Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Parry.

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.

No declarations of interest were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 23 June 2011

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting held on 23 June 2011 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive

Further to Minute No. 17 of the meeting held on 23 June 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, reviews and cessation of external funding, previously approved by the Council.

The Chief Executive reported that it was intended that Officers would submit a report on proposed budget savings for 2012/13 and 2013/14 to the Cabinet Meeting on 13 October 2011 for consideration prior to them being subject to public consultation.

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 approved savings proposals, reviews and cessation of external funding as set out in the report be noted;

(2)      the progress to date on public consultation and engagement set out in the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning on the recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) in relation to the duties imposed on the Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Councillor Papworth, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) referred to the recommendations set out in the report and the previous scrutiny inquiry report produced by the Watercourse Maintenance and Flooding Working Group in October 2009. The Director of Built Environment reported on the progress made to date on the implementation of the recommendations by the Working Group.

RESOLVED: That

(1)      the report be noted;

(2)      the Director of Built Environment progress the implementation of the recommendations of the Working Group set out in Appendix C of the report; and

(3)      any financial implications arising from the duties imposed on the Council under the Flood and Water Management Act 2000 be considered during the budget process.

Report of the Director of Built Environment

Further to Minute No. 266 of the meeting held on 14 April 2011, the Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment on the award of funding by the Department of Transport under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund for schemes to be implemented by the Council in partnership with Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority and West Lancashire District Council.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the report be noted;

(2)       the Council be recommended to approve the inclusion of £575,000 in the Capital Programme, to be phased as indicated in paragraph 3.2 of the report;

(3)            Officers be authorised to commence commitment of the funds;

(4)            approval be given to the establishment of Sefton Council as the lead Accountable Authority for the Project subject to agreement with West Lancashire Council; and

(5)       it be noted that the proposal was a Key Decision which, unfortunately, had not been included in the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions because at the time of the publication of the current Forward Plan, it was not known if the bid was going to be successful and the announcement was not made until 5 July 2011.  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 Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan because delivery of the project needs to commence at the earliest opportunity.