Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Democratic Services
Media
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Apologies Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Joe Harris and Councillor Jenny Forde |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of interest from Members and Officers, relating to items to be considered at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest from Members.
There were no declarations of interest from Officers. |
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To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 9th May 2022 Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Leader, Councillor Evemy asked that Minute 129 (para 3) “…local elections where a Liberal Democratic coalition administration had been formed.” should read “…local elections where a Liberal Democrat-led coalition administration had been formed” Minute 137 (para 3) “The Cabinet supported the commencement of a procurement process for the appointment of a leisure management contractor and, following the soft market testing for the cultural management, the commencement a procurement process to either transfer the service to Publica, depending or an alternative, dependent on the outcome” should read “The Cabinet supported the commencement of a procurement process for the appointment of a leisure management contractor and, following the soft market testing for the cultural management, the commencement of a procurement process.”
Spell corrections from “Councilor(s)” to Councillor(s)”
RESOLVED: Subject to the amendments above, the minutes of the meeting of the 9th May 2022 are approved as a correct record.
Voting Record – For 6, Against 0, Abstentions 0, Absent 2, |
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Chair's Announcements (if any) Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Chair’s Announcements
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Public Questions To deal with questions from the public within the open forum question and answer session of fifteen minutes in total. Questions from each member of the public should be no longer than two minutes each and relate issues under the Committee’s remit. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Public Questions |
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Member Questions To deal with written questions by Members, relating to issues under the Committee’s remit, with the maximum length of oral supplementary questions at Committee being no longer than one minute. Responses to any supplementary questions will be dealt with in writing if they cannot be dealt with at the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Member’s Questions |
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Whistle-Blowing Policy Purpose To present Cabinet with an updated Whistle-Blowing Policy for adoption. To update and replace the existing Whistle-Blowing Policy to highlight key legislation and the roles and responsibilities of Members, Officers and other parties.
Recommendation(s) (a) That Cabinet approves and adopts the Policy attached to this report and; (b) That Cabinet authorise the Monitoring Officer to approve future minor amendments to the Policy in consultation with the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit, Legal Services and the Leader of the Council.
Additional documents: Minutes: The purpose of the report was to present Cabinet with an updated Whistle-Blowing Policy for adoption, update and replace of the existing Whistle-Blowing Policy, and highlight key legislation and the roles and responsibilities of Members, Officers and other parties
In the absence of The Leader of the Council, Councillor Joe Harris, The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Evemy presented the report and stated that the policy had been updated in 2017, but the pandemic had delayed completion of its 3 year review. The policy, which was shared across Cotswold District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and Forest Of Dean District Council, covered responsibilities and obligations to safeguard employees who report or whistle blow, in order that the Council avoids wrongdoing, maintains the highest ethical standards and is able to encourage the exposure of abuse.
The Cabinet enquired how often cases of whistleblowing occurred, and the Investigation and Enforcement Manager confirmed that around 4 or 5 reports had been received in the past 3 years.
The Cabinet noted that summary training of fraud and whistleblowing was provided to all new Members, and more in depth training was provided for Officers and Managers, and this could be provided to Members if requested.
The Cabinet requested that training was provided to cover instances where an employee might whistle blow direct to a Member. The Director for Governance and Development confirmed that Member training would be scheduled.
The Cabinet noted that individuals were able to whistle blow to either the Council’s HR department, or the Counter Fraud Unit, dependant on the type of whistleblowing and their personal preference.
The Cabinet noted that easy to use documentations and a flowchart showing the process will be made available for employees.
RESOLVED: That Cabinet approved and adopted the Policy attached to the report, and authorised the Monitoring Officer to approve future minor amendments to the policy in consultation with the Counter Fraud and Enforcement Unit, Legal Services and the Leader of the Council.
Voting Record: For 6, Against 0, Abstentions 0, Absent 2, |
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Cleaning and Maintenance of Public Conveniences Purpose The purpose of this report is to provide options for delivery of the public convenience cleaning and maintenance service at the end of the current contract with Danfo.
Recommendation(s) That the Cabinet: a) Approve a one-year contract extension for the cleaning and maintenance of the Public Conveniences with Danfo; b) That a further review is carried out early in 2023 with the outcome of the review reported to Cabinet. Additional documents: Minutes: The purpose of this report is to provide options for the delivery of the public convenience cleaning and maintenance service at the end of the current contract with Danfo.
Councillor Doherty introduced the report stating that, from August 2020 a new service provider (Danfo) had been appointed to manage the service with key Council staff transferring from the previous service provider to Danfo. It was felt that the new provider had better systems in place and provided better staff support than the previous contractor, and this had led to higher satisfaction ratings and Best Toilet awards being won.
The Council noted that Ubico had been approached, but was currently unable to provide this service. They had however started conversations with the Council and comparative service delivery figures should be available from them by January 2023.
The Cabinet noted that should the Cabinet be minded to approve the one year extension to the Danfo contract, the annual cost had increased by £13,000 which was not included in the current budget. The Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that all of the options involved increased costs, and the option to remain with Danfo for a further year provided the lowest increase.
The Cabinet noted that the figures provided by Publica had been an estimate and were the (identical) figures that had been submitted by Ubico were an indicative estimate of their costs, had they been able to provide the service.
RESOLVED: The Cabinet approved a one-year contract extension for the cleaning and maintenance of the Public Conveniences with Danfo, and agreed that a further review should be carried out early in 2023 with the outcome of the review reported to Cabinet.
Voting Record – For 6, Against 0, Abstentions 0, Absent 2,
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Schedule of Decisions taken by the Leader of the Council and/or Individual Cabinet Members Additional documents: Minutes: The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Evemy presented the schedule of decisions taken by the Leader of the Council and individual members
28th March 2022 - Strengthening Local Communities Grant Funding The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing considered the recommendations of the Officer and resolved to accept the recommendation to approve to submit an application to the NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group for grant funding of £149,995.
9th May 2022 - Discretionary Council Tax Discount The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance considered the recommendations of the Officer and resolved to accept the recommendation
9th May Applications for Discretionary Rate Relief The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance considered the recommendations of the Officer and resolved to accept the recommendation for both Discretionary Rates Relief reports (items 2 and 3), with the exception of the application received from Churn Neighbourhood Project Ltd (listed in the first report under recommendation t). The Cabinet Member resolved to recommend to the officer that relief would be granted and not refused.
RESOLVED: The Cabinet noted the decisions taken by individual Members.
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Issue(s) Arising from Overview and Scrutiny and/or Audit Additional documents: Minutes: There were no issues arising from Overview and Scrutiny Committee
There were no issues arising from Audit Committee
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