Agenda and minutes

The members had before them:

A.      The Agenda papers (previously circulated);

B.      Presentation handouts in relation to progress and Future Plans – Commercial and Change Directorate (circulated at the Meeting);

C.      The Minutes of the Meeting held on 15 May 2015 (previously circulated).

(Copies of documents A and B will be attached to the signed Minutes).

The Chairman welcomed two new members of the Panel: Mrs P E Davey and Mr M H Broomfield.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services  in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 22 June 2015).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

(previously circulated)

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 May 2015 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services was invited to present the Worcestershire Councillors' Divisional Fund (WCDF) annual report.  In addition, a Highways Liaison Engineer and the Transport Commissioning and Logistics Manager, were invited to discuss the local members' Highways Fund.

Worcestershire Councillors Divisional Fund

As outlined in the agenda, the report set out any issues arising from the operation of the WCDF Scheme.  The appendix to the report set out the actual expenditure in each Division for 2014/15. 

It was highlighted that the WCDF was a formal scheme approved by Council, and administered by Legal and Democratic Services. Members had considerable discretion in how they allocated their £10,000 each per annum in a way that would promote or improve economic, social and/or environmental well-being for the benefit of those in their Division.

Local Member decisions under the WCDF Scheme were formal decisions on behalf of the Council.  A transparent audit trail in respect of decisions under the Scheme was essential in order to comply with the legislation.  The individual Member was responsible for ensuring a record was made in writing of any decision or action she or he had taken in connection with this Scheme.  Councillors filled in a single page form to both request a particular payment and also record that decision and reasons for it.  The form, guidance about the scheme and expenditure was published on the web.

Main points for the year 2014/15 were that 658 payments were made in total on a wide range of support for various groups, individuals and organisations, including for example, a trip for scouts to Upton Warren, support for local choirs, dial a ride, and Macmillan nurses. £567,120 was spent out of £594,026 made available. £26,905 has been rolled forward to 2015/16.

An internal audit of the Councillor's Divisional Fund Scheme took place during 2014/15 and as a result the Scheme and Guidance had been updated to reflect points made by Audit as follows:

·         that payments should be net of VAT where the payee could recover VAT from whatever was purchased

·         that members check that the money had in fact been spent as intended

·         to advise members that declarations of interests should include relevant school governorships

During the ensuing discussion, the following main points were made.

It was picked up during the audit that if a Member authorised payment to a school where they were a Governor, then the Member should declare this as an interest as they would at Council Committees and include it on the application form.  Similarly, a disclosable pecuniary interest would prevent any Councillor involvement.

Currently, if a Councillor requested payment to a school for example, the payment would automatically go to that school with no notification and could easily get lost in the school accounts. Members suggested it would be helpful if the recipient was notified by email that the payment had been made.  The Head of Legal and Democratic Services undertook to check with the Finance team about the process for linking a payment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 136.

The Director of Commercial and Change was invited to discuss progress on priorities and future plans in his Directorate, including an emphasis on branding and reputation.

The Director gave a presentation outlining progress on priorities and future plans as follows.

The Director's priorities included:

·      Commercial leadership across the Council

·      Next phase of Transformation

·      Making Open for Business a key priority

·      Worcestershire's reputation

·      Ensuring the Directorate is efficient and effective (including structure)

·      Ensuring the commissioning cycle is effective from insight, design, procurement through to performance and contract management 

·      Major Directorate projects such as JPV (now the Place Partnership) and Investing in the Future

Main actions since the Director's arrival included:

·      Assessment of skills across the organisation

·      Analysis of contracts register to identify where savings might be made and renegotiate relevant contracts as appropriate

·      Review of PFI contracts

·      Staff support and training on alternative models of service provision (e.g. social enterprise)

·      Improved commercial reporting, further development of the professional commercial function and increased commercial and negotiation training

·      Actively engaging with local businesses

The next phase of Transformation included:

·      Developing the next iteration of FutureFit 2020 (further faster). The public would be engaged through roadshows from the end of August 2015

·      Reducing FutureFit risks (financial risks had been reduced)

·      Improving the Corporate Strategy Planning process

·      Learning visits to and from other organisations

·      Launching the Leadership Exchange

The following actions had been taken to promote Worcestershire's Reputation and Open for Business:

·      Improved press coverage worth over £2m including 855 media releases and 1,137 enquiries from the media returned (the most for five years)

·      World Class Worcestershire themed plan.  Events include MIPIM 2014, Digital 2015 (annual digital innovation festival). Bespoke/targeted events in London and Birmingham targeted by  more than 200 invited delegates

·      Sponsorship of the Cricket Club (shown on cricket players' backs) as part of 150^th anniversary

·      Successful inward investment event with Mervyn King (ex-Governor of the Bank of England)

·      A senior Brand Manager had been recruited (previously known as Head of Communications)

·      The Council had hosted the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Communities and Local Government, who was local to this area and could be a helpful link to Government

·      Improved digital presence

·      Improved Fostering marketing (shown by increase in uptake)

·      Introduced Innovation Wednesdays

·      Shortlisted for 4 prestigious awards

Future plans included to develop:

·      and promote case studies, for example on growing businesses in Worcester

·      the Worcestershire narrative with the LEP –  important for inward investment and further develop relationships with major businesses

·      a Return on Investment strategy for events, sponsorship and general marketing to make it clear on what is and is not worth investing in

·      a more active strategy on inward investment management, living and destination management

·      a more proactive relationship with the local press and more interactive use of social media

The Communications Dashboard went to Cabinet Members' on a monthly basis.  It showed monthly data on media coverage and social media. There was now more of a focus on social media as could be seen by the increase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 137.