Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3 - Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1SH

Contact: Dereck Francis  Tel: 01902 555835 or Email: dereck.francis@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received for the meeting.

2.

Declaration of interests

Minutes:

No declarations of interests were made.

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting - 20 July 2016 pdf icon PDF 117 KB

[For approval]

Minutes:

Resolved:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 20 July 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

4.

Matters arising

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting]

Minutes:

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

5.

Adoption of the Wolverhampton City Centre area action plan pdf icon PDF 895 KB

[To recommend the area action plan to full Council for adoption]

Minutes:

Cllr John Reynolds presented a report on the final stages of production of the Wolverhampton City Centre Area Action Plan (AAP).  He proposed that the AAP be referred to Council for adoption when it would form part of the adopted Local Plan for Wolverhampton and would be used to determine planning applications in the AAP area following a six week legal challenge period.

 

Resolved:

That Council be recommended to adopt the Wolverhampton City Centre Area Action Plan.

6.

Outcome of the Local Government Association Finance Peer Review - June 2016 pdf icon PDF 216 KB

[To approve the draft action plan arising from the recommendations within the Local Government Association Finance Peer Review final report]

Minutes:

Cllr Andrew Johnson presented a report on the outcome of the recent Local Government Association (LGA) Finance Peer Review. He placed on record his thanks to Mark Taylor, Director of Finance and the Corporate Finance Team for the work they had done in putting together the action plan in response to the Peer Review recommendations and for the manner in which they responded to the LGA Review Team which had led to the good review report.

 

Cllr Johnson also reported that the Peer Review report made reference to it being timely for the Council to take stock and reflect on its overall financial strategy.  He suggested that the Confident, Capable Council Scrutiny Panel be asked to consider this point and present their findings to Cabinet.

 

Resolved:

1.     That the draft action plan arising from the recommendations within the Local Government Association Finance Peer Review final report be approved.

 

2.     That the outcome and issues raised in the Local Government Association Finance Peer Review final report be noted.

 

3.     That it be noted that a workshop had been planned with Grant Thornton for 9 September to provide an external challenge to the Council’s action plan.

 

4.     That it be noted that the report would also be considered by the Confident, Capable Council Scrutiny Panel on 14 September 2016.

 

5.     That the Confident, Capable Council Scrutiny Panel be recommended to review the Council’s overall financial strategy and present their observations and recommendations to Cabinet.

7.

Children and Young People's participation strategy pdf icon PDF 92 KB

[To approve the participation strategy and endorse the Council’s commitment to children and young people having influence over decisions and actions on services that affect them]

 

Minutes:

Cllr Val Gibson presented a report on the Children and Young People's participation strategy.   The strategy report set out the Council’s commitment to the importance of effective participation of children and young people in the services that affect them.  It also included clear standards of participation for children and young people to ensure that it was not tokenistic and remained relevant.

 

Resolved:

1.     That the three year Children and Young People’s Participation Strategy be approved.

 

2.     That the Council’s commitment to children and young people having influence over decisions and actions on services that affect them be endorsed.

8.

Director of Public Health annual report 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 102 KB

[To endorse the publication of the annual report]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Paul Sweet presented the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report for 2015/16 which illustrated Public Health related changes in the Wolverhampton population and place over the last 150 years.  Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 the local authority was required to publish the annual report.

 

Resolved:

That the publication of the Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2015/16 be approved.

 

9.

Safer Wolverhampton Partnership annual report pdf icon PDF 84 KB

[To endorse the annual report and support identified areas for future development]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Paul Sweet presented a report on a summary of the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership annual report detailing progress against its strategic plan and performance. The annual report also detailed services commissioned using the annual allocated grant from the Office for Policing and Crime against which it is required to produce quarterly expenditure and outcome reports.

 

Resolved:

That the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership Annual Report 2015-16 be endorsed and the identified areas for development contained in the Annual report be supported.

 

10.

Exclusion of press and public

[To pass the following resolution:

 

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information on the grounds shown below.]

Minutes:

Resolved:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within the paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act

11.

WV Living detailed business plan phase 1

[To approve Phase 1 of the WV Living (the Council’s Housing Company) detailed business plan to commence trading and delivering new housing for sale and market rent]

Minutes:

Cllr Peter Bilson presented a report seeking approval to phase 1 of the WV Living (the Council’s Housing Company) detailed business plan to commence trading and delivering new housing for sale and market rent. 

 

Resolved:

  1. That Council be recommended to approve an increase to the Council’s Capital Programme by up to a maximum of £40 million for loans to WV Living to be repaid to the Council in accordance with the provisions of the business plan.

 

  1. That the detailed business plan for WV Living (the Council’s Housing Company) for 2016 – 2017 be approved, including:

i.      The detailed financial plan

ii.     The updated risk register

iii.    The key terms of the shareholder agreement between the Council and WV Living

iv.   The key terms of the Loan agreement between the Council and WV Living

 

  1. That loans from the Council to WV Living up to a total value of £40 million to cover the acquisition/land costs of the first phase of development secured by a legal charge be approved.

 

  1. That a loan from the Council to WV Living up to £1 million to cover the company’s running costs over the initial few years of operation to be funded from the efficiency reserve or through equity funding be approved.

 

  1. That Housing Services incur pre-acquisition costs on behalf of the company until March 2017 up to £750,000 funded from the Regeneration Reserve.

 

  1. That the detailed Shareholder Agreement between the Council and WV Living be delegated to the Cabinet Members for City Assets and Housing and Resources in conjunction with the Managing Director and the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer).

 

  1. That detailed loan agreements and the execution of any loan agreements or other financial instruments between the Council and WV Living be delegated to the Cabinet Members for City Assets and Housing and Resources in conjunction with the Managing Director and the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer).

 

  1. That the entering into of any ancillary agreements or documents between the Council and WV Living arising out of the funding to WV Living be delegated to the Cabinet Members for City Assets and Housing and Resources in conjunction with the Managing Director and the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer).

 

  1. That the Council will act as guarantor for contracts entered into by WV Living where appropriate.

 

  1. That the Council bids for Help to Buy grant funding, along with delegated authority to the Cabinet Member for City Assets and Housing in consultation with the Strategic Director for Housing to enter into a contract with the Homes and Communities Agency to accept the grant funding, and bid for future phases of Help to Buy grant funding as necessary.

 

  1. That the authority to approve the final financial strategy for providing loans and equity to the Company be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Resources in conjunction with the Director of Finance.

 

  1. That it be noted that in accordance with the resolution of Cabinet following its meeting on 20 July 2016 WV Living would commence trading as soon  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Human Resources

[To note the recommendation to Full Council from the Special Appointments Committee relating to the appointment to the post of Service Director – Adults]

 

Minutes:

Cabinet received, for information, a report on a recommendation from the Special Appointments Committee to Full Council on the appointment of David Watts as Service Director, Adults.

 

Resolved:

That the recommended from the Special Appointments Committee to Full Council on the appointment of David Watts as Service Director,  Adults on the council’s senior management terms and conditions be noted.