Agenda and minutes

The Chair, Councillor Bradshaw, indicated that this evening’s meeting of the Committee would be the last to be attended by Jill Coule, Head of Regulation and Compliance. Jill had been with Sefton since 2010 but would be leaving the Authority at the end of June to take up the position of Chief Legal Officer to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. On behalf of the Committee Councillor Bradshaw placed on record its appreciation for all the help and guidance Jill had given to Members and wished her every success for the future in her new role at the Combined Authority.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brodie-Browne andMcKinley.

Members are requested to give notice of any disclosable pecuniary or personal interest

An advice note on declaration of interests is attached

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary or personal interests were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2018

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

Presentation by the Head of Corporate Resources

Further to Minute No. 54 of 6 March 2018 the Committee received a presentation from Stephan Van Arendsen, Head of Corporate Resources on the arvato contract.

Mr. Van Arendsen:-

·       Indicated that the arvato contract ended on 30 September 2018; that 4 of the 5 services would return to the Council and that a new ICT provider was being sought; that the current value of the contract was £15m; that the services involved underpinned all major activities and  Income sources of the Council but also key interface with residents; and that a significant staff transfer would be required

·       Detailed the governance arrangements associated with the contract which included regular briefings to Cabinet Members and a joint Exit Board with arvato

·       Advised that the new ICT provider procurement was nearing completion and an announcement was expected between 29 June to 6 July 2018

·       Detailed the core elements of activity which included staff briefings/ what would the transfer entail; the systems, processes, policies and controls; ICT Transformation; assessment of risk; and audit activity to end of 2019 at least

·       Issues associated with ICT and services returning to Council post 2018 including a further assessment of core systems, processes, policies and controls; financial assessment and control/ risk assessment; leadership, management, culture; integration with Council services:  a  contract review and development plan; and how feedback would be provided to Members

Members of the Committee asked questions/commented on the following issues:-

·       The numbers of staff transferring from arvato back to Sefton Council

·       The transition plans in place for such staff transfers including TUPE arrangements and senior management oversight of the process

RESOLVED:

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

Further to Minute No. 42 of 16 January 2018 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance setting out progress made against each of the recommendations formulated by the Licensing/Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group and approved by Cabinet.

One recommendation requested that contact be made with the borough’s three Members of parliament seeking the views of Government on strengthening the existing Regulations regarding personal licences and to ensure that Care Providers who offer residential placements for 16 – 18 year old children and young people were inspected by a regulatory body. Peter Dowd M.P. had contacted Nadhim Zahawi M.P. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families and Mr. Zahawi’s response was attached to the report.

A Further recommendation requested the Head of Schools and Families to promote the Child Sexual Exploitation e-learning tool with all schools and governing bodies and with a request that school e-newsletters contain a hyperlink to the e-learning tool. The report provided information on how 23 schools across the borough had actioned the request.

RESOLVED:

That the report setting out progress made against each of the recommendations formulated by the Licensing/Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group and approved by Cabinet be noted.

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

Further to Minute No. 7 of 13 June 2017 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources on the Discretionary Relief for Business Rates following the Revaluation of 2017.

The report indicated that under business rates regulations the Valuation Office Agency was required to review and revise the rateable value of all business properties recorded on the local rating lists in England on a regular basis (usually every five years); that the latest revaluation was implemented from the 1 April 2017; that the purpose of the revaluation was not to raise additional business rates income but to ensure that rateable values reflected the most up to date rental information available; but however, a number of businesses inevitably saw their business rates increase as a result of revaluation.

The report also provided information on the review of the Council approved local discretionary revaluation relief scheme for 2017/18; which showed that as at 27 April 2018, the Council had awarded discretionary revaluation relief to 1,147 accounts; that the total amount of relief awarded was £543,877 in 2017/18, approximately 98.6% of the total available government funding; and that the final amount of relief awarded was expected to change over time as the valuation of business properties changed as a result of appeals and other factors.

The report concluded by detailing the scheme proposals for 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 and the Grant award and financial monitoring and that an annual review of the local discretionary revaluation relief scheme and the outcome of this review would be reported to the Cabinet Member - Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services.

Attached as annex to the report was a copy of the draft Business Rates Locally Administered Discretionary Revaluation Relief Scheme Guidance for 2018/19, 2019/20 And 2020/21 that would be considered by both Cabinet and Council.

Members asked questions/raised issues on the following matters:-

·       Awards under the scheme that were limited by State Aid which allowed an undertaking to receive no more than 200,000 euros

·       Applications for discretionary rate relief to non-profit making and charitable organisations

·       An assurance was sought that the Council would do everything possible to ensure that there was no underspend of Grant

RESOLVED:

That the report on the Discretionary Relief for Business Rates following the Revaluation of 2017 be noted.

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance that sought the views of the Committee on the draft Work Programme for 2018/19, the identification of potential topics for scrutiny reviews to be undertaken by a Working Group appointed by the Committee and the identification of any items for pre-scrutiny by the Committee from the Key Decision Forward Plan.

RESOLVED: That

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance that included the most recent report from the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services.  

Councillor Lappin, Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services was in attendance to answer any questions regarding her report.

RESOLVED:  That