Allerdale Borough Council

Full Council - 21 April 2010

Portfolio Holder Updates

Purpose of Report The purpose of the report is to update Full Council on the activities of the Executive, and Portfolio Members during the previous cycle.

Recommendation That members note the content of the report.

Environmental Implications None

Community Safety Implications None

Financial Implications None

Human Rights Implications None

Employment Implications None

Health & Safety & Risk Management None Implications

Wards Affected As indicated in the main body of the report.

The Contribution this Decision would Portfolio Holder activity is in line with the CIP make to the Council’s Key Aims priorities.

Is this a Key Decision No

Portfolio Holder Cllr Tim Heslop, Leader

Lead Member of Staff Corporate Management Team – as indicated

(A detailed list of implications is appended to the report)

1.0 Introduction

1.1 The purpose of the report is to provide Full Council with an update and overview of the activities of the Executive and individual portfolio members during the previous cycle since the last Portfolio Reports went to Full Council Meeting on 3 March 2010.

2.0 Content

The activities of the Executive and Portfolio Holders is as follows:

2.1 Leader of the Council: Councillor Tim Heslop

I attended a forum on Flooding Resilience in London. Tony Cunningham gave a presentation on the Flooding in Allerdale. The purpose of the forum was to look at measures that can be taken to lessen the impact on Communities of flooding as the likelihood of severe weather events increases. It is estimated that one in six properties will be at risk of flooding by 2035. Average winter rainfall in the North West is expected to increase by 35% by 2080. We must protect electricity and water and sewage pumping stations as well as road and rail networks and key buildings. It is vital to maintain highway gullies. It is possible to designate third party assets such as garden walls, which means they cannot be altered or removed without consent.

Pressure is being applied to Insurance Companies to build in flood resilience, such as tiled floors, electrical wiring from above and stainless steel kitchen units, when repairing properties. Pressures on the Health Service include high stress levels leading in some cases to Mental Health issues outbreaks of gastro enteritis and asthma attacks from living in damp accommodation.

West Cumbria Development Agency have worked with 55 businesses to help them to recover from the flood by providing business advice and helping them to access funding and helped to re-establish the Cockermouth Chamber of Trade. Altogether WCDA have supplied advice to 157 Businesses and 143 Business reviews in the 10 months to 31/1/10. WCDA is developing an ‘Energy Opportunities Supply chain Project’, working closely with ‘Britain’s Energy Coast – West Cumbria’ to replace the North West Supply Chain Project a 3 year project which is coming to an end. This will use a similar format to the previous successful programme to encourage local businesses to take up opportunities in Nuclear Decommissioning, New Build and those in Renewables.

West Cumbria Development Fund approved grant s of £800,000 to provide a further 7 units at Blencathra Business Centre at Threlkeld Quarry. This site was expanded in 2003 to 24 units and is providing employment for about 70 people supporting businesses with a turnover of more than £5m.The expansion will provide employment for approximately 36 people. The fund also granted £40k to match the contributions from NWDA, Allerdale and County Councils, the partners in establishing the Maryport Harbour Authority as a Trust Port. The Harbour Authority has been supported with income from Maryport Developments Ltd Due to the recession this is no longer possible. This money will support the fledgling Authority during the next 12 months while we look for a more permanent solution.

Cumbria Tourism has a contract with NWDA for three years ending 31/3/12 although they have the right to amend the contract and are under extreme pressure to reduce costs and have asked all Tourist Boards to advise them what they would do if faced with a 26% reduction in funding. The 2010 marketing plan will address the ‘relaunch’ of Cumbria especially those areas hit by the floods.

We have hosted meetings of the Cockermouth Flood Action Group with Tony Cunningham, the County Council and the Environment Agency. We have had a positive meeting with Northern Rail over the future of train services on the West Coast Line. They are holding monthly meetings with the Department for Transport to maintain the ‘shuttle service’. Funding is in place to retain the service until the 28th May, but we will need to demonstrate a business case to retain the service after this. They would like to retain the temporary station. This station in its present form has a 2 year life. We discussed future opportunities. In the short term these appear to be limited as there are no spare rolling stock in the Country and little likelihood of there being any before 2015. They welcome our support to bring about improvements on the line

2.2 Deputy Leader & Finance & Asset Management Portfolio: Councillor David Wilson

Finance

The financial position as at the end of December, 2009, stated that the Council had incurred net expenditure of £16,421,725 or 81.8% of the revised budget of £20,069,740. The budget holders at that point forecasted for the remaining 3 months of the financial year they would spend £1,842,949 0r 9.2% of the budget, resulting in an under spend at the year end of approximately 9%. The forecast position up to the end of year can be updated to take account of actual expenditure and income in January and February. Therefore, adjusted year end variance-under spend can be estimated at £551,736. The downturn in the UK economy has continued, and interest rates have remained at a historical low, placing additional pressure on the Treasury Management function.

Concessionary Travel

Just to remind Councillors that the Concessionary Bus Travel changes to the age of eligibility for travel in line with the state pension age from April 2010. So, as the pensionable age for women gradually increase from 60 to 65 over the ten year period from 2010 to 2020 so too will the age of eligibility for the bus concessionary bus pass increase for both men and women.

Flood recovery

The Bellwin claim has been submitted to the Government office for recovery costs of the November floods, for Cockermouth, Keswick, Workington and the rural areas.

Asset Management

Resurfacing at the Lakeside Car Park, Keswick, at a cost of £80k. Repairs to Bell Close Car Park, Keswick, at a cost of £15k. Replacement of timber windows with double glazed windows, for energy efficiency measures, at a cost of 37k. Decoration of the café, dance studio and art studio at the Carnegie Theatre at a cost of £16k. Finally demolition of Oldside café block on health and safety grounds, at a cost of £3.5k

2.3 Resources Portfolio: Councillor Chris Garrard

ictCONNECT

The ictCONNECT shared service went live on 01 April 2010 and saw the transfer of Carlisle ICT staff to Allerdale as the employing authority. The partnership is managed with equal governance and there is a Joint Operational Board (officer based) chaired by Allerdale in the first year and a Member Strategic Board (portfolio holders) chaired by Carlisle in the first year. The chair role for each board will alternate between Councils each year.

• The Allerdale Borough Council website was recently awarded the highest level (4 stars) of quality in a recent national survey and is recognised as providing an excellent service to our customers. The website is also recognised as being one of only 11 ‘excellent’ rated websites in the country. • Work continues towards the implementation of a new Revenues & Benefits system for Allerdale as part of the move to the new Shared Revenues & Benefits service that has been agreed with Copeland & Carlisle. • A major power down was successfully undertaken on Saturday 20 March 2010 to check electrical circuits in Allerdale House. • Stephen Kirkpatrick, Shared ICT Services Manager, has submitted his resignation after 8 1/2 years with Allerdale, and will be moving on to assume the role of Director of IT for Cumbria Constabulary. A temporary internal appointment is due to be made to replace Stephen, before external advertising of the post on a permanent basis.

Equality & Diversity (Thematic)

As per my last report this panel is now 'up and running' and the County-wide District Councils plus the CCC will meet again, to set up an agenda, at Carlisle on April 27th. I intend being there on behalf of ABC.

Democratic Services

• Staff are in the process of making arrangements for the Parliamentary Election, which has now been confirmed for the 6 May. Members are requested to encourage their constituents to ensure they are on the register, to ensure they are able to vote. Members are also asked to note that they should advise anyone who has a postal vote or who has changed their name or address recently to make sure they have notified Democratic Services of the changes, so they don't risk their postal vote being rejected. The deadline for new applicants to be included on the register for the Parliamentary is Tuesday 20 April. • All polling stations have now been booked and arrangements for the Counts and postal vote opening sessions are being completed. It is currently the intention to hold the Count on the day after polling day, to ensure an accurate result as possible. It is hoped to commence the Count process from 8a.m. • Nomination packs for election candidates will be available from the Democratic Services team from 12 April. Closing date for receipt of completed nomination papers will be 4.00 pm on 20 April. • On 19 March 2010 the Scrutiny Board held a meeting to deal with the first Councillor Call for Action (CCfA) in the county. The CCfA concerned the condition of Maryport Promenade and the restriction of use of access ramps to the beach. The meeting was held at the Wave in Maryport with senior officers and the Portfolio Holder for Asset Management in attendance. The meeting was well attended by the public, who proved keen to be involved in the process.

• The Mayor of Allerdale, Cllr John (Binky) Armstrong held his Annual Civic Dinner at the White Heather Hotel, Kirkbride on Friday26th March, and was enjoyed by all who attended. His Charity Fund has been increased by over £1300.00 raised on the night from raffle ticket sales, Charity Envelopes, and his tombola stall. Our thanks are extended to Democratic Services in general and Karen Thompson and Gayle Roach in particular for a well organised and enjoyable event. • Karen has also organised the Mayors last charity event, a 'St. George’s Day Hog Roast' on Saturday April 24th 2pm – 6pm at the Innovia Research and Development Centre in Wigton. Tickets are £20 which also includes entertainment from Nelson Tomlinson School’s ‘Big Band’, Belfagan Morris Dancers and Appalachian Band. Please call (01900) 702556 to book or for more details.

HR

• Re Job Evaluation; The Collective agreement will be signed off by the end of May. • The 'Shared Service' agreement with Carlisle City Council has now been signed off.

2.4 Places Portfolio: Councillor Sam Standage

Free Swimming

Following Executive Committee Approval the scheme was extended to include Aspatria, Netherhall and Wigton swimming pools for 12 months, starting 1 March 2010.

The Council received an additional £5,951 through the Free Swimming scheme and is funding a session for disabled children at Keswick Leisure Pool. The session will be free for the next 12 months and we are looking to fund similar activities at Cockermouth and Workington pools during 2010/11. Over 34,000 Free Swims have been recorded between 1 April 2009 and 28 February 2010.

Facility Usage

Usage of the three Council owned leisure facilities has been affected by the loss of the bridges in Workington with overall usage at the same level as 2008/09 which was an exceptional year (14% increase on 2007/08) following the £1.2million improvement of Cockermouth Leisure Centre.

Usage of The Wave Centre is higher than the previous year though attendances at events and performances have been affected by the situation with the roads.

Derwent Valley

A visit was made by members of the Derwent Valley Task Group (and other members) to Freeman Quays Leisure Centre in Durham and Wentworth Leisure Centre in Hexham. The purpose of the visit was to show members the type of new leisure facility that could be achieved through the Derwent Valley scheme.

Play Area Improvements

The replacement of the Council owned play area in Flimby is nearing completion and includes new equipment funded by the Big Lottery and equipment held in storage by Allerdale.

The Fitz Park play area in Keswick has been replaced and will open at the end of March, the improvements were part funded by the Playbuilder scheme (funding secured by the Allerdale Play Partnership). The restructuring of Environmental Services is proceeding as planned, with 5 Street Scene Officers now appointed and who are currently undergoing training with the Tidy Britain Group on a range of legislative and other matters and are liaising with partner organisations such as FOCSA, ISS and the County Highways department. They will become more active in their individual localities as their training progresses and knowledge increases.

The Officers will continue to be supported by the Environmental Wardens, who will concentrate on a range of enforcement and regulatory activities around litter, waste and dogs. Currently there are two Environmental Wardens in post and it is anticipated that a third will be recruited in the near future.

2.5 Policy, Performance and Improvement Portfolio: Councillor Mike Davidson

Deputy CEO

As part of the selection process for the new Deputy CEO a buffet dinner attended by all the candidates and a number of Councillors was held in the Washington Central Hotel. I attended that function and was able to talk with the candidates individually during the evening. I reported my impressions of the candidates to the CEO later that evening.

CIT Team

The Quarter 3 performance report which reports progress on key projects and activities in the 2008 – 11 CIP was presented by CIT Staff to the April meeting of the Executive. The report can be seen within the agenda documents for that meeting which are available on the ABC web site.

A report on the CIP refresh was also prepared by the CIT Team and presented by the Leader, Cllr. Heslop to the same meeting of the Executive. That report is also available from the web site.

Nuclear - WCSSG

I attended the Oscar 9 Exercise at Sellafield as a representative of the West Cumbria Site Stakeholder Group (WCSSG). The exercise went remarkably well with only a few minor issues raised for further attention. A report on the exercise to the Emergency Planning sub-group of the SSG can be found on the web site at - http://www.wcssg.co.uk/documentstore/Oscar%209%20Summary%20Report.pdf

In my role as Chairman of the Commercial sub-group of the WCSSG, I presented a report from the CSG to a full scrutiny meeting of the SSG which was held on the 1st April in Lakes College West Cumbria. A full report of this meeting, including my report, will be available soon on the WCSSG website at - http://www.wcssg.co.uk/document-library/wcssg-documents. More detailed reports for all the sub-groups can be found by following the links from the main web site at - http://www.wcssg.co.uk/meetings-and-events

Nuclear - MRWS

• A full meeting of the MRWS Partnership was held on the 2nd April in the Hunday Manor hotel on the outskirts of Workington. This meeting discussed in detail the results of the first Public and Stakeholder Engagement package. The package had consisted of a leaflet delivered to every household in Allerdale and Copeland followed up by a series of presentations to Neighbourhood Forums. • These presentations were held during November and December 2009 and were disrupted by the floods in November and the subsequent disruption. • The full programme of Forum meetings was completed in Copeland but only four of the scheduled meetings were possible in Allerdale. • Two measures were put in place to try to compensate for this loss. A DVD of the presentation and an explanatory letter was sent by post to all the people on the mailing lists of the Forums we missed – some 700 in all and a subject specific public meeting was held in Bothel village hall. • The Bothel meeting was attended by 26 members of the public, some of whom had travelled from as far as Bassenthwaite and Silloth to attend. The meeting was scheduled to start at 7pm but many arrived much earlier. We closed the meeting at 9pm but remained to answer specific questions until 10pm. • The returns from the Forum meetings and other data are being assessed by the PSE Group of the Partnership as I write this. I will include more information in future reports to Council. • Because there is much work still to do in assessing the results of PSE1, the Partnership agreed not to launch the planned study by the British Geological Survey of the geology of West Cumbria at this time. This study will apply criteria defined by Government in the MRWS White Paper to determine which sites within W. Cumbria are not suitable for the Deep Geological Facility. The next Partnership meeting, which will be held in Copeland on the 13th May, will discuss whether to instruct the BGS to commence the study immediately or whether a further postponement is necessary. • All the ratified minutes and documents produced by the MRWS Partnership are available on the web site - http://westcumbriamrws.org.uk/# To access the web site please copy and paste (or simply type) the link into the address box on your web browser.

2.6 Frontline Services Portfolio Holder: Cllr Ron Munby

Revenues and Benefits In terms of the shared Revenues and Benefits service, work has been continuing towards the service development between the Allerdale, Copeland and Carlisle local authorities. In Allerdale, the conversion work to the new Academy system is now well underway. The project plan expects that completion of installation and connection to Copeland and Carlisle will be in mid July.

Following the decision for Carlisle City Council to be the employing authority, consultation with staff and the trade unions is currently taking place with a view to the assimilation and appointment into the new structure, following the TUPE transfer of staff. The partnership has undertaken a recruitment and interview process, to select the new Partnership Manager – Reg Bascombe. Reg started in post on 1 March 2010.

The framework agreements which underpin the governance of the shared service are in development and should now be completed and signed in time for the staff transfer on 1 June 2010.

Customer Services The Tourist Information Centre in Workington relocated from the Finkle Street Office to the Carnegie Theatre on 1 April. The service will concentrate on providing local information to visitors to the area. All other services and advice offered by the Council, including the distribution of poop scoop bags for dog owners, are available from the Customer Service Centres. Relocation of the TIC to the library is still being considered.

There have been 346 Freedom Of Information (FOI) and Data Protection Act (DPA) requests in total for the 2009/10 financial year this is an increase of 27% on 2008/09. FOI – 331 requests rise of 35% on 2008/09. Of the FOI requests answered, 94% were answered within the 20 working day requirement. The average time taken to answer these requests was 9 working days.

The annual issue of the council tax bills resulted in a busy period for the contact centre in March. Bills without any benefits attached were issued in batches of 12,000 for three days starting 22 March. 8,000 bills for customers receiving council tax benefits were also issued on 24 March.

Council Tax calls presented to the contact centre for the first five days of bill issue:

Year end Presented Handled* Voicemail Abandoned % handled 2009 1322 1240 3 79 93.8% 2010 1348 1201 10 137 89.1% *handled by a Customer service Advisor

Call levels for the same period this year were almost equal to those of last year.

Prior to year end billing, Customer Service Advisors in the contact centre received training in processing new Direct Debit instructions received by phone. Whilst implementation of this across the whole team is ongoing, many calls around this time are to set up new Direct Debits and between 24 and 30 March, Customer Service Advisors processed 81 new Direct Debit instructions. This resulted in less enquiries being passed to the Revenues processing team.

Tenders have been received from suppliers for implementing a single Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, shared between the 3 Councils' (Allerdale, Carlisle and County). Presentations from these suppliers will take place over 2 days 15 and 16 April 2010. These will then be evaluated to inform the business case costs.

Capita are currently drawing up options to look at the best site for a Local Links office in Cockermouth for all partners. We are awaiting initial layout plans from Capita for the Keswick Town Hall.

Environmental Health Following receipt of £1700 grant from the Food Standards Agency a further 17 businesses are being mentored to develop a food safety management system known as Safer Food Better Business. A session planned for late November was cancelled because of the flood emergency but took place in March. The businesses being mentored are ethnic food businesses with first languages of Chinese, Cantonese, Bengali and Urdu. The grant funding has enabled translators to be used as an integral part of this mentoring.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) requires local authority health & safety enforcement services to make adequate arrangements for enforcement to meet legal requirements under section 18 of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The HSE has revised the standard required for this and all local authorities must meet the standard by 31st March 2011. A toolkit to assess how local authorities meet this standard has been produced by HSE and environmental health are working with other Cumbrian local authorities to pilot the toolkit. As a result of this process an action plan will be produced to identify the steps that need to be taken over the coming year to meet this legal requirement. Report Implications

Please delete where applicable.

Community Safety Y/N Sport Y/N Financial Y/N Leisure Y/N Legal Y/N Tourism Y/N Social Inclusion Y/N E-Government Y/N Human Rights Y/N North West Regional Y/N Youth Issues Y/N European Y/N Ethnic Minority Issues Y/N National Y/N Older People Issues Y/N Partnership Y/N Disability Issues Y/N Heritage/Culture Y/N Employment (external to the Council) Y/N Planning Policy Y/N Employment (internal) Y/N Enforcement Y/N Environmental/sustainability Y/N Transport Y/N Environmental/visual Y/N Asset Management Y/N Health Y/N Health & Safety Y/N

Is this a statutory recommendation? Y/N

Is this a key decision? Y/N

If this is a key decision, has it been approved by CMT Y/N

Has a risk assessment been undertaken? Y/N

Wards affected …………………………………………………………………………………..

Background papers ………………………………………………………………………………