Policy & Resources Cabinet Member – Minutes – 17 July 2013

69        (9) VIREMENTS 2013-2014 – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report which sought approval for changes to the revenue and capital budgets for 2013/14.

On 19 February 2013 Council approved the revenue and capital budgets for the 2013/2014 financial year.  The report gave details of virements approved by the Director of Policy and Resources under delegated powers and those that required Cabinet Member approval.

Resolved – (a) That the virements at paragraph 3.1 of the report, approved by the Director of Policy and Resources under delegated powers be noted, and (b) that the permanent virements outlined in paragraph 3.2 of the report be approved.

70        (10)  LOCAL TAXATION AND BENEFITS SHARED SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2012/2013 – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report to inform the cabinet member on the performance of the shared service in its first financial year.

North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire Councils agreed to establish a shared service for taxation and benefits. By working together both councils aimed to make savings in operational costs to meet wider cost saving targets and to provide increased resilience in delivering key services for residents of the area.

The Annual Report set out the key achievements of the service in 2012/13 and the challenges it had faced. It provided a first assessment of the success of the initiative and opportunity to take stock for the future development of the service.

Resolved – (a) That the 2012/13 annual report be noted, and (b) that a press release be written outlining the achievements. 

71        (11) OUTCOMES OF HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) SOFT MARKET TESTING –  The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report to provide an overview of the findings from the HR soft market testing exercise and sought approval of the proposed improvement plan which identified three key areas:

·   Review HR functions and staffing

·   Increase commercial opportunities

·   Work with external partner to develop transformational approach to attendance and engagement

In June 2012 an external soft market testing exercise of the council’s Human Resources (HR) service was commissioned.

The report set out what was learned from the soft market testing exercise and made recommendations to take this learning forward.

Resolved – That the proposed soft market testing Human Resources improvement plan be approved.

72        (12) POLICY & RESOURCES DIRECTORATE PLAN AND PERFORMANCE TARGETS 2013-2014 – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report seeking approval of the 2013-14 directorate plan and performance targets for Policy and Resources.

The council strategy and the directorate plan were both measured by a number of key performance indicators. These indicators were designed to ensure that outcomes improved for the people of North Lincolnshire. The proposed set of indicators for the directorate and their target attainment for 2013-14 were detailed in Appendix 1.

The plan was a ‘live’ document that would continue to be developed and improved to reflect progress that was being made.

Resolved – (a) That the Policy and Resources Directorate Plan be approved following ratification of the new council strategy, and (b) that the performance indicators and associated targets that measure the directorate plan (appendix 1) be approved.

73        (13)  INFORMATION GOVERNANCE UPDATE: INFORMATION REQUEST CHARGING POLICY – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report seeking approval for the Information Request Charging Policy and the proposed updates for what, when and how to charge for information requests under the Freedom of Information 2000 (FOIA), Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) and Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).

It was explained that the policy was to ensure the council complied with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), and Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).

The framework housed a collection of different policies and from time to time legislation and regulation demanded that were updated or revised.

Further details were outlined within the report and associated appendices.

Resolved – That the new Information Charging Request Policy be approved and implemented with effect from 8 July 2013.

Note: Reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).

Where there is no report this is because it is exempt, as it contains information which is considered to be of a confidential nature, as detailed in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act.