Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr D Brazier and Mr R Manning.

To note the appointment of Substitute Members in accordance with the agreed procedure.

There were no substitute members

Councillors Samper and Conolly declared interests in the item ‘East Kent Shared Landlord Services’ as representatives on the shadow board of the Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) for Canterbury City Council and Dover District Council respectively.  They remained in the meeting and were invited to take part in the discussion on this item.

To confirm the attached Minutes of the meeting of the East Kent (Joint Scrutiny) Committee held on 30 June 2010.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2010 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising from the minutes:

At the previous meeting, it was agreed that the Chairman contact the chairs of other Scrutiny Committees across Kent to discuss the role of the East Kent Joint Scrutiny Committee (EKJSC) in calling-in decisions and its relationship with other Scrutiny Committees. The Chairman confirmed that since then he had attended Dover District Council Scrutiny Committee and Canterbury City Council Shared Services Committee.

The Operating Arrangements for the East Kent (Joint Scrutiny) Committee are attached for information,

The Committee noted the Operating Arrangements of the East Kent Joint Scrutiny Committee.

The scheduled meeting of the East Kent (Joint Arrangements) Committee on 22 September was cancelled, and there are therefore no referred items.

The Chairman confirmed that the previous meeting of the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee (EKJAC) had been cancelled. The next meeting of EKJAC was scheduled for 15 December 2010, and any items from that meeting of EKJAC could be considered at the next meeting of EKJSC on 5 January 2011.

In accordance with Paragraph 7.1 of the Operating Arrangements any Member of the Committee may require that an item be placed for consideration on the agenda of the next available meeting.

There are no items for consideration.

There were no items for consideration

a)     Results of consultation on proposed ALMO

b)     Next steps

TO CONSIDER the report of the Director of Community Services, Canterbury City Council

In attendance for this item will be Brendan Ryan, Director of Community Services at Canterbury City Council, Donna Reed, Director of Shared Services, David Reed, Director of Environment at Canterbury City Council and David Willis, Director of Business and Community Transformation at Dover District Council.

(1)       Brendan Ryan, Acting Managing Director of the East Kent ALMO, gave a presentation which included:

• Background to the ALMO;
• Details of the consultation with tenants;
• Which functions would be delegated;
• Recruitment of board members; and
• Next steps

(2)       The ALMO was being set up to manage the housing of the four East Kent councils and would provide a mechanism for increasing tenant involvement and would increase capacity to provide services with a single focus - housing. The ambition of the ALMO was to improve services to tenants through cooperation between councils, and this was the first time one had been set up by more than one council. It had resulted in the first bid for new homes in 30 years, and it was hoped that pooled resources would facilitate such activities in the future. The other 69 ALMOs in the country had performed well, with 23 of the 26 providing housing achieving an excellent performance rating.

(3)       The tenant consultation, carried out in accordance with sections 27 and 105 of the Housing Act 1985, was critical to assess the level of support for the project. There were two key aims of the consultation process: to raise awareness, and explain the advantage of an ALMO; and to get views and test opinion.  The process included contacting all the tenants by letter, holding a series of roadshows and conducting surveys by telephone, by post and face to face. The consultation was developed in conjunction with the leaseholders and tenants group, and independent advice was sought from the Tenant Participation Advisory Service (TPAS).

(4)       A brief overview of consultation responses was given in the presentation. Over 50% of tenants had been engaged in the process, and in the survey over 40% expressed a view, with 69% in favour overall. Responding to a question about the possibility of duplication, it was explained that all data was recorded in a central system and where there were multiple responses the final response was recorded. In response to question about the possible bias in contacting consultees by landline telephone, it was explained that mobile telephone numbers were also included in the sample. There were ongoing discussions about issues such as terms and conditions and pensions and there would be a formal consultation taking place in November 2010.

(5)       The functions to be delegated to the ALMO were set out in the presentation and in Annex 1 of the accompanying report. A report that contained the broad scope went to the four East Kent councils in January 2010, and when the detail had been worked up this would go back for consideration at the four councils during 2011. Support services such as Human Resources would need to be set up before the ALMO began operating, and there was the possibility that it could buy back services from the councils themselves. Staff already doing tasks undertaken by the ALMO would be transferred over to it underTransfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)Regulations (TUPE).

(6)       The board  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

RESOLVED  that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

a)     Operations

b)     Business cases for proposed shared services

c)      Project plan

TO CONSIDER the report of the Director of Shared Services  - a presentation will be provided

In attendance for this item will be Donna Reed, Director of Shared Services, David Reed, Director of Environment at Canterbury City Council and David Willis, Director of Business and Community Transformation at Dover District Council.

(1) Donna Reed gave a presentation on East Kent Shared Services.

(2) David Willis and David Reed explained their roles representing Dover and Thanet District Councils, and Canterbury City Council respectively.

(3) The officers then responded to a number of questions from Members of the Committee.

RESOLVED that the East Kent (Joint Scrutiny) Committee note the presentation and reports on East Kent Shared Services

TO DISCUSS

(1)       A number of possible items for consideration at the next meeting were discussed:

ALMO

(2)       The management agreement and owners agreement would soon be coming up for decision and the meeting of EKJSC in January would be an opportunity to scrutinise these agreements.

East Kent Shared Services

(3)       Referring to the project plan, Members discussed activities which they might want to receive updates on. On staffing issues, it was explained that the transfer would not happen until February 2011, but an update could be given at the next meeting of EKJSC if required. Similarly, the consultation on East Kent Shared Services would also not happen until February 2011.

(4)       RESOLVED: that the East Kent (Joint Scrutiny Committee):

(a)       Ask that the management agreement and owners agreement for the ALMO be brought to the next meeting in January 2011.

(b)       Ask that an update on the elements of the East Kent Shared Services project plan which had been completed or progressed be given at the next meeting of EKJSC.

The meeting ended at 11.35am