Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 27^th September 2006 having been printed and circulated were taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record subject to an amendment to CS13 – Equality Legislation to remove the words “of 65” from recommendation (2).

            It was noted that no public questions were received.

          The Minutes of the Executive Board and the Executive Board Sub Committee, relating to the work of the Corporate Services Policy and Performance Board since its last meeting were submitted for information.

            RESOLVED: That the minutes be received.

            The Board received a presentation on the training activities which were organised and managed by three of the Council Directorates.

 

            On behalf of the Corporate & Policy Directorate Training Section, which organised generic training across the Council’s Directorates, Hazelle Jones attended the meeting and outlined the usage statistics January to June 2006 which included figures for:

 

-           the number and type of training courses held at the Corporate Training Centre;

-           staff who attended Corporate Training Calendar courses;

-           staff currently provided with funding to Post Entry Training;

-           staff who attended external short courses;

-           staff who received customised training from the Corporate Training Centre Staff;

-           details of the Corporate Training Centre budget 2006/07; and

-            information on the Halton Management Pathway.

 

            The Board received a second presentation from Brian Hilton on behalf of the Health and Community Directorate. The presentation highlighted the types of qualification available to staff including professional and national vocational, various training events delivered and numbers of those who attended and the section expenditure for April 2006 to September 2006.

 

            On behalf of the Children and Young People Directorate, John Palmer and Vicki Kehoe attended the Board to provide a presentation on the range of training provision for schools and the Advisory Team within the local authority. The presentation outlined to Members future developments within the Directorate, the wide and varied range of training provision for schools, the integrated approach and population centred workforce development, which was needs lead, population focused and examined service demand.

 

            Arising from the discussion, the Board raised/considered the following issues:

 

-           could the graduate trainee programme be extended from its existing two placements?;

-           could the figures be provided for the Children and Young People Directorate Training Budget?;

-           was the amount of fees charged for training voluntary organisations within the Health and Community Training Section adequate?; and

-            integration of the three training sections.

 

            RESOLVED: That

 

(1)       a further report be submitted on the implications of expanding the graduate trainee programme; and

 

(2)       a further report be submitted dealing with the cost of training activities across the Council, and the potential for further integration in training provision.

            The Board noted that the first meeting of the Area Forum Topic Group had taken place on 5^th October 2006. At the first meeting the group considered how best to take forward the work topic.

 

            It was reported that following the first meeting, a Workplan had been established, a timetable for future meetings had been agreed, each Area Forum had been invited to nominate a Member to attend Topic Group meetings, it was proposed to visit other local authorities, initiatives to encourage members of the public to become involved with Area Forums were to be examined and meetings were to be set up with Fire Service and Police Authority.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

            The Board considered a report which gave an overview of the monitoring that takes place with regard to the Council’s effectiveness in relation to Equality and Diversity. A copy of the performance indicators currently used by the Council to monitor its effectiveness in respect of Equality and Diversity, together with some information on the profile of the Borough and the Council’s workforce, had been previously circulated to Members.

 

            Members commented that school based employees were not included in the information provided. It was agreed that when the information became available it could be circulated to the Board.

 

            In addition, Members requested clarification on targets BV195 and BV196 and the possibilities of those targets being achieved.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

In view of the nature of the business to be transacted, it was:

 

RESOLVED: That under Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, having been satisfied that in all of the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information the press and the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act

            The Board considered a copy of the three year Marketing and Public Relations Strategy and Annual Business Plan for the Halton Stadium. A Consumer Evaluation exercise was undertaken in 2005 by the Consultants Mott McDonald, their findings and recommendations formed the basis for the three year marketing and public relations strategy. These recommendations had fed into the Annual Business Plan.

 

            The Board received a presentation from the Halton Stadium Manager which highlighted facilities available at the Stadium currently, recent and future initiatives including the promotion and marketing of the Stadium.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

N.B Councillor Wainwright declared a personal interest in the above item as a member of the Halton Stadium Health Suite. Councillor Edge declared a personal interest in the above item, as her relative is an employee at the Halton Stadium.