Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

The report of the Central Services Director updated the Committee on the use of social media sites by the Council and presented for approval a draft policy providing a framework for staff to follow when using social media for business purposes.  It was noted that the Social Media Policy had been developed in consultation with staff and incorporated comments made by Joint Employee Consultative Committee representatives and Unison.

RECOMMENDED:  That

(1)             the conclusions of the report be endorsed; and

(2)            the Social Media Policy set out at Annex 1 to the report be approved by the Council subject to the replacement of the words “effort” with “resource” in the penultimate bullet point of paragraph 10.1 and “the workplace” with “public” in the fifth bullet point of paragraph 11.1.

The report of the Director of Central Services presented an amended Pensions Discretions Policy in response to an administrative issue regarding the time allowed for an individual to make an application for absence contributions.  Whilst the default for such a decision was previously 30 days, it was proposed to increase the time allowed to 60 days and state this discretion in the Policy.

RESOLVED:  That the amended Pensions Discretions Policy set out at the Annex to the report be endorsed.

The report of the Chief Executive referred to the Community Governance Review conducted in 2013 when the Council had agreed that the boundary between Ryarsh and Leybourne parishes should be amended to follow the new ward boundary.  Members were advised of a procedural problem relating to the grant of formal consent for the changes by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England which had apologised and suggested a process for rectifying the situation.  This would involve revoking the previous Order and making a new one to confirm the amendment of the parish boundary. 

The Chairman therefore agreed that this matter be raised as an urgent item of late business to enable the boundary changes to take place in time for the publication of the new Register of Electors on 1 December 2014.

RESOLVED:  That approval be given to the revocation of the 2013 Order and the making of a new Order to implement the previously agreed boundary changes between Ryarsh and Leybourne parishes.

The report of the Director of Finance and Transformation advised the Committee of the receipt of the Annual Audit Letter summarising the main outcomes from the work undertaken by the Council’s external auditors for the year ended 31 March 2014.  A copy of the Audit Letter was set out at the Annex to the report and Members were pleased to note that its key messages were that the Council’s accounts were produced to a high standard and there was a strong focus on effective financial management with robust medium term planning and well established processes for budget monitoring.  In addition the Letter noted the effective framework for addressing financial pressures and delivering planned savings.

Thanks were recorded to the Director of Finance and Transformation and her team for their work in production of the high standard of accounts.

RESOLVED:  That the report be received and noted.

The Chairman to move that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting during consideration of any items the publication of which would disclose exempt information.

The Chairman moved, it was seconded and

RESOLVED:  That as public discussion would disclose exempt information, the following matters be considered in private.

(LGA 1972 Sch 12A Paragraph 1 – Information relating to an individual)

(LGA 1972 Sch 12A Paragraph 1 – Information relating to an individual)

The report of the Management Team presented for approval a number of establishment changes.  It was noted that the proposals would result in net base budget savings of £97,572 per annum which could be carried forward into the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

RESOLVED:  That the following proposals and establishment changes be endorsed:

(1)                                                    post DB0101 Improvement and Development Manager be deleted with effect from 28 February 2015;

(2)                                                    post DB0105 Improvement and Development Officer be deleted on 31 May 2015;

(3)                                                    post DE0501 Parking and Office Manager be deleted on 31 March 2015;

(4)                                                    post DE0202 Transportation Engineer be deleted with immediate effect;

(5)                                                    post DE0211 Engineer be re-designated as scale 4/SO with immediate effect;

(6)                                                    the hours of post DE0505 be reduced to 30 per week with effect from 1 April 2015;

(7)                                                    a new post of Parking Manager (grade M8) be established on 1 April 2015; and

(8)                                                    a new post of Economic Regeneration Officer (grade M9/M8) be established with immediate effect.