Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Churchill who was substituted by Councillor Elloy and from Councillor Elliott.

In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared.

Mr Barrie Hatch, Co-optee requested that, with regard to Item 6 – Voluntary Sector that it be formally noted that he was a Trustee of Spear.

Councillor Elloy requested that, with regard to Item 6 – Voluntary Sector that it be formally noted that he was a Trustee of Linden Hall and that his wife was a teacher at Richmond Upon Thames College.  

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2012 were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Mr M Maidment, Director of Finance and Corporate Resources presented the Capital Review Programme Report to the Committee in conjunction with Councillor Samuel, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources.

Members of the Committee considered the use of revenue underspends at year end which included the ability to reduce borrowing and associated costs in-year and as funding towards the Council’s Capital Programme. With regard to borrowing and repayments, Mr Maidment noted that changes to interest rates in the short and long term were kept under constant review.

Clarification was sought regarding the timetable for school related capital projects. In response to questioning, Councillor Samuel provided information on the budgetary impact of starting new School Based Sixth Forms and the time required for pupil roll numbers to rise. With regard to additional financial subsidy, he explained this would be considered if required on a case by case basis. Mr Maidment noted that consultation for developments at Strathmore School was ongoing.

A discussion took place regarding provision for affordable housing in the Borough. It was noted that development sites were difficult to find.

Members considered the overall capital receipts included in the programme. Mr Maidment noted that only those where disposal was certain had been included and in some cases, flexibility existed to use internal financial resources for certain projects where capital receipts were awaited.

With regard to the purchase cost of the Clifden Road site, it was clarified that it should be reallocated across cost headings within the Programme to attribute costs across the relevant primary and secondary areas. Clarification was sought regarding financial support for Free Schools and the redistribution of reserves previously held by the Council back to schools which had converted to Academies.

Mr Maidment explained the distribution of uplift monies within the programme and agreed to clarify that monies related to Ham Close Regeneration were allocated for Ham Uplift.

Resolved:

1. That the Committee note the review of the Capital Programme
2. That comments be provided to Cabinet for consideration via the content of the minutes

The Committee considered in detail the draft Community Plan 2012 – 2017 presented by Councillor Fleming, Cabinet Member for Community, Business and Culture and Ms M Skinner, Assistant Director Corporate Policy and Strategy. The draft Plan had been developed on the basis of stakeholder events and with the support of the Richmond Partnership. As a medium term plan, the Community Plan would not be reviewed on an annual basis.

Members of the Committee raised the following specific points for consideration in finalising the Community Plan 2012-2017:

• The Council’s commitment to protect vulnerable people should be made explicit within the Plan
• Reference to the significant number of older residents across the Borough and the related community based impact should be included within the Plan
• Use of plain English throughout the document and terms with which residents are familiar to increase accessibility of the Plan
• Where facts are included in the Plan eg reference to life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas, the text should be developed to clearly demonstrate the ‘so what’ and relevance of the information to the priorities within the Community Plan
• The Plan should be dovetailed into the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Children’s Plan, both of which were noted to be out to consultation at the current time.
• Ensure the Plan focuses on the strategic elements and fully utilise the links to the sub-plans to demonstrate measures in place to take actions forward
• Clearly highlight the role of the voluntary sector and local organisations within the Plan and ensure effective consultation takes place with all groups, in particular the smaller organisations. Councillor Fleming noted that Community Links Officers were key in engaging with smaller organisations and the development of libraries as community hubs would further support this intention.
• The Partnership nature of the Plan should be explicit.
• Priorities listed under 7.Delivering for Local People and relating to Children and Young People should be updated to match those listed in the revised Children and Young People’s Plan 2013-2017.
• Measures to highlight preventative healthcare (including smoking cessation and education) should be included within the Plan.
• Under a Safe Borough the Council’s intentions regarding this should be made clear. Members noted that wording should be adjusted to reflect ‘Our overall aspiration is to continue to be one of London’s safest Boroughs’ and discussed in detail the indicators used to measure this area.
• Use of public transport and maintenance and development of the related infrastructure should be promoted as a priority – particularly across the business and tourism priorities.
• Under ‘A Green Borough’ the presence of the River Thames within the Borough should be included, alongside an intention to protect the riverside environment.
• Timescales regarding uplift programmes should be clarified within the document and circulated to Members of the Committee for information.
• Appendix 2 should be expanded to include a full list of all sub-plans alongside a diagram of how all related plans and sub-plans link together.

Resolved:

1. That the draft Community Plan 2012 – 2017 be noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

The Committee considered an update regarding the Voluntary Sector Commissioning Programme. Members raised a number of questions relating to support for the voluntary sector to enable them to bid for local contracts and transitional support for organisations choosing either not to bid or not successful in being awarded contracts. Councillor Fleming outlined some of the support which had been provided to local voluntary organisations.

Ms Mandy Skinner, Assistant Director, Commissioning, Corporate Policy and Strategy noted that contract specifications could include requirements regarding local knowledge and visibility and would like to local investment and priority via the Social Value Act due to come into force in 2013. It was noted however that contract specifications could not be restricted to local organisations only.

The importance of communicating the provision of support and timescales for commissioning of contracts to the voluntary sector was noted by Members of the Committee. Ms Skinner noted that engagement had taken place with existing organisations contracted by the Authority in advance of the formal start of the commissioning process and explained that once a contract had been let, it would be managed by the Authority against performance measures to minimise risk of failure. Commissioning exercises could be used to drive up performance and ensure that high quality services for local residents were maintained.

In response to questioning, Ms Skinner explained that the Council was constantly improving its knowledge and experience regarding commissioning and been working collaboratively with Richmond Community Voluntary Service (RCVS.)

Resolved:

1. That the update report be noted.
2. That communication with the voluntary sector should be maintained and further developed to enable effective distribution of information regarding commissioning timescales and support.

Ms Fiona Thomsen, Head of Legal Shared Services, Mr Mark Maidment, Director of Finance and Corporate Services and Mr Ian Stedman, HR Strategy and Partnerships, provided an update for the Committee on the shared services programmes relating to legal services, internal audit and investigations and human resources.

Ms Thomsen outlined the significant development of the Service in recent months and highlighted some issues relating to staffing. She noted that in some areas of law, in particular property and commercial, there had been recruitment issues due to competing in a market with private practice. In other areas such as social care, the Team had recruited well and developed a high level of expertise. In responding to a question, she noted that Lexcel reaccreditation would be renewed for the shared service and outlined the benefits for processes and procedures. Targets existed to ensure Senior Members of the Shared Legal Service spent an appropriate amount of time on site in Richmond. She noted plans for future expansion of the Service were being considered.

Mr Maidment provided an overview of the Shared Audit Service and noted the success of the Service in the early months. In response to a question about all Shared Services, he noted that metrics existed to monitor performance and quality.

Mr Stedman outlined progress which had been made since the Shared Human Resources service was established on 1 April 2012. He noted that staff had been supported through the relocation and performance measures were currently being refined to ensure the service could be properly monitored.

Members considered the general movement towards commissioning and Shared Services at Richmond and the natural partner authorities which had emerged within the South West London cluster area.  Mr Maidment explained that discussions were ongoing within a number of support service areas to ensure financial viability and quality service provision in future.

Resolved:

1. That the update report be noted.
2. That a further update on Shared Services to include staffing within the Legal Shared Service be provided to the Committee in April / May 2013.

The Committee considered its Work Programme for the forthcoming year.

Resolved: That the Committee:

1. Agree that the meeting scheduled for 24 January 2013 be provisionally cancelled unless additional business emerged which was required to be considered at this date.
2. Note that the Quarter 2 Performance Report be circulated to Members for information
3. Note that the report on IT Support Services / Procurement Update be considered by the Committee at its April 2013 meeting.
4. Note that subject to clarification from Mr Maidment, consideration of the Corporate Plan would be scheduled for an appropriate meeting in the future.