Policy And Resources Committee - 22/09/2008

At a MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 22nd September, 2008.

 

Present:-

 

Lord Provost John R LETFORD

 

 

 

BAILIES

 

Helen WRIGHT

Roderick A J WALLACE

Derek J SCOTT

Willie SAWERS

 

Ian BORTHWICK

 

COUNCILLORS

 

Kevin KEENAN

Fraser MACPHERSON

Bob DUNCAN

Mohammed ASIF

Helen DICK

Elizabeth F FORDYCE

Laurie BIDWELL

Ken GUILD

Stewart HUNTER

Tom FERGUSON

Jim BARRIE

Ken LYNN

Brian GORDON

Jimmy BLACK

Christina ROBERTS

Richard McCREADY

David BOWES

Alan G ROSS

Joe MORROW

 

Donald HAY

 

Councillor Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

 

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 8th September, 2008 was held as read.

 

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

 

I MINUTES

 

(i) PERSONNEL APPOINTMENTS SUB-COMMITTEE OF 24TH MARCH, 9TH JUNE AND 22ND AUGUST, 2008

 

(ii) SUPERANNUATION INVESTMENT SUB-COMMITTEE OF 18TH AUGUST, 2008

 

The minutes of meetings of the above Sub-Committees, copies of which are appended hereto (Appendices I and II), were submitted for information and record purposes.

 

II ANNUAL CONSUMER SURVEY 2008

 

There was submitted Report No 411-2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive summarising the main findings from the 2008 Annual Consumer Survey and explaining their use.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the results contained in this report and agreed that the issues raised should continue to be addressed as part of the Council's commitment to continuous improvement; and

 

(ii) authorised officers to publish the report on the Council's website and distribute copies to partner organisations and representative bodies as part of the Council's commitment to Public Performance Reporting.

 

III GENDER EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY SCHEME

 

There was submitted Report No 455-2008 by the Director of Leisure and Communities and Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) relative to the above.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the progress made in implementing the Corporate Gender Equality and Diversity Scheme 2007/2010; and

 

(ii) approved the First Annual Report on the Gender Equality and Diversity Scheme 2007/2010.

 

IV IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY BOARD

 

On a reference to Article V of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 17th October, 2005, there was submitted Report No 468-2008 by the Chief Executive proposing that the existing remit of the Efficiency Government Board be extended in order to drive the change processes involved in achieving more efficient ways of working with an emphasis on re-engineering business processes to bring about improvements in the way the Council delivered services.

 

The Committee approved the remit of the Improvement and Efficiency Board as set out in Section 5 of the report.

 

V PERFORMANCE REPORT

 

There was submitted Report No 483-2008 by the Head of Finance informing elected members of the Council's performance for the financial year 2007/2008.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the Council's performance for 2007/2008 and, in particular, the improved overall performance on the previous year of comparable Statutory Performance Indicators. Based on Accounts Commission data, 71% of these indicators either maintained or improved performance level;

 

(ii) noted that 52% of the indicators finished in the top half of the Accounts Commission's data tables compared to an ambitious target of 70%. This performance was better than the Council's main city rivals, and was a 10% improvement on last year's figure of 47%; and

 

(iii) noted the Efficiency Statement for the Council which identified savings of almost 2.0 million in the 2007/2008 financial year.

 

The Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

 

VI PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT - EARLY RETIREMENT

 

After considering Agenda Note AN183-2008, the Committee approved the early retirement of a Photo Typesetter within the Public Relations Department (ER08/08) on the grounds of voluntary retirement with effect from 30th September, 2008 in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998.

 

VII DUNDEE CONTRACT SERVICES - EARLY RETIREMENT

 

After considering Agenda Note AN184-2008, the Committee resolved that a Principal Cost Control and Measurement Officer, Keyboard Operator and Senior Administrative Assistant (ER06/08, ER07/08 and ER09/08) respectively, be granted early payment of their retirement benefits with effect from 31st October, 2008 under the discretion allowed by Regulation 30 of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998.

 

 

 

 

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.