Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillors E R Barr, J W Boyce, B Dave, Mrs S B Morris and R E R Morris.

To appoint substitute Members in accordance with Rule 4 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

It was moved by Councillor G A Boulter, seconded by Councillor J Kaufman and

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor Mrs L Kaufman assume the Vice-Chair for the duration of the meeting only.

Members are reminded that any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the Members’ Code of Conduct. In particular, Members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'pecuniary' or ‘non-pecuniary'.

None.

To read, confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting in accordance with Rule 17 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 06 February 2018 be taken as read, confirmed and signed.

To read, confirm and note the Action List arising from the previous meeting.

The Committee was informed that the amplified speech and visual display systems in the Council Chamber at the Council Offices had been tested and repaired where necessary (min. ref. 59). A Member raised an issue regarding the rear emergency exit from the Chamber (accessible via the Committee Room) to be investigated.

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

The Action List be noted by Members.

To receive any Petitions and, or, Deputations in accordance with Rule 24 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

None.

Report of the Director of Finance & Transformation / Section 151 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendix (at pages 12 - 39) as jointly-delivered and summarised by the Director of Finance & Transformation / Section 151 Officer and the External Auditor, KPMG Director, Mr Tony Crawley which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

The Committee was advised to direct any questions they might have on the draft financial statements for 2017/18 to the Director of Finance & Transformation or the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits before the 31 May deadline. The Committee requested that all Members should be advised of the same and that the Chair and Vice-Chair were to be included in any questions submitted and the answers provided.

Members were reminded that in accordance International Standard on Auditing (UK&I) 260, the External Auditor was only obliged to report uncorrected omissions or misstatements other than those which deemed to be ‘clearly trivial’ (i.e. under £25k) to the Committee. It was added that Officers could report on any other matters which Members may request: otherwise, full particulars would be presented to Members in order for the Committee to sign-off the final accounts before 31 July.

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

The contents of the report and appendix be noted by Members.

Report of the Director of Finance & Transformation / Section 151 Officer

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendix (at pages 40 - 61) as delivered and summarised by the Director of Finance & Transformation / Section 151 Officer which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

The Head of Customer Service & Business Transformation also provided Members with a verbal update regarding the Council’s key objectives, performance-to-date and upcoming initiatives relating to the delivery of its frontline customer services. A copy of the verbal update is filled together with these printed minutes at Annex A.

It was raised by the Committee, and advised upon by Officers that, as part of the full customer service review, consideration would be given to the location of customer access points in each of the three town centre across the Borough, including self-service options, and means to continue to accept non-electronic forms of payment.

The Committee requested that all Council tenants should be notified about the option to pay their rent using the payment facility known as ‘Allpay’.

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

(i)       The contents of the report and appendix be noted by Members; and

(ii)     The contents of the verbal update be noted by Members.

Report of the Health & Safety Officer

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendices (at pages 62 - 77) as delivered and summarised by the Head of People & Performance which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

The Committee welcomed the report and the work undertaken by Officers. It was raised by Members, and reiterated by Officers, that it was the responsibility of all employees of the Council to undertake health and safety related risk assessment and hazard-scanning exercises and that the appropriate e-learning training had been provided to all employees to enable them to do so effectively and expediently.

It was suggested that in future reviews: that given the highest number of accidents recorded by location, a breakdown of those accidents marked ‘Elsewhere’ at ‘Table 1: Staff Accidents via Location’ (at page 67) should be provided; and that every effort ought to be made to record all “near-miss” incidents to ensure that health and safety outcomes, progress made and lessons learned can be better achieved and appraised.        

An extended discussion took place concerning one particular incident in the early part of the year resulting in the closure of the zip-wire play area at Brocks Hill Country Park, Oadby. Members were assured that in the future, equipment would be checked regularly by a qualified person with any defects reported and rectified.

The Committee also requested health and safety statistics to be featured as part of the Council’s leisure services contractor’s annual report in respect of the Parklands Leisure Centre in Oadby and Wigston Pool and Fitness Centre in Wigston.

It was moved by the Chair, seconded by the Vice-Chair and

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

(i)       The Annual Health and Safety Plan (as set out at Appendix 1) be approved; and

(ii)     The Health and Safety Policy (as set out at Appendix 2) be approved.

Report of the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendices (at pages 78 - 83) as delivered and summarised by the Head of Finance, Revenues and Benefits which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

A Member was of the opinion that the proposed siting of a litter bin on Barford Close, Wigston was problematic as the land was owned by multiple parties and that the bin itself would not be sufficient to adequately deal with the more general issue of anti-social behaviour (ASB) associated with the land adjacent. The Committee was advised that any matters of landownership would be checked prior to installation and, once the new ASB Officer was in post, any such issues would be investigated.

It was moved by Councillor G A Boulter, seconded by the Councillor R F Eaton and

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

(i)       The position of the Forums’ budgets be noted by Members; and

(ii)     The requests from the Residents’ Forums (as set out in the report) be approved.

Report of the Head of Customer Service & Business Transformation

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendix (at pages 84 - 88) as delivered and summarised by the Head of Customer Service & Business Transformation which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

The contents of the report and appendix be noted by Members.

Report of the Head of People & Performance

The Committee gave consideration to the report (at pages 89 - 90) as delivered and summarised by the Head of People & Performance which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

It was reported that all previous terms and conditions of employees’ employment contracts, including rates of pay, were protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) for a period of one-year only. As such, the Committee was advised that no contractual provision could be insisted upon to protect rates of pay for an indefinite period for former Council employees.

The Committee requested that an article should be published in the Letterbox regarding the position adopted by the Council on the Real Living Wage (RLW).

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

(i)       The contents of the report be noted by Members; and

(ii)     The decision about the implementation and payment of the Real Living Wage forming part of the Pay Policy Statement which is agreed annually be noted.