Meeting documents
Venue: Large & Small Committee Room, King George V House, King George V Road, Amersham. View directions
Contact: Mat Bloxham 01494 732143; Email: mbloxham@chiltern.gov.uk
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To sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 July 2015. Minutes: The Minutes of the Resources Overview Committee meeting held on 28 July 2015, copies of which had been previously circulated, were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
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Declarations of Interest Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Performance Report Quarter 1 2015/16 PDF 221 KB Minutes: The Performance Indicators for the period April to June 2015
were presented to the Committee in two appendices. The Committee discussed the priority and red
items where the performance target had not been met. Community, Health and Housing had missed several targets
mostly related to housing, for example, the number of applicants with children
in Bed & Breakfast accommodation for more than 6 weeks. It was noted that there was a considerable
problem throughout the South East of England and the cost implications of this
trend to the Council was discussed. The Joint Waste target for recycling had been missed but it
was noted that there had been an increase of 2% in recycling rates. It was asked whether the target had been set
too high but it was generally agreed that as Chiltern historically had high
recycling rates it should set challenging targets. The number of voluntary leavers as
a percentage of the workforce was high but it was expected that the next quarter
figure would be lower. However, this
figure and the high rate of sickness absence caused concern and the pressures
on staff were discussed. It was advised
that there were always some genuine long-term sickness issues and so there was
a request that in future, for the figures for short-term and long-term sickness
to be split. Licensing; the percentages of
licences received and issued or renewed within statutory or policy deadlines
was below target due to staff shortages.Â
It was expected that this would be on target for the next quarter. Participation in physical activity
rates had not been achieved this quarter but it was expected that there would
be a much higher take up in the next quarter which would represent the main
school holidays. Planning Appeals; it was agreed
that these were unpredictable as the guidelines from the government were
subject to change. The target for the percentage of
small businesses paid within 15 days was missed but it was reported that this
was due to just 14 invoices and therefore related to small numbers. There was some debate about
whether the costs of housing the homeless should be further considered by the
Services Overview Committee or by the Resources Overview Committee, in the past
Services Overview had looked at housing matters. One Member requested an analysis and
projection of housing associations “right-to-buy†changes and their
implications for the Council. It was
agreed that there were legitimate concerns for the cost implications of
increased housing pressures and the matter was referred to Management Team to advise. RESOLVED - That the draft Cabinet report be
noted and that the comments of the Resources Overview Committee be forwarded to
the Cabinet. Note: Councillor
Darby entered the meeting at 6.55 pm during this item. |
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Minutes: The refreshed Joint Business Plan 2015 - 2020 was presented
to the Committee for approval. It was explained that the top level and second
level aims remained the same in this document.Â
The third level aims had been refreshed to keep the plan up to
date. Impact assessments have now been
integrated into the plan and it is linked closely to the Medium-Term Financial
Strategy and the Workforce Plan.  The
next review would be in Spring 2016 to re-evaluate the
aims and objectives. Members noticed that there were differences in the vision
statements for Chiltern District Council and South Bucks District Council, although
these were more differences in emphasis than in substance. It was agreed that the document should contextualise
priorities, be understandable and aspirational. RESOLVED That the recommendations contained in the draft Cabinet report
be endorsed by the Resources Overview Committee and
that the comments of the Committee be forwarded to the Cabinet. |
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2015/16 Quarter 2 Write Offs PDF 115 KB Minutes: A report was requested for each quarter of debts written off
by the Council. This report related to
quarter two in 2015/16. These were
reported in the four key areas; Sundry Debts, Benefits, Council Tax and
Business Rates. The background was
explained to some of the larger single write offs. The Committee discussed the example of a Charity that had
paid business rates after receiving mandatory relief whilst resident in Chesham
but had moved abroad before the lease expired on the building. It was noted that business rate was due for
the entire period of a lease, and now as the premises were empty and therefore
not eligible for mandatory relief a larger amount was due up to the end of the
leases. This created notional debts that
could be uncollectable or uneconomic to pursue.Â
The Committee were reassured that provision had been made for these
write-offs and that they had been at a consistent low level for the last 5
years. A request was made for monitoring
of any increasing trends. RESOLVED - That the draft Cabinet report be
noted and that the comments of the Resources Overview Committee be forwarded to
the Cabinet. |