Policy And Resources Committee - 27/10/2008

At a MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 27th October, 2008.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 22nd September, 2008 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I MINUTES

(i) BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY SUB-COMMITTEE OF 16TH SEPTEMBER, 2008

(ii) PERSONNEL APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE OF 15TH SEPTEMBER AND 29TH SEPTEMBER, 2008

(iii) AUDIT AND RISK MANAGEMENT SUB-COMMITTEE OF 22ND SEPTEMBER, 2008

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

II BURGESS TICKETS

There was submitted Report No 508-2008 by the Chief Executive proposing the introduction of Burgess Tickets and recommending a process for how this should be administered.

It was recommended that the Committee:-

(i) agree, in principle, to the issuing of Burgess Tickets, on the basis that these will be issued to people living or working in the City or who have ancestral, historic or significant links to the City and are involved in:-

- charitable works

- business and the professionals

- community and civil life

(ii) delegate decisions on the issuing of Burgess Tickets to a new charitable body, to be chaired by the Lord Provost and comprised initially of the Chair plus six members, three female and three male, invited by the Lord Provost to represent local organisations involved in:-

- charitable works

- business and the professionals

- community and civil life

(iii) require that the new charitable body should:-

- adopt a constitution which will ensure charitable status and which is acceptable to Dundee City Council and includes, in particular, a commitment to equality and diversity, reflected in gender balance being maintained on the body;

- appoint from within its membership a Secretary, responsible for record-keeping and maintenance of the Locket Book/Register, and Treasurer, responsible for control of the organisation's own bank account and financial records;

- purchase a new Locket Book/Register, with the original being retained by the City Council; and

- obtain charitable status from OSCR.

(iv) authorise incorporation of the City's crest in design of the Burgess Ticket and authorise the Lord Provost to sign the document.

The Committee approved the above recommendations subject to the proposed membership of the charitable body referred to in paragraph (ii) above being submitted to this Committee.

III COMMUNITY USE OF PPP PRIMARY SCHOOLS

There was submitted Report No 433-2008 by the Director of Leisure and Communities and Director of Education seeking approval for a programme of community usage in the PPP Primary Schools.

The Committee approved the proposals detailed in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.5 of the report.

IV LOCAL COMMUNITY PLANS

There was submitted Report No 517-2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Leisure and Communities relative to the above.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the rationale, structure and processes underpinning the development of LCPs;

(ii) recognised the high level of collaboration, co-operation and support between Dundee City Council, partner agencies and community stakeholders in the development of LCPs;

(iii) referred the draft summary documents for endorsement to the Dundee Partnership Management Group;

(iv) agreed that Dundee City Council should continue to work with public, private and voluntary sector agencies in partnership with local communities to address the long term aspirations, needs and issues identified in each LCP;

(v) referred the responsibility for monitoring the implementation of LCPs and the annual update of targets to the Local Community Planning Partnership for each area; and

(vi) requested the Director of Leisure and Communities to report progress on the implementation of LCPs annually during the period 2009/2011.

V FAIRER SCOTLAND FUND - COMMUNITY REGENERATION FORUM - ALLOCATION 2008/2010

There was submitted Report No 490-2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive relative to the above.

The Committee noted the process for allocating grants through the Local Community Regeneration Forums as agreed by the Dundee Partnership and endorsed the funding proposals detailed below:-

VI REVENUE MONITORING

There was submitted Report No 664-2008 by the Head of Finance providing the Committee with an analysis of 2008/2009 Projected Revenue Outturn as at 31st August, 2008 monitored against the adjusted 2008/2009 Revenue Budget.

The Committee:-

(i) noted that the overall General Fund 2008/2009 Projected Revenue Outturn as at 31st August, 2008 showed an overspend of 375,000 against the adjusted 2008/2009 Revenue Budget;

(ii) noted that the Housing Revenue Account was projecting an overspend of 192,000 against the adjusted HRA 2008/2009 Revenue Budget;

(iii) instructed that the Head of Finance take every reasonable action to ensure that the 2008/2009 revenue expenditure was below or in line with the adjusted Revenue Budget;

(iv) instructed the Head of Finance in conjunction with all Chief Officers of the Council to continue to monitor the Council's 2008/2009 Projected Revenue Outturn.

VII CAPITAL MONITORING

There was submitted Report No 485-2008 by the Head of Finance appraising members of the latest position regarding the Council's Capital Expenditure Programme for 2008/2009.

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

VII RELIEF OF RATES - CHARITY RELIEF

There was submitted Report No 493-2008 by the Depute Chief Executive (Finance) seeking authorisation to grant charity relief on the undernoted non-domestic properties:-

The Committee approved accordingly.

IX COUNTER-FRAUD REPORT AT 30TH JUNE, 2008

There was submitted Report No 495-2008 by the Depute Chief Executive (Finance) informing elected members on the Revenue Division's Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Counter-Fraud activity as at 30th June, 2008.

The Committee approved the terms of the report.

X ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING POLICY AND REPORTING PROCEDURES

There was submitted Report No 502-2008 by the Depute Chief Executive (Finance) informing the Committee of the legislation relating to proceeds of crime and money laundering and recommending a revised Council policy and procedures to ensure compliance.

The Committee:-

(i) agreed that the Proceeds of Crime Officer (POCO) for the Council now be known as the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) and the Nominated Officer be known as the Depute MLRO. These duties were currently undertaken by the Head of Income and Recovery and Income Manager, respectively, both from the Revenues Division (Finance Department);

(ii) approved the Anti-Money Laundering Policy detailed in Appendix A; and

(iii) approved funding of 9,000 for training.

XI IMPROVING COUNCIL TAX PAYMENT - DIRECT DEBIT UPTAKE

There was submitted Report No 503-2008 by the Depute Chief Executive (Finance) seeking the Council's authorisation to implement the changes detailed in Section 5 of his report to improve the uptake on direct debits for payment methods for Council Tax.

The Committee authorised the Depute Chief Executive (Finance) to:-

(i) implement two additional payment dates for Council Tax direct debit payers as detailed in paragraph 5.2 of the report;

(ii) run direct debit campaigns as outlined in Appendix A; and

(iii) implement other procedural changes that may help in improving the level of direct debit payers.

XII PENSION FUND - UPGRADE OF PENSIONS - ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

After considering Report No 522-2008 by the Head of Finance, the Committee approved the upgrade of the AXISe pensions administration computer system to Altair at an initial cost of 103,243 and an ongoing cost of 10,500 per annum.

XIII McMANUS GALLERIES REDEVELOPMENT

On a reference to Article III of the minute of meeting of the Leisure, Arts and Communities Committee of 27th October, 2008, there was submitted Report No 525-2008 by the Director of Leisure and Communities and Depute Chief Executive (Finance) seeking approval of tenders received for the Display Galleries Redevelopment Project and seeking approval to incur additional expenditure referred to in this report. The Committee was also asked to note the additional external funding from Historic Scotland of 267,525 and the Lethendy Trust of 100,000.

The Committee agreed to:-

(i) approve acceptance of the tender for the shopfitting works from Elmwoods, Glasgow in the amount of 1,073,457;

(ii) note the overspend of 263,000 on the Display Fit-out Project as referred to in paragraph 4.3 of the report;

(iii) note the overspend of 789,000 on the current construction contract as referred to in paragraph 4.4 of the report;

(iv) note the award of additional external funding from Historic Scotland of 267,525 and the Lethendy Trust of 100,000 as referred to in paragraph 4.5 of the report; and

(v) approve that the Capital Expenditure budget for McManus Galleries Redevelopment be increased by 1,056,000 as detailed in paragraph 4.6.

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 item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 6, 8 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

XIV DUNDEE ICE ARENA

The Lord Provost and Councillors McCready, Duncan and Scott declared a non-financial interest in this item by virtue of being the Council's representatives on the Board of Dundee Ice Arena.

There was submitted Report No 528-2008 by the Depute Chief Executive (Finance) regarding the management fee relative to the above.

The Committee approved the recommendation detailed therein.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.