Policy And Resources Committee - 26/04/2010

At a MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 26th April, 2010.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Ken GUILD, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 22nd March, 2010 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I MINUTES

(a) PERSONNEL APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE OF 22ND MARCH, 2010

(b) IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY SUB-COMMITTEE OF 30TH MARCH, 2010

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

II HUB INITIATIVE

There was submitted Report No 207-2010 by the Chief Executive and Director of Finance advising the Committee of the hub initiative which was being developed by the Scottish Futures Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the background to the establishment of the East Central Territory hub;

(ii) agreed to participate in developing the East Central Territory hub; and

(iii) delegated to the Chief Executive the authority to commit to the Memorandum of Understanding and appoint officer members to the hub Territory Board.

III BEST VALUE AUDIT OF TAYSIDE POLICE AND JOINT BOARD

Bailies Borthwick and Wallace and Councillors Fordyce and Melville declared a non-financial interest in this item by virtue of a relative being a serving police officer.

There was submitted Report No 203-2010 by the Assistant Chief Executive providing an overview of the recent Best Value Audit Report on Tayside Police and the Tayside Joint Police Board and seeking approval for a number of actions arising from the Board's Improvement Plan.

The Committee:-

(i) noted that a report on the Joint Inspection of Tayside Police and Tayside Joint Police Board by Audit Scotland and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland, together with the associated Improvement Plan, was considered by the Joint Police Board on 1st February, 2010 and the Improvement Plan was referred to the three constituent councils for approval;

(ii) endorsed the Improvement Plan as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(iii) agreed to adopt the description of roles and responsibilities for members, the Convener and Vice-Conveners of the Tayside Joint Police Board as set out in Appendix B to the report; and

(iv) remitted to the Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Leisure and Communities to report back on options for developing the reporting and scrutiny arrangements of the Tayside Joint Police Board by the Dundee Partnership Management Group and Community Safety Partnership.

IV COUNTER-FRAUD REPORT AS AT 31ST DECEMBER, 2009

There was submitted Report No 215-2010 by the Director of Finance informing elected members on the Revenue Division's Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Counter-Fraud activity as at 31st December, 2009.

The Committee approved the report.

V RELIEF OF RATES - CHARITY RELIEF

There was submitted Report No 214-2010 by the Director of Finance seeking authorisation to grant charity relief on the undernoted non-domestic properties.

The Committee approved accordingly.

VI PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT - E-LEARNING SHARING PROTOCOL

There was submitted Agenda Note AN64-2010 intimating that the City Council became a member of the e-Learning Alliance in 2009. The e-Learning Alliance was a network of interested parties, including public and private sector organisations, with an interest in the development of e-Learning and its applications. Officers of the Personnel Department at the Scottish Local Authority Special Interest Group meetings had networked with other local authorities and had the opportunity to share developed e-learning courses through a Shared Protocol which had been signed by 12 other Scottish local authorities.

The Committee approved the Council's participation in shared e-Learning courses and materials and authorised the signing of the Shared Protocol Agreement.

The Convener agreed that Items VII to IX and XII be considered as matters of urgency in terms of Standing Order No 17(b) in view of the timescales involved.

VII CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME TRAINING AND SELF-EVALUATION

There was submitted Report No 182-2010 by the Chief Executive seeking approval for a variety of significant changes in the manner in which the Council operated.

The Committee approved:-

(i) the Corporate Improvement Programme as detailed in Section 5 of the report;

(ii) the implementation of a Leadership Development Programme at an estimated additional cost of 30,000;

(iii) the creation of one two-year fixed-term post of Corporate Improvement Manager at Grade CO19 (53,664) and one two-year fixed-term post of Assistant Corporate Improvement Manager at Grade CO16 (49,929), both to be filled by secondment from within the Council. The secondment of two officers within the Council would require the payment of 'acting up' payments at an estimated maximum cost of 14,000;

(iv) the transfer of one post of Organisational Development Team Leader Grade 13 (40,765 - 44,547), one post of Senior Organisational Development Officer Grade 12 (37,273 - 40,765), one post of Senior Organisational Development Officer Grade 11 (33,087 - 37,273), redesignated as Senior Performance Officer, and one post of Organisational Development Officer Grade 7-10 (18,231 - 33,087), from the Personnel Department to the Corporate Planning Department.

(v) the creation of a post of Assistant Performance Officer within the Corporate Planning Department at Grade 8 (22,437 - 26,431) to assist with the implementation of the Public Sector Improvement Framework (PSIF) for self-evaluation, this post to be filled by an officer who was presently seconded from the Housing Department. The total cost of the creation of this post was estimated to be 34,000.

(vi) the redesignation of three full-time and one part-time Organisational Development Officer posts grade 7-10 (18,231 - 33,087) to Training and Development Officers within the Personnel Department;

(vii) the secondment of a part-time post of Senior Accountant (18.5 hours) Grade 11 (33,087 - 37,273) from the Finance Department to the Corporate Planning Department for a fixed term period of 2 years, to assist with the delivery of the Corporate Improvement Programme; and

(viii) the deletion of the vacant post of Process Review Officer Grade 10 (29,235 ‑ 33,087) in the Support Services Department, with the savings being used to help fund the proposals.

VIII VOLUNTARY EARLY RETIREMENT/VOLUNTARY REDUNDANCY SCHEME

The Committee acceded to a request from UNISON for a deputation to be heard relative to the above.

After the deputation had stated its case and answered questions, they were thanked for their attendance and withdrew.

There was submitted Report No 227-2010 by the Head of Personnel seeking approval of a proposed Voluntary Early Retirement/Voluntary Redundancy Scheme which would facilitate rationalisation and restructuring of Council services to achieve efficiencies and savings necessitated by budget reductions over the next three years.

The Committee approved the Voluntary Early Retirement/Voluntary Redundancy Scheme appended to the report and that current arrangements for dealing with early retirements in the efficiency of the service or on the grounds of voluntary redundancy be amended to incorporate the sliding scale of added years relative to pensionable service, as shown in Appendix 1 to the report.

IX TENDERS RECEIVED - GROVE ACADEMY - CONVERSION TO OFFICES

Bailie Wallace declared a non-financial interest in this item by virtue of being a member of Dundee Leisure.

There was submitted Report No 239-2010 by the City Architectural Services Officer relative to the above contract.

The Committee agreed to enter into a partnering contract with Dundee Contract Services amounting to 1,648,349.18, together with the undernoted allowances:-

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 items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 6 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

X BALDOVIE WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT - ENGINEERING STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT

Bailie Wallace declared a non-financial interest in this item by virtue of being a member of the Good Neighbourhood Working Group.

There was submitted Report No 216-2010 by the Director of Finance relative to the above.

The Committee approved the recommendations detailed therein.

XI CITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

There was submitted Agenda Note AN65-2010 relative to the undernoted.

(a) EARLY RETIREMENT (ER07/10)

It was reported that, in view of the timescales involved, the Head of Personnel, in consultation with the Depute Convener of the Policy and Resources Committee and spokespersons from the other groups, had resolved that employee ER07/10 within the City Development Department be retired with effect from 1st April, 2010 in the interests of efficiency of the service. This retiral would be in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations. The employee would also receive four added years enhanced benefits in accordance with the Local Government (Discretionary Payments and Injury Benefits) (Scotland) Regulations (as amended).

(b) EARLY RETIREMENT (ER08/10)

The Committee resolved that employee ER08/10 within the City Development Department be retired with effect from 27th April, 2010 in the interests of efficiency of the service. This retiral would be in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations. The employee would also receive four added years enhanced benefits in accordance with the Local Government (Discretionary Payments and Injury Benefits) (Scotland) Regulations (as amended).

XII SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT - EARLY RETIREMENTS (ER05/10 AND ER06/10)

After considering Agenda Note AN66-2010, the Committee resolved that employees ER05/10 and ER06/10 within the Social Work Department be retired with effect from 31st May, 2010 and 30th April, 2010 respectively in the interests of efficiency of the service, it being noted that these retirals would be in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 1998 and employees would also receive added years enhanced benefits in accordance with the Local Government (Discretionary Payments and Injury Benefits) (Scotland) Regulations 1998 (as amended).

Ken GUILD, Convener.