Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meetings held on 12^th and 13^th December 2007 were taken as read and signed as correct record.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director - Health and Community advising of the increase in the performance rating of the Health and Community Directorate.

It was noted that the Directorate had its performance rated annually by the Care Standards Commission Inspectorate (CSCI), which linked to how well the Directorate provided Social Care services to both adults and older people. The rating fed into the Comprehensive Performance Assessment for Halton Borough Council. A copy of the Annual Performance Assessment (APA) was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

Outcomes and domains that the Directorate was judged against were outlined for the Board’s consideration and it was noted that performance in 2006/07 had been rated by CSCI as being 3 star. The actual performance judgement was:

• Delivering outcomes: Good; and
• Capacity for Improvement: Excellent.

Key strengths identified by CSCI were outlined in the report. In addition, an e-mail had been received from Ms Debbie Westhead of CSCI complimenting the Authority on its performance.

            The Board congratulated all those that had been involved in this process.

RESOLVED: That the Annual Performance Assessment of Adults and Older People undertaken by CSCI be received.

(Councillors Harris, Nelson, Polhill and Swain declared a personal interest in the following item of business due to being governors at Bankfield School, Grange School, Brookfields School and Pewithall Primary School respectively. Councillor Gerrard declared a personal interest due to being a governor of Simms Cross School and Ditton Nursery.)

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – Children and Young People providing a summary of the funding available for the Schools Capital Programme 2008/2009. The report outlined the process for prioritisation for capital repairs and the proposed programme, and provided an update of the Children’s Personal Social Services Capital Allocation.

The Board was advised that the main source of funding for the Schools Capital Programme was the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) Capital Allocation which, for 2008/2009, was a total of £1,900,713. The detailed capital repairs programme for 2008/2009 was identified in Appendix 2 of the report.

The costs shown against each project were currently provisional; however, based on these estimated costs, it was likely that all projects could be funded in 2008/2009. Should the cost following receipt of tenders be less than the estimated costs, further projects would be brought forward from the reserve list. If the costs exceeded the total funding available once final costs had been obtained, the lowest scoring projects (lowest priority) would be deferred to 2009/2010.

Arising from this report it was noted that the GCSE results for the Authority had been published today and all those involved were congratulated on their outstanding achievement, in Halton being the most improved Council in the Country for GCSE performance.

RESOLVED: That Full Council be recommended to approve the Capital Programme detailed in Appendix 1 of the report for 2008/2009, and the Children’s Personal Social Services Capital Allocation detailed in Appendix 3 of the report.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – Environment providing an update on progress with the LACMP and seeking approval for a range of measures to be included in the Carbon Strategy and Implementation Plan. The final Strategy and implementation Plan was to be submitted to the Executive Board in March 2008.

The overall aims of the programme were outlined for the Board’s information and it was advised that steps 1 to 3 had already been achieved within existing staff resources and via free consultancy support from the Carbon Trust.

In 2007/08, the Council established an Invest to Save Budget of £1m which had been accessed for carbon reduction activities: two Invest to Save bids had recently been approved for the installation of powerperfectors in buildings and for a programme of works to improve lighting and heating controls at Stobarts Stadium Halton. Approval was now sought for two further bids:

(1)            £10,000 to support a culture change programme in the Council’s buildings, similar to the work that had already gone on at Stobarts Stadium Halton, to reduce the Council’s consumption by 10%, resulting in a reduction in energy costs of £100,000 per annum based on current prices; and

(2)            £60,000 to support the networking of printers to multi-functional devices, thus greatly reducing the number of desk-top printers within the organisation, to achieve savings in the region of £200,000 over the next few years.

A third bid to create a ring-fenced energy efficiency budget was pending subject to further quantification of measures.

The Board was advised that the final strategy and implementation plan would cover a five-year period (2008/2013) setting a target for reducing the Council’s carbon emissions. A provisional target for a 33% reduction over the five-year period had been set: work to date had identified potential carbon savings of around 15%.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the range of opportunities in Appendix A of the report be endorsed for inclusion in the Council’s Carbon Management Plan;

(2)       the Invest to Save bids for a Cultural Change Programme and the networking of printers as set out in paragraph 5.7 of the report be approved;

(3)       the Invest to Save bid for a pilot energy fund be noted and further work be undertaken to assess the potential payback;

(4)       the Council continue to explore further opportunities to reduce its carbon emissions to try to achieve its initial target of 33%; and

(5)            subject to budget considerations, the cycle mileage rate be increased to the equivalent of the lowest car mileage essential user rate.

MINUTES ISSUED: 15^th January 2008

CALL IN: 22^nd January 2008

Any matter decided by the Executive Board may be called in no later than 22^nd January 2008