Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 25^th June and 25^th July 2008 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

            The Sub-Committee considered a request to waive Standing Orders to allow the appointment of consultants GVA Grimley Limited to prepare a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for Runcorn Old Town. This would take forward the proposals already prepared for the area as part of the Mersey Gateway Regeneration Strategy (prepared by GVA Grimley and approved by the Executive Board on 19^th June 2008) into planning policy that could be used as evidence in any public inquiry into the Mersey Gateway Scheme.

            It was noted that there was a cost advantage in appointing GVA Grimley to work up their regeneration strategy proposals for Runcorn Old Town into an SPD as they had already completed all the evidence gathering, public consultation, consideration of alternatives and sustainability appraisal that was necessary for the production of an SPD.

            The quote from GVA Grimley for £16,128 dated 23^rd May 2008 was considered good value. The cost could be met from the Housing and Planning Delivery grant recently awarded to the Council for help in preparing its local development framework.

            RESOLVED: That for the reasons set out in the report, procurement Standing Order 4.1 be waived to allow the appointment of consultants GVA Grimley Limited to prepare a Supplementary Planning Document for Runcorn Old Town, without the need for competitive tender.

            The Sub-Committee considered a report which sought approval for the publication of the Halton Village Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan for public consultation.

 

            Halton Village was designated as a conservation area in April 1970. Section 71 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 placed a duty on local authorities to formulate and publish proposals for designated conservation areas. It was with this statutory duty in mind that the draft conservation area appraisal and management plan was produced.

 

            At its meeting on 25^th July 2008, the Sub-Committee requested that schedule and timetable for completing the Conservation Area appraisals and management plans for all the conservation areas within the Borough be submitted to the next meeting.

 

            A schedule for the future production of conservation area appraisals and management plans, along with explanatory notes was circulated with the report. It was intended that the Halton Village Conservation Area appraisal and management plan would be used as a template for undertaking area appraisals and management plans for other conservation areas in Halton.

 

            Although there was no statutory obligation to engage in public consultation in respect of Conservation Area appraisals and management plans, it was widely considered to be good practice to involve the community in assessing the value of the Conservation Area. It was therefore proposed that the plan would be circulated for public consultation for a four-week period. Once all the comments had been received and considered, they would be reported back to Executive Board along with the final draft of the conservation area appraisal and management plan for approval.

 

            RESOLVED: That

 

(1)       the draft Halton Village Conservation Area appraisal and management plan be approved for the purposes of public consultation for a four-week period, subject to the amendments detailed in Appendix A to these minutes;

 

(2)       any further editorial and technical amendments that do not materially affect the content of the document be agreed by the Operational Director (Environmental and Regulatory Services) in consultation with the Executive Board Member for Planning, Transportation, Regeneration and Renewal, as necessary, before the document is published for public consultation;

 

(3)       the results of the public consultation exercise and consequent recommended modifications to the draft Halton Village Conservation Area appraisal and management plan, be reported back to the Executive Board, for resolution to adopt the document; and

 

(4)            consideration be given to identifying potential conservation areas within the Borough and a further report be brought to a future meeting of the Sub Committee.

            There was a statutory duty on local authorities to provide education for pupils who were permanently excluded from school. This was undertaken in most Councils through the provision of pupil referral units. The key stage 4 pupil referral unit in Halton employed a model of service delivery whereby the provision for pupils was made via external providers, who were co-ordinated, supported and quality assured by the Council.

 

            At the end of the last academic year, tenders were invited for provision in the following areas:

 

-            support and emotional literacy;

-            academic – GCSE

 

            Specifications for these tenders were widely distributed to organisations in the region that provided in these areas and expressions of interest were requested. However, this year only single tenders were received in each of these areas of provision. This reflected the limited number of organisations who were willing and equipped to work with some of the most demanding and challenging young people within the Borough. Both tenders received were from existing providers who were part of the successful OFSTED inspection and who had met the quality assurance processes administered by the Head of Key Stage 4 Pupil Referral Unit.

 

            RESOLVED: That the Strategic Director – Children and Young People be authorised to enter into Service Level Agreements with Key Stage 4 Pupil Referral Unit providers Kid’s First and Riverside College.

            The Sub-Committee considered a report which summarised the overall revenue and capital spending position as at 30^th June 2008.

 

            In overall terms, Revenue Expenditure was below the budget profile. However, the budget profile was only a guide to eventual spending and spending was historically higher in the latter part of the financial year. Therefore, it was important that budget managers continue to closely monitor and control spending to ensure that overall spending remained in line with budget by year-end.

 

            It was noted that income was already below budget profile in a number of areas including: trade and bulky waste collection, planning fees, building control fees, school meals, land search fees, market rents and industrial estate rents.

 

            In addition, it was noted that investment returns were currently better than expected despite the volatility in the financial market. As a result, investment income was expected to exceed the budget target by year-end.

 

            With regard to Capital Spending, it was reported that spending to the 30^th June 2008 totalled £7.3m, which was 87% of the planned spending of a £8.4m at this stage.

 

            However, this only represented 15% of the total capital programme of £49m, although, historically capital expenditure was significantly higher in the last part of the financial year, it was important that Project Managers maintained pressure to keep projects and spending on schedule and in particular to ensure all external funding was maximised.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

            The Sub-Committee considered a report which reviewed activities on Treasury Management for the year 2007/08.

 

            The Annual Report covered:

 

-           the Council’s current treasury position;

-            performance management;

-           the borrowing strategy for 2007/08;

-           the borrowing outturn for 2007/08;

-            compliance with treasury limits;

-            investments strategy for 2007/08;

-            investments outturn for 2007/08;

-           debt re-scheduling; and

-           other issues.

 

            It was noted that during the year the Council had complied with the Treasury limits set out in the Council’s Treasury Policy Statement and Treasury Strategy Statement.

 

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

            The Sub-Committee was advised that from 1^st October 2008, Halton Housing Trust (HHT) would no longer deliver homeless services in Halton, this included the provision of services at Grangeway Court Hostel for homeless families. As the Council had a statutory duty under the Housing Act 1996 Part VII (as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002) to provide temporary accommodation to homeless families, Executive Board gave approval in April 2008, to obtain a new service provider through an open tender process by September 2008.

 

            Expressions of interest were invited through adverts and 6 tenders were submitted, out of which 1 was eliminated at Stage 2. Tenders were evaluated on price and quality and the outcome of the evaluation was outlined in the report.

 

            The evaluation showed that whilst Arena Options Limited did not submit the lowest tender, the hourly rate for support to clients was lower than that submitted by the lowest tenderer. As the evaluation of cost was based on the tender price and the hourly rate, two organisations were scored equally on cost. However, 60% of the evaluation was based on quality and Arena Options Limited scored higher on quality and therefore represented the most economically advantageous tender.

 

            The Sub-Committee considered a request for retrospective approval for the waiver of Standing Order 1.6, Procurement Orders 3.1 – 3.7 and 3.10, as compliance with Standing Orders was not practicable for reasons of urgency in that delaying award of the contract would not leave sufficient time for the new provider to be operational before the existing provider ends the service on 1^st October 2008. Homeless families placed at Grangeway Court were amongst the most vulnerable members of our community and failure to act in a timely manner would increase the risk of a temporary loss of service to this vulnerable group.

 

            In this event, as the Council has a duty to accommodate, the Council would be liable for increased costs to secure alternative bed and breakfast accommodation.

 

            The report also sought retrospective approval for the Operational Director – Health and Partnerships in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder, Community to award the contract to Arena Options Limited.

 

            RESOLVED: that

 

(1)            subsequent to consultation, retrospective approval be given for the award of the contract for the provision of services for homeless families at Grangeway Court to the contractor – Arena Options Limited, in the sum of £1,061,559 for a five-year contract, and that in light of the exceptional circumstances detailed, for the purpose of Standing Order 1.6, Procurement Orders 3.1 – 3.7 and 3.10 be waived on this occasion, as compliance with the tendering requirements of Standing Orders is not practicable for reasons of urgency, in that delaying the award of contract would not leave sufficient time for the new provider to be operational before the existing provider ends the service on 1^st October 2008 and the potential closure of this service will place vulnerable homeless families at risk of loss of service and would result in the Council having  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

MINUTES ISSUED: 22^nd September 2008

CALL IN:  29^th September 2008

Any matter decided by the Executive Board Sub Committee may be called in no later than 29^th September 2008