Agenda and minutes

Any Member who is substituting for another Member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent Member.

There were no substitutions declared.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Roach and Peter Thompson.

Councillors Beccy Hopfensperger, Karen Richardson and Barry Robbins were also unable to attend.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2018, were unaniously accepted by the Committee as an accurate record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

Members of the public who live or work in Forest Heath are invited to put one question/statement of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within 3 minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public.

Report No: PAS/SE/18/030

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/18/034)

Further to the informal joint discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/18/030.

Members had considered the report and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the Mid-year Internal Audit Progress Report 2018-2019.

Report No: PAS/SE/18/031

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/18/035)

Further to the informal joint discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/18/031.

Members had considered the report and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the 2018-2019 Performance Report (Quarter 2).

Report No: PAS/SE/18/032

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/18/036)

Further to the informal joint discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/18/032.

Members had considered the report and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the West Suffolk Strategic Risk Register Quarterly Monitoring Report (September 2018).

Report No: PAS/SE/18/033

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/18/037)

Further to the informal joint discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/18/033.

Members had considered the report and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the Building Control Business Development Plan Update (November 2018).

Report No: PAS/SE/18/034

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/18/038)

Further to the informal joint discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/18/034.

Members had considered the report and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the Work Programme Update.

Report No: PAS/SE/18/035

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/18/039)

Further to the informal joint discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/18/035.

The Committee noted the approach and timescales for the 2019-2020 budget setting process and medium term plans for the West Suffolk Council.

Councillor Clive Pollington moved the recommendation, this was duly seconded by Councillor Patricia Warby and with the vote being unanimous, it was

          RECOMMENDED:

That subject to the approval of the Shadow Council, the proposals, as detailed in Section 2 and Table 1 and Table 2 of Report No: PAS/SE/18/ 035, be included in securing a balanced budget for 2019-2020.

Report No: TMS/SE/18/004 will be considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 19 November 2018.  The Chairman / Service Manager (Finance and Performance) will update the Committee verbally on any issues or recommendations arising from the consideration of this report.

The Committee received Report No: TMS/SE/18/004, which had been considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 19 November 2018.  The Chairman of the Sub-Committee provided a verbal update on the Sub-Committee’s consideration of the report, which summarised the investment activities for the first six months of 2018-2019.

It was reported that the total amount invested at 1 April 2018 was £36.35m and at 30 September 2018, £44.95m.  The increase in balances over the period was due primarily to timing differences in respect of the collection of local taxes, the payment of precepts and changes in the profile of the Capital Programme.  The 2018/19 Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy Statements (Report COU/SE/18/002 approved 20 February 2018) sets out the Council’s projections for the current financial year.  The budget for investment income in 2018/19 is £308,000 which is based on a 0.70% target average rate of return on investments.  As at the end of September 2018, interest actually earned during the first six months of the financial year amounted to £155,169 (average rate of return of 0.688%) against a profiled budget for the period of £154,000 (average rate of return of 0.70%); a budgetary surplus of £1,169.

The report also included assumptions on borrowing for capital projects included within it.  The borrowing was based around four specific projects as per their agreed business cases.  The report included a summary of capital borrowing budget 2018-2019, and a summary of capital borrowing for quarter two – all of which was currently internally borrowed from the Councils overall cash balances.  As at the end of quarter two, there had been no requirement to borrow externally, therefore there was no interest payable in quarter two.

The Treasury Management Sub-Committee had scrutinised the Investment Activity for 1 April to 30 September 2018, and asked questions to which comprehensive responses were provided.

The Committee considered the report and did not raise any issues.

Councillor Andrew Smith then moved the recommendation, this was duly seconded by Councillor Patricia Warby and with the vote being unanimous, it was

          RECOMMENDED:

That, subject to the approval of Council, the Mid-Year Treasury Management Report 2018-2019 and Investment Activity (1 April to 30 September 2018), being Report No: TMS/SE/18/004, be approved.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded during the consideration of the following item because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during this item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated against the item and, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

See Minute Number 29 below.

Exempt Appendix 1 to Report No: PAS/SE/18/033

Exempt Diagram 1 to Report No: PAS/SE/18/033

Exempt Diagram 2 to Report No: PAS/SE/18/033

Exempt Diagram 3 to Report No: PAS/SE/18/033

The Committee considered Exempt Appendix 1, and Exempt Diagrams 1, 2 and 3 to Report No: PAS/SE/18/033. However, no reference was made to specific detail and, therefore, this item was not held in private session.