Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Cllrs Peter Bilson and John Reynolds.

No declarations of interests were made.

[For approval]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 April 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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

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

[To report on the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programmes outturn position at the end of 2014/15, and an update on their financial performance as at quarter one of 2015/16 and to recommend to Full Council revised General Fund and HRA capital programmes for the period 2015/16 to 2019/20]

Cllr Andrew Johnson presented a report on the current and forecasted position over the next few years on the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programmes and on a proposal to formalise existing rules on how the capital programme would operate going forward.

Resolved:

1.    That Full Council be recommended to:

a)     Approve the revised medium term General Fund capital programme of £270.2 million, an increase of £49.1 million from the previously approved programme, reflecting the latest projected expenditure for the medium term.

b)     Approve the revised medium term Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programme of £271.2 million, an increase of £6.7 million from the previously approved programme.

c)      Approve the additional resources for eight new and thirty two existing General Fund projects totalling £49.1 million and for 10 existing HRA projects totalling £6.7 million.

d)     Approve the details of the capital financial strategy relating to; the approval of future capital projects; the declaration of identified underspends and the use of capital receipts to reduce the Council’s need to borrow to fund the approved capital programme.

2.    That the ten General Fund virements totalling £6.1 million be approved.

3.  That the updated schedules of works for the capital projects under the following directorates be approved:

i)       Corporate: ICTS and in relation to Education; Primary Expansion programme, Universal Infant Free School Meals, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and Capital Maintenance (appendices C1 – C7).

ii)      People: Electronic Social Care Records, Sports Investment Strategy, Short Breaks for Disabled Children and Co-location (appendix C8).

iii)    Place: Urban Parks Refurbishment, Leisure Centres, Disposals Programme, Targeted Disposals, Markets and Corporate Asset Management (appendices C9 – C11).

4.  That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Resources in consultation with the Director of Finance to approve the allocation of the provision of the ‘Corporate Contingency’ to individual capital projects in order that corporate priorities may be addressed in a more agile and timely manner.

5.    That the outturn position for 2014/15 which stands at 71.1% of the approved General Fund capital budget be noted.

6.    That the expenditure position for quarter one of 2015/16 which stands at 8.0% of the approved General Fund capital budget be noted.

7.    That the outturn position for 2014/15 which stands at 77.1% of the approved HRA capital budget be noted.

8.    That the expenditure position for quarter one of 2015/16 which stands at 18.8% of the approved HRA capital budget be noted.

[To approve the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2015/16, and the supporting ‘Wolverhampton Way’ document which sets out how the Council will deliver its mission of ‘working as one to serve our city’]

Cllr Roger Lawrence presented a report on a revised Council Corporate Plan for 2015/16, and a supporting ‘Wolverhampton Way’ document which set out how the Council would deliver its mission of ‘working as one to serve our city’.

Resolved:

1.    That the Corporate Plan 2015/16 be approved subject to minor amendments by Scrutiny Board, to go forward to Council on 15 July 2015.

2.    That the Wolverhampton Way: our strategic approach to transformation be approved subject to minor amendments by Scrutiny Board.

3.    That approval of amendments post Scrutiny Board be delegated to the Leader in consultation with the Managing Director.

[To present the plan prior to its final approval by the Cabinet Member for Resources in consultation with the Director of Finance]

Cllr Andrew Johnson presented, for information, a refreshed Council Financial Plan.  This was the second plan that the Council had produced and it set out the latest financial position on the Council and reflected the Council’s corporate priorities. 

Resolved:

1.    That the contents of the refreshed Financial Plan be noted.

2.    That it be noted that authority to approve the final version of Financial Plan had previously been delegated by Cabinet on 25 February 2015 to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance.

[To approve the Council’s Organisational Development Strategy]

Cllr Paul Sweet presented for approval the Council’s Organisational Development Strategy.  The Strategy set out for the first time the Council’s approach to ensuring it has the right people, with the right skills doing the right things for the City of Wolverhampton.

Resolved:

1.    That the Organisational Development Strategy be approved, subject to minor amendments by Scrutiny Board.

2.    That approval of amendments post Scrutiny Board be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Governance.

[To review and approve a new marketing strategy for the City Council which sets out the key elements of the Council’s customer-focused transformation]

Cllr Roger Lawrence presented a report on a proposed marketing strategy for the Council which set out the key elements of the Council’s customer focused transformation.

Resolved:

That the proposed marketing strategy for the City Council be approved.

[To approve the refreshed visual identity]

Cllr Roger Lawrence presented a report on proposals to refresh the Council’s visual (corporate) identity.  He reported that the proposals were part of the marketing strategy for the City Council referred to in the previous report, ‘City of Wolverhampton’ would be a new word-mark the Council would use to promote itself.  The roll out of the new corporate identity would be a cost neutral.

Resolved:

1.    That the proposed revised visual identity be approved.

2.    That the new visual identity be implemented as ‘business as usual’, on a replacement basis.

[To consider the scrutiny review report and the Executive response thereto]

Note: The Chair of the scrutiny review group has been invited to the meeting

The Cabinet received a report on the findings and recommendations of the scrutiny review on Channel Shift and the executive response to the report.

Cllr Jonathan Yardley, Chair of the Scrutiny Review Group was in attendance for this item.  He briefly highlighted some of the key recommendations from the review and commended the review Group’s report and recommendations to Cabinet

Cllr Roger Lawrence thanked Cllr Yardley and the other contributors to the review for a thorough and revealing piece of scrutiny work.  He indicated that it was another example of the value of the Council’s scrutiny activity being targeted in review type activity.

Cllr Andrew Johnson, Cabinet Member with responsibility for this service area welcomed the report and reiterated the thanks to Cllr Yardley and the review group.  He reported that he supported the recommendations and referred to the detailed executive action plan attached to the report. 

Resolved:

1.    That the report of the review group and the following recommendations be received:

R1       To introduce a risk register for the channel shift, identifying potential risks at each stage and ensuring these are included in the procurement new systems. This could be incorporated into the Corporate Risk Register and should include but not be restricted to:

1.    The risks involved with a system being heavily reliant on technology and electricity supply.

2.    Sensitivity monitoring within an Integrated Customer View.

3.    The risks involved in passing responsibility of safeguarding information to an outside provider. This includes other organisations using the same cloud space and the security level of personal information.

R2       To develop a channel shift communication plan which focuses on employees and external customers outlining the changes being made and the timescales involved, how it will affect them and the help available and how they can get involved and give feedback.

R3       To endorse the implementation of the “my account” feature integrated into the customer view of the CRM system to allow residents to easily see the transactions they have previously made and customise the services that they view. This could include information about the customers ward councillors, local provisions e.g. refuse collection and road works, and local events taking place.

R4       To ensure that all systems procured in the channel shift are future-proof. This includes ensuring the ContactPortal is updated regularly and system suppliers can be changed should the leading supplier of a service change whilst not requiring anything extra from the customer.

R5       To endorse the role of the Customer Services team on the Civic Centre concourse in guiding customers through the digital channels on tablets and PCs.

R6       To ensure customer satisfaction is monitored regularly and changes are made based on the feedback received.

R7       To illustrate the positive work of the Channel Shift and Customer Services teams by ensuring all compliments received are publicised.

R8       To use SMS messaging as a form of contact with customers in confirmation of services booked and reminders of booked appointments or forthcoming renewals. This should be included in the procurement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.