Meeting documents

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Hughes (Cabinet member for Strategic Planning and Housing).

RESOLVED (unanimously):
that the minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the chairman.

Councillor Martin, in the audience, declared a personal interest in Item 4 (Bamber Bridge Improvement Plan) as an employee of Lancashire County Council and was able under the Code of Conduct for Elected Members to remain and take part in the discussion. The Chief Executive on behalf of members of the Senior Management Team present, declared personal interests in Item 7 (Pay Policy). Whilst this included their terms and conditions of employment it was essentially the same policy approved last year. Therefore they would remain in the meeting unless there was a significant discussion on the item.

The Cabinet member for Regeneration, Leisure and Healthy Communities (Councillor P Smith) was pleased to present a further positive report. This sought approval for the draft improvement plan, to take initial design ideas to public consultation and permit spending for surveys and preliminary works.

The Cabinet and other members present felt the scheme was good for Bamber Bridge and would bring real benefit to the area and its residents. It was confirmed that the consultation had yet to start and the scheme could change based on what people wanted to see. The Cabinet member confirmed he had had discussions with the County Council regarding safer cycling and this scheme was an opportunity to get it right.

In response to a member of the public, Councillor P Smith confirmed that in addition to the ?100,000 directly from this council?s capital programme the remaining monies were from the City Deal budget.

RESOLVED (unanimous) that :
1. authority be granted under Section 3.4 of the Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of up to ?20,000 to carry out surveys and preliminary works;
2. commencement of public consultation with residents and businesses be approved; and
3. a further Cabinet report on the Improvement Plan would be presented informed by the findings of the consultation exercise.

The Cabinet member for Shared Services & Corporate Support (Councillor Hamman) introduced this item which showed performance of the expiring strategy and presented the refreshed draft strategy for 2015/18. This item had previously been considered by the Shared Services Joint Committee and this Council?s Scrutiny Committee.

It was felt that the joint procurement strategy had clearly produced benefits to the council.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1. the refreshed draft Joint Procurement Strategy 2015/2018 be adopted; and
2. the current Sustainable Procurement Policy, included at Appendix 3 of the report, remain in force.

The Cabinet member for Shared Services & Corporate Support (Councillor Hamman) presented a report on a government proposal to create a Single Fraud Investigation Service (SFIS) and to transfer to it in April 2015 existing local authority Housing Benefit Investigators. However, the SFIS would not investigate all housing benefit fraud until 2017. It was felt that during the intervening period it would be detrimental to the council and its services not to retain fraud investigation work.

RESOLVED: (unanimously):
that the continuation of the Benefit Enquiry Service within South Ribble Borough Council be agreed.

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Mrs M Smith) presented this report indicating this was in the same format as last year. It informed members that the Localism Act 2011 required all local authorities to set out its position on a range of issues relating to the remuneration of its employees and set out a policy that required approval by the council by the end of March each year and for publication on the Council?s website.

The policy set out the existing approach to the remuneration of all posts within the council. In particular it specified certain mandatory requirements that must be detailed within the policy.

In response to a member of the public, Councillor Mrs M Smith that following national negotiation the employee pay award had been agreed late in 2014 covering the period January 2015 to March 2016.

RESOLVED (unanimously):
that the Pay Policy for 2015/16 be recommended for approval by the Council at its meeting to be held on 21 January 2015.

The Cabinet member for Finance and Resources (Councillor Robinson) presented this report which had previously been considered by the Governance Committee on 26 November 2014 on the treasury management performance in the first half of the year and on compliance with prudential indicators. There were no proposals to change the current Treasury and Investment Strategies.
?

RESOLVED: (unanimously)
that the report be noted.

RESOLVED (unanimous):
that Councillor Mrs Mary Green be confirmed as Mayor elect for 2015/16 and Councillor Mrs Linda Woollard be nominated as Deputy Mayor elect for 2015/16.
?

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Mrs M Smith) presented the proposed timetable of meetings for 2015/16. The timetable was substantially similar to previous years, with the exception of future dates for the My Neighbourhood Forums. These would be subsequently slotted in after it had been decided if these would continue to meet four times a year or change to three times a year.

The Cabinet appreciated the work involved compiling the timetable of meetings.

RESOLVED (unanimous):
that the timetable of meetings for 2015/16 be approved.

The Cabinet member for Regeneration, Leisure and Healthy Communities (Councillor P Smith) presented this item. He reported that the improvement to these playing fields had been a project in the Leyland My Neighbourhood Plan since 2012 and the report contained the latest development in a long term programme to improve the site, seek match funding to enable works for a new clubhouse.

Councillor P Smith felt this was possibly one of the best projects through My Neighbourhood which had also generated income for the Council and showed what could be done as a council and community. The project would provide more than just rugby facilities but wider leisure/recreation facilities for the community. He thanked those involved in pursuing this project, in particular Councillor Mrs Moon.

RESOLVED (unanimous) that:
1. expenditure of up to ?30,000 in capital monies to fund enabling works be approved; and
2. the contributions of ?187,308 from the Rugby Football League (value of modular building) and ?52,000 from Sport England be noted.

RESOLVED (unanimously):
that the Forward Plan submitted under Section 22 of the Local Government Act 2000 be approved.

RESOLVED (unanimously):
that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following two items of business as it involved the discussion of information defined as exempt from publication under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, ?information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings? and, in which the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing it.

The Deputy Leader and Neighbourhoods and Street Scene (Councillor Mullineaux) reported that the current contract for the council?s Waste and Recycling Collection Service expired in June 2015. The proposed new contract was for a period of seven years with an option for this to be extended for a further seven years. The procurement process for a new contract partner had been on going and was entering the final stages. The appended evaluation report detailed recommendations on the evaluation of tenders and selection of proposed partner contractor.

The Cabinet appreciated and thanked those involved in the process for their efforts; officers and the cross party member working group. It took assurance that the process had also been supported and reinforced by two independent organisations.

It was felt that the exercise had been a great success and would deliver substantial savings to the council for the same if not a better service.

It was stressed to those present that this item would still be confidential after a subsequent decision by the council on 21 January 2015.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1. the bid from Company 2 be accepted;
2. Companies 1, 3 and 4 be advised that their bids had not been successful; and
3. in the highly unlikely event of Company 2 withdrawing from the latter stages of the procurement process, authority be granted to accept the next best bid as detailed in the report.

The Cabinet member for Finance and Resources (Councillor Robinson) reported that following publication of the report additional information had been received that needed to be assessed. He suggested that consideration of the report be deferred.

RESOLVED (unanimously):
that consideration of the report be deferred.