Return
to Agenda
ITEM CA3
CABINET
MINUTES of the meeting held on 18
December 2007 commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 3.10 pm.
Present:
Voting Members: Councillor Keith R Mitchell
– in the Chair
Councillor Roger Belson
Councillor Louise Chapman
Councillor
Jim Couchman
Councillor
Mrs J. Heathcoat
Councillor
John Howell
Councillor
Ian Hudspeth
Councillor David Robertson
Councillor C.H. Shouler
Councillor Michael Waine
Other Members in Councillor
Alan Armitage (for
Agenda Item 8)
Attendance: Councillor
Zoé Patrick (for
Agenda Item 11)
Officers:
Whole
of meeting: S.D. Howell and G.
Warrington (Corporate Core).
Part of meeting:
The Cabinet
considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in
the agenda for the meeting, together with a schedule of addenda and
supplementary report to CA6 tabled at the meeting and decided as set out
below. Except insofar as otherwise
specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda, reports,
supplementary report and schedule of addenda, copies of which are attached to
the signed Minutes.
154/07
MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting
held on 20 November 2007 were approved and signed.
155/07
FINANCIAL MONITORING
(Agenda Item
5)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA5) which covered the
period ending October 2007 and noted ‘Baldon’,
as referred to on page 9, paragraphs 50 & 52, should have read ‘Bladon’.
Councillor
Shouler confirmed that the Council would not need to call on the Emergency Fund
Reserve as outlined in paragraph 23 of the report.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
note the report (CA5);
(b)
approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a to CA5;
(c)
RECOMMEND Council to approve the permanent virement of £0.800m from the
DSG unallocated budget as set out in paragraph 16 to CA5;
(d)
approve the supplementary estimates totalling £0.052m as set out in
Annex 2c to CA5;
(e)
approve the changes to the capital programme
as set out in paragraphs 44 to 54 to CA5; and,
(f)
RECOMMEND Council to approve the allocation of the LABGI grant as set
out in Annex 8 to CA5.
156/07
SERVICE AND RESOURCE PLANNING 2008/09 – 2012/13
(Agenda Item
6)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA6) setting out the
Service and Resource Planning process for 2008/09 to 2012/13, which included
the review of charges; an update on the Service and Resource Planning process;
and the latest information on the Council’s financial position.
Comments from the following
Scrutiny Committes had been presented in the schedule of addenda: Children’s
Services; Community Safety; Environment & Economy; and Social &
Community Services.
Councillor
Shouler advised that the Council, as a floor authority, would not qualify for
the benefits of supported borrowing from Central Government. Furthermore, he
advised that the provisional Formula Grant, as detailed in the supplementary
report to the Cabinet, was unlikely to change and reflected a real terms cut in
funding.
In response
to Councillor Couchman, the Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finanace
Officer undertook to investigate whether the ratio of grant and borrowing
allocated for the Integrated Transport Scheme was proportional across the
country.
RESOLVED:
(a)
to note the report (CA6);
(b)
to note those charges prescribed by legislation, and to approve those
charges where there was local discretion as set out in Annex 1 to CA6, subject
to consideration of any comments from Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee;
(c)
not to fund the
ITS and Highways Maintenance supported borrowing allocations above the levels
included in the existing MTFP;
(d)
within the budget
process, to consider the use of prudential borrowing for funding the unmet
capital needs for non schools and non transport;
(e)
to note the updated position in respect of funding as set out in the
supplementary report; and
(f)
to confirm that the element of formula grant for 2008/09, which relates
to the transfer of specific grants and new functions (as set out in Annex 1 in
the supplementary report), had been allocated for those purposes.
157/07
OXFORDSHIRE HIGHWAYS CONTRACT STRATEGY
(Agenda Item 7)
The Cabinet
considered a report (CA7) on a new strategy for procuring replacement service
providers to support Oxfordshire Highways when existing contracts expired in
March 2010 and March 2009.
RESOLVED: to
approve:
(a)
the preparation of a contract for the
appointment of a single service provider to support Oxfordshire Highways;
(b)
the outline programme in Annex 1 to CA7 for
the tendering process; and,
(c)
the setting up of a Project Board as
detailed in the report (CA7) to direct the process.
158/07
BETTER OFFICES PROGRAMME – CENTRAL OFFICES
(Agenda Item
8)
The Cabinet
considered a project appraisal (CA8) setting out proposals to rationalise space
occupied in Central Oxford. The appraisal also detailed a cost comparison to
the original business case and outlines any addtitional funding requirements.
Councillor
Armitage, speaking as Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, expressed scepticism
regarding the success of ‘hot-desking’, which would require strong site
management and be dependent on a number of other factors. He raised the issue
of confidentiality; ratios of staff to workstations; and expressed doubt
regarding the introduction of the proposals in the current year.
Councillor
Shouler was confident that there would be adequate controls to manage
‘hot-desking’ and advised the Cabinet that the failure to conclude the sale of
Foxcombe Court had been due to the other party withdrawing from the process
altogether. He also expected the use of County Hall to continue for some time
after the period of five to ten years as identified in the report. The Cabinet
further confirmed its commitment to the introduction of joint civic offices in
the medium term.
RESOLVED: to approve the project
appraisal for the refurbishment of County Hall, subject to £886,000 being
provided as part of the Service and Resource Planning process.
159/07
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT – SECOND QUARTER REPORT PROGRESS
AGAINST PRIORITIES AND TARGETS
(Agenda Item 9)
The Cabinet considered a quarterly report (CA8) which outlined performance
against the key targets contained in the Council's ‘Balanced Scorecard’ at the
end of the second quarter of 2007-08 and also identified performance against
each priority target.
With regard
to the ‘red’ indicator for reducing the average number of people in an acute
hospital bed who were fit for discharge, Councillor Couchman advised that this
would be investigated, but that due to the size of the project it would be some
time before clear outcomes could be presented.
RESOLVED: to
note the report.
160/07
ESTABLISHMENT REVIEW
(Agenda Item
10)
The
Cabinet considered a report (CA10)
which gave an update on activity since the implementation of the Establishment
Review and associated Recruitment Approval process on 1 August 2005, provided
detail on the overall objectives of the review and summarised progress made
against the targets which were agreed to ensure delivery of those objectives.
The
report also provided information on current activity with further information
on grant-funded posts and vacancies being covered by agency staff.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
note the report; and,
(b)
confirm that the
Establishment Review continued to meet the Cabinet’s requirements in reporting
and managing staffing numbers.
161/07
RACE EQUALITY SCHEME
(Agenda Item
11)
The Cabinet considered the
draft Race Equality Scheme (CA11) which had been prepared following
wide-ranging engagement and consultation with a variety of stakeholders,
voluntary and community organisations, race equality specialist workers,
partner organisations and other stakeholders.
Councillor Patrick expressed
concern at the short timescale allocated for consultation on the document.
Councillor Howell responded
that he was satisfied with the period of time allocated as consultation had
been on-going throughout the production of the report and he praised the
Corporate Strategies Team for their work on the Scheme.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
agree to circulate the draft Race
Equality Scheme as set out at Annex 1 to the report (CA11) for final
consultation; and,
(b)
agree to
consider the final draft of the Race Equality
Scheme on 15 January 2008.
162/07
FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS
(Agenda Item 12)
The Cabinet considered a
list of items (CA12) for the immediately forthcoming
meetings of the Cabinet.
The Cabinet requested that
the Director for Environment & Economy produce a report containing
sufficient data to enable an informed discussion on Waste Treatment at the
meeting of the Council on 8 January 2008. The item would then come back to
Cabinet for a decision at its meeting on 15 January 2008.
RESOLVED: to note the items currently
identified for forthcoming meetings.
................................................................................... in
the Chair
Date of signing.................................................................. 2008
|