Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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 16 February 2011

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 February 2011 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes

Further to Minute No. 26 of 3 November 2010, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director on progress in the development of Area Partnerships and seeking views on proposals for a forward work plan, to enable the progression of Area Partnerships across Sefton, which would inform a further report to Cabinet on 14 April 2011.

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

The report indicated that further to a decision taken by Cabinet on 3 March 2011, (Minute No. 248 refers), the Community Safety Area Partnerships were to be assimilated into the Area Partnerships and as such the Area Partnerships would need to be operational to enable a smooth transition.

Annex 1 to the report set out the proposed timeline for the roll out of Area Partnerships across the Borough and it was proposed that this take place in a phased approach with Crosby and Sefton East Parishes being established first, followed by Formby and Southport.

Steph Prewett, the Assistant Director Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes, presented the report and answered questions thereon.  She indicated that consultation with Members had taken place in relation to their respective areas and emphasised that in view of the widely varying needs and priorities of the differing Sefton communities, it would not be practicable to impose a uniform model to cover all of the Area Partnerships.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Acting Head of Corporate Legal Services

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Acting Head of Corporate Legal Services advising of a consultation undertaken by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on proposals to introduce a Community Right to Buy; that the consultation period ran from 4 February 2011 to 3 May 2011 and that responses would be published on the DCLG’s website within 3 months of the closing date.

The report indicated that under existing legislation, Local Authorities could transfer assets to community groups at below market value; that the Asset Transfer Unit was funded by DCLG to support local people and community groups in taking over under-used land and buildings from the public sector and transforming them into thriving community spaces; and the Government was now seeking to introduce new powers to help communities save local facilities threatened with closure.  In this respect Parliament was in the process of considering the Localism Bill, setting the framework for this policy and placing a duty on Local Authorities to publish a list of assets of community value to help make communities aware of listed assets in their area.

Sue Cain, Solicitor, presented the report, answered questions thereon and tabled the Council’s response to the consultation, which had been compiled following discussions with a working group of officers from the Legal, Property, Planning, Leisure and Neighbourhoods Departments, and the Public Engagement and Consultation Manager.  She concluded that the report, together with the response to the consultation exercise was to be considered by Cabinet on 14 April 2011.

RESOLVED:

That the report and the intention of the Acting Head of Corporate Legal Services to submit the report for consideration by Cabinet on 14 April 2011 be noted.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive advising of a consultation by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), on proposals to introduce a Community Right to Challenge and the process for responding to the consultation paper, attached as an Annex to the report.

The report indicated that the intention of the Community Right to Challenge was to introduce new powers which would give communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services. The consultation was running in tandem with the Community Right to Buy consultation, referred to in Minute No.46 above, for 12 weeks, from 4 February to 3 May 2011, was aimed primarily at relevant authorities and bodies (voluntary and community bodies, charities, parish councils and relevant authority employees) and individual service users.

The report concluded by indicating that representations from the Planning, Procurement, Legal and Democratic Services Departments would be sought to formulate a response with a view to submitting a report to the Cabinet meeting on 14 April, 2011.

RESOLVED:  That

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive on the Council’s final outturn performance in relation to the Local Area Agreement (LAA) 2007-2010 stretch targets, listed in Annex 1 to the report.

The report indicated that the Council had originally expected to receive a Performance Reward Grant (PRG) from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) with a potential total of £9,503,596.00 for achievement of targets, but the DCLG had subsequently notified the Council that the maximum reward payable on the 2007-2010 LAA would be £4,751,798.00, which equated to 50% of the original PRG.

Ian Willman, Area Performance Co-ordinator presented the report and answered questions thereon, concluding that the expected PRG attained was £3,600,738.59 and that confirmation had recently been received from the DCLG that this payment would shortly be paid to Sefton Council.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive, informing of the consultation on the Code of Recommended Practice for local authorities on Data Transparency.

The report indicated that the proposed Code contained in Annex 1 to the report was concerned with making data generated by authorities available and accessible to the public; and was intended to provide a high level but formal statutory basis to the local transparency agenda, support current sector standards and complement publication and disclosure requirements under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Sue Varga, Senior Corporate Performance Officer presented the report and answered questions thereon.  She indicated that in order to meet the consultation deadline of 14 March 2011, a response to the consultation had already been submitted to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and had been compiled from responses from colleagues from Corporate Services and the Chief Executive’s department. DCLG had been informed that the meeting of the Cabinet Member Performance and Governance was being held on 16 March and additional comments arising from consultation with the Cabinet Member and Opposition Spokespersons would be submitted.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

Further to Minute No. 22 of 3 November 2010, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive on the latest publications on Sector Self Regulation and Improvement.

The report indicated that the Council had previously responded to a Local Government (LG) Group consultation paper on Sector Self Regulation in November 2010, and that whilst the Council agreed with the principles, it had made several suggestions where changes should be made to improve Self Regulation. The Assistant Chief Executive indicated that the Performance Team had been gratified to note that the document had incorporated a number of suggestions submitted by Sefton.

The report continued that from the feedback received from 120 individual councils and over 200 replying through Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships, the LG Group had published ‘Taking the lead: self regulation and improvement in local government’, attached as Annex 1 to the report.

The report concluded that the document provided early indications of the level of self regulation expected from Councils to ensure that accountability, transparency and value for money was achieved; that whilst it was being proposed by Government that local authorities would be self regulating, a first consultation on the details of a new audit framework was planned for early in 2011; the Government envisaged that it might subsequently publish a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny, ahead of the final introduction of legislation to Parliament and following such consultation and scrutiny it was the Government’s intention to introduce the necessary legislation at the earliest opportunity.

Arising from discussion it was suggested that an informal joint meeting of the Cabinet Member Performance and Governance, Spokespersons and relevant officers together with the Cabinet Member – Communities, Spokespersons and respective officers, for consideration of cross cutting issues arising from the report.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive on the Government response to the recent consultation on a new Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity and its impact on the Council.

The Code of Practice, attached as Annex A to the report, covered a number of areas including the appropriate use of publicity, even handedness, equality and diversity and care during periods of heightened sensitivity.  The report indicated that the new recommended practice strengthened existing legislation and then focused on two new areas, namely, the use of council newspapers and the use of political lobbyists by local authorities.

Dan Grice, Head of Communications, presented the report, indicating that Sefton Council did not produce a corporate newspaper, did not corporately use political lobbyists, and that work was ongoing to find the best channels for true two way communication with residents which were both prioritised and cost effective.  He explained that this would not result in any type of corporate newspaper and was focusing on other methods such as the web in a bid to reduce the amount of printing, such as. leaflets and newsletters, being produced by departments.

The report indicated that the revised Publicity Code was based on seven principles that local authorities should be:

• lawful;
• appropriate;
• cost effective;
• objective;
• even-handed;
• issued with care during periods of heightened sensitivity; and
• have regard to equality and diversity.

Mr. Grice concluded by indicating that the new Code of Recommended Practice strengthened the need for all future council communications to be corporately planned to ensure that only essential messaging with a business priority went forward, and that the Corporate Communications Team would now highlight the Code to all departments to ensure compliance.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and that the thinking around implementation and compliance of the Code across the Council be endorsed.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive providing broad details on the Localism Bill and seeking a steer on the next steps required.

The report indicated that the main objectives of the Bill, which was published on 13 December 2010, were:

• empowering local people;
• freeing local government from central and regional control;
• giving local communities a real share in local growth; and
• a more efficient and more local planning system.

The Bill set out the following ‘6 essential actions’ that were required for decentralisation reform allowing the country to move from ‘Big Government’ control to ‘Big Society’ empowerment:

• lift the burden of bureaucracy;
• empower communities to do things their way;
• increase local control of public finance;
• diversify the supply of public services;
• open up government to public scrutiny; and
• strengthen accountability to local people.

The report concluded by indicating that many aspects of the Localism Bill would have implications for the Council’s governance process, including the constitution and referred to the Cabinet Member’s chairmanship of a Member Steering Group to oversee the current review of the constitution.  However, it was acknowledged that a further more fundamental review would be required as the Localism Bill progressed through Parliament and further related regulations were released for consultation.

RESOLVED: That