Agenda and minutes

Announcement on procedural matters

The Chairman opened the meeting and outlined various procedural matters.

Apologies for absence were reported from Councillor Scott.

To receive any declarations of interest by members in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer.

Councillor Lewis advised that, should any of the discussions relate to the Adult Education Centre (AEC), he would need to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest and withdraw from the meeting; this, he explained, was because he was employed by Kent County Council, based at the AEC.

There were no other declarations made, within the provisions of the Code of Conduct for Members.

Members of the Council should indicate which item(s) they wish to speak on and the nature of their concern/question/request for clarification (in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18).

There were no other members of the Council who had registered their wish to address the Board within the provisions of Council Meetings Procedure Rule 18.

The Chairman will move that the minutes of the previous meeting, dated 10 July 2018, be signed as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

In accordance with Council Meetings Procedure Rule 16.1, the Chairman will sign the minutes of today’s proceedings at the next scheduled meeting.

The minutes of the meeting dated 10 July 2018 were submitted.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Board meeting dated 10 July 2018 be agreed.

The Board received its work programme for the period up to 31 March 2019, which was based on the issues set out in the Council’s Forward Plan.

RESOLVED – That the work programme be noted.

Jane Clarke, the Head of Policy and Governance, presented the report.

Ms Clarke advised that the presentation of the performance data – set out in the appendices – had been improved, following a review of the process. She said that, with the ‘Eight Big Projects’ within the Five Year Plan (Appendix A), it was now much easier to see their ‘direction of travel’, through use of the ‘red/amber/green’ status indicators.

Ms Clarke added that, since publication of the agenda, the status of the two projects that were previously at ‘amber’ had both improved.

Ms Clarke also said that, with the 12 ‘corporate priority projects’, performance would only be reported to the Cabinet on an exception basis, in other words if their status was amber or red. Finally, Ms Clarke advised that the Council’s service performance at the end of quarter 1 was at a generally good level.

A number of questions were raised about specific quarter 1 performance details set out in the report and appendices. 

(i)      Ms Clarke said that she would ensure there was a clear distinction between the three different proposed community hubs when reporting their end-of-quarter status;

(ii)     Ms Clarke confirmed that the reporting parameters could be updated under this revised presentation, so that where a ‘milestone’ had been properly rescheduled by the internal Programme Management Office, the most up-to-date status would be reported;

(iii)    Ms Clarke acknowledged the point made about how the ‘value’ shown within the ‘service performance indicators’ would not always be a constant unit of measurement, e.g. it could relate to the number of people or it might be a percentage figure.

(iv)    Ms Clarke also accepted the point that, with the ‘processing of major planning applications’ indicator, the data referred in most cases to a very small number of applications. She added that, as these were nationally-set definitions, it was not possible to alter the indicator to take account of the actual number of cases; and

(v)     In the case of the ice rink performance data, there was an acknowledgment that there was a need to balance the benefits of an increase in advance discounted ticket sales against the net surplus achieved, which would be taken into account in this year’s marketing strategy. Ms Clarke added that there would be a more detailed report on the performance of the ice rink being submitted to the Cabinet, where these elements would be highlighted.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations set out in the agenda be supported.

Sheila Coburn, the Head of the Revenues and Benefits Partnership, presented the report.

Mrs Coburn had summarised the details of the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme and had set out the reasons why it was considered that no changes needed to be made for its implementation in 2019/20.

In response to a point raised about the impact of the current scheme on a particular category of claimants, Mrs Coburn explained that: (i) the assumption of a 52-week income period was based on the general benefit regulations; (ii) in the case of a parent with young children, the existing policy was compliant with the wider benefits system; and (iii) with the cost of childcare, it was intended that the claimant should not be penalised in any way.

Mrs Coburn added that it might be possible to review certain elements of the policy but said that this was best undertaken leading up to 2020/21, to take account of other – more significant – changes that would apply at that stage.

Councillors Lewis and Chapelard voiced their opposition to the recommendation to make no changes to the scheme for 2019/20. Councillor Lewis in particular felt that the scheme had an adverse impact on those who were the least well-off, and suggested that it should be returned to its more favourable 2016/17 terms.

RESOLVED –

(1)     That, with the exception of Councillors Lewis and Chapelard, the recommendations set out in the report be supported; and

(2)     That when this scheme is reviewed in September 2019, the Cabinet be requested to consider what scheme changes might be made in response to the concerns set out in (i)-(iii) above.

Sheila Coburn, the Head of Revenues and Benefits Partnership, presented the report.

Mrs Coburn set out the details of a proposed Debt Recovery Policy, aimed at: (i) assisting customers who are genuinely having difficulty in paying their Council Tax, Business Rates or Housing Benefit debts; and (ii) making clear the recovery methods which the Council will take where there is an ability to pay but the customer chooses not to.

In response to Advisory Board member questions, Mrs Coburn:

·       explained that as part of the process of presenting this recommended policy, the views of the Citizens’ Advice Bureau had been sought;

·       said that, in response to the view that such a policy was unnecessary, it was important to keep in mind that there were customers who had either learning or mental health issues, for whom help and guidance was needed, which this document would provide;

·       acknowledged the comment made that this document set out in clear terms the many stages followed and initiatives undertaken by the Borough Council before court action became the only option left.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations set out in the report be supported.

The Director of Finance, Policy and Development will provide a verbal ‘exception’ report, explaining any significant variances in the first quarter of 2018/19 from the agreed revenue and capital budgets. He will also report on the first quarter position in respect of treasury and prudential indicator management.

Lee Colyer, the Director of Finance, Policy and Development, presented this verbal report.

Mr Colyer provided a summary of the first quarter-end position in respect of the revenue and capital budgets, as well as the authority’s treasury management position. He advised that: (i) with the revenue budget, an overspend of £177k was projected and he explained the two key elements which had led to this position; (ii) with capital expenditure, there were no variances from the agreed budget; and (iii) the treasury management position had shown an additional £20k interest income on investments.

Mr Colyer also reported that the value of the Council’s investment in the Local Authorities’ Property Fund stood at £10.8m as at the quarter end, an increase of £56k. He added that this figure represented a net yield of 5.18%.

In response to a question regarding the refurbishment of the Crescent Road car park, Mr Colyer said that the revised completion date was now November 2018.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations provided in the verbal update report be supported.

The Democratic Services Officer will advise if there have been any urgent items of business which have arisen for the Board’s consideration since publication of the agenda.

Though not strictly an urgent item, the Leader of the Council wished to place on record his appreciation of the 35-year service record of the Democratic Services Officer, who was attending his last meeting before retirement. Members of the Advisory Board joined the Leader of the Council in acknowledging this achievement.

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 2 October, at 6.30pm in Committee Room A, at the Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells.

The following items are scheduled on the Forward Plan (which is subject to change) to be discussed:

·       Budget update 2019/20

·       IT Strategy

·       Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2019/20

It was noted that the next meeting of the Board was scheduled to take place on Tuesday 2 October at 6.30pm, when the following items would be discussed, based on the current Forward Plan:

·       Budget update 2019/20

·       IT Strategy

It was noted that the item ‘Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2019/20’ would not need to come forward in October.