| Place: | Shield Room, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland, PR25 1DH |
| Present: | Councillor Mrs M R Smith (Leader of the Council) (Chairman), Councillors Mr P Mullineaux, (Deputy Leader and Neighbourhoods and Street Scene), Councillor P Hamman (Shared Services and Corporate Support), Mr C Hughes (Strategic Planning and Housing), Mr S M Robinson (Finance and Resources), Mr P J Smith (Regeneration, Leisure and Healthy Communities) |
| In attendance: | Chief Executive, (Mike Nuttall), and Democratic Services Manager (Martin O?Loughlin) |
| Public attendance: | No members of the public were present and 1 member of the press. |
| Other Members and Officers: | 14 other Council members and 5 officers were present. |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN ITEMS | ||||
| 50 |
Apologies for Absence No apologies were submitted. |
Agreed | ||
| 51 |
Declarations of Interest No declarations of interest were submitted. |
Agreed | ||
| 52 |
Minutes of the Last Meeting Minutes attached RESOLVED: (Unanimous) That the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 21 February 2012, be signed as a correct record. |
Agreed | ||
| 53 |
Review of Constitution 2011/12 Report attached Appendix 1 attached Appendix 2(a) attached Appendix 2 (b) attached The Leader of the Council introduced this item and asked Councillor O?Hare the Chairman of the Governance Committee to present the report. The Chairman of Chairman of the Governance Committee explained that the Constitution Task Group was established in 2010 to undertake a review of the Constitution by Governance Committee. Since 2010 the Constitution Task Group had conducted annual reviews of different sections of the Constitution and submitted reports to the Governance Committee and Cabinet prior to adoption of the proposed changes by Council at the start of each new municipal year. It was intended that this review would culminate in the adoption of the revised Constitution at the start of the 2012/13 municipal year. This current review was focused on two sections of the Constitution: Part 4G - the Financial Regulations and Part 5C Protocol 5 Member Involvement in Planning Procedures. The proposed revision of the Financial Regulations was appended to the report as Appendix 1. The proposed revision of Protocol 5 Member Involvement in Planning Procedures was appended to the report as Appendix 2(a) and the proposed revision of the associated 3D Committee Functions and 3E. Scheme of Delegation to Officers was appended as Appendix 2(b). The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources suggested some amendments to recommendations which were accepted by the Chairman of Chairman of the Governance Committee. A further amendment was suggested to the paragraph 41 of the Guidance on Member Involvement in Planning Procedures which was also accepted. The members of the Governance Committee and the officers involved in the Task Group were thanked for their detailed work on the constitution. RESOLVED: (Unanimous): Financial Regulations 1. That Cabinet recommend the Council approve the increase in the capital expenditure threshold from ?50,000 to ?75,000 in line with the existing Key Decision and Standing Order Tender Thresholds. 2. That, subject to the substitution of 9.1 and 18.4 of the Financial Regulations set out below, Cabinet recommend the Council to adopt the proposed changes to the Constitution identified in section 3(i) of the report with effect from the first Council meeting of the new municipal year in 2012. ?9.1 The Chief Financial Officer shall be authorised to write-off such amounts which are irrecoverable by the council up to a maximum of ?25,000 in value. The write-off of individual amounts above ?25,000 shall be actioned in consultation with the Finance and Resources Portfolio Holder. 18.4 Any Chief Officer is obliged to report to the Chief Financial Officer all significant variations in a contract during its course or any other factor, circumstances, event, etc. which may have an effect on the cost of a contract. Any contract extension must be approved in accordance with financial regulation 3.15.? 3. The Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the chairman of the Governance Committee, be authorised to update the Constitution to reflect the outcomes from resolution 1 and 2 above. Guidance on Member Involvement in Planning Procedures. 4. That, subject to the word ?decision? being substituted by the word ?conditions? in paragraph 41 of the Guidance on Member Involvement in Planning Procedures, Cabinet recommend the Council adopt the proposed changes to the Constitution identified in section 3(ii) of the report with effect from the first Council meeting of the new municipal year in 2012. 5. The Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the chairman of the Governance Committee, be authorised to update the Constitution to reflect the outcomes from resolution 4 above. |
Agreed | ||
| 54 |
Authorisation Of Expenditure and Acceptance of Tender for Replacement of External Doors & Windows, Civic Centre, Leyland Report (55K/bytes) attached The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources introduced this report which referred to the need to replace the external doors and windows at the Civic Centre had been identified some 6 years ago and had been considered as a project to pursue almost annually. The building was constructed in 1975 and the vast majority of windows and doors were original. The windows were single glazed and score really badly against energy efficiency and the building experienced considerable loss of energy performance. This report then sought authorisation for the expenditure of the capital programme project to replace the civic centre windows and doors and to award the contract for the project to the lowest tenderer. Following concerns expressed the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources reassured members that, in view of the large difference between highest and lowest tender price, the tender evaluation had been extremely thorough and officers were confident that the scheme represented good value for money and would be delivered successfully. RESOLVED: (Unanimous): 1. That, subject to any overspend being reported to Cabinet as it is identified, authority be granted under section 3(3) of the Council?s Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of up to ?550,000 in respect of works to replace external doors and windows at the Civic Centre. This provision covers not only the contract price but also fees, contingencies and additional costs likely to be encountered by the Council 2. That the contract, (value ?472,052, excluding VAT), be awarded to the company who submitted the lowest price tender. |
Agreed | ||
| 55 |
Authorisation of Expenditure of Capital Programme schemes 2012-2013 Report (49K/bytes) attached The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources presented this report which sought authorisation of expenditure on asset management and housing capital schemes. With regard to Asset Management the scheme was to deal with the asbestos contained within the existing roof of Moss Side Depot. With regard to housing capital schemes two schemes were proposed Disabled Facility Grants, where the funding comes directly from Government on an annual basis and Housing Standards works for which a budget of ?80,000 had been identified in the capital programme. RESOLVED: (Unanimous): Asset Management 1. That authority be granted under section 3(3) of the Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of ?212,850 for works at Moss Side Depot. Housing 2. That, subject to ?233,000 of grant funding being received, authority be granted under section 3(3) of the Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of ?474,000 for Disabled Facilities Grants, and ?80,000 for Housing Standards work. |
Agreed | ||
| 56 |
Farington Park Improvements and other Capital Schemes Relating to Parks Report (105K/bytes) attached The Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Street Scene introduced this report which sought approval to incur capital expenditure for proposed improvement works at Farington Park and to accept the most economically advantageous tender for the first phase of these works and to request approval to incur capital expenditure for a number of capital schemes at Worden Park. RESOLVED: (Unanimous): 1. That authority be granted under section 3(3) of the Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of ?199,500 for the improvement works at Farington Park (phases 1 and 2). 2. That Tender 8 in Table 1 of the report be accepted for phase 1 of the improvement works at Farington Park. 3. That authority be granted under section 3(3) of the Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of ?135,000 for improvement works at Worden Park. |
Agreed | ||
| 57 |
Homelessness Review and Strategy Report (2M/bytes) attached Strategy (57K/bytes) attached The Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Housing presented this report which presented the Prevention of Homelessness Strategy and Review for Chorley and South Ribble Councils. It replaced previous strategies and was in line with existing statutory requirements placed on the Councils by the Homelessness Act 2002 and approval was now sought to go to wider consultation. RESOLVED: (Unanimous): 1. That, in order to progress the Chorley and South Ribble Council Homelessness Strategy and Review through to implementation the contents of the draft Strategy and Review be noted. 2. That approval be given for wider consultation with stakeholders and partners and that authority be delegated to the Director of Planning and Housing, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Housing, to amend and implement the draft Strategy and Review in the light of any representations made. |
Agreed | ||
| 58 |
The Cabinet's Forward Plan Forward Plan (177K/bytes) attached RESOLVED: (Unanimous): That the Forward Plan submitted under section 22 of the Local Government Act 2000, as amended, be approved |
Agreed | ||
| 59 |
Exclusion of Press and Public RESOLVED: (Unanimous): That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item of business as it involved the discussion of information which is defined as exempt from publication under paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 ?Information relating to the financial affairs of the parties? and in which the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing it. |
Agreed | ||
| EXEMPT ITEMS | ||||
| 60 |
Land at Leyland Test Track, Moss Side, Leyland Report (68K/bytes) attached Plan (175K/bytes) attached The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources presented this report which concerned the disposal of land to facilitate development of the former Test Track at Moss Side, Leyland RESOLVED: (Unanimous): That the terms provisionally agreed, for a collaboration agreement and marketing of land at Moss Side, Leyland, be approved. |
Agreed | ||