Agenda item

(copies herewith)

At this point each of the Cabinet members made a presentation on their respective portfolios, which had been circulated with the agenda. 

In presenting his portfolio update Councillor Woods referred to the fact that he had also circulated with it the annual Audit and Inspection Letter from the Audit Commission.  He had also included correspondence between the Borough Council and the Department for Communities and Local Government with regard to the Council’s progress on implementing the Audit Commission’s recommendations.

Other issues covered in this portfolio presentation included Recruitment of a New Chief Executive, Communications, the LGA Conference, Partnerships and Changes to the Committee Structure which had been agreed at the Annual Council Meeting. 

Members then asked questions regarding this portfolio presentation.  Mention was made to matters referred to in the Audit Commission report regarding the Council’s progress in improving its housing services. 

Reference was also made to public involvement at Council meetings and Councillor Woods advised that the item “Question Time”, which appeared as a standing item on the agendas of Ordinary Council Meetings, gave the public the opportunity to submit written questions five working days in advance.  He also drew attention to the fact that a note had been circulated on the public seats prior to this Council meeting outlining details regarding public involvement at Council meetings. 

Councillor Glynane, Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Safety, then presented his portfolio update which touched upon Car Parks, the Balloon Festival and the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.  Members then asked questions regarding his update, particularly with regard to the Balloon Festival.The accuracy of the figure of  £20,000 savings as a result of there no longer being a hospitality tent for Councillors at the Balloon Festival was queried. Previously it was thought this figure was more like £3,000 for hospitality. Additional questions regarding costs were raised and Councillor Glynane advised that this year they were trying to make the Balloon Festival different from previous years and for the first time it would be possible to establish the numbers attending the event and as such it was hoped that an accurate costing at the end of the event could be produced 

Councillor Beardsworth, Portfolio Holder for Housing, then presented her portfolio update which covered Council Tax, Good Neighbour Declaration, Choice Based Letting Scheme, Decent Homes, Homelessness, Tenant Participation and Revenues & Benefits.  She drew attention to the fact that the Revenues & Benefits Scheme had recently been nominated for the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuations Award for the most improved team and they had just learnt that they had been short listed.  She asked the Council to join with her in wishing the team every success.  She then mentioned the issue of asbestos, which had been raised under the Audit Commission Report and advised that this had been looked at as a matter of urgency and would be reported to N-TACT as soon as a full report was available.

Councillor Church, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, then presented his portfolio update on Grosvenor/Greyfriars, St Johns Cultural Quarter, the Market Square, Delapre Conservation Area, the Joint Core Strategy Issues & Options Paper and Development Control.  He drew particular attention to the Joint Core Strategy, which was due to be considered by Cabinet on 30 July, commenting that this was one of the most important papers that this Council would be dealing with and that it was about how we would wish to see the Town in twenty years time and he strongly urged all Councillors to take part in the consultation exercise.  Councillor Church responded to the questions stating that it was the intention to protect open space as far as possible, that careful consideration needed to be given to any future development around the Town so that  the risk of flooding was not increased, that in terms of the Market Square, it was the wish of the administration to see it prosper both as a trading place and an area for leisure and entertainment in the future, and ideas were being looked at for the Market Square and the employment of consultants would depend on whether or not this was the best way forward but all ideas and proposals would be looked at.

Councillor Crake, as Portfolio Holder for Environment, then presented her portfolio update which touched upon the Carbon Management Programme, Northamptonshire Waste Partnership, the recent Litter Campaign, Sheep Street Toilets, the APSE Seminar, the Smoking Ban, Neighbourhood Wardens, Travellers, Disability Grants and Property Maintenance.  Questions asked of the Portfolio Holder included the position regarding Neighbourhood Wardens and Disability Grants.  Councillor Crake advised that there were currently fifteen Wardens and that there were two vacancies.  She then briefly outlined the position with regard to Disability Grants.  In response to a question regarding void properties she stated that these varied week to week but that she would give a written answer to Councillor Larratt in terms of the current number.

Councillor B Hoare, Portfolio Holder for Performance, then presented his portfolio update covering the Corporate Plan, the Best Value Performance Plan, Performance Monitoring, Data Quality Audit, Human Resources, Governance and Councillor Engagement, Maintaining Compliance to Legal Duties and IT Infrastructure and Connectivity.  He stated that the Single Status Project, which was a major Pay & Grading Review being undertaken by this authority as part of a national agreement, was working towards conclusion at the end of the year.  In response to a query about the missed collection figure of 32 shown under the Council Tax in the Performance Monitoring, Councillor Hoare said he was happy to go back and look at this figure for accuracy. 

Councillor Mildren, Portfolio Holder for Finance, then presented his portfolio update which referred to the Revenue Outturn, Audit Committee, Financial Accounts and Statement of Internal Control, Resources for the Finance Directorate and Asset Management.  He drew attention to the fact that he had attended a number of meetings with the Audit Commission, Government Monitoring Board, internal and external auditors, and the Interim Chief Executive and Corporate Directors in accordance with the need to understand and monitor the Authority’s financial pressures.  In addition he was attending bi-monthly performance reviews and had commenced preliminary work with the Finance Director on formulating a budget setting process for the 2008/08 budget.  Councillor Clarke noted that the last paragraph of the presentation referred to negotiations to changes to the lease at Sixfields with Northampton Town Football Club and stated that there had been an article published in the Chronicle and Echo which had been both incorrect and defamatory in that it was implying that he had been elected to use his influence over the Sixfields site and he felt that he needed to draw this to the Council’s attention.  He stated that he had responded to the Chronicle and Echo and they would be publishing an apology.  Councillor Mildren assured that at no time had he ever been approached by Councillor Clarke in terms of Sixfields.