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Councillor Davidson (in respect of holding a licence from Colchester Borough Council for a mooring), Councillor Buston (as a Trustee of TS Colne Light) and Councillor Naish (in respect of his membership of the Anglian Trust Eastern Region and the Freshwater Forum and as a holder of a licence from the Environment Agency) declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7(5).
The Board considered a report from the Assistant Chief Executive setting out the draft work programme for the 2014-15 municipal year.
In the course of discussion on the work programme the role of the Trading Board in relation to the Revolving Investment Fund (RIF) Committee was discussed. It was explained that as the RIF Committee was a Cabinet Committee, the Board did not have a formal role in scrutinising or monitoring its work. The Chairman attended meetings of the RIF Committee as an observer only. However, the Board did need to be aware of the decisions of the RIF Committee in respect of the Council’s assets, given that these decisions were critical to the Council’s trading position. The Board was due to receive a verbal update on Strategic Asset Management at its meeting in March and this would include an update on the work of the RIF Committee to date.
In respect of the work programme for the 2015-16 municipal year, Ian Vipond, Strategic Director, Commercial and Place, explained that the regular reports on the commercial services would from the basis of the work programme. In this way, the Board would be acting in a similar way to the board of a commercial company. Some members stressed the need to ensure that the Board continued to consider innovative new ways of generating income and considered that there was a potential risk that if the main focus of the Board was on monitoring the commercial services, potential opportunities may be lost.
In response it was stressed that Commercial Services would continue to bring new ideas and opportunities to the Board and that members would also have the opportunity to make suggestions for the work programme. Spin offs and trading opportunities were likely to be generated from the work monitoring the commercial services. Gareth Mitchell, Head of Commercial Services, highlighted that the Board would be considering the Annual Report for 2014-15 at its next meeting. This would provide an opportunity for a forward look to the next municipal year and for a discussion on potential items for the future work programme for the Board.
It was suggested that there was an opportunity for the Council to generate further income from moorings, following the regeneration of the Hythe. The Strategic Director confirmed that the Council recognised that this was an issue but it was anticipated that this would be addressed through the work of Hythe Forward.
RESOLVED that the draft work programme 2014-15 be noted.