Issue - meetings

To provide Transformation & Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the Financial and Performance Review for the 2013/14 First Two Quarters (April -September).

The Executive Director, Resources and Support Services introduced the Financial and Performance Management Report to end of quarter two (September) 2013. The Council was in a good position for the first half of the year. Members questioned the financial performance of Jubilee 2 and the overspend at Kidsgrove Sports Centre. Jubilee 2 was performing well and there were on-going discussions with Staffordshire County Council with regard to Kidsgrove Sports Centre.

The Head of Business Improvement and Partnerships introduced the performance element of the report. In general performance was good and the majority of indicators were on target. There had been an attempt to indicate where there were trends with indicators and following an action from the previous meeting a short guide to the report had been circulated. The Head of Business Improvement and Partnerships provided an updated of the recommendations from the last meeting, which had been addressed in the main. There had been a decrease in the indicator for leisure and recreational facilities which was a consequence of the issues at Kidsgrove Sports Centre. There was a positive performance for detritus, but crime and disorder figures were generally up. A Member requested that thanks be extended from the Committee to Council staff to thank them for the improvement and provide encouragement for future positive indicators for detritus. The Chair questioned how the information was collated for reference 1.4.2 regarding the number of community volunteer groups/hours spent caring for their local green spaces and neighbourhoods. This would be clarified.

A Member felt that performance indicators linked to the Medium Term Financial Strategy and questioned whether there were conversations to rationalise services and therefore save money. For services like grass cutting the Borough Council, County Council and Aspire are currently doing jobs like this separately, which Members felt must be inefficient. A discussion on responsibilities for grass cutting with Aspire had already been broached. Conversations about future service delivery were also taking place with Staffordshire County Council and Aspire. The County Council were looking for district councils to deliver services, in particular for highways, but they were looking for complete coverage of the whole of the county by several district councils. The Borough Council was in discussion with Stafford Borough Council and Cannock Chase Council regarding joint coverage of the county. The Portfolio Holders for Culture and Leisure and Environment and Recycling were looking to utilise green land that the Council held as community orchards or vegetable plots to mitigate maintenance costs and provide community projects.

A Member questioned whether the Disabled Facilities Grant considered the whole life of recipients, giving the example that a stair lift for a young person would need replacing later on in their life, and it would be more cost efficient to lease the lift rather than purchasing it. The Leader would ask the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Regeneration and Town Centres to consider this and whether Disabled Facilities Grants were as efficient as they could be.

There was a discussion regarding the rescue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6