| S.1238 | The Chair, Councillor J Smith, declared an interest in Agenda Item 10, Independent Remuneration Panel, in so far as it related to allowances for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
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| S.1239 | No members of the public attended the meeting to raise questions about issues within the remit of this Committee.
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| S.1241 | A note on the deliberations of the Audit Sub-Committee which had been held on 12 March 2003, was submitted.
It was reported that the main item of business had been the District Audit Annual Audit Letter for 2001/2002 and that the Sub-Committee had also considered reports on the District Audit Follow-up Review of the New Democratic Arrangements 2001/2002 - Authority Action Plan and the Employee Car Loan Scheme, both of which appeared on this agenda
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| S.1242 | A report of the Assistant Chief Executive, which had been considered by the Audit Sub-Committee on 11 December 2002, was submitted which pointed out that a review of Partnership Governance Arrangements had been included within District Audit’s Plan for 2002/2003.
The Council was also carrying out a Best Value Review of Corporate Governance arrangements during 2002/2003 in the context of the Council’s Corporate Governance Framework. The reports, together with an Action Plan, had been approved by the Sub-Committee.
With regard to the Action Plan, Members remarked on recommendation R4 which stated “clearly define the roles and responsibilities of Officers and Members and ensure they are understood by all concerned in Partnership Working”. Members felt that this particular recommendation should be given a high priority rather than a medium one.
The Assistant Chief Executive reported that a report on this issue was being forwarded to the Executive on 19 March 2003. Amongst the options being considered would be the provision of Partnerships/Grant Aid Agreements when grants in excess of £5,000 are made available to organisations.
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| S.1243 | The Chief Executive presented a report which set out the deliberations of the Independent Remuneration Panel which met on Wednesday, 5 March 2003.
The Panel had been convened in order to consider outstanding issues following approval of the scheme for Members’ Allowances for 2003/2004. This included a request by this Committee that the indexation of Special Responsibility Allowances be not applied and the Panel be requested to consider the most appropriate way of indexing the level of Special Responsibility Allowances for future years.
The Chief Executive pointed out that with regard to the financial implications of the application of the proposals set out, this would be updated for the report presented to Council on 9 April 2003. The Panel had considered carefully the indexation of Special Responsibility Allowances and had taken advice on the mechanisms applied in other Authorities. The Panel considered that there was a clear relationship between the Basic Allowance and the Special Responsibility Allowance and it was important that these were seen as a package. The Panel held the view that a demonstrable means of applying to each a fair and equitable method of review was essential.
In addition to this issue, the Panel had been asked to consider the following which had arisen since the Scheme had been implemented:-
- The role of the Chair of the Human Resources and Appeals Panel.
- A request from the association of Greater Manchester Authorities that allowances be paid to Council representatives on the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.
- The level of allowance payable to the Mayor.
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| S.1244 | A report of the Director of Finance and E-Government was submitted which updated Members on the report submitted to Audit Sub-Committee on 12 March 2003, regarding the performance of the Authority’s Car Loan Scheme, and which provided information on the issues to be considered in the next major review. It was now some 7 years since the last major review of this scheme and there were several indicators suggesting that a further review was now needed. These were:-
-To address the decline in participation in the scheme.
-To address the upturn in accounts being written-off in the scheme.
-To address Elected Members’ concern over the absence of any kind of 'credit checking' prior to advancement of a loan under the scheme.
-To incorporate the terms of lending under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 into the scheme.
-To incorporate lending against the purchase of motorcycles into the Scheme.
It was reported that following consideration of the report at its meeting on 12 March 2003, the Audit Sub-Committee had resolved that a major review of the Employee Car Loan Scheme be undertaken taking into consideration issues raised in the report.
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| S.1245 | The Acting Director of Legal and Democratic Services submitted a report which summarised the “Follow-up Review of the New Democratic Arrangements” carried out by District Audit and set out the response made by the Council. An Action Plan had been produced around the recommendations contained in the report in terms of Area Structure; People and Relationships; Decision Making and Scrutiny. It was pointed out that much progress had been made since the report had been compiled.
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| S.1246 | A report of the Monitoring Officer was submitted which presented to Members a revised Code of Conduct for dealing with planning issues.
The updated Code had been produced in order to incorporate within the existing Code, which had been agreed on 31 March 2001, an agreed Protocol for Area Board involvement in planning issues and the aspects of the Council’s Code of Conduct which had been approved by the Council on 10 April 2002.
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| S.1247 | (The Chair agreed to permit consideration of the following matter under Urgent Business as it would be the last meeting within the current municipal year to which points regarding conduct of Members could be referred).
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| S.1248 | The Chair thanked Members for their contributions during the current municipal year and he in turn was thanked by Members for the way in which he had chaired meetings of this Committee.
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