Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Boothby and Surtees.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 12 August 2015.

It was moved by Councillor Morrell, seconded by Councillor Wright and

RESOLVED – the minutes of the meeting held on 12 August 2015 be confirmed and signed by the Leader.

The Finance, Audit & Performance Committee at its meeting on 7 September 2015 made a recommendation to the Executive in relation to the ISA260. An extract from the minutes of that meeting is attached.

The Executive received a minute extract from the meeting of the Finance, Audit & Performance Committee on 7 September in relation to the item “ISA260 – report to those charged with governance” which urged the Executive to give clear direction as to the financial sustainability in order to set a balanced budget for 2015/16 onwards.

In response, the Leader made the following points:

·         The issues affecting the funding position of the council included Government cuts and internal service pressures as well as the County Council’s decision to remove recycling credits

·         Passing on of some of the New Homes Bonus to parish councils had been withdrawn in 2015/16 to offset some of the pressures

·         There was an error in the figure quoted for the deficit arising from the green waste service in the Auditor’s report

·         The Auditor’s report had since been updated to correct a statement about “options for addressing the funding gap having been dismissed” whereby the word “dismissed” had been changed to “considered” at the request of the Leader

·         The Leader acknowledged that the position with regard to the Housing Revenue Account had yet to be addressed

·         Gross figures in relation to the Leisure Centre had been quoted in the Auditor’s ISA260 report, which gave quite a different impression to net figures used elsewhere

·         The value of the land at Middlefield Lane was felt to be at the lower end of estimates, and the options to address the gap in funding now arising from that would be discussed following this meeting.

In response to the Leader’s comment that he had been surprised to see figures and values in the ISA260, it was explained that, as a public authority, the council had to publish such information in order to comply with transparency regulations and therefore this was information already in the public domain.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Community Direction).

The Executive received a report which outlined corporate service standards and a Corporate Enforcement Policy for regulatory services within the council. It was noted that this work had been undertaken with the other Leicestershire authorities and the Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP). Officers were thanked for a good report and it was moved by Councillor Morrell, seconded by Councillor Roberts and

RESOLVED – the Corporate Service Standards and Corporate Enforcement Policy be approved.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Direction).

Members received the draft Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) policy which had been updated following an inspection by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners in 2014 and had now been simplified and included procedures for the use of social media. It was explained that, as many investigations were led by the police, the authority rarely had to use its powers, but was required to have a policy. On the motion of Councillor Wright, seconded by Councillor Morrell, it was

RESOLVED – the RIPA policy be approved.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Direction).

The Executive received a report which requested a supplementary budget in order to effectively maintain the Register of Electors. It was explained that the new requirement for Individual Electoral Registration (IER), whilst intended to ensure accuracy of registration, was more confusing and time consuming for the electorate and included additional administrative pressures for the authority. It was moved by Councillor Wright, seconded by Councillor Morrell and

RESOLVED –

(i)            The additional burden of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) and the income received to support this, resulting in a net increase in expenditure of £5,506 being the difference between the funding and the expenditure, be noted;

(ii)           The supplementary income budget of £27,494 to reflect the additional grant income be approved;

(iii)          The supplementary expenditure budget of £33,000 to reflect the additional cost be approved.