Meeting Details

Meeting Summary
Trading Board
3 Aug 2016 - 18:00 to 21:00
Occurred
G3
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
1 Welcome and Announcements

a)     The Chairman to welcome members of the public and Councillors and to remind all speakers of the requirement for microphones to be used at all times.

(b)     At the Chairman's discretion, to announce information on:

  • action in the event of an emergency;
  • mobile phones switched to silent;
  • the audio-recording of meetings;
  • location of toilets;
  • introduction of members of the meeting.
2 Substitutions

Members may arrange for a substitute councillor to attend a meeting on their behalf, subject to prior notice being given. The attendance of substitute councillors must be recorded.

3 Urgent Items

To announce any items not on the agenda which the Chairman has agreed to consider because they are urgent, to give reasons for the urgency and to indicate where in the order of business the item will be considered.

4 Declarations of Interest

The Chairman to invite Councillors to declare individually any interests they may have in the items on the agenda. Councillors should consult Meetings General Procedure Rule 7 for full guidance on the registration and declaration of interests. However Councillors may wish to note the following:- 

  • Where a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest, other pecuniary interest or a non-pecuniary interest in any business of the authority and he/she is present at a meeting of the authority at which the business is considered, the Councillor must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest, whether or not such interest is registered on his/her register of Interests or if he/she has made a pending notification.  
     
  • If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at a meeting, he/she must not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter at the meeting. The Councillor must withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer.
     
  • Where a Councillor has another pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at a meeting and where the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the Councillor’s judgement of the public interest, the Councillor must disclose the existence and nature of the interest and withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer.
     
  • Failure to comply with the arrangements regarding disclosable pecuniary interests without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and disqualification from office for up to 5 years.
5 Minutes
To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2016
126

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2016 be confirmed as a correct record.

6 Have Your Say!
a) The Chairman to invite members of the public to indicate if they wish to speak or present a petition at this meeting – either on an item on the agenda or on a general matter relating to the terms of reference of the Committee/Panel not on this agenda. You should indicate your wish to speak at this point if your name has not been noted by Council staff.

(b) The Chairman to invite contributions from members of the public who wish to Have Your Say! on a general matter relating to the terms of reference of the Committee/Panel not on this agenda.
127
Kim Naish attended and addressed the Board pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7(5).  He worked as a private hire driver.  Private hire drivers made an important contribution to the borough’s economy.  He had recently changed his car, which had to be examined by the Council.  He had been advised that the earliest date at which this could be done was 6 September 2016.  This was an unacceptable level of service.  It would effectively prevent him from working for a month, and would also seriously inconvenience his customers.  He was aware of other drivers who had faced similar delays.

Gareth Mitchell, Head of Commercial Services, indicated that although this matter fell outside the immediate remit of the Trading Board he would raise the matter urgently with colleagues. 
 
See report by the Commercial Manager and the Commercial Transition Manager
128
The Board considered a report from the Commercial Manager and the Commercial Transition Manager, providing an update on the operational businesses. 

Members of the Board noted the teething problems that had arisen on the new grounds maintenance contract. It was confirmed that the new contract was flexible and was based on need, rather than task or job based. It had always been anticipated that the handover to the new contractor would be challenging.  However, the Council was actively monitoring the situation and it was anticipated that all work would be up to date by the end of August. No additional costs would be incurred by the Council as a result.   

In respect of the Events Management, it was anticipated that the Colchester Events Company and the new Events Policy would be launched together in the autumn.  Members emphasised the need to ensure that the service was properly promoted and highlighted that members, if properly briefed, could act as ambassadors for the service.

The progress on the creation of the SEAX Building Control Service was noted. Members explored issues around the recruitment and retention of Building Control staff and how the transfer into the new service was viewed.  The Commercial Manager explained that levels of enthusiasm for the new service varied.  Not all appreciated the advantages and opportunities that the new service offered.  The new contract for all staff would be rolled out shortly, and there would be a need to ensure that the advantages it offered, such as training and development, were clearly explained.  There was some anecdotal evidence that some private sector Approved Inspectors would also welcome the opportunity to join the new service.  It was suggested that the new service should look at the possibility of delivering a training service which it could sell externally, but it was felt that this was likely to be unsustainable given the likely size of the service.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.
 
See report by the Assistant Chief Executive
129
The Board considered a report from the Assistant Chief Executive setting out a draft work programme for the 2016-17 municipal year.

Members of the Board suggested that it would be useful for the Annual Report 2016-17 to be scheduled initially for the meeting in January 2017, so that the Board could be involved in the initial drafting.  It was also suggested that the Board look at the savings and commercial opportunities arising from the Essex Waste Partnership, such as collaborative approaches to collections and the commercial aspects of trade waste. This would be separate from the current work being undertaken by the Portfolio Holder for Waste and Sustainability on waste and recycling in Colchester.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 216-17 be agreed subject to:-

(a) The Annual Report 2016-17 be added to Work Programme for the meeting on 25 January 2017 in addition to the meeting on 22 March 2017;

(b) The addition of an item relating to the commercial opportunities arising from the Essex Waste Partnership. 
 
9 Exclusion of the Public (not Scrutiny or Executive)
In accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public, including the press, from the meeting so that any items containing exempt information (for example confidential personal, financial or legal advice), in Part B of this agenda (printed on yellow paper) can be decided. (Exempt information is defined in Section 100I and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).
Part B

The following minutes contain exempt information (financial/business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding the information) as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

To confirm as a correct record the not for publication extract from the minutes of the meeting on 22 June 2016

  1. 22-06-16 -not for publication extract
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
130
The Board resolved under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED that the not for publication extract of the minutes of the meeting on 23 March 2016 be confirmed as a correct record.
 

The following report contains exempt information (financial/business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding the information) as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

See report by the Commercial Manager

  1. public sector reform - commercial opportunities
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
  2. public sector reform - commercial opportunities - customer enterprise
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
131
The Board resolved under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

This minute is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information.)
 

The following report contains exempt information (financial/business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding the information) as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

 

To note the contents of the Performance and Income report.

  1. Performance and Income report
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).
132
The Board resolved under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

This minute is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person, including the authority holding that information.)
 

Additional Meeting Documents

  1. 03-08-16 - not for publication extract
    • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (financial / business affairs of a particular person, including the authority holding information).

Attendance

Attended - Other Members
Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
Apologies
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
Councillor Lewis Barber Councillor Jackie Maclean
Councillor Robert Davidson Councillor Roger Buston
Absent
NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Also in attendance: Councillor Cory