Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Mrs Williams.

To receive declarations of interest from Members on items included within the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To agree as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2013.

It was noted that the Licensing of Premises (in particular take aways) task and finish group, which had been agreed at the previous meeting of the Committee, would commence in the forthcoming months when capacity was anticipated to be created by current task and finish groups concluding their work.

RESOLVED:              That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 24 June 2013 be agreed as a correct record.

The work plans for the Overview and Scrutiny Committees and the Health Scrutiny Committee were given consideration.

The Economic Development and Enterprise Scrutiny Committee had determined at its 10 September 2013 meeting that there would be an interim meeting prior to its 18 December meeting. The Scrutiny Officers were currently consulting on dates, but it was anticipated that the interim meeting would take place in November.

The Chair of Transformation and Resources Scrutiny Committee reminded members of the budget scrutiny café which was taking place again as part of the budget setting process. The scrutiny café would take place on 14 January 2014 and Members were asked to put the date in their diaries.

RESOLVED:              That the work plans be received.

RESOLVED:              That the Forward Plan be noted. 

The Committee gave consideration to a report providing a status update on the current scrutiny task and finish groups.

The Allotments Review Task and Finish Group had held a meeting that day and met with stakeholders including a representative from the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, local allotment associations and parish council allotment providers.

The Chair of the Transformation and Resources Scrutiny Committee provided a verbal update on the Community Centre Review Task and Finish Group, of which she was Chair. The task and finish group was set up to shadow the work of the officer task and finish group, and the original review timeline had been October 2012 to July 2013. There had been some slippage in the timeline due to issues that had arisen, and some areas had not yet been looked at as a result. The group had met on fourteen occasions for a variety of meeting types, including an open forum meeting for the Community Centre Management Committees, task and finish group meetings, one to one meetings with Community Centre Management Committees and site visits to the community centres. The next meeting was scheduled for 7 October 2013. Consultation had been undertaken, which included a centre management questionnaire, a user consultation and a self-assessment questionnaire, with the data shared with the task and finish group. Several issues had been identified so far including: governance, communication, maintenance and capacity issues. Asset values had been questioned by the group when they had been considered previously and would be re-visited on 7 October. It was clear that there was a need for a community centre guide and one point of contact at the Borough Council for the management committees to liaise with. An officer report was expected to go to Cabinet in November and it was intended for a task and finish group report to accompany this.

Cllr Stringer, as Chair of the HS2 Working Group, advised that the working group members could expect copies of his draft report to Cabinet by the end of the week. There was still the intention to invite HS2 Ltd to a future meeting of the working group.

RESOLVED:              That the working group status update and the verbal updates be noted.

There was no urgent business considered.

To consider the tender process undertaken and the implementation procedure and monitoring process for the preferred bidder.

Should confidential information be discussed the Committee will need to pass a resolution to go into exempt session. Confidential information may well be despatched to Members in advance of the meeting.

The Executive Director, Regeneration and Development introduced a report regarding Keele Golf Course. The Committee were being asked to scrutinise the tender process undertaken and the implementation procedure and monitoring process for the preferred bidder.

There would be a special meeting of the Active and Cohesive Communities Scrutiny Committee on 3 October 2013 to consider the golf development and course maintenance aspects of the tender process that had been undertaken, and a special meeting of the Transformation and Resources Scrutiny Committee on 9 October 2013 to consider the procurement and financial aspects of the tender process. It was noted that unlike a normal commercial lease, the lease for Keele Golf Course included extensive operational detail which the Active and Cohesive Communities Scrutiny Committee would consider at its special meeting.

There had been a two stage process to identify a preferred bidder. Stage one was to attract expressions of interest, which involved setting out initial information with broad heads of terms, advertisements being placed in professional journals and known operators of golf courses being approached. This resulted in three initial expressions of interest which were evaluated and basic financial and health checks for the companies undertaken. Stage two saw a documentation pack issued to the companies who had expressed an interest, inviting them to submit an offer.

The draft cabinet report provided information about the multi-disciplinary officer evaluation panel that had been set up to receive the bids from the final two companies to tender. The evaluation panel had identified points of clarification or inconsistency with the bids that had needed to be addressed. When this had been done the bids were then scored against the evaluation criteria. Moderated scores from the panel were evaluated by the Executive Director, Resources and Support Services for a further check of the scores to take place. To encourage the market to respond, companies were given the opportunity to bid on 10, 20 or 25 year leases, and to submit a bid for a fixed annual sum or a percentage of annual turnover as a rental return to the Council. The preferred operator was prepared to offer a fixed rental sum every year and a percentage of fixed turnover each year.

A Member questioned who held the lease for the Golfers Inn, which formed part of the golf course. The company who took over the golf course lease would need to apply to the Council for a licence and although the Licensing Committee decision could not be predetermined, it was not anticipated that there would be difficulty in obtaining a licence.

Members questioned the two houses that sat adjacent to the golf course and whether they would be used by golf course staff. There were two cottages, with one occupied on a secure tenancy with the former green keeper at the course.  It was intended that the other house would be incorporated as part of the new lease. The fact that the semi-detached property was not listed in the report of remedial works was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

RESOLVED:  That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the appendix to the draft Cabinet report regarding Keele Golf Course because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Committee gave consideration to the confidential appendix of the draft Cabinet report regarding Keele Golf Course.