Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Contact: Fatima Butt - 01274 432227 

Items
No. Item

38.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

No disclosures of interest were received.

39.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2017 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Fatima Butt – 01274 432227)

Minutes:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2017 be signed as a correct record.

40.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Fatima Butt - 01274 432227)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to inspect reports and background papers.

41.

GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE BRADFORD DISTRICT COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY (CIL) CHARGING SCHEDULE pdf icon PDF 179 KB

Section 206 of the Planning Act 2008 confers the non-mandatory power on Local Authorities to introduce a new charge on different types of new development in their area, known as ‘Community Infrastructure Levy’ (CIL).The proceeds of this charge should be spent on infrastructure needed to support growth in the District, a proportion of which must be passed to local communities where development has taken place.

 

The Strategic Director, Place will submit Document “AA”  which informs Members of the Committee of the proposed CIL governance arrangements to be put in place following the commencement of the Bradford District CIL as required by the Regulations on 1 July 2017. 

 

Recommended-

 

That that the proposed Bradford District CIL governance arrangements as set out in Document “AA” as the most appropriate basis by which the Council will manage the collection, spend and monitoring of CIL receipts be considered.

 

                                                            (Bhupinder Dev - 01274 432012)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Section 206 of the Planning Act 2008 confers the non-mandatory power on Local Authorities to introduce a new charge on different types of new development in their area, known as ‘Community Infrastructure Levy’ (CIL).The proceeds of this charge should be spent on infrastructure needed to support growth in the District, a proportion of which must be passed to local communities where development had taken place.

 

The Strategic Director, Place submitted Document “AA”  which informed Members of the Committee of the proposed CIL governance arrangements to be put in place following the commencement of the Bradford District CIL as required by the Regulations on 1 July 2017. 

 

It was reported that the introduction of CIL necessitated the development of governance arrangements for spending and administering the monies collected. Under CIL, the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council would act as the designated ‘Charging Authority’ and ‘Collecting Authority’. In accordance with the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) the Council had an obligation to:

 

·         Prepare and publish the CIL Charging Schedule

·         Calculate CIL liability and collect CIL monies owed 

·         Apply the levy revenue it received to funding the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure to support development of its area

·         Pass a percentage of CIL receipts (the neighbourhood portion) to communities where a development had taken place, and:

·         Report on the amount of CIL revenue collected, spent and retained each year.

 

Members were informed that CIL would operate through the exchange of formal notices and for most developments included:

 

·         The owner/developer or another interested party assume liability for the levy by submitting an assumption of liability form.

·         A Liability Notice is issued by the Council along with the planning permission Decision Notice. It stated how much CIL was payable and included details of the payment procedure.

·         Before the development started, the owner/developer provided the Council with a Commencement Notice giving a date to start works.

·         The Council then issued the Demand Notice (the bill). The CIL charge is recorded as a Local Land Charge. The Council issues a receipt for each payment received.

 

It was reported that administration of CIL would be similar to current Section 106 Agreement procedures and processes.

 

In response to Members questions it was reported that 15% of CIL receipts would be passed directly to those Parish and Town Councils where the development had taken place.

 

A Member queried the Council retaining 5% of the CIL receipts in the first three years to fund up and on going costs when the process would be similar to the collection of Section 106 Agreement monies.

 

In response it was reported that the money for funding the on going costs would be for the introduction of new IT systems, the software needed updating and needed to be transparent in the way CIL was reported; there was a new layer of processes which needed to be aligned close to Section 106; the 5% proposed for administration costs would be reviewed and if it was no longer required it would return  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

42.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTRES pdf icon PDF 460 KB

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services will submit Document “AB” which  provides the Committee with an update on the progress to make the District’s three Outdoor Education Centres independent of the Local Authority and sustainable into the future.

 

Recommended-

 

(1)       That the Strategic Director of Children’s Services continue the work to make the three Outdoor Education Centres sustainable and independent of the Local Authority whilst ensuring a high quality outdoor education offer for children and young people. 

 

(2)       That the Committee notes the progress that has been made towards making the Centres independent and the timetable to complete the work by December 2018.

 

(3)       That the Committee notes the decision will be made by the Executive in June 2017 on the option to make the Outdoor Education Centres independent.

 

(4)       That the Committee notes that following the Executive decision progression towards implementation of governance arrangements will be overseen by the “Great Start, Good Schools” Priority Outcome Board.

 

                                                            (Phil Hunter – 01274 439575)

 

Minutes:

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services submitted Document “AB” which  provided the Committee with an update on the progress to make the District’s three Outdoor Education Centres independent of the Local Authority and sustainable into the future.

 

The Deputy Director, Education, Employment and Skills gave a background to the report which included:

 

·         Outdoor Education Centres had been supported by the Schools Forum with grants in 2011/12 and in 2014/15.

·         These grants had enabled capital redevelopment works to be undertaken on the sites.

·         There had been a number of previous reports to Committees which had forecasted an investment and transfer date of April 2017, and whilst the majority of work had been completed, as with all capital programmes there had been some delays.

·         A high level plan had been included in the report which detailed the next planned steps.

·         Currently the 3 centres remained in the management of the Council, but it should be noted that the Nell Bank site also welcomed the support of the Nell Bank Silver Jubilee Trust, who already held leases and assets for the Nell Bank site.

·         The Nell Bank Silver Jubilee Trust as an organisation had made significant progress and investment in order to ensure they had an appropriate structure in place for the future at Nell Bank and were currently in the process of incorporating into the Nell Bank Charitable Trust. This was expected to be in place by April 2017, and it was the Council’s intention to continue to support the development of the Charitable Trust at Nell Bank.

 

She also reported on the next steps for the Centres which included:

 

·         Outdoor education was a very important element to the development of children and the Council was committed to ensuring that Bradford’s children continue to have access to the progressive pathways and high quality outdoor learning that the centres deliver.

·         The work on the future of the Centres was on going and required sound future governance arrangements,  the journeys to independence would require work to develop new business sustainability plans that: extended the use and offer of the Centres, that kept charges to users under review; that enabled the management of resources more effectively which put them in a strong position to attract other funding and grants to support their sustainability.

·         It was clear that the commitment to outdoor learning remained high within the district and whilst it was acknowledged there had been delays, there appeared to be a renewed vigour to support the Councils desire for the centres to become independent of the local authority.

 

 

In response to a Members question it was reported that the money allocated by the Schools Forum was one off money and the Centres would not continue to receive further funding; the capital works at the centres had been completed; the centres were now in a much more sustainable position; by the end of this year the three centres would break even;  Officers were confident that the centres would be viable in the future.

 

It was reported that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

WEST YORKSHIRE COMBINED AUTHORITY (WYCA) AND LEEDS CITY REGION ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP (LEP): UPDATE REPORT pdf icon PDF 638 KB

The Strategic Director, Place will submit Document “AC” which provides an update report on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership with a focus on governance, accountability, reporting and involvement of Bradford Council, its elected members and staff.

 

Recommended-

 

That the report (Document “AC”) be noted and an update report be presented to the Committee in 2017/18.

 

                                                            (Jamie Saunders – 01274 434123)

 

 

Minutes:

The Strategic Director, Place submitted Document “AC” which provided an update report on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership with a focus on governance, accountability, reporting and involvement of Bradford Council, its elected members and staff.

 

It was reported that changes to the Combined Authority and LEP were under discussion as a result of negotiations between political leadership in the sub and city region and Government Ministers.  These were at an advanced stage, seeking to secure substantial powers and resources for sub-national regeneration, economic development and public sector reform.

 

The Chair pointed out that once the devolution decision had been made the Committee would need to look at alternative version of governance arrangements.

 

It was reported that the current governance arrangements for the WYCA were being looked at in order to make them more streamlined.

 

A Member queried the categories, Apprenticeship Grants for Employers and Skills Capital Funding which required improvement  (detailed in paragraph 5.8 of Document “AC”).

 

It was reported that the latest position on the two areas highlighted as requiring improvement in the WYCA Internal Audit Plan for 2017/18 would be circulated to Members.

 

Resolved-

 

That the report (Document “AC”) be noted and an update report be presented to the Committee in 2017/18.

 

Action:           Strategic Director, Place

 

                                                           

 

44.

CERTIFICATION OF GRANT CLAIMS 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 145 KB

The External Auditor will submit Document “AD” which reports on the external auditor’s certification work on grant claims within the Public Sector Audit Appointment’s grant regime for 2015/16.

 

Recommended-

 

That the Governance and Audit Committee considers the letter on the certification work on grant claims (attached to Document “AD”).

                                                            (Steve Appleton – 01274 432392)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The External Auditor submitted Document “AD” which reported on the external auditor’s certification work on grant claims within the Public Sector Audit Appointment’s grant regime for 2015/16.

 

It was reported that External Audit had issued a qualification letter to the Department for Work and Pensions on 29 November 2016 in line with the Public Sector Audit Appointments certification instructions, primarily relating to errors in the calculation of earned income.  The adjustments made to the Housing Benefit Subsidy was £9.00 due to errors identified.

 

Members were informed that as a result of errors identified in 2014/15 due to earned income being input correctly, extended testing on an additional 40 cases had been completed.  This testing identified 1 error which resulted in benefit being overpaid by £3.90.

 

It was also noted that in the qualification letter that the error rate had reduced from last year and management continued with targeted checking of earnings calculations to reduce the likelihood of errors.

 

The External Auditor reported that there were no significant matters to bring to the Committee’s attention.

 

Resolved-

 

That the Governance and Audit Committee considered the letter on the certification work on grant claims (attached to Document “AD”).

Action:           External Audit                                

45.

MINUTES OF WEST YORKSHIRE PENSION FUND (WYPF) PENSION BOARD HELD ON 9 NOVEMBER 2016 pdf icon PDF 44 KB

The Council’s Financial Regulations require the minutes of meetings of the WYPF be submitted to this Committee.

 

In accordance with the above the Director of West Yorkshire Pension Fund    will submit DocumentAE” which reports on the minutes of the meeting of the WYPF Pension Board held on 9 November 2016

 

Recommended-

 

That the minutes of the WYPF Pension Board held on 9 November 2016 be considered.

 

                                                            (Caroline Blackburn – 01274 434523)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council’s Financial Regulations required the minutes of meetings of the WYPF be submitted to this Committee.

 

In accordance with the above the Director of West Yorkshire Pension Fund submitted DocumentAE” which reported on the minutes of the meeting of the WYPF Pension Board held on 9 November 2016.

 

Resolved-

 

That the minutes of the WYPF Pension Board held on 9 November 2016 were considered.

 

                                               

46.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

Recommended –

 

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the items relating to minutes of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Investment Advisory Panel meeting held on 3 November 2016 because the information to be considered is exempt information within paragraph 3 (Financial or Business Affairs) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.  It is also considered that it is in the public interest to exclude public access to this item.

 

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the items relating to minutes of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Investment Advisory Panel meeting held on 3 November 2016 because the information to be considered was exempt information within paragraph 3 (Financial or Business Affairs) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.  It is also considered that it was in the public interest to exclude public access to this item.

 

47.

MINUTES OF WEST YORKSHIRE PENSION FUND (WYPF) INVESTMENT ADVISORY PANEL HELD ON 3 NOVEMBER 2016

The Council’s Financial Regulations require the minutes of meetings of the WYPF be submitted to this Committee.

 

In accordance with this requirement, the Director of West Yorkshire Pension Fund will submit  Not for Publication Document “AF” which reports on the minutes of the meeting of the WYPF Investment Advisory Panel held on 3 November 2016.

 

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Investment Advisory Panel held on 3 November 2016 be considered.

 

                                                            (Rodney Barton – 01274 432317)

Minutes:

The Council’s Financial Regulations required the minutes of meetings of the WYPF be submitted to this Committee.

 

In accordance with this requirement, the Director of West Yorkshire Pension Fund submitted  Not for Publication Document “AF” which reported on the minutes of the meeting of the WYPF Investment Advisory Panel held on 3 November 2016.

 

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund Investment Advisory Panel held on 3 November 2016 were considered.