee received a report from the Head of Legal Services proposing changes to the constitution to enable area committees to be consulted on, and to consider, project appraisals for capital schemes for which area committees were responsible.

 

The Head of Legal Services informed the committee that Councillor Dryden, as Chair of South Area Committee had suggested an amended form of wording to that recommended in paragraph 3.4 of the report. This, in two instances, meant deletion of the phrase “provided that relevant Ward Councillors have been consulted where appropriate” and its replacement by “provided that relevant Ward Councillors are always consulted”. The Head of Legal Services said that he saw no objection to this.

 

Councillor Herbert expressed concern about the number of changes made to the Constitution within a short period of time relating to procedures for Area Committees, and to an excessive level of detail. Councillor Herbert also asked for consideration to be given to simplifying the Constitution. The Head of Legal Services expressed sympathy with the objective stated but said that the proposed changes were needed to make the scheme of delegation to officers work properly for area committee capital schemes.

 

Resolved

 

i.        (5 votes to 0) to accept the wording suggested by Councillor Dryden

 

ii.       (2 votes to 0) to recommend the Council to amend the Constitution as follows:

 

1.      Amend the first paragraph of Section 9.3.1 of Part 3 by the insertion of the words shown in bold italics:

 

Subject to Section 9.3.1A, in the case of new capital schemes, the following approvals (together with approval to the necessary budget provision) must be obtained before any scheme may proceed. 

 

2.  Add new section 9.3.1A to Part 3:

 

In the case of new capital schemes, responsibility for which has been delegated to Area Committees by the Executive, the following approvals (together with approval to the necessary budget provision) must be obtained before any scheme may proceed.

 

•        For schemes where the estimated cost is £15,000 and below: once included in the Area Committee’s programme, may proceed without further committee consideration, provided that relevant Ward Councillors provided that relevant Ward Councillors are always consulted.

 

•        For schemes where the estimated total cost is over £15,000 and up to £75,000: a capital project appraisal and procurement report proforma must be completed and referred to the relevant Area Committee Chair, Vice Chair and Opposition Spokes for approval. The schemes may then proceed without Area Committee consideration, provided relevant Ward Councillors provided that relevant Ward Councillors are always consulted.

 

•        For schemes where the estimated total cost is over £75,000: a capital project appraisal and procurement report pro-forma must be completed for consideration and approval by the relevant Area Committee.

The committee received a report from the Head of Human Resources setting out a draft Pay Policy Statement for 2013/14. The Localism Act requires the Council to approve and publish a pay policy statement by 31 March each year. The Committee was asked to recommend the pay policy statement to the full Council on 21 February.

 

The Head of Human Resources drew the Committee’s attention to recommendations made by the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee regarding the adoption of a “living wage” policy for staff and agency workers. The full Council would consider these on 21 February.

 

Councillor Herbert expressed concern that there were examples at other authorities of significant redundancy payments being made to senior officers who then were promptly re-engaged elsewhere in the public sector. Councillor Herbert noted that redundancy payments were only repayable in these circumstances if an officer takes up a post with another body covered by the local government redundancy rules. Councillor Herbert asked whether there was scope to change these rules to require repayment by employees re-engaged in the public sector within a longer period. The Head of Human Resources said that she would investigate the scope for local discretion and write to Councillor Herbert.

 

Councillor Herbert also suggested that the section of the pay policy statement dealing with tax avoidance should be strengthened. He suggested that member approval should be needed before the Council contracted with a consultant through a company, where the company arrangement was designed to avoid tax. The Head of Human Resources agreed to report further to the committee on the scope for further measures to discourage tax avoidance.

 

 

Resolved (5 votes to 0) to recommend to the Council:

 

        i.            To approve the Living Wage proposals as part of the Pay Policy Statement 2013/14.

 

      ii.            To approve the draft Pay Policy Statement 2013/14 attached as Appendix 1 of the committee report, with the inclusion of proposals relating to the Living Wage as recommended by the Civic Affairs Committee (see updated Pay Policy Statement 2013/14 attached).

 

    iii.            To note the request for a briefing note on the options for extending the period between redundancy and re-engagement within the public sector, which would require repayment of redundancy payments.

 

   iv.            To note the request for a report on the scope for further measures to discourage tax avoidance arising from the employment of consultants through companies. 

Email from Councillor Johnson

 

“Abbey Councillors have held the view for a while now that polling district which Jack Warren Green resides in should be moved from its current location in AA to AB.

 

We believe there is a logical case for this. Currently Jack Warren Green residents have to travel roughly 1km to vote at the AA polling station at Howard Road. We believe that this distance is partly why there has been a very low turnout from this area in comparison to others in the district.

 

The route from Jack Warren Green to the AB polling station (at East Barnwell Centre) crosses Newmarket Road but is 1/5th of the distance (200m). In our view the AA electoral district is too large in any case. Our calculations figure that broadly 50 per cent of the Abbey electorate is in the AA district, compared to 25% each in the other two. We recognise that the AC polling district (Riverside area) is logical and coherent in terms of proximity and access - AB less so.”