Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 7^th March 2006 having been printed and circulated, were taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

            It was noted that no questions had been 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 noted.

The Board received an update on the Staff/Member meetings which had taken place in the previous Municipal Year. The Vice-Chairman, Councillor Lowe, commented that previously meetings had been held on Thursday and there was a need for this to be varied.

 

It was reported that the turnout at the meetings had been good and a number of issues had been raised which included contaminated land at Catalyst House, Single Status and working conditions at Grosvenor House.

 

            The Council’s Public Relations Department had been asked to publish an article in the in-house magazine requesting feedback from employees on the staff/member meetings.

 

            Arising from the discussion, it was agreed that a further report would be submitted to the Board on staff communication levels and also on the feedback from employees on the staff consultation meetings.

 

            RESOLVED: That a further report be submitted to the Board on staff communication levels and on the feedback received from staff on the Staff Consultation Meetings.

As part of the recent revision of the Council’s Constitution at Annual Council on 19^th May 2006, a number of changes  had been made to the Council’s decision-making structure to be implemented in the 2006/07 Municipal Year. The changes had been made in order to bring the Policy and Performance  Boards in line with the Council’s Strategic Priorities as contained within the Corporate and Community Plans.

 

            An extract from the Council’s Constitution setting out the terms of reference relevant to the Corporate Services Policy and Performance Board had been circulated for consideration.

 

            RESOLVED: That the Terms of Reference be noted.

            The Board considered a copy of the Annual Report for the Corporate Services Policy and Performance Board for 2005/06.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Board considered the draft work programme for the coming year which included the proposed method of working, timetable and anticipated outcomes.

 

Arising from the discussion it was agreed that a report would be brought to the next meeting on Halton Direct Link which was a work topic from the previous Municipal Year.

 

It was also agreed that the following topics would be included in the Board’s work programme for 2006/07 with membership as detailed:

 

Topic	Lead Officer	Lead Member	Membership
Area Forums & Community Engagement	R.Mackenzie	Councillor Gilligan	Councillors Inch, Nolan, Blackmore and Lowe
Partnership Working	J. Tradewell	Councillor Lowe	Councillors Wainwright, Loftus, Gilligan and Norddahl
Equalities	J. Tradewell	Councillor Gilligan	Councillors Norddahl, Blackmore and Loftus.
Home Computing Initiative /Staff Survey			Reports back on progress to PPB

 

            RESOLVED: That

 

(1)               the work programme and timetable set out above be approved; and

 

(2)     the Lead Officer for each topic agrees a detailed scope with the Chair on the nominated Lead Members.

The Board considered a report which outlined the progress of the Performance Management – 4^th Quarter – against the service plan objectives, the performance targets, performance trends/comparison and factors affecting the service etc. for the following areas:

 

            -            Exchequer and Customer Services;

            -            Financial Services;

            -            ICT Services;

            -            Legal Services;

            -            Personnel Services;

            -            Policy and Performance;

            -            Property Services; and

            -            Stadium and Hospitality.

 

            The Board received an oral report from John Tradewell, Council Solicitor, which highlighted the Member Development Programme being shortlisted for the LGC and MJ Awards, ILM accreditation for the Member Development Programme, ISO accreditation for Legal Services and renewal of Lexcel accreditation, successful introduction of the Licensing Act 2003 and the support for the Housing Stock Transfer. With regard to progress against key objectives, it was reported that the North West Employers Organisation (NWEO) had withdrawn support for the introduction of a Foundation Degree in Community Governance for Members (via Salford University), and it would therefore not go ahead.

 

            The Board also received an oral update from Rob Mackenzie, Operational Director, Corporate & Policy which highlighted that three additional Emergency Planning Officers had been appointed on behalf of Cheshire and would be based at Halton, there had been problems recruiting a vacant post in Health and Safety and it had not been possible to deliver the Health and Safety Training Programme. The post had since been re-graded and re-advertised.

 

            In addition, the proportion of Objective 2 action plan outputs achieved had not reached its target, mainly due to delays in securing North West Development Agency (NWDA) match-funding. Government Office North West (GONW) had extended the deadline to achieve this figure.

 

            Arising from the discussion, it was agreed that a report would be submitted to the next meeting on the Stadium as part of the presentation of Performance Indicators.

 

            RESOLVED: That

 

(1)       the 4^th quarter year-end performance management reports be received; and

 

(2)       a report be submitted to the next meeting as part of the Performance Indicators on the Stadium.