Minutes of Meeting of the Resources Committee held in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Wednesday, 3 December 2008 at 10.30 a.m.
Present
Mrs C Wilson, Mr M Rattray, Mrs K MacNab, Mr R Greene, Mr P Cairns, Dr D Alston, Mr I Renwick, Mrs H Carmichael, Mrs P Munro, Miss J Campbell, Mr N Donald, Mr J Finnie, Mr J Ford, Mr B Wynd, Mr S Park, Mr F D S Black, Mr G Rimell
Non-Members also present:
Mr G Farlow, Mr G Smith, Mr D Flear, Mrs I Campbell, Dr A Sinclair, Mrs J Urquhart, Mr A Rhind, Mrs M Paterson, Mr J Laing, Mr B Murphy
Officials in attendance:
Mr A Geddes, Depute Chief Executive
Ms M Morris, Assistant Chief Executive
Mr G Westwater, Head of Construction, Housing & Property Services
Mrs C McDiarmid, Head of Policy and Performance, Chief Executive’s Service
Mr D Robertson, Head of Accounting
Mr B Williams, Head of Corporate Finance
Mr D Lamont, Head of Exchequer, Finance Service
Mr G Robson, Head of Environment & Development, Planning & Development Service
Mr J Batchelor, Head of Personnel, Chief Executive’s Service
Mrs V Nairn, Head of E Government, Chief Executive’s Service
Mr J Grieve, IS Client Manager, Chief Executive’s Service
Ms E Barrie, Personnel Manager, Chief Executive’s Service
Ms C Christie, Employee Development Manager, Chief Executive’s Service
Mrs C King, Policy Manager, Chief Executive’s Service
Mr B MacKinnon, Regeneration Co-ordinator, Chief Executive’s Service
Ms R MacKinnon, Equal Opportunities Officer, Chief Executive’s Service
Mr A Gould, Head of Procurement, Finance Service
Mr A McCann, Economy & Regeneration Manager, Planning & Development Service
Ms N Wallace, LEADER Programme Manager, Planning & Development Service
Mr A Maguire, Head of Housing Development & Estates
Mr J Allison, Principal Administrator, Chief Executive’s Service
Mr A MacInnes, Administrative Assistant, Chief Executive’s Service
Mrs C Wilson in the Chair
An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council.
All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to the Committee.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Ms L Munro, Mrs D MacKay, Mrs M Davidson and Mr P Corbett.
2. Central Services Revenue Budget Monitoring
There had been circulated Reports by the Chief Executive and Depute Chief Executive which provided the Revenue Budget Monitoring Statements for Central Services for the period to end October, 2008.
Following consideration of the reports, the Committee in respect of:
i. Chief Executive’s Service Report No. res-133-08 –
• NOTED the revenue monitoring report for the period 1 April 2008 to end
October, 2008; and
• APPROVED the exception to contract standing orders, paragraph 2(iii) in
relation to a contract for legal work not exceeding £22,000 being awarded
to Biggart Ballie, as outlined in paragraph 5 of the report.
ii. Finance Service – Report No. res-134-08– APPROVED the Finance
Service Revenue Monitoring Report for the period to end October,
2008.
3. Property Revenue Maintenance Budget 2008/09
There had been circulated Report No. res-135-08 dated 17 November, 2008 by the Director of Housing and Property Services which set out the current position with regard to the component parts of the 2008/09 Property Revenue Maintenance Budget.
The Committee NOTED the current position with regard to the progress with the 2008/09 Property Revenue Maintenance Budget.
4. Corporate Revenue Monitoring Statement
There had been circulated Report No. res-136-08 dated 25 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive which presented the revenue budget monitoring position for the period to 31 October, 2008 and the projected year end position.
In discussion, given that there was uncertainty as to whether school roll census data had been completed for every school as this was required to determine budgeted staffing allocations to schools, it was felt that clarification should be sought from the Director of Education, Culture & Sport.
Thereafter, the Committee AGREED:
i. the Revenue Expenditure Monitoring Statement for financial year 2008/09
as at 31 October, 2008; and
ii. that clarification should be sought as to whether the school roll census data
had been completed for every school, and if not, this be addressed by the
Director of Education, Culture & Sport and Councillor P Munro be advised
accordingly.
5. Corporate Capital Monitoring Statement – General Fund and
Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme
There had been circulated Report No. res-137-08 dated 25 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive which provided an overview of the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) capital programmes for the period to 31 October, 2008 and the projected year end position.
In particular, it was advised that the Housing and Social Work Committee had approved an increase of £1.969m in prudential borrowing to meet the expected shortfall in receipts from Council house sales.
The Committee AGREED the financial position of the General Fund and HRA capital programmes as at 31 October, 2008.
6. Capital Monitoring Statement for Chief Executive’s Service
There had been circulated Report No. res-138-08 dated 21 November, 2008 by the Chief Executive setting out the current capital budget position for the Chief Executive’s Service for the period to end October, 2008.
The Committee NOTED the capital monitoring report.
7. Property Capital Monitoring Statement
There had been circulated Report No. res-139-08 dated 24 November, 2008 by the Director of Housing and Property setting out the current position with regard to the 2008/09 Property Capital Programme.
Having heard a request for more information regarding the potential for a wind turbine installation at Mallaig High School, the Committee:
i. NOTED the current position with regard to budget allocation and progress
with the 2008/09 Property Capital Programme;
ii. AGREED that an update on the potential for a wind turbine installation at
Mallaig High School be provided to Members before the next meeting of the
Committee; and
iii. AGREED that opportunities for expansion of this wind turbine initiative, if
successful, also be explored.
8. Treasury Management: Summary of Transactions
There had been circulated Report No. res-140-08 dated 20 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive which provided details of the Treasury Management transactions undertaken for September and October, 2008 which were submitted in compliance with CIPFA’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the Council’s approved Financial Regulations.
The Committee NOTED the terms of the report.
9. Banking Arrangements – Authorised Signatories
There had been circulated Report No res-141-08 dated 26 September, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive which addressed the matter of officers appointed to authorise transactions on behalf of the Council with the Council’s bankers.
Following consideration, the Committee APPROVED that Mr Nigel Rose, Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management be added to the Council’s list of authorised signatories for the operation of its bank accounts.
10. Advice Agency Boards – Representation
Members were advised that New Service Delivery Contracts for the 9 Advice Agencies had been agreed at Resources Committee on 16 April, 2008. The contracts specified that each agency should appoint a Highland Council representative to its board and that nominations would be formalised through the Resources Committee.
Further, at the Council meeting on 30 October, 2008, the nomination of Councillor Katrina McNab as the Council’s representative on the Board of Caithness Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) had been approved, and it was agreed that nominations to the other Boards be approved by the Resources Committee on 3 December, 2008. In this respect, the nominations were submitted as follows:
• North West Sutherland Advice and Information Service – Councillor George Farlow
• East Sutherland CAB – Councillor Deirdre Mackay
• Ross and Cromarty CAB – Councillor Angela MacLean
• Skye and Lochalsh CAB – Councillor Ian Renwick
• Lochaber CAB – Councillor Brian Murphy
• Community Advice and Information Service Badenoch & Strathspey –
Councillor Stuart Black
• Nairn CAB – Councillor Liz Macdonald
• Inverness CAB – Councillor Roderick Balfour
The Committee APPROVED the above nominations to Advice Agency Boards and noted that a briefing on the role of members on these Boards would be provided to those Members appointed.
11. LEADER Programme
There had been circulated Report No. res-142-08 dated 18 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which provided an update on the LEADER Programme and sought Members support for the proposed Programme allocations. The LEADER programme is part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme and provides funding to enable communities to plan for and develop their own area.
Following consideration, the Committee:
i. NOTED the final LEADER Programme award, the opening of the Programme
for a shadow round of applications in 2008 and the proposed formal launch
of the Programme on 11 December, 2008; and
ii. AGREED to support the proposed Programme allocations as detailed in
Appendix 1 of the report.
12. Council Match Funding for European Social Fund Funding in 2009
There had been circulated Report No. res-143-08 dated 24 November, 2008 by the Head of Policy and Performance which sought confirmation for Highland Council match funding for partner organisations applying for European Social Fund (ESF) from Highland & Islands Special Transitional Programme funding in 2009. Confirmation of match funding was required prior to the meeting of the Programme Advisory Committee in early January, 2009.
The Head of Policy and Performance in speaking to the report also advised that following the Building a Fairer & Healthier Seminar held in November, 2008, it was intended to develop a Highland Employability Strategy, with a draft of the strategy being submitted to the next meeting of the Committee for consideration.
Thereafter, the Committee:
i. APPROVED funding to the organisations shown in paragraph 2.3 of the
report to provide match funding for ESF applications in 2009; and
ii. NOTED that a draft Employability Strategy would be submitted to the next
meeting of the Committee.
13. Corporate Improvement Programme
There had been circulated Report No. res-144-08 dated 27 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive and Assistant Chief Executive which outlined the outcomes delivered from the Business Improvement Programme and the development of a new Corporate Improvement Programme, based on the work of the National Shared Services Project. It also included proposals to establish a core programme team to implement the Corporate Improvement Programme.
It was confirmed that the proposed new core programme team would be established within the Chief Executive’s Service and would report to the Assistant Chief Executive. The annual funding required for the Team would be £429,000. It was proposed that unused monies from the original Business Improvement Team funding be used to fund the cost of recruiting and funding the team in 2008/09. For future years funding, it was proposed that this be met in the short-term for a period of up to two years, from the Council’s spend to save fund. Thereafter, or earlier where the opportunity exists, the Team would be funded from savings generated from the Corporate Improvement Programme.
Thereafter, the Committee:
i. NOTED the outcomes achieved from the Business Improvement Programme
in 2007 and 2008;
ii. NOTED the progress being made in developing the Corporate
Improvement Programme;
iii. AGREED that a Core Programme Team be appointed to deliver the
Corporate Improvement Programme, as detailed in Section 3 of the report;
iv. AGREED that an annual budget of £505, 000 be provided to meet the
costs of the Programme Team, as detailed in Section 5 of the report, for a
period of three years commencing in 2009/10; and
v. AGREED that recruitment to these posts be undertaken as detailed in
Section 4 and that delegated authority should be given to the Depute
Chief Executive and Assistant Chief Executive to agree the job descriptions
and grades in accordance with the Council’s Job Evaluation Scheme.
14. Highland Council Standing Orders Relating to Contracts
There had been circulated Report No res-145-08 dated 10 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive presenting the Council’s reviewed Standing Orders relating to contracts for the calendar year 2010.
The Head of Procurement highlighted the following points:
• Quotations required in respect of requirements worth over £3k for goods
and services and £10k for works, and tenders required over £25k for all;
• A statement of requirements would be required by Procurement prior to the
engagement of any consultant carrying out work worth £3k or over;
• An emergency in terms of exceptions to Contract Standing Orders meant an
event not reasonably foreseeable, not just one which had not been planned
for; and
• Budgetary provision was required in respect of all competed requirements
and had to be recorded prior to commencement of competitive action.
The Committee APPROVED the Standing Orders relating to Contracts for the calendar year 2010.
15. Finance Service Quarterly Performance Report for the Quarter to
September 2008
There had been circulated Report No res-146-08 dated 25 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive providing details of Finance Service performance for the quarter to 30 September, 2008.
Following discussion, the Committee:
i. NOTED the contents of the report; and
ii. AGREED that the Head of Exchequer meet with the Chairman and Vice-
Chairman, Councillor J Campbell and any other interested Members, to
discuss issues relating to Finance and Benefit Administration.
16. Review of Discretionary Policies under the Local Government
Pension Scheme
There had been circulated Report No. res-147-08 dated 11 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive which reviewed the Council’s discretionary policies under the Local Government (Scotland) Pension Scheme 2008.
The Committee AGREED:
i. the recommendations contained in Appendix 1 and 2 of the report;
ii. that all the policies be reviewed in 2013; and
iii. to retain an “opt out” provision allowing reconsideration of any discretionary
policy if the special circumstances of an individual case merit it.
17. Relief from Non Domestic Rates for General Stores Etc. in Rural
Settlements
There had been circulated Report No. res-148-08 dated 25 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive relating to an application received from the Northern Joint Police Board for extension of the Council’s Rural Relief Scheme.
In discussion, Members felt that clarification was needed as to the use of the properties that discretionary relief was being applied. Therefore, the Committee:
i. APPROVED in principle the application from the Northern Joint Police Board
to extend the coverage of the Rural Relief Scheme to qualifying police
premises, subject to the Chief Constable of the Northern Constabulary
confirming that all the premises were being used for a qualifying purpose
under The Local Government and Rating Act 1997;
ii. AGREED that the above issue be referred to the Northern Joint Police
Board for their consideration; and
iii. AGREED to ascertain what the Northern Joint Police Board intended to do
with the Police house in Uig, Isle of Skye which had been vacant for some
time, and this information be given to Councillor I Renwick.
18. Digital TV Switchover
There had been circulated Report No. res-149-08 dated 25 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which outlined the implications for the Council of the Highland Digital TV Switchover in 2010 and 2011.
Following discussion during which it was agreed that a number points raised by Members should be addressed, the Committee:
i. NOTED the implications for the Council arising from Digital TV Switch over;
ii. AGREED that Digital UK deliver a briefing to Members on the Digital TV
Switch Over, and it be requested that they include information on the
quality and expansion of Digital Radio coverage in their briefing;
iii. AGREED that representatives from Borders Council be invited to the above
briefing, to advise on the challenges that they have had with the Digital
Switch Over in their area;
iv. AGREED that Ofcom be encouraged to contact all known Relay Station
owners and/or community groups again, with a view to making sure that
they were aware of the implications of the Switch Over and also, Ward
Managers be briefed on this matter, with a view to offering assistance to
Community Relay Stations should they require it;
v. AGREED that it should be investigated whether there were any potential
funding sources available to help Community Relay Stations upgrade to Digital
TV; and
vi. AGREED that Finance Service Visiting Officers should also be used to
provide advice to the public on the Digital Switch Over and should be
included in officers’ briefings on this matter.
19. Job Evaluation
There had been circulated Report No. res-150-08 dated 27 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which updated Members on the key decisions which had been taken by the Modernising Employment Sub-Committee and of job evaluation and equal pay progress.
Following consideration during which a number of points raised by Members were clarified, the Committee NOTED:
i. the final pay and grading structure;
ii. the position in respect of settling the residual equal pay claims and other
equal pay/value claims;
iii. that the conditions of service package had been offered formally to the
trade unions;
iv. the key timelines;
v. the arrangements to support employees;
and AGREED:
vi. the appeals procedure as per Appendix 5 of the report, subject to a minor
amendment to Section 3 of the procedure, whereby completed appeal
forms should be submitted to the Service Director and not the Head of
Personnel;
vii. that the Assistant Chief Executive respond to requests for facility time from
the trade unions as per Section 7.6 of the report, subject to the
exigencies of the Service.
20. ICT Strategy 2008-2013
There had been circulated Report No. res-151-08 dated 18 November, 2008 by the IS Client Manager which presented a summary of the Council Strategy for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the period October, 2008 to March 2013. The draft strategy which had been presented at the previous meeting of the Resources Committee in October, had been revised with comments received during the consultation process. The Strategy would continue to be developed as the Council’s business needs were developed and in parallel with the Competitive Dialogue process being used by the current procurement for the supply of managed ICT services.
Following consideration, the Committee APPROVED the Strategy for Information and Communications Technology for the period October, 2008 to March, 2013.
21. Highland Housing Fair 2010
Declaration of Interest
Mrs H Carmichael declared a non-financial interest in this item as a Board Member of Highland Housing Fair, but having applied the test outlined in paragraph 5.18 of the Councillor’s Code of Conduct, concluded that her interest did not preclude her involvement in the discussion.
There had been circulated Report No. res-152-08 dated 18 November, 2008 by the Director of Planning and Development which provided an update on the new vision for the Highland Housing Fair event which had been rescheduled to take place in the summer of 2010.
Following consideration, the Committee:
i. NOTED the decision to reschedule the Highland Housing Fair to 2010; and
ii. AGREED to provide an additional £40k (including a contingency of £10k) to
the Highland Housing Fair Event to enable it to proceed in 2010.
22. Fujitsu: Performance Report
There had been circulated Report No. res-153-08 dated 13 November, 2008 by the IS Client Manager which summarised the performance of the IS Partnership with Fujitsu Services during the period August and September, 2008.
The Committee NOTED the contents of the report.
23. Pathfinder North Progress Update Report
There had been circulated Report No. res-154-08 dated 11 November, 2008 by the Head of E-Government which updated the Committee on the progress of the Pathfinder North Broadband Project which would provide high capacity broadband links to schools, libraries and other council buildings throughout the Highlands and Islands.
Having heard the Head of E-Government advise that the number of Pathfinder North sites now connected across the Partnership was 429 (208 in Highland) and that the revised rollout of sites to be connected was now due to be complete in September, 2009, the Committee NOTED the report.
24. Review of Corporate Information, Communications and
Technology Structure
There had been circulated Report No. res-155-08 dated 12 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which detailed the work to establish a new corporate Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) organisation to enable the Council to meet the requirements of customers, members, partners and other agencies.
Following consideration, the Committee APPROVED:
i. the phased approach and noted the links to the ICT procurement;
ii. functional specification of the new ICT organisation as outlined in Appendix
B of the report;
iii. the creation of the posts of Corporate ICT Manager, ICT Delivery Manager,
ICT Strategy and Projects Manager as outlined in Section 3; and
iv. AGREED to grant delegated authority to the Assistant Chief Executive and
Head of Personnel to agree grading and proceed with recruitment for the
new ICT organisation posts as outlined in Section 4; and
v. NOTED the consultation process undertaken as outlined in Section 6 of the
report.
25. Equal Opportunities update, including statutory review of the
Highland Council Race Equality Scheme
There had been circulated Report No. res-156-08 by the Head of Policy and Performance which updated Members on the Council’s progress in meeting its statutory public sector equality duties and was accompanied by a revised Race Equality Scheme 2008-2011. The report also summarised the conclusions and recommendations of an Audit Scotland Report on The Impact of the Race Equality Duty on Council Services which was published on 13 November, 2008.
Following discussion, the Committee:
i. APPROVED the revised Race Equality Scheme;
ii. NOTED progress against the Council’s three equality schemes; and
iii. that work would continue to understand perceptions and experiences of
equal opportunities, and to support the public sector duties through
training, partnership work and engaging with the Equality and Human
Rights Commission.
26. Elected Member Training
There had been circulated Report No. res-157-08 dated 13 October, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which outlined the Scottish Government’s recommendations for Elected Member training and development and summarised the training delivered so far. The report also provided the results of the training needs survey conducted with Elected Members and made proposals for a training programme for October 2008 – June 2009 and role descriptions and personal development plans for Members.
Following discussion during which a number of comments by Members were clarified, the Committee:-
i. APPROVED the proposed Elected Member Training Programme for
October 2008 – June 2009, and NOTED that this programme would be
flexible and would be developed over time, with training needs identified
by Members at the meeting in relation to Partnership Working would be
added to the core Training Programme;
ii. the proposed management of the programme through Employee
Development and the intranet;
iii AGREED that it be delegated to the Governance Review Group to
approve the principles of role descriptions for Elected Members;
iv the proposed Elected Member Development Plan and Training Record; and
v to progress the personal development process for Elected Members in line
with the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee
recommendations.
27. Property Disposals Requiring Scottish Ministers’ Consent
There had been circulated Report No. res-158-08 dated 18 November, 2008 by the Director of Housing and Property inviting Members to approve property disposals at below market value, subject to receipt of Scottish Ministers consent.
Members were invited to approve the increase in rent for Tain Golf Club to £3,200 per annum with effect from Whitsun 2008, which was below the District Valuer’s opinion of the market rental value of £10,000.
During discussion, Members, while not opposed to the recommendation, felt that more information was required to support the request for a rental at below market value. It was also suggested that a full rental review of all Council owned Golf Courses that were leased to third parties, should be undertaken.
Thereafter, the Committee AGREED to defer the increase in rent for Tain Golf Club, pending a review of rent levels of all Golf Courses owned by the Council and leased to third parties.
28. Amendments to Organisational Structures/Establishments
There had been circulated Report No. res-159-08 dated 25 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which recommended amendments to organisational structures/establishments as a consequence of proposals from Service Directors.
Following consideration, the Committee:
i. APPROVED the amendments to the staffing establishment and other
staffing changes as detailed in Section 2 and Appendix 1 of the report,
subject to the deletion of the creation of two 3 year fixed term posts of
Trainee Technician in Transport, Environmental and Community Services;
and
ii. NOTED the trends shown in Appendix 2 of the report.
29. Tain Common Good Fund Application – Tain Rose Garden
There had been circulated Report No. res-160-08 dated 4 November, 2008 by the Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross Corporate Manager which outlined a recent application to the Tain Common Good Fund for £26,000 towards developing the Tain Rose Garden and provided the Committee with the necessary background information about the project to make a decision on the application.
The Committee APPROVED the application by the Tain Initiative Group for £26,000 to be funded by the Tain Common Good Fund.
30. Minutes of Meetings
The Committee APPROVED the following Minutes of Meetings which were circulated for confirmation:-
i. Joint Consultation Group (41kb) – Minute of Meeting of 19 September
2008
ii. Central Safety Committee – Minute of Meeting of 19 September 2008
iii. Early Retirement Sub-Committee – Minute of Meeting of 21 October 2008
iv. Appeals Committee – Minutes of Meetings of 1 August 2008, 26
September 2008, 10 October 2008, 24 October 2008, 31 October 2008
and 21 November 2008
v. Investment Advisory Group – Minute of Meeting of 21 November 2008
vi. Modernising Employment Sub-Committee - Minute of Meeting of 29
October 2008
vii. ICT Procurement Working Group – Minute of Meeting of 21 October 2008
viii. ICT Procurement Working Group – Minute of Meeting of 26 November
2008
31. Exclusion of The Public
The Committee RESOLVED that, under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the following items on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 6, 9 and 11 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act.
32. National Pay Award
There had been circulated to Members only Report No. RES/161/08 dated 2 December, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which recommended that the Committee agree to implement the Scottish Joint Council 2008 pay award in the absence of a national agreement.
During discussion, the Committee noted that, while not all trade unions had accepted the increase offered by Employers’, the majority of Scottish Local Authorities had agreed to proceed to implement the pay increase which had been accepted by the largest trade union representing local authority staff.
The Committee AGREED to implement the 3% pay award for all staff for the year 1 April, 2008 to 31 March, 2009.
33. ICT Procurement: Outline Solutions Evaluation Report
There had been circulated to Members only Report No. RES/162/08 dated 18 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which presented the project team evaluations on 3 Outline Solutions responses from Bidders, and the recommendations that would be made to Resources Committee for the next stage in the Competitive Dialogue process.
Following consideration, the Committee:
i. NOTED the contents of the Outline Solution Evaluation Report;
ii. AGREED to invite the three remaining bidders to participate in Detailed
Solutions Dialogue; and
iii. NOTED the timetable for the Detailed Solutions Phase.
34. ICT Procurement: Outline Public Sector Comparator
There had been circulated to Members only Report No. RES/163/08 dated 17 November, 2008 by the Assistant Chief Executive which summarised the initial findings of the Highland Council Public Sector Comparator (PSC). It was proposed to present the PSC in two stages in line with Outline and Detailed stage of the ICT Procurement Competitive Dialogue process. The report detailed the work undertaken on the Outline PSC and the timetable for development and completion.
Following discussion, during which a number of points raised by Members were clarified, the Committee:
i. NOTED the progress in developing the Public Sector Comparator; and
ii. AGREED the timetable and process for completion.
35. Property Transactions Monitoring Report
There had been circulated to Members only Report No. RES/164/08 dated 18 November, 2008 by the Director of Housing and Property which advised on sales targeted for completion within the financial year 2008/09 and summarised progress. The report also provided details of the Property Account property transactions approved by the Head of Housing Development and Estates.
The Committee NOTED progress on property sales with anticipated settlement within financial year 2008/09 and the Property Account transactions approved by the Head of Housing Development and Estates.
36. Debts Recommended to be Written Off
There had been circulated to Members only Report No. RES/165/08 dated 12 November, 2008 by the Depute Chief Executive relating to uncollectible debts recommended for write-off.
Following consideration, the Committee AGREED that the debts detailed in the report should be written-off.
The meeting ended at 1p.m.