Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest stated.

Resolved:     That the Minutes of the meeting held on 10 July, 2019 be

agreed as a correct record.

(i)            That the BID’s agreement to provide £40,000 towards the cost of upgrading the CCTV for Newcastle’s town centre be noted;

(ii)           That Officers be authorised to procure a CCTV system upgrade and monitoring for Newcastle town centre.

(iii)          That the Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing be authorised to finalise the specification for the CCTV system upgrade with Stoke-on-Trent City Council then  undertake a direct award without a call for competition, utilising the Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s compliant framework.

(iv)         That the Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing be authorised to finalise the specification for the monitoring, assess the proposals from Stoke-on-Trent City Council and enter into an agreement for an Inter Authority Contract. 

(v)          That the Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing  be authorised to extend the current contract with the CCTV monitoring service until the new service is operational.

A report was submitted to Cabinet updating Members on the work and recommendations of the recent CCTV review.

The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing, Councillor Jill Waring stating that the current system was an aging one.  Members’ attention was drawn to paragraph 3 of the report which identified the issues with the current system, mainly that it was outdated and ineffective.

A visit had been made to Stoke on Trent City Council and their system was impressive, with one large screen which could be broken down into smaller sections.  Also, the system was wirelessly operated, therefore cameras could be moved.

The Leader, Councillor Simon Tagg stated that the system was very out of date, having not been overhauled since 2007.  Councillor Tagg was pleased that the Newcastle BID had agreed to contribute £40,000 towards the project and stated that there is an opportunity for other areas of the Borough to be included in the upgraded CCTV system if, like the BID, partners in those areas can provide funding.

The current Police and Crime Commissioner had also stated that if more authorities came forward he would put money into the scheme as it would be mutually beneficial to the police as to local authorities. 

Resolved:     (i)         That the BID’s agreement to provide £40,000 towards the

cost of upgrading the CCTV for Newcastle’s town centre be noted;

(ii)          That Officers be authorised to procure a CCTV system upgrade and monitoring for Newcastle town centre.

(iii)         That the Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing be authorised to finalise the specification for the CCTV system upgrade with Stoke-on-Trent City Council then  undertake a direct award without a call for competition, utilising the Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s compliant framework.

(iv)         That the Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing be authorised to finalise the specification for the monitoring, assess the proposals from Stoke-on-Trent City Council and enter into an agreement for an Inter Authority Contract. 

(v)          That the Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Wellbeing  be authorised to extend the current contract with the CCTV monitoring service until the new service is operational.

That the strategy and action plan, refreshed to reflect current priorities, be approved, with the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, being authorised to make minor amendments prior to final publication of the Strategy.

A report was submitted to Cabinet seeking approval for the Economic Development Strategy 2019-2023 which had been refreshed in line with the council’s Corporate Priorities.

The Leader stated that the current Strategy had been approved by the Cabinet in March 2018 but it did not reflect the Council’s new Corporate Priorities set out in the Council Plan.

An Action Plan for year one was included at page 27 of the Strategy.

Members’ attention was drawn to paragraph 2.3 of the report which outlines the year one actions.

Members agreed the importance of working with our partners.

The Leader advised Members that within the last week, Newcastle had been put forward to the next stage of the Town Centre Fund.

Resolved:     That the strategy and action plan, refreshed to reflect current

priorities, be approved, with the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, being authorised to make minor amendments prior to final publication of the Strategy.

(i)    That the Digital Strategy appended to the report be adopted;

(ii)   That the establishment of a dedicated Digital Team as detailed in the report be agreed;

(iii)  That an ICT and Digital Services Steering Group be established

(iv) That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to make any minor amendments to the Digital Strategy prior to publication.

A report was submitted to Cabinet advising of the benefits of adopting the Digital Strategy.

The Leader thanked The Interim Executive Director – Resources and Support Services, Jan Willis and her team and the Council’s Head of Customer and Digital Services, David Elkington for producing the Strategy.

The use of a digital service would create savings.  A typical face to face contact enquiry costs £8 whereas using a digital approach costs 8p.

The digital agenda will revolutionising the way the Council works providing efficiencies and empowering Council staff.

The Leader recognised that not all residents wish to access the Council’s services online and there is no intention to ‘turn off’ traditional methods of communication.

The aim of the Strategy is to be improve services irrespective of how, or when, residents contact the Council.

A copy of the Strategy was appended to the report.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Efficiency – Councillor Stephen Sweeney drew Members’ attention to paragraph 4.4 of the report which demonstrated how digital services could save on manhours.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Heritage, Councillor Mark Holland welcomed the report stating that the Strategy would have a positive impact upon services, provided by the Council that the public did not see.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth, Councillor Paul Northcott also welcomed the report  stating that council’s had to become smarter in the way that they work.

Resolved:     (i)         That the Digital Strategy appended to the report be

adopted;

(ii)           That the establishment of a dedicated Digital Team as detailed in the report be agreed;

(iii)          That an ICT and Digital Services Steering Group be

established

(iv)         That authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to make any minor amendments to the Digital Strategy prior to publication.

That the Executive Director (Operational Services) and Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Recycling, to undertake the required procurement processes outlined in the report, complete any post tender negotiations if required and award the contracts to the successful contractors within the overall budget provision envelope made within the approved General Fund Capital and Revenue Programme for the introduction of the new recycling and waste service.

A report was submitted to Cabinet, presented by the Portfolio Holder for  Environment and Recycling, Councillor Trevor Johnson, seeking authority to accept tenders for a range of vehicles and site and building works and services required to implement the new Recycling and Waste Service planned for 2020.

The Leader stated that it was in keeping with the Corporate Priorities relating to providing local services that work for local people.

More work was still to be done to get a more user friendly and cost effective system.

Resolved:     That the Executive Director (Operational Services) and

Executive Director (Resources and Support Services) be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Recycling, to undertake the required procurement processes outlined in the report, complete any post tender negotiations if required and award the contracts to the successful contractors within the overall budget provision envelope made within the approved General Fund Capital and Revenue Programme for the introduction of the new recycling and waste service.

That the Additional Holiday Pay proposal, as outlined in Section 4 of the report, be approved.

A report was submitted to Cabinet seeking approval of a proposal to implement additional holiday pay for employees who work regular and voluntary overtime. The Leader drew members’ attention to paragraph 4 which outlined the proposal.

Members welcomed the proposal and thanked the Council’s Interim Head of  Human Resources, Alyson Podmore for bringing this forward.

Resolved:     That the Additional Holiday Pay proposal, as outlined in Section

4 of the report, be approved.

(i)            That the contents of the attached report with the new indicators be noted and the recommendation that the Council continues to monitor performance alongside the latest financial information for the same period be agreed.

(ii)           That the inclusion of progress summaries informing how the Council is delivering against its priorities, be noted.

(iii)          That the continued development of the Financial & Performance report to reflect the vision and priorities of the Council Plan 2018-2022, be supported.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Efficiency, Councillor Stephen Sweeneyadvised Members of the financial position for the first quarter of 2019/20. 

Councillor Sweeney advised that there had been an overspend during the first quarter.  The reasons why this had occurred were outlined in paragraph 3.2 of the report.

The  Leader confirmed that plans were in place for the works at J2.

The income from the car parking had reduced due to the introduction of the £1 charge after 3pm.  The value for money of the scheme would be assessed through any changes in footfall in the town centre..

With regard to planning application fees, it was anticipated that more major planning applications would be received in future periods as the Keele Science Park is further developed.

The Leader then referred to the  performance indicators stating that a number of new ones had been introduced.  These could be found from page 110 of the agenda under references 1.2; 1.3; 1.4d; 1.8; 1.9; 1.14; 1.15; 3.2; 3.5; 4.1 and 4.2.

The majority of the indicators were on or above target with only a couple of exceptions:

            The average number of days lost to sickness.  The new Attendance management policy had been approved during this quarter so this target would be monitored closely.

The net growth in J2 membership had been impacted upon due to the problems currently being encountered at the premises.

A couple of areas had been flagged up as not on target but with a positive direction of travel:

                        The number of people accessing leisure and recreational

services.  The aqua sauna had been closed since May but plans were in place for the repair of the facility. 

            The average stall occupancy rate for markets.  The antiques forum wanted to do more as do the food markets. In addition there would be Christmas events and a record event.  Momentum was building for the markets.

In discussing the Planning indicators, Councillor Northcott explained that over the last few years, the department had been subject to variances and were under severe pressure due to capacity. 

Tribute was paid to the Council’s Head of Planning and Development, Guy Benson who was leaving the Authority at the end of the week and who had recently had health issues.  The Cabinet sent their best wishes to Guy and his family for the future. 

Thanks were recorded for the Council’s Development Management Team Manager, Elaine Moulton who had put in a lot of hard work to deliver on the Council’s Priorities.

Resolved:     (i)        That the contents of the attached report with the

                       new indicators be noted and the recommendation that the Council continues to monitor performance alongside the latest financial information for the same period be agreed.

     (ii)        That the inclusion of progress summaries informing how

                  the Council is delivering against its priorities, be noted.

(iii)         That the continued development of the Financial & Performance report to reflect the vision and priorities of the Council Plan 2018-2022, be supported.

That the Forward Plan be received.

That the Forward Plan be received.

There was no Urgent Business.

To resolve that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following reports, because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Resolved:-                That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration if the following matter because it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs contained within Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act, 1972.

That the recommendation contained within the confidential report be agreed.

A report was submitted to Cabinet in respect of a review of the shared legal services with Stoke on Trent City Council

Resolved:     That the recommendation contained within the confidential

report be agreed.