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ANGUS COUNCIL
MINUTE of MEETING of the FINANCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE held in The Town and County Hall, Forfar on Tuesday 19 October 1999 at.4.10 pm.
Present: Councillors ALEX KING, ALISTAIR GRAY, STEPHEN LESLIE, IAN MACKINTOSH, BRIAN MILNE, PETER MURPHY, ROB MURRAY, ROBERT MYLES, PETER NIELD, and DAVID SELFRIDGE.
Apologies: Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillors BILL MIDDLETON, GLENNIS MIDDLETON and BILL ROBERTON.
Councillor KING, Convener, in the Chair.
1. MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETING
(a) Previous Meeting
The minute of meeting of this Committee held on 31 August 1999 was approved as a correct record and signed by the Convener.
(b) Executive Sub-Committee
The minute of meeting of the Executive Sub-Committee of 21 July 1999, a copy of which is appended hereto, was submitted and noted. (APPENDIX)
2. HOUSING CAPITAL PROGRAMME HRA BLOCK 1999/2000
With reference to Article 2 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 1066/99 by the Director of Finance setting out the position on the HRA Housing Capital Programme as at 30 September 1999. The Report indicated that the Housing Capital spend had been adjusted in view of additional sales of Council houses, offset by additional costs in respect of Gas Maintenance, with the total identified projects to date being £6.158 million. Expenditure was generally on track to achieve the Programme and performance would continue to be carefully monitored.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
3. CAPITAL MONITORING COMPOSITE CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1999/2000
With reference to Article 4 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 1055/99 by the Director of Finance advising members of the capital expenditure incurred for the period from 1 April 1999 to 30 September 1999 and measuring projected capital expenditure for the year against available capital resources for the year. The Report indicated that the total potential capital resource of £11.209 million was greater than the latest estimate of expenditure of £11.089 million by £120,000. This was well within the allowable provisions pertaining to carry forward of resources for use within 2000/2001.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note the position as at 30 September 1999 on the Composite Capital Programme, as per the accompanying monitoring statement; and
(ii) to note that projections of the year end position would be ongoing and brought forward on a regular basis, to future Committees.
4. TREASURY MANAGEMENT ANNUAL REPORT 1998/99
With reference to Article 10 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 20 October 1998, there was submitted Report No 1056/99 by the Director of Finance detailing Treasury Management Activities for Angus Council for the financial year 1998/99.
The Report indicated that the Policy Statement, as approved by the Policy and Resources Committee on 23 March 1999, had been strictly adhered to and had resulted in the exercise of stringent financial control within the Treasury Management Section of the Finance Department. It had also been the subject of ongoing monitoring to take account of changing circumstances in the area of Treasury Management.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to approve the Annual Report on Treasury Management Activities for Angus Council for 1998/99, as appended to the Report;
(ii) to note the requirements of the Treasury Management Policy Statement and Section 13 of the Council's Financial Regulations pertaining to Treasury Management; and
(ii) to note the availability of the Treasury Management Systems Document which covered detailed systems and procedures within the Treasury Management Section of the Finance Department.
5. RENEWAL AND REPAIR FUNDS POSITION AT 30 SEPTEMBER 1999
With reference to Article 5 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 1057/99 by the Director of Finance detailing the financial position of the Renewal and Repair Funds for Property, Roads, Print and Information Technology. The Report indicated that all agreed commitments for 1999/2000 had been included.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
6. REVENUE MONITORING STATEMENT
With reference to Article 3 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 1058/99 by the Director of Finance on the actual revenue expenditure incurred and income received in respect of the Council's departments as well as the Police, Fire and Valuation Joint Boards for the period of 1 April 1999 to 31 August 1999.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report and the revised figures relating to Planning and Transportation, as circulated at the meeting.
7. REVENUE BUDGET OUTTURN 1999/2000
With reference to Article 6 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 1059/99 by the Director of Finance updating members on the Council's projected financial position to the end of the current financial year.
The Report indicated that in relation to Environmental and Consumer Protection, the operating lease costs budgets in the Vehicle Hire Centre had been increased by £81,000 by virement from debt charges. However, generally, the discipline of working within cash limited budgets was currently being maintained.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
8. REVENUE BUDGET 1999/2000 VIREMENT
With reference to Article 13 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 2 February 1999, there was submitted Report No 1060/99 by the Director of Finance concerning virement proposals up to 31 August 1999. The Report detailed the adjustments to budgets, either by virement from other budget heads or by additional income for each Department, with the adjustments also being reflected in the monitoring/probable outturn reports (Articles 6 and 7 above).
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
9. REVENUE BUDGET 1999/2000
With reference to Article 14 of the minute of meeting of the Education Committee of 24 August 1999, there was submitted Joint Report No 1014/99 by the Director of Education and the Director of Finance identifying the potential overspend within the Education Department revenue budget for 1999/2000 and outlining proposals to address this. The proposals were intended to ensure that the net expenditure in 1999/2000 was contained within the available cash limited budget of £53.99m.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed to approve the budget virements as outlined in the Report.
10. REMISSION OF RATES
With reference to Article 11 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 1061/99 by the Director of Finance advising the Committee of applications for remission of rates and indicating that the granting of the applications, as detailed in the Report, would be consistent with the Council's policy.
The Committee agreed to approve the applications for remission of rates, as detailed in the Report.
11. THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND RATING ACT 1997 DISCRETIONARY RURAL RATING RELIEF
With reference to Article 8 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 5 May 1998, there was submitted Report No 1062/99 by the Director of Finance recommending that discretionary rural rating relief be granted in respect of certain classes of property.
The Report indicated that, in terms of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997, Post Offices and General Stores were entitled to 50% mandatory relief. However, cognisance had been taken in the preparation of the Report of the need to sustain and encourage those businesses which were essential and integral to local village life. Also, due regard had been given to on the impact on Council Tax payers in terms of cost. Approval of rating relief would be backdated to 1 April 1999 provided that the appropriate application had been received prior to 31 March 2000.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to approve the granting of discretionary rural rating relief to those classes of property detailed in Appendices A and B to the Report;
(ii) to note that the relief, as detailed in the Report, would result in a nominal reduction in income to the Council; and
(iii) to note that the Revenues Division would contact the appropriate ratepayers to ensure maximum take-up for the current financial year.
12. COUNCILLORS' SCHEME OF TRAVELLING AND SUBSISTENCE EXPENSES
With reference to Article 1 of the minute of the special meeting of the Finance and Information Technology Committee of 25 May 1999, there was submitted Report No 1063/99 by the Director of Finance seeking approval to alter the Councillors' scheme of travelling and subsistence expenses. The Report indicated that the terms of the present scheme with regard to air travel provided that, where there was a substantial saving in time, Councillors were entitled to travel by air, subject to minuted authority being obtained from the Council and the fare being restricted to the ordinary available cheap fare. It was now, however, felt that the present system of requiring specific minuted approval prior to travel was unduly cumbersome.
The Committee agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Leader of the Administration, to apply the terms of Circular 19/97, in relation to travel by air by Councillors, as detailed in the Report.
13. COLLECTION OF COUNCIL AND COMMUNITY CHARGE UPDATE
With reference to Article 12 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 1064/99 by the Director of Finance updating the Committee on the collection position of the Council Tax and Community Charge, to the end of September 1999.
The Report indicated that significant sums of money had been collected (£241.033 million) as at 30 September 1999 in respect of Council Tax and Community Charges with some debts (£3.457 million) having been written off. Arrears of £5.591 million were being pursued by the Council, Sheriff Officers, Debt Collection Agents and Employment Search Agents to achieve the best possible collection rate.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
14. CAPITAL PROJECT APPRAISAL BIRKHILL PRIMARY SCHOOL
There was submitted Joint Report No 1013/99 by the Director of Education and the Director of Property Services outlining proposals for the extension of Birkhill Primary School at an estimated cost of £480,000, subject to the availability of adequate financial resources.
The Report outlined a number of options in relation to how best to address the issue, with the modernisation and extension of the present school on the existing site being the preferred course of action. This would comprise an extension of 4 classrooms, toilets, together with an activity area adjacent to the existing school. Further alterations to the existing building would enable the nursery class to accommodated within the main school which would have educational advantages and be a cost effective use of school resources. However, due to the uncertainty over funding in future years, it was proposed to undertake the work in two phases.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to approve the extension of Birkhill Primary School at an estimated cost of £480,000 at outturn prices, subject to the availability of adequate financial resources;
(ii) to note that the phasing of expenditure outlined in the Report would be reflected in the revised Capital Programme for 1999/2000 and beyond;
(iii) to note the overall proposed funding indications and instruct the Director of Education to prepare a further Report once the level of funding available in future years was clarified; and
(iv) to approve the preparation and issue of tender documents for Phase 1 of the project.
15. BEST VALUE SERVICE REVIEW IT INSTALLATION SERVICE
There was submitted Report No 1052/99 by the Director of Information Technology informing the Committee of the outcome of a Best Value Service Review of Information Technology installation services.
The Review Team had considered that the Department of Information Technology clearly demonstrated a process of continuous improvement in the delivery of its IT installation services. This, taken with the other information gathered during the review process, had led the Team to conclude that the service, in the context of the Council’s Best Value model, provided an acceptable standard of service. However, the Review had highlighted opportunities for further improving the service and these were listed in the Service Improvement Plan, attached to the Report.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note the outcome of the Best Value Review of IT installation services; and
(ii) to approve the implementation of the Service Improvement Plan, contained in the Review report, a copy of which had been placed in the Members’ Lounge.
16. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT
There was submitted Report No 1053/99 by the Director of Information Technology seeking approval to commit funds from the IT Repairs and Renewal Fund to initiate a partial replacement of the Information Technology infrastructure within the Social Work Department of Angus Council.
The Report indicated that the partial replacement of the existing IT infrastructure would enable the Social Work Department to benefit from newer technologies. In particular, the introduction of e-mail would greatly enhance communication within the Department and the development of a Departmental intranet would provide considerable benefit in knowledge and information sharing between staff.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to approve the commitment of £150,000 from current balances in the Information Technology Repairs and Renewals Fund to enable a partial replacement of the existing IT infrastructure within the Social Work Department; and
(ii) to instruct the Director of Information Technology to proceed to tender the associated works and to report the results to the Committee in due course.
17. IT NETWORK SECURITY APPOINTMENT OF EXTERNAL CONTRACTORS
There was submitted Report No 1054/99 by the Director of Information Technology seeking approval to request tenders from appropriate external contractors who would advise the Information Technology Department on IT network security. Due to increased public access to selected external services over the Council network, the Council required to be reassured that adequate security measures were in place to prevent unauthorised access to internal information. Due to the proposed timescale for the new initiatives in the Report and the Department’s heavy staffing resource commitment to Year 2000 compliance, it was proposed, in this instance, to seek external assistance to produce technical security advice.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to authorise the Director of Information Technology to seek the submission of tenders from appropriate contractors to advise the Information Technology Department on network security issues; and
(ii) to instruct the Director of Information Technology to report on the result of the tendering exercise, in due course.
18. EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS
The Committee resolved, in terms of Standing Order 27(2) that the public and press be excluded during consideration of the following item, so as to avoid the disclosure of information which was exempt in terms of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 paragraph 6.
19. SEED CRUSHERS (SCOTLAND) LTD IN RECEIVERSHIP
With reference to Article 15 of the minute of meeting of Angus Council of 16 September 1999, there was submitted Report No 1065/99 by the Director of Finance advising the Committee that a Receiver had been appointed in respect of Seed Crushers (Scotland) Ltd and that a further report would be submitted in respect of the plant's on-going trading position.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note, in the circumstances, that a Receiver had been appointed in respect of Seed Crushers (Scotland) Ltd;
(ii) to note that the proposed Warrant Sale had been cancelled; and
(ii) to note that a further report would be submitted to the Committee in respect of the plant's on-going trading position.