Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Shaw to his first Cabinet meeting following his appointment to the post of Cabinet Member - Environmental.

The Chair reported that this would be the last Cabinet Meeting, the Strategic Director - Health and Wellbeing, Charlie Barker, would be attending prior to his retirement on 31 May 2011.

The Chair paid tribute to the sterling work undertaken by Charlie for the Council and Borough of Sefton during the last thirteen years.

RESOLVED:

That the thanks and appreciation of the Council be extended to the Strategic Director - Health and Wellbeing, Charlie Barker for the work he had undertaken for the Council and Borough of Sefton during the last thirteen years and best wishes be extended to him for a happy and healthy retirement.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of interest were received:

Minutes of the meeting held on 14 April 2011

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting held on 14 April 2011 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive

Further to Minute No. 255 of the meeting held on 14 April 2011, the Cabinet considered the report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on the progress made under the Transformation Programme and the implementation of the savings proposals previously approved by the Council.

This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the progress to date on the Transformation Programme be noted; and

(2)            Officers be mandated in respect of funding and service changes, to commence/continue consultation processes with partners, employees and Trade Unions with a view to implementing the required changes identified, including the issue of relevant statutory and contractual notifications.

Report of the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT

The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT which provided an update on the latest assumptions contained in the Medium Term Financial Plan 2012/13 to 2014/15 and highlighted the potential budget gaps for that period.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the projected assumptions in the Medium Term Financial Plan be approved; and

(2)       it be noted that the potential budget shortfalls within the Medium Term Financial Plan are as follows:-

                                    £m

            2012/13            20.05

            2013/14            27.65

            2014/15            38.55

Report of the Director of Built Environment

Further to Minute No. 268 of the meeting held on 14 April 2011, the Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment which provided details of the progress made on the renewal of the existing highway and drainage maintenance contracts and sought approval to award contracts for the ten highway and maintenance contracts.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the progress made on the renewal of highway and drainage maintenance contracts be noted;

(2)            approval be given to the award of the following contracts to the highest scoring contractors indicated below subject to final discussions with the successful contractor regarding the sufficiency of their tender and in the case of poor performance by the Primary Contractor, the contract be awarded to the second highest tenderer as the reserve Contractor;

(3)       the contract for Highway Minor Works be awarded to the two highest scoring tenderers, Dowhigh Ltd., Netherton and King Construction, Knowsley subject to final discussions with the successful contractors regarding the sufficiency of their tenders;

(4)       it be noted that this is a Key Decision but unfortunately had not been included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  Consequently, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) had been consulted under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it is impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan because it is expected that the tendering exercise will result in more favourable rates and better value for money to the Council.  An early decision to appoint new companies will allow for more timely commencement of new contracts.

Report of the Director of Built Environment

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment which indicated that the cessation of the Government Housing Capital Pot from 2011/12 had resulted in a funding shortfall for Disabled Facilities Grants and as a result the resources available are insufficient to meet the statutory requirements.  The report sought approval of top-up funding for Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) from the prudential borrowing previously earmarked for housing purposes.  The revenue cost associated with this borrowing is already built into the base budget.

This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)            approval be given to the use of this year's unringfenced funding of £1,576,000 for Disabled Facilities Grants (DGCs) made available by the Department for Communities and Local Government;

(2)            approval be given to the allocation of £1,000,000 of prudential borrowing previously earmarked by the Cabinet for housing purposes to replace the Government's Housing Capital Pot funding; and

(3)       it be noted that the revenue costs associated with this borrowing is already built into the base budget.

Report of the Director of Street Scene

Further to Minute No. 198 of the meeting held on 27 January 2011 and Minute No. 96 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Environmental held on 6 April 2011, the Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Street Scene which sought approval to re-tender the Green Waste Composting Contract and establish an interim arrangement until the new contract commences.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)            approval be given to re-tendering of the Green Waste Composting Contract Service with immediate effect;

(2)       the Director of Street Scene be granted delegated authority to make interim arrangements for the delivery and composting of green waste until the new contract commences; and

(3)       it be noted that this is a Key Decision but, unfortunately it had not been included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  Consequently, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) had been consulted under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it is impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan due to the need to commence procurement and establish interim arrangements without further delay.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

The Cabinet considered a report on the Director of Corporate Commissioning which sought the appointment of Council representatives to serve on Outside Bodies set out in the report for 2011/12 or for periods longer than one year.  Details of the existing representation on Outside Bodies was set out in the report.

This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

RESOLVED: That

(1)      the following Members be appointed to serve on the undermentioned Outside Bodies for 2011/12:

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning seeking the appointment of representatives to serve on the General Assembly of the Local Government Association (LGA) for 2011/12 and to attend the Annual Meeting to be held on 28 June 2011 at Birmingham; and agreement on the distribution of the voting power between the representatives appointed.

The Authority had been invited to nominate up to four representatives to attend and exercise the Council's votes at the meetings of the LGA General Assembly.

This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)            Councillors Brodie-Browne and Maher be appointed as the named representatives to attend meetings of the General Assembly of the LGA in 2011/12 and the Annual Meeting on 28 June 2011; and

(2)       the distribution of the voting power between the representatives appointed be as follows:

            Councillor Maher - 3 votes

            Councillor Brodie-Browne - 2 votes.

Report of the Head of Corporate Legal Services

Further to Minute No. 19(2) of the Adjourned Annual Council Meeting held on 17 May 2011, the Head of Corporate Legal Services submitted a report relating to the Council's representation on the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the legal default position relating to proportionality on the Joint Authorities set out in Paragraph 3.3 of the report be approved and Councillors Dodd, M. Dowd, Friel and Griffiths be appointed as the Council's representatives on the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority for 2011/12; and

(2)            Councillor Griffiths be appointed as a representative of the Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority on the Strategic Board of the Sefton Borough Partnership subject to approval by the Authority.

(In accordance with Rule 18.5 of the Council and Committee Procedure Rules, the following Councillors requested that their votes against resolution (1) above be recorded, namely: Councillors Booth, Brodie-Browne, Robertson and Shaw).