Agenda and minutes

          The Minutes from the meeting held on 3 September 2013 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Board was advised that no public questions had been received.

The Minutes relating to the Corporate Services Portfolio which had been considered by the Executive Board were attached at Appendix 1 for information. 

EXB 62 – It was noted that agency staff were still required to maintain frontline services, however the spend in this area had reduced considerably over the past three years, from £3.9m to £1.8m today.  It was requested that details of the number of agency staff being utilised be included in the quarterly monitoring reports.

EXB 63 – One Member requested that progress on Capital spend be included in the quarterly monitoring reports.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes be noted.

The Minutes relating to the Corporate Services Portfolio which had been considered by the Halton Strategic Partnership Board were attached at Appendix 1 for information.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes be noted.

The Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, presented a report to the Board which provided Members with a one year progress update on the recommendations from the Topic Group Review report on the Halton Strategic Partnership.  It was noted that the Topic Group had originally reported to the Board in September 2012 and this Board’s recommendations to the Executive Board were agreed by that Board on 8 November 2012.

It was reported that in 2012, the Corporate Policy and Performance Board, as part of their topic programme, examined the role and function of the Halton Strategic Partnership (HSP) to identify need and establish where opportunities existed for future development and closer collaboration with the Council.

The Topic Group considered the history, purpose, membership, objectives, activities and role of the HSP.  Members also put forward proposals for how the relationship between the PPBs and the HSP could be strengthened, how agendas could be more closely interrelated and how ongoing activities could be effectively scrutinised.

Attached to the report was a copy of the Action Plan that was agreed when the report was considered by the Executive Board, for the Board’s information.  The Plan provided information on the progress made to date of each particular action.

Members were pleased with the recommendations made by the Topic Group and the progress made so far, particularly around increasing the leadership role and contributions of Partners.

RESOLVED:  That the Board note the progress made to date.

 A report was presented to the Board by the Strategic Director, Communities, which informed Members of the project delivery of the Local Area Forums for the financial period 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Members were advised that Local Area Forums were set up in 2001 to take policy development into communities, bridging the gap between key agencies working within the Borough.  Each Local Area Forum (LAF) was led by the respective local Councillors and supported by a Senior Officer from the Council.  Other partner organisations such as the Police, Fire Service, Housing Associations, youth and voluntary sector bodies also attended LAF’s to keep the community informed of local developments and to respond to local concerns.

It was reported that in 2012-13, £600,000 was allocated to the Area Forums which was allocated on a per capita basis across the seven LAF’s that covered the Borough, details of each area’s funding was provided In the report.  The local communities were then invited to attend their local forum and were encouraged to provide ideas for neighbourhood projects that would enhance their local area.  These ideas were then progressed with the help of Community Development Officers who presented them to the respective Forum Members for consideration.

The report provided information on the areas of expenditure of the LAF’s as a whole, these were categorised into key areas: Landscapes; Safety; Youth Facilities; Improved Parks; Pedestrian Access; Security and Community. Additionally, breakdowns were provided of the individual expenditure for each of the seven Area Forums, using the above categories. 

It was highlighted that the Area Forum budget had enabled the leverage of other grants and, through joint working, had secured access to funds from agencies such as Biffa, Wren, Housing Associations, Awards for All, Lottery and Health.  This meant that an additional amount of £887,082 had been levered in to support projects.  In other words for every £1 of Area Forum funding, a further amount of £1.47 of funding was provided, of which £1.36 was from organisations based outside Halton.

Finally the report provided Members with examples of case studies which demonstrated the positive impacts that Area Forum projects had in Halton’s communities.

Members thanked officers for the detailed report.  Following consideration of the report Members asked that the Strategic Director review the arrangements for approving LAF projects and report back.

RESOLVED:  That the report be received.

Further to the Board’s request at the last meeting, a report was presented by the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which provided Members with an update of ICT security; within the Council’s activities that were completed and planned, and highlighted the importance of security in the management and delivery of Council services.

Members were advised that the Council managed a wide range of personal information relating to employees, businesses, external organisations and adults and children in the community both within and outside Halton.  Inappropriate access to information could result in severely adverse effects on individuals or organisations if it fell into the wrong hands.  The Council had a statutory as well as common law duty of care to ensure that all reasonable steps were taken to safeguard and secure the information it managed and processed.  It was reported that ICT services had designed an approach towards security in such a way that it ensured the Council operated within its legal obligations whilst also enabling front line staff to deliver services in the most efficient and appropriate ways.

The Board was advised that security assurance activities had been delivered to ensure that the Council was discharging its duty to provide ongoing security, details of these were outlined in the report and included awareness training, policy development, procedures, governance, technical controls, external testing and external inspection.  Further, members were advised that the Council had been working on the transition from Government Connect Secure Extranet (GCSX) to the new Public Services Network (PSN).  Full details of this were also provided in the report.

Members appreciated the huge task involved in the management of the security of Council services and conveyed their thanks to all the staff involved. 

RESOLVED: That

1.     the report be noted; and

2.     a further update be provided in 12 months’ time.

The Board was presented with a report from the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which invited them to contribute to the development of the Directorate Business Plans for the coming financial year.

As a reminder Members were advised that each directorate of the Council was required to develop a medium term business plan, in parallel with the budget, that was subject to annual review and refresh and that the process of developing such plans for the period 2014-2017 had now begun.

Members were invited therefore to identify a small number of priorities for development or improvement that they would like to see reflected within those plans.  Officers provided Members with an overview of the key strategic issues facing the Board over the medium term within each area of the Board’s responsibility: Financial Services; Legal and Democratic Services; HR and Learning and Development; ICT and Support Services; Policy and Performance; Property Services, and Stadium and Catering and Registration Services.   The overview included details of the primary drivers that would shape the work of the Board in supporting and delivering the Council’s organisational priorities and business needs.

Following the identification of the priorities, Strategic Directors would then develop draft plans which would be available for consideration by policy and performance boards early in the New Year.  It was noted that plans could only be finalised once budget decisions had been confirmed in March and that some target information may need to be reviewed as a result of final outturn data becoming available post March 2014. 

RESOLVED:  That the Board receive the information provided and that it be used as the basis of developing the Business Plan.

The Board was provided with a report from the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which presented details of corporate accident statistics with associated trends, from 1 April 2013 to 1 September 2013.

Officers commented that the report highlighted two positive trends: (a) that there had been an increase in the number of risk assessments completed; and (b) there had been a decrease in RIDDOR reportable ‘over 7 day’ accidents, significant accidents and violent incidents which had resulted in a decrease in the number of days lost.

It was announced that North West Ambulance had agreed to provide the Council with defibrillators in public buildings free of charge.   This agreement also included free training for staff and maintenance of the equipment.

It was noted that Appendix A to the report presented comparative accident and incident data with other unitary Councils in England, as previously requested by Members.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.