Apologies were received from Mr W Cross.

To confirm the record of the meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 22 March 2018 (previously circulated).

The minutes of the meeting of the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on 22 March 2018, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations of interest were received.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes. Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received. Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes of the total time for 30 minutes. Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice. Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

No petitions, deputations or questions from members of the public had been received.

To consider any questions with notice from Members received in accordance with the provisions of Procedure rule No. 219 and No. 219A.

No questions were received from Members.

To consider any Notices of Motion from Members submitted in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule No. 220.

No notices of motion were received from Members.

To consider any matter referred to the Panel for a decision in relation to call in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

No matter was referred to the Panel for a decision in relation to a call-in of a decision in accordance with Procedure Rule 206.

To receive Report No. 73/2018 from the Director for Resources.

Mr Hemsley introduced the report, the purpose of which was to update members on the Business Support Review which was completed in February 2018 and give members the opportunity to comment on its ongoing progress.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        It was noted that the review was still being embedded and may take 6 months to be fully operational as staff settle into their roles.

    ii.        Admin tasks would be sent to the relevant Business Support Hub, either the Places and Resources hub, or the Peoples hub.

   iii.        In 6 months, the Council is looking to have generic job titles and job descriptions within the Business Support Hub meaning staff could cover all workloads.

   iv.        It was asked whether there would be a headcount reduction. It was noted that at present, demand for support was growing. Miss Cookson would be monitoring over the next few months whilst understanding staff roles. It was early days to say whether there could be a reduction. Mr Hemsley noted that in principle there was hope for a reduction, however work commitment on projects was needing resources.

    v.        Mrs Wylie noted that there was currently a buddy system in progress, with staff learning from each other’s roles, and starting to be able to cover for each other.

   vi.        Managers were starting to be able to manage more as they were covering less admin tasks when their admin staff were on leave.

  vii.        Miss Cookson noted that recently two staff members had left, and normally the roles would have gone to agency, but have now been able to find cover for the role within the Business Support Hub.

viii.        Mr Baines noted that officers from Peterborough had been recently used for the Planning and Licensing Committee which would have added expense. Mrs Wylie noted that an additional Governance Officer had now been recruited to help with the clerking of committees.

   ix.        Mrs Wylie noted that morale within staff had gone up, now that the review itself was complete. Teams were happy with the variety of jobs they were getting, with more interesting work. There had also been positive feedback from managers.

    x.        The Chair was pleased to have assurance that the principles and implementation of the review was clear-sighted and thorough.

   xi.        Mrs Wylie noted that the 60% of the Corporate Support team that were on temporary contracts are now all permanent.

  xii.        Mr Hemsley stated that more savings would be made now as more staff members were permanent, as the time taken for a staff members to settle in their role and retraining new staff cost the council in time and resources.

AGREED

That the Panel NOTED the report.

To consider Scrutiny issues to review.

Copies of the Forward Plan will be available at the meeting.

The Chair noted that the Local transport Plan had been postponed due to further work being done on the Local Plan in regards to St George’s Barracks.

A report updating the Panel on the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group would be brought to all Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panels in the next municipal year.

To receive any other items of urgent business which have been previously notified to the person presiding.

There was no other urgent business.

The date of the next meeting will be advised following Annual Council on 14 May 2018.

The date of the next meeting will be advised following Annual Council on 14 May 2018.

Items to include:

·         Local Transport Plan

·         Oakham Town Task and Finish Group Update