Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Peter Fookes (replaced by Councillor Ian Dunn), Councillor Samaris Huntington-Thresher and Councillor Kate Lymer (replaced by Councillor Chris Pierce.)

Councillor Eric Bosshard declared an interest in relation to agenda item 14 on the Executive’s agenda (Planned Highway Maintenance Programme 2015/16) as his road was on the planned maintenance list.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 13^th November 2014.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October 2014 (excluding exempt information) be confirmed.

Report CSD14152

The Committee received a summary of matters arising from previous meetings. It was noted that the report back on the Winter Health Project was now due at the January meeting.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan of Key and Private Executive Decisions as published on 28^th October 2014.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Portfolio Holder must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 13^th November 2014.

Three questions for written reply had been received from Councillor Ian Dunn – these are set out in appendix 1 to these minutes.

The Committee considered the following reports for pre-decision scrutiny where the Resources Portfolio Holder was minded to take decisions.

Report FSD14067

The report summarised treasury management activity up to 30^th September 2014. The report included a mid-year review of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement  and Annual Investment Strategy and an update on the Council’s investment with Heritable Bank – it was expected that the Council would eventually receive all its money back from Heritable Bank. 

RESOLVED that the report be noted and Council be requested to approve the changes to the 2014/15 prudential indicators set out in Annex B1 to the report.

Report RES14072

The Committee considered a report advising them on the position of the Insurance Fund as at 31^st March 2014 and presenting statistics relating to insurance claims for the past two years. In 2013/14, the total Fund value reduced slightly from £3,022k to £2,981k. A mid-year review of the Fund had been carried out and it was estimated that the final Fund value at 31^st March 2015 could reduce to around £2.5m. A Member commented that insurance premiums were likely to rise in the coming year.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Carr, attended the meeting to give an update on his work and answer questions. He began by emphasising the importance of work on the budgets for 2015/16 and the following years, and the new approach being taken with the public consultation meetings that involved new meetings with resident’s association representatives in an attempt to stimulate more detailed and focussed discussions. The message was blunt that although there had to be a safety net for the vulnerable, services needed to change and be provided in more creative ways. Senior members and officers were lobbying M.P.s whenever possible to secure a fairer distribution of government grant for Bromley. He hoped that the outsourcing of leisure provision to Mytime would lead to services becoming income-generating in future. The Council itself had to become more efficient, and he had asked the Chief Executive to remove another £2m from the budget through further efficiencies. In addition, the Council was considering moving away from the Civic Centre to more efficient property.

The third Invest Bromley event had just taken place and there had been an encouraging turn-out from local companies. There was good progress on a number of development issues mainly around town centres such as the Bromley North Village improvements, Site G, Site K, the old Town Hall, the opening of the new Penge Library, the cinema-led scheme in Orpington and the Beckenham High Street improvements, as well as potential investment in Crystal Palace Park (both the ZhongRong proposals and the £2m improvements mainly from GLA funding), the West Camp at Biggin Hill and at Lagoon Road in the Cray Valley. 

On the integration of health and care services there were significant challenges but the involvement of Kings College was positive for the residents of Bromley. On public transport, the Leader had met with the Mayor’s transport advisor to outline the needs of residents in Bromley, and in particular the concerns about residents using the Hayes Line losing connectivity to Cannon Street and Charing Cross if the current Bakerloo Line proposals went ahead. There had been discussions about the possibility of opening a link from Bromley North to Lewisham (for the DLR) and central London. 

The Leader was questioned by members of the Committee on a number of issues. On the negotiations with ZhongRong about Crystal Palace Park, he accepted that there had been difficulties, partly because of the different cultures and expectations, but ZhongRong was now re-engaged in the process and the exclusivity period did not expire until February. A Member sought clarification on the discussions around improving rail services from Bromley North. The Leader stated that he had made very clear that the Council was disappointed that the Mayor’s manifesto promise to pursue the DLR extension to Bromley North was not being maintained, and with the Bakerloo Line proposals under which many residents would lose their direct links to Cannon Street and Charing Cross. He had questioned the costs of the Bakerloo Line extension and pressed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

Members of the Committee are requested to have a copy of the Executive’s agenda for the meeting on 26^th November 2014 available for the meeting.

Report CSD14153

The Committee considered the following reports on the part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 26^th November 2014.

(5)  Capital Programme Monitoring – 2^nd Quarter 2014/15

Report RES14075

The report summarised the current position on capital receipts and expenditure following the second quarter of 2014/15, and sought the Executive’s approval for a revised Capital Programme.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(6)  Budget Monitoring 2014/15

Report FSD14069

The Committee received the third budget monitoring report for 2014/15 based on expenditure and activity levels up to September 2014. It noted with concern the projected overspend in the Care Services Portfolio but was reassured that measures were being taken to address and correct it.

RESOLVED that the report be noted, in particular the on-going cost pressures and projected overspend in the Care Services Portfolio. 

(7)  Council Tax Support/Reduction – 2015/16

Report FSD14071

Following public consultation, proposals for a scheme for providing assistance to households in meeting their council tax liability in 2015/16 had been drawn up for approval by full Council. 

A Member questioned whether it was necessary to carry out extensive consultation every year. Officers advised that there were strict legal requirements requiring consultation whenever the scheme changed, and that the consultation was mainly focussed on-line.

A Member commented that there appeared to have been a large increase in delayed correspondence from Liberata – he was advised to raise matters with the Head of Revenues and Benefits. Liberata managers were due to attend the Committee’s meeting in January and this would be a good opportunity to raise matters directly with them – Members were encouraged to give advance notice of any detailed issues they particularly wanted to cover. 

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(8)  Older People Day Opportunity Services Investment

Report CS14112

It was proposed to establish an Innovation and Development Fund to which day service providers could make bids to for service improvements supporting specific outcomes. 

The Care Services PDS Committee had considered the report at its meeting on 11^th November 2014 and had supported the proposals. The Committee had been informed that transport remained an issue, and this would continue to be looked at thorough the draft adult transport policy. Residents who wanted traditional day services would continue to be provided for. 

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(9)  Integrated Community Equipment Services

Report CS14097

It was proposed to extend the current contract with Medequip under the London Consortium Framework for two years from 2^nd July 2015. 

The Care Services PDS Committee had considered the report at its meeting on 11^th November 2014 and had supported the proposals. The Committee had noted that Medequip were performing well and that health contributions from Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) were being received. 

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(10)  Public Health Commissioning 2015/16

Report CS14101

The report set out Public Health commissioning intentions for 2015/16 and highlighted where changes were proposed to existing arrangements.

The Care Services PDS Committee had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

On 14^th July 2014, following pre-decision scrutiny by this Committee, the Resources Portfolio Holder had approved a proposal for the Bromley Education Business Partnership  to deliver the Bromley Youth Employment Project (phase 2.)  The project included a Project Board, on which Councillor Mellor sat, and a Performance Management Framework with quarterly performance monitoring reports to the Committee, of which this was the first, covering August to the end of October. 

Officers updated the Committee on progress. A borough wide Employer Engagement programme had commenced, two graduate interns had been recruited on fixed one year terms to develop the Council’s strategy and work with Community Links Bromley, a programme of employability workshops had started and a programme of door knocking (over 50 per month) was being used to identify young people who were NEET (not in employment, education or training) who could receive targeted support. It was confirmed that there was direct contact with local businesses and ten young people had already been placed into employment. Young people needed to remain in these placements for six months for these to count as successful. It was confirmed that teachers were invited to the events so that knowledge was being fed back to schools. 

RESOLVED that progress made on the delivery of the Bromley Youth Employment Project be noted.

Report DRR14/092

The Committee received its regular update on the use of financial contributions due through section 106 agreements. Officers had identified a need for a more focussed approach to monitoring this money, and there was now a monthly meeting of key officers to ensure that the money was used effectively. In most cases, if the money was not used developers could ask for the agreement to be varied so that the money could be returned, but this rarely happened. Officers were asked to check how much money had actually been returned to developers in recent years. Members also suggested that ward Councillors should ensure that they achieved improvements to their wards through section 106, and that training for Members on this issue should be considered.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

Report CSD14160

At the meeting of full Council on 13^th October 2014 the following motion had been moved by Councillor Ian Dunn and seconded by Councillor Katherine Bance MBE –

“This Council requests the Executive to include a requirement in all future tenders that the successful bidder should pay full UK Corporation Tax on the profit they make on the contract and not make use of tax havens.”

With the agreement of Councillor Dunn, the motion had been deferred to this  meeting so that officers could ensure that Members were properly informed of the legal and financial implications of the motion.

Payment of the correct amount of tax by organisations contracting with the public sector had been a sensitive issue for a number of years. The Committee was advised that section 117 of the Local Government Act 1988 prevented non-commercial considerations being taken into account in decisions around the award of contracts. Non-commercial matters included “the location in any country or territory of the business activities or interests of contractors.” Most Council contracts would have a catch-all provision requiring contractors to comply with all relevant regulations, but it was not possible to exclude them for sharp practice, as opposed to clear breaches of law.

Some Members considered that these were very broad national and European issues which the Council was unlikely to be able to influence, but it was decided that a letter should be sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer advising him of the Council’s concerns and asking what was being done to prevent  exploitation of tax havens by contractors. 

RESOLVED that the legal and financial advice set out in the report is noted, and that it is not necessary to report further to the Executive, but that a letter be sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer setting out the Council’s concerns and asking what is being done to  ensure that organisations involved in local government contracts pay the correct amount of tax.

Report CSD14154

Updates were received from PDS Chairmen on recent PDS meetings –n these are set out in appendix 2.

Report CSD14155

The Committee considered its work programme for 2014/15. A member suggested setting up a Strategy Working Group, while another member urged that all PDS Committees should work through all the services/budgets within their portfolios over the course of a year, identifying savings. The Leader responded that there was already a challenge to PDS Chairmen to do this, but focussing on key matters. There was already a Member Finance Steering Group and a Strategic Asset Management Steering Group looking at how considerable savings could be achieved, so it was decided to defer consideration of any new Working Groups. A Member requested that information about the Strategic Asset Management Group be circulated.   

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters

involving exempt information

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October 2014 were confirmed.

The Committee scrutinised the following proposed decision by the Resources Portfolio Holder.

Bromley Town Ward

The Committee supported a proposal to sell Egerton Lodge.

The Committee scrutinised reports on the Executive’s part 2 agenda for the meeting on 26^th November 2014 concerning Bromley Town Centre Development Strategy and the future of Anerley Town Hall.