Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes from the meeting held on 8^th September 2020 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

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

The Board was presented with the Minutes relating to the Corporate Services Portfolio which had been considered by the Executive Board since the last meeting of this Board.

            RESOLVED: That the Minutes be noted.

A report was presented to the Board by the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, which informed Members of the project delivery of the Local Area Forums for the financial period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

            Members were advised that Local Area Forums (LAF) provided a mechanism for Councillors to respond to community needs and aspirations through the funding and delivery of initiatives and projects.  Area Forum money can also be used as ‘match funding’ to help level in additional funding from a variety of external sources.

It was reported that in 2019/20, £200,000 was allocated to Area Forums, split on a per capita basis across all seven Forums, which covered the Borough. Details of the funding for each of the LAF’s, case study information and resident feedback was provided to demonstrate the impact LAF projects had made for Halton’s communities.  Projects funded through the LAFs were categorised into the following key areas:-

·         Children and Youth Facilities;

·         Community Events;

·         Community Resource and Equipment;

·         Community Initiatives;

·         Improved Parks;

·         Landscapes;

·         Pedestrian and Highway Improvements; and

·         Community Safety.

It was highlighted that the Area Forum budget had enabled the leverage of other grants and had secured funds from other bodies.  Overall, an additional amount of £162,286.82 was ‘levered’ in to support Area Forum projects, providing a total spend of £413,166.98.

Arising from the discussion, it was agreed that a report would be brought to a future meeting on the impact of the forthcoming Ward boundary changes.

RESOLVED: That the report be received.

            The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, which provided an analysis of Corporate Complaints received during the 2019/20 financial year.

            The report outlined the two stage procedure to deal with corporate complaints; a corporate complaints trend analysis from 2012 to 2020; the nature of those complaints received; and outcomes.  In addition, the report also provided a summary on complaints and queries that had been received by the Local Government Ombudsman during 2019/20.  It was noted that the Ombudsman had made 51 decisions during the year and undertook ? investigations, ? of which were not upheld.  Members noted that these figures provided reassurance that the Council’s internal complaints procedures were robust and effective in resolving fault where it occurred at a  local level.

            Arising from the report, it was agreed that a copy of the Council’s vexations corporate complaints policy would be shared with the Board.

            RESOLVED: That the report and comments made be noted.

            The Board considered an update report on related activities aimed at reducing C02 emissions within the Borough. Since the Council’s participation in the Local Authority Carbon Management Programme, the Council had continued to implement a number of actions to reduce its carbon emissions and impact on the environment and at the same time deliver financial savings. Overall, the Council’s C02 emissions continued to reduce from a baseline of 2006/7 of 26,338 tonnes of C02, to 11354 tonnes for 2019/20.

            It was noted that there had been a slight increase in emissions associated with both fleet transport and business mileage from the previous years. In addition, Corporate buildings had also seen a slight increase, this being solely down to increased gas usage. The report advised members on the progress and impact of changes in the borough which included: street lighting, roof top solar and biomass, the construction of a solar farm, climate action plan, public decarbonisation fund, municipal fleet decarbonisation plan, 3MG going green and the Astmoor low carbon study project.

            RESOLVED: That the report and ongoing work be noted.

The Board was provided with a report from the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, which presented details of health and safety management within the Authority from 1 April 2020 to 31^st August 2020.

Officers commented that the report highlighted the national and local health and safety information, and together with performance and incident trends, these formed the basis for the recommended actions for 2020/21. In order to be proactive in health and safety management the report also indicated the number of completed risk assessments and training delivered to staff.

            The report highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on the period the report covered. There had been a significant reduction in accidents and violent incidents due to a high volume of home working during the nationwide lockdown. A number of risk control measures had been implemented across the authority to protect staff and many frontline workers during this change in working practices. Assistance for staff had also been provided on the Enable e-learning platform via a number of wellbeing programmes and courses;

            Members were advised on a number of recommended actions for 2020/21. These had been identified as a result of accident analysis data for 2019/20.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.