Agenda, decisions and minutes

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Executive Cabinet held on 16 November be confirmed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of any interests.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will have three minutes to put their question(s) to the respective Executive Member(s).  Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one short supplementary question. 

There were no questions submitted by any members of the public.

Report of Director (Business, Development and Growth).

1.    Approval granted for the next phase of projects to enable continued delivery of the play, open space and playing pitch strategy and associated action plan.

2.    The allocation of Section 106 monies to the schemes identified in the refreshed strategy action plan be noted.

3.    Delegated approval granted of the detailed projects and associated tender exercise to the Executive Member subject to consultation with appropriate ward members.

4.    Approval granted for the commission of a new Open Space, Playing Pitches and Recreation Strategy in partnership with South Ribble and Preston Councils linking into the upcoming Local Plan review to provide a new strategy from 2020 to 2025 at an estimated cost of £30,000.

The Executive Leader presented a report of the Director of Business, Development and Growth that updated members on the delivery on the Play, Open Spaces and Playing Pitch Strategy and sought approval for the allocation of existing Section 106 money to schemes, as identified within the Strategy and in accordance with site assessments and policy, in order to continue its delivery.

The existing Strategy is a five year plan from 2014 – 2019 and with the fourth year almost complete, the Council are now working to deliver year five and plan for future years. All of the sites identified in the action plan were those that scored low for quality or value or those which are located in areas of high usage and subsequently need investment to improve and modernise facilities and infrastructure. A forward plan is needed in advance to justify the collection of developer contributions from new developments and also inform the pooling of Section 106 monies.

The report provided an update on completed schemes to date and detailed the next round of schemes, following a ‘light touch’ assessment and strategy refresh by officers, pending the publication of the new Open Space and Sports Recreation Strategy 2020 – 2025 which is expected to be completed by Spring 2019. Consultation with Members and the public will be carried out by external consultants throughout 2018 in order to capture suggestions for sites not already included in the existing Strategy.

An overview of the approximate budgets required against the types of schemes was also provided along with the amounts of funding already receipted for spend against each one.

Members discussed the provision of play equipment for older children and adults. Schemes like Trim Trails to promote healthier lifestyles have been earmarked for inclusion at Coronation Recreational Ground and the Westway Campus.

Decision:

1.    Approval granted for the next phase of projects to enable continued delivery of the play, open space and playing pitch strategy and associated action plan.

2.    The allocation of Section 106 monies to the schemes identified in the refreshed strategy action plan be noted.

3.    Delegated approval granted of the detailed projects and associated tender exercise to the Executive Member subject to consultation with appropriate ward members.

4.    Approval granted for the commission of a new Open Space, Playing Pitches and Recreation Strategy in partnership with South Ribble and Preston Councils linking into the upcoming Local Plan review to provide a new strategy from 2020 to 2025 at an estimated cost of £30,000.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

In order to require and collect developer contributions for Play and Open Space, the Council needs to have in place a strategy which sets out where that investment is required. The Council continually requests and collects Section 106 contributions that are allocated to scheme ready for delivery when all the money required is collected.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

If the Council does not have a forward plan of schemes, it would lose the opportunity to request contributions from developers. Section 106  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.EC.117

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1,3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 1: Information relating to any individual.

Condition:

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

By Virtue of Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Condition:

Information is not exempt if it is required to be registered under-

The Companies Act 1985

The Friendly Societies Act 1974

The Friendly Societies Act 1992

The Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978

The Building Societies Act 1986 (recorded in the public file of any building society, within the meaning of the Act)

The Charities Act 1993

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

By Virtue of Paragraph 4: Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under the authority.

Condition:

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

To exclude the press and public for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

To exclude the press and public for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Report of the Director (Customer and Digital)

1.    Approval granted for the waste and recycling service to continue to be outsourced.

2.    Approval granted for the waste tender to be based on the current service and tenders to be evaluated on this basis. Bidders will also be asked to price for Option 2, the four weekly collection of plastic, bottles, can and glass (blue Bins) with other waste streams collected as current.

3.    Approval granted for the recommended ancillary services detailed in section 43 of the report.

4.    Approval granted that the contract period be for ten years with the option of a two year extension.

5.    Approval granted for the cost quality ratio for the tender evaluation be 60:40.

6.    Approval granted for the waste collection vehicles to be financed and procured by the Council provided it is cheaper to do so.

7.    Approval granted for the award of contract to be submitted to Executive Cabinet and full Council in July 2018.

The Executive Member (Resources) presented the report of the Director of Customer and Digital that sought approval for the contract award procedure and evaluation criteria for the waste and recycling collection contract for households in the Borough. The report also sought approval for waste collection service options and ancillary services which would form part of the tender.

The Council’s current waste and recycling collection contract expires on 31 March 2019 and is the largest contract that the Council procures and is high risk in terms of value and reputational risk. It is also a high profile service that is provided to all residents of the Borough.

Consultants, AEA Ricardo were appointed by the Council to assist with this procurement and have completed work on modelling the potential options along with risks and benefits for the new contract. The Council has significant targets to achieve for the 2019/20 budget with a 2017/18 MTFS target of £250,000 for this contract. It was recommended that the service continued to be outsourced. Four options were modelled within the report with indicative costings provided for each one.

The findings of the consultant’s report had been presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 30 November with Option 2 (four weekly blue bin collections) to be included in the tender documentation being recommended by the Committee.

The Council’s consideration to either purchase or lease the waste collection vehicles would only be taken up if deemed to be a cost effective option for the authority. The Executive Cabinet accepted that there was an element of risk to these proposals and that any such proposals would be explored fully.

The new contract would include a review of the current waste collection rounds within the first year of the contract to ensure a high level of productivity and efficiency will be achieved. This review would be undertaken by the new service provider and details on how this would be carried out would form part of the tender. This is likely to result in a number of day changes which will cause some short term disruption.

The Council had explored the potential for partnership working with other Councils due geography and contract expiry dates there had been limited possibilities. The proposed contract length is for ten years with a two year extension option so that it will align with the current South Ribble contract which will end in June 2029.

Members commented on how disappointed they were with current recycling rates across the country and asked if Chorley could look at making improvements where possible. Lancashire County Council does not wish to discuss this any further at present and it was thought that rates would only improve when incineration of recycled products was a viable option.

Decision:

1.    Approval granted for the waste and recycling service to continue to be outsourced.

2.    Approval granted for the waste tender to be based on the current service and tenders to be evaluated on this basis. Bidders will also be asked to price  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.EC.119

Report of Director (Business, Growth and Development)

1.    Approval granted of the proposed structure for consultation.

2.    Approval granted for the Executive Member for Economic Development and Public Service Reform be given delegated authority for approving the final structure following the period of formal consultation, subject to there being no significant changes to what was proposed in the report

The Executive Leader presented the report of the Director of Business, Development and Growth that presented a proposal for restructuring the Business, Development and Growth Directorate.

The directorate wide review follows on from the review of senior management in 2016 and subsequent appointment of a new Director of Business, Development and Growth in 2017.

The Business, Development and Growth directorate is key to delivering the Council’s priority of a strong local economy and the aim of the restructure was to develop a fit for purpose structure which will have the right skills and capacity to deliver existing services and drive forward economic growth through ambitious projects such as the digital health park and bringing forward employment sites.

The proposed restructure would also increase capacity in planning policy and planning obligations and adoptions and will create a number of fixed term project posts to drive forwards capital projects such as Digital Health, Primrose Gardens, Market Walk Extension and other income generating employment sites.

Decision:

1.    Approval granted of the proposed structure for consultation.

2.    Approval granted for the Executive Member for Economic Development and Public Service Reform be given delegated authority for approving the final structure following the period of formal consultation, subject to there being no significant changes to what was proposed in the report.

Reasons for recommendation(s):

To ensure the structure of the directorate is fit for purpose and meets the needs of the business in the future.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

To continue with the existing structure is an option, however it has been rejected as the current structure is not meeting the current needs of the service. This is partly due to the number of vacant posts, but also the additional work created by a large number of large capital projects which are consuming a significant amount of staff time. Additionally continuing with the existing structure would not achieve the financial savings which are required to meet the MTFS savings target.