Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Patel. Councillor Dempster took the Chair for the meeting.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or indicate whether Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.

Councillor Westley declared a personal interest in respect of the Reform of Housing Revenue Account Finance Report, as some of his family were council housing tenants.

Councillor Dempster stated that she wished to acknowledge the success of Fullhurst Community College, as the school had come out of special measures in record time and this was a cause for celebration.  Councillor Dempster gave thanks to all the staff, officers and in particular to members of the Interim Executive Board and David Kershaw, School Improvement Strategy Consultant. The meeting heard that this success had resulted from excellent partnership working.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2010 have been circulated to Members and the Cabinet is asked to approve them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 12 July 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

There were no matters referred.

Councillor Russell submits a report that informs Cabinet about Leicester City Council’s preparations for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, including an outline of financial implications and the nomination of key roles for implementation of the scheme. Cabinet is asked to approve the recommendations at Paragraph 3 of the report.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board, held on 29 July 2010 will be circulated as soon as it is available.

Councillor Russell submitted a report that informed Cabinet about Leicester City Council’s preparations for the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme. The report included an outline of financial implications and the nomination of key roles for implementation of the scheme.

Members heard that the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board had considered the report and had supported the recommendations.  

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1)     notes the implications of the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme;

2)     notes the nomination of key roles in the CRC (as per appendix 1 of the report) and agrees that the Strategic Director for Reducing Carbon Footprint has the responsibility as Lead officer for implementing CRC for the Council;

3)     notes the funding requirement to purchase annual carbon allowances of approximately £0.72m from 2011/12 and notes the potential penalty payments; and

4)     agrees that further work be carried out on how to deal with the financial implications of any penalty or bonus payments, in particular how to deal with schools and that this be agreed as part of the 2011/12 budget process

Councillor Naylor submits a report that outlines the decisions and actions required to facilitate the successful implementation of the proposed commissioning arrangements for Criminal Justice drug treatment provision across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland communities and in HMP Leicester from financial year 2011/12. Cabinet is recommended to endorse the proposed commissioning approach and agree to all required incoming responsibilities as detailed in paragraph 2.2 of the report.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board, held on 29 July 2010 will be circulated as soon as it is available.

Councillor Naylor submitted a report that outlined the decisions and actions required to facilitate the successful implementation of the proposed commissioning arrangements for the Criminal Justice drug treatment provision across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland communities and in HMP Leicester from the financial year 2011/12.

Members heard that the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board had considered the report and had supported the recommendations.  Councillor Dempster commented that the report was very welcome as there were well documented links between drug misuse and crime.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1)     endorses the proposed commissioning approach;

2)     agrees to all required incoming responsibilities as detailed in 2.2 of the report, namely

a)     that Leicester City Council takes on the responsibility as procuring agent and budget holder for the Criminal Justice element of the Adult Pooled Treatment Budget on behalf of Leicestershire and Rutland, which involves hosting commissioning arrangements via a Section 75 agreement with Leicestershire County and Rutland Primary Care Trust;

b)     that Leicester City Council takes on the responsibility as procuring agent and budget holder for the Drug Intervention Programme Main Grant on behalf of Leicestershire and Rutland, which will involve hosting commissioning arrangements via a Section 101 agreement with Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council; and    

c)      that Leicester City Council takes on the responsibility as procuring agent and budget holder for National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare (CARATs) funding for HMP Leicester, which will involve LCC providing commissioning and budget management services to NOMS for the deployment of these funds via a contract with the Ministry of Justice.                                                         

Councillor Westley submits a report that summarises the Government’s proposals for reform of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) finance, as detailed in the consultation paper “Council Housing – A Real Future”.  Also the report seeks the Cabinet’s endorsement of the action taken by the Divisional Director and Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Council Leader and Cabinet Lead for Housing, in responding to the consultation document. Cabinet is recommended to endorse the action taken to respond supportively to the consultation.

Councillor Westley submitted a report which summarised the Government’s proposals for reform of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) finance, as detailed in the consultation paper “Council Housing - A Real future”. The report also sought the Cabinet’s endorsement of the action taken by the Divisional Director and Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Council Leader and Cabinet Lead for Housing, in responding to the consultation document.

Councillor Westley stated that the proposals for reform outlined in the report were from the previous Government and would benefit Leicester by approximately £3m of extra usable capital receipts each year. Councillor Westley added however that the new Government had not yet reached a decision on these proposals, and it was therefore important that the Council did not make any commitment for the time being. In the meantime, Cabinet were asked to endorse the action taken to respond supportively to the consultation.

RESOLVED:

that Cabinet endorses the action taken to respond supportively to the consultation

Councillor Dawood submits a report that seeks approval to include the retender of Occupational Health Services (OHS) on the Council’s Procurement Plan for 2010/2011. Cabinet is recommended to note the requirement to continue to have in place a comprehensive range of occupational health services and approve the addition to the Corporate Procurement Plan as set out in the appendix of this report

Councillor Dawood submitted a report which sought Cabinet approval to include the retender of Occupational Health Services (OHS) on the Council’s Procurement Plan for 2010/2011.

Councillor Dempster stated that she welcomed the report and that the Council had a duty of care to their employees but also a duty to reduce sickness absence.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1)       notes the requirement to continue to have in place a comprehensive range of occupation health services; and

2)       approves the addition to the Corporate Procurement Plan as set out in the appendix of the report

Councillor Osman submits a report that clarifies the proposal to offer permits in residential parking areas, which was a matter of concern to OSMB, and seeks authority to open consultation. Cabinet is asked to approve the recommendations at Paragraph 2.1 of the report.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Management Board, held on 8 July 2010 is attached.

Councillor Osman submitted a report which clarified the proposal to offer permits in residential parking areas, which was a matter of concern to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, and which sought authority to open consultation.

Members welcomed the report and commented that Residents’ Parking Schemes in the city had proved overall to be very popular.  It was noted that there were parking problems at some schools and Members questioned whether it might be possible to introduce Residents’ Parking Schemes at schools to resolve parking issues there.

Members stated that the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board had made some legitimate comments but queried their concerns over the issuing of free parking permits to people over 60.  They felt that it was necessary to have a consistent approach and the Council already provided free bus travel and swimming to people over 60 and other benefits under the ‘One Pass’ scheme. They felt that it was not consistent to query the issuing of free parking permits to the over 60s when the Council already made other concessions to them.  It was noted that no representative from the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was present at Cabinet to respond to the queries and the Chair requested that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting be brought to the attention of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1)     agrees to propose that visitor permits may be made available to the over 60s in residents parking areas free of charge, subject to consultation;

2)     agrees that the amended document “Rules relating to the issue of Parking Permits within Leicester City” be submitted to public consultation;

3)     agrees that, on conclusion of the public consultation, the Cabinet Lead for Regeneration, Transport and Highways makes a determination on the analysis under delegated powers; and

4)     that the minutes of Cabinet held 2 August 2010 relating to the Amendment to Residents’ Parking Permit Rules be brought to the attention of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

Councillor Patel submits a report regarding issues relating to the Corporate Governance Annual Report for 2009/10. Cabinet is asked to approve the recommendations in Paragraph 3.2. of the report.

Minute extracts from the meetings of the Audit Committee on 20 May 2010 and Standards Committee, held on 30 June 2010 are attached.

Councillor Dempster submitted a report on behalf of Councillor Patel, which detailed issues related to the Corporate Governance Annual Report for 2009/10.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1)      reviews the position as summarised in the annual report together with any comments received from Audit and Risk, and Standards Committees; and

2)      authorises the Director of Legal Services to produce a final form of Corporate Assurance Statement in consultation with the Council’s Leader and Chief Executive.

The meeting closed at 13.26