There were no apologies for absence

Councillor Watkin advised that he was a trustee of the Multi Cultural Community Centre but did not consider that this interest to be specifically relevant in the context of the report discussed at minute number 29.

There were no other disclosures of interest.

To sign the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2012

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2012 were submitted and signed

Report of the Head of Community Services

The current three-year Voluntary and Community Sector [VCS] grant funding programme ceased on March 31^st 2013.  Cabinet received a report of the Head of Community Services setting out the case for a new VCS Commissioning Framework and changing to a commissioning approach as opposed to an open grant application process. It also identified the priorities for commissioning services with the limited funds available.

The Mayor opened the discussion by saying that this had been a thorough and extensive piece of work for which she commended all the officers involved. She added that, despite the fact that grant funding was not a statutory function the Council had chosen to support the voluntary sector and actually frozen the grants’ budget for a number of years.

The Head of Community Services highlighted the key points of the report and set the context. She said that the strong relationship that the Council had with the voluntary sector had to be recognised and the fact that they were in the best place to deliver some services.

The proposals had been considered by a Scrutiny Task Group and its report and recommendations were attached as an appendix to the main report. A public consultation exercise had taken place and a summary of the key issues raised was also attached.  The report also included the priorities being recommended for approval, details of the services to be commissioned, proposals regarding the small grants’ fund and the position with regard to the use of Council owned property by VCS organisations.

The Head of Community Services drew Members’ attention specifically to the officer recommendation in the report on domestic abuse commissioning and the following correction to Appendix E:

The paragraph:

“This is achieved with volunteer counsellors providing this year 2815 hours of their time which would have a value of £147245. 196 women accessed specialist legal services and volunteers provided 5,399 hours of support”

to be changed to

“This is achieved through the provision of a Domestic Abuse Specialist post with 20 years experience funded by Watford Borough Council, she co- facilitates with a part time specialist counsellor who is funded from the Women’s Centre reserves at the moment” 

The Head of Community Services explained that, whilst domestic abuse was not a commissioning responsibility of the District Council, it was clear from the Equality Impact Analysis that there would be a disproportionate impact on this group. Officers were therefore recommending that funding support continued for 12 months to mitigate the impact whilst the County and the local Community Safety Partnership considered local service needs and priorities.

In response to a point made by Councillor Bell, the Head of Community Services stressed that domestic violence had not been included in the priority list but that the funding would continue for a year to allow time for other funding streams to be identified.

Councillor Bell responded that it was important to reassure women who currently accessed the Women’s Centre for support. He welcomed the fact that the Women’s Centre was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Report of the Head of Strategic Finance

Cabinet received a report of the Head of Strategic Finance giving an overview of financial issues affecting the Council over the next five years and enabling a strategy to be developed to achieve a sustainable budget and to set a Council Tax for 2013/2014.

Councillor Watkin introduced the report. He referred specifically to the £1.2m added to

Reserves in 2011/12 and the position regarding expenditure, Government funding and the impact of the New Homes’ Bonus. He commented that overall the finances were in good shape and whilst the position might appear fairly stable in fact there were many challenges facing the Council in the next few years..

He went on to comment on the service prioritisation process which had identified around £3m of efficiency savings for 2011/12 to 2012/14 and the fact that a further £2.2m still had to be found. He  also drew Members’ attention to the other budgetary pressures outlined in the report.

He concluded that he saw no reason for changing the level of Council Tax in the next 2/3 years but advised that the Council would be using its reserves to fund ongoing deficits within the revenues budget as necessary until the rest of the Service Prioritisation and Council Roadmap efficiencies took effect.

It was noted that the Budget Panel would be considering the MTFS at its meeting on 23 October 2012.

The Mayor commented that whilst the use of reserves was unavoidable, she was aware that this was not a sustainable position in the long term. There  were pressures over which the Council had no control and it would continue to be necessary to look at ways of reducing the base budget still further.

Councillor Scudder endorsed the Mayor’s views and the need for tough decisions to be made. He considered, however, that the Council’s financial position would enable these decisions to be implemented in a measured manner.

Councillor Bell commented on the fact that the sustainability of the revenue budget was totally dependent on the New Homes’ Bonus and the impact of any future change in Government policy. He also asked whether the level of reserves was considered appropriate for Watford.

The Head of Strategic Finance responded that the next year was looking quite uncertain. He explained that the current level of the reserves was probably just right but that if they dropped below £5milion there would be cause for concern because of the number of risks identified. Austerity was predicted to continue until 2018 and there was likely to be another Council Tax freeze initiative by way of an extra 1% grant. It was necessary to have the reserves to meet cost pressures and obviously they would be used more quickly if things went wrong. He advised that some councils were now adding to their level of reserves because of the need for contingencies. The position at the moment was one of consistent contraction rather than growth. 

The Mayor concluded by passing on her thanks to the Head of Finance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Report of the Managing Director

The Chair of Overview & Scrutiny had agreed that this report could be dealt with as a matter of urgency in accordance with the terms of Procedure Rule 16.0 as the transfer was due to take place on 10^th October.

The Mayor had also agreed that this report could be dealt with as a late report. The reason the report was not circulated at the time of agenda publication was based on the fact that commercial negotiations with Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) were still ongoing.

Cabinet received a report of the Managing Director giving an update across a range of specific issues that had arisen during commercial negotiations with CSC. This followed Cabinet approval on 18^th June 2012 to abandon previous OJEU procurement and negotiate detailed terms with them. An all Members’ briefing had been held on 27^th September 2012.

None of the changes were considered material enough to affect the overall recommendation to proceed with CSC. Discussions with CSC had, however, further clarified their management and financial proposals in respect of the four ‘satellite’ car parks and it was preferable for WBC to take these back and manage them using a national car park management company.

The report was designed to highlight the new issues and considerations. It could not however, in the case of such a complex commercial property transaction, provide full commentary on all detailed negotiation matters. The recommendations in the report effectively updated those contained in the Cabinet report of 18^th June.

Councillor Sharpe introduced the report. He said it was good news that the development by CSC was going ahead and very positive for the town. There had been good attendance at the Member briefing on major projects which had included Charter Place. The report before Cabinet crystallised many of the issues discussed. He thanked the Property Section Head and his team for their work.

The Property Section Head added that the report was mainly about the car park strategy, which was a better option for the Council.

The Mayor commented that there had been concerns about the car park for some time and the need to balance provision for the night time economy with the needs of shoppers and other visitors to the town. The proposed arrangement would allow for control and flexibility.

In response to a point by Councillor Bell about a guarantor, the Property Section Head explained that they were pressing hard for CSC to agree the guarantor, which Cabinet reinforced.  He added, however, that CSC was very positive about the development and was planning to carry out a consultation at the end of the year. In response to a further point from Councillor Bell about control of the car parks he said that the income and management would be under the Council’s control; the contractor would manage facilities and improvements.

Councillor Bell then went on to voice his concerns about the staff affected, in particular in relation to the transfer to Europa . He considered that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.