Agenda and minutes

To receive the apologies of any Member who is unable to attend this meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any interests they may have in items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

1.         To give notice of any items for future meetings or for the Forward Plan, including any scheduled for this meeting, but now carried forward or deleted; and

2          any other relevant announcements.

(Oral report)

The Chair advised the Committee that the following items of business, scheduled on the Forward Plan to be dealt with at this evening’s meeting, had been rescheduled to a later meeting of the Committee:

·                     Town Centre Landscape Improvements (including Church Green); and

·                     Solar Panel Scheme

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 12th July 2011.

(Minutes attached)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 12th July 2011 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider a review of a number of Human Resources Policies.

(Report attached)

The Committee received a report which sought approval for a number of revised employee policies.

Officers reported that the revised policies had been developed and agreed with the trade unions.

Members thanked Officers and trade unions representatives for their involvement in this important work.

Members were informed that a final pay model and relevant equality impact assessments had been sent to UNISON National Office and that it was anticipated that a timeline would be received from them within the next two weeks.

RECOMMENDED that

the following Employment Policies be approved:

·                     Annual Leave Entitlements;

·                     Committee Allowance Policy;

·                     Services in Non Regular Forces Policy;

·                     Flexitime Policy;

·                     Travelling and Subsistence Policy;

·                     Job Evaluation Policy;

·                     Reorganisation and Change Policy.

To consider a request to demolish information gateway sites which are outdated and require significant maintenance.

(Report attached)

Members considered a report which sought approval to demolish the five existing tourist information shelters located at key gateway sites on entrances to the town.

Officers reported that the shelters were in a poor state of repair, the information and maps were out of date and that there was no evidence of them being well used.  Significant funding would be required if the shelters were to remain including £4,690 per annum in electricity costs, which contributes unnecessarily to the Council’s carbon footprint.

Members were informed that following a successful bid by Worcestershire County Council to the Department of Transport to roll out the ‘Choose how you Move 2’ project, money would be available to provide six information kiosks in Redditch.  This project had been designed to encourage more sustainable transport in the town.

RECOMMENDED that

1)                 the information shelters be demolished and the lighting system be disconnected; and

2)                 the annual budget for electricity consumption for 2011/12 be diverted into the energy efficiency ‘spend to save’ fund.

To receive the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on the 5th July 2011

There are no recommendations to consider.

(Minutes attached)

The Committee received the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5th July 2011.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5th July 2011 be received and noted.

To receive and consider any outstanding minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. since the last meeting of the Executive Committee, other than as detailed in the items above.

There were no minutes or referrals under this item.

To consider, for monitoring / management purposes, an update on the work of the Executive Committee’s Advisory Panels and similar bodies, which report via the Executive Committee.

(Report attached)

The Committee received an update on the work of the Advisory Panels and similar bodies and noted the following meeting dates:

To consider an update on the actions arising from previous meetings of the Committee.

(Report attached)

The Committee received an Action Monitoring report.

RESOLVED that

1)                 the report be noted;

a report on the disposal and future of Park House (Evesham Street) be deferred to the meeting of the Executive Committee on 13th September 2011; and

2)                 a report be produced by Officers detailing the financial impact of Shared Services on the participating Councils in respect of matters including savings to date, set-up costs and redundancy costs.