Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P. Dowd and Robertson.

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 17 October 2011

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 17 October 2011 be confirmed as a correct record.

To consider passing the following resolution:

That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs1, 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.  The Public Interest Test has been applied and favours exclusion of the information from the Press and Public.

RESOLVED:            That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.  The Public Interest Test has been applied and favours exclusion of the information from the press and public.

Report of the Director of Corporate Support Services

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Corporate Support Services relating to the contractual dispute between the Council and One Vision Housing.

RESOLVED:

That the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT and the Head of Corporate Legal Services be authorised to attend a mediation meeting to negotiate a settlement of a contractual dispute between One Vision Housing and the Council, if appropriate.

Report of the Strategic Director – Place to follow

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director - Place reviewing the contractual arrangements between the Council and Capita Symonds.  The risks, liabilities and benefits of the proposed course of action were identified within the report and an estimation of the costs of the known elements of risk/liability was set out.

Members had a full and detailed discussion on the matters contained within the report and the appendix containing the external legal advice received.  The Strategic Director (Place) informed Members of additional legal advice that had been received following publication of the report.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       after consideration of the risks and benefits outlined within the report the Strategic Director - Place, the Head of Corporate Legal Services and the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT be authorised to undertake the actions detailed in section 3 of the report;

(2)       it be noted that the proposal was 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 (Performance and Corporate Services) has been consulted under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Committee 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 of the timescales and confidentiality involved; and

(3)       it be noted that the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Performance and Corporate Services) had given his consent under Rule 17 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules for these decisions to be treated as urgent and not subject to “call-in” on the basis that the decision cannot be reasonably deferred because of the timescales and confidentiality involved.