Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Falconer.

The Minutes of the Joint Cabinet and Employment and General committee held on Monday 5 February 2024 would be available for members to approve at the next scheduled meeting of the Joint Cabinet and Employment and General committee on Tuesday 19 March 2024.

The minutes of the meeting of Joint Cabinet and Employment & General Committee held on Monday 5 February 2024 would be available for members to approve at the next scheduled meeting of the Joint Cabinet and Employment and General Committee on Tuesday19 March 2024.

*RESOLVED –

That it be recommended to Full Council that the Senior Staff pay policy statement for 2024–25, as set out in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, be approved.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION

Approval and publication of this report enables elected members of Chesterfield Borough Council to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 relating to the pay of its Chief Officers.

The Cabinet Member for Business Transformation and Customers presented a report on the Senior Pay Policy Statement for the financial year 2024-25.

The Council was required to prepare a Senior Pay Policy Statement each financial year setting out its approach to recognising and rewarding its Chief Officers in a fair, consistent, and equitable manner. The Policy Statement must be considered and approved at Full Council and published on the Council’s website.

The Council was also required as part of the Policy Statement to look at the pay multiple between the highest and lowest paid staff. This figure must not exceed a ratio of 20:1.

In 2024-25 the pay multiple between the highest and lowest paid staff had been calculated as 5.44:1. This was the lowest reported pay multiple since monitoring and reporting of this measure had been implemented.

*RESOLVED –

That it be recommended to Full Council that the Senior Staff pay policy statement for 2024–25, as set out in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report, be approved.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATION

Approval and publication of this report enables elected members of Chesterfield Borough Council to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and with the Local Government Transparency Code 2015 relating to the pay of its Chief Officers.

To move “That under Regulation 21(1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements)(Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2000, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the following Paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.”

 On the grounds that…..

Part 2 (Non Public Information)

RESOLVED –

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the successful progress that has been made in relation to improving the Council’s CCTV operations in Chesterfield be noted.

2.   That the Service Director - Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, be authorised to implement the proposed service transformation programme and manage the HR implications in accordance with Council policies and procedures.

3.   That the Service Director - Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing be authorised to make further changes to the operational arrangements, to maximise the benefits and service efficiency opportunities that can be made as a result of the initiatives and investment delivered through the technological development of the Council’s CCTV systems.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

1.   To recognise and realise in full the benefits of the investment made in the Council’s CCTV systems as a result of a successful Safer Streets bid.

2.   The digital transformation of the service has been developed in line with the Budget Strategy approved by Full Council in July 2023, and specifically responds to the savings targets identified in the Budget Strategy Implementation Plan, which was approved by Cabinet in November 2023. The actions and recommendations within the report will enable the Council to work towards developing a balanced 2024/25 budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan, which will support the Council to continue to deliver the vision and priorities set out in the Council Plan 2023-2027.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing presented a report updating the Joint Committee on the progress the Council had made in its use of CCTV since December 2022 following the introduction of enhanced CCTV systems.

The Council had been successful in its bid for grant funding from the Safer Streets – Round 2 initiative, enabling £350,000 worth of investment in a range of community safety initiatives including capital investment in closed circuit television improvements.

The impact of this investment and other related work taken forward by the Council’s Community Safety Team and its partners had resulted in several positive outcomes with regards to the crime data for Chesterfield. Comparison crime data for 2022 versus 2023 was reported as follows:

·        ASB - reduction of 13.7%

·        Robbery of business property - reduction of 12.5%

·        Burglary of business property - reduction of 12.5%

·        Theft from motor vehicle - reduction of 23.6%

·        Criminal damage - reduction of 1.9%

The ability to remotely access live camera footage in an agile way from a secure device that was both General Data Protection Regulations and Information Commissioners Office compliant was viewed as a more efficient and ultimately more versatile way of monitoring the Council’s CCTV network.

It had therefore been concluded that the amount of staff time spent actively monitoring the network from the Town Hall could be reduced .

The current net controllable budget for the Council’s CCTV service was £165,420 in 2023-24. The proposals set out in the officer’s report would generate ongoing savings of circa £80,000 (including on costs) based on a full year effect. This would reduce the net controllable budget to circa £84,000 in 2024-25.

Implementation of the new recommended service structure would be progressed in line with the Council’s HR policies and procedures. Trade Union colleagues had been fully engaged in the process to date.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the successful progress that has been made in relation to improving the Council’s CCTV operations in Chesterfield be noted.

2.   That the Service Director - Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, be authorised to implement the proposed service transformation programme and manage the HR implications in accordance with Council policies and procedures.

3.   That the Service Director - Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing be authorised to make further changes to the operational arrangements, to maximise the benefits and service efficiency opportunities that can be made as a result of the initiatives and investment delivered through the technological development of the Council’s CCTV systems.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

1.   To recognise and realise in full the benefits of the investment made in the Council’s CCTV systems as a result of a successful Safer Streets bid.

2.   The digital transformation of the service has been developed in line with the Budget Strategy approved by Full Council in July 2023, and specifically responds to the savings targets identified in the Budget Strategy Implementation Plan, which was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the new management structure as set out in Appendix B of the officer’s report be approved and implemented.

2.   That the staffing changes that have resulted from supporting staff to access the Council’s Voluntary Redundancy / Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme be noted.

3.   That a detailed review of the potential use of drowning detection systems be undertaken by the service and authority be delegated to the Service Director Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and the Service Director for Finance to implement the selected system subject to the development of a fully costed business case.

4.   That the information pertaining to centre opening hours be noted and authority be delegated to the Service Director – Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, to make changes to the current sports centre opening hours where required to stimulate usage, support cost reduction, develop income and /or to respond to external forces.

REASON FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

This report has been brought forward to respond to the savings targets identified in the Budget Strategy Implementation Plan, which was approved by Cabinet in November 2023. The actions and recommendations within the report will enable the Council to work towards developing a balanced 2024/25 budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan, which will support the Council to continue to deliver the vision and priorities set out in the Council Plan.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing presented a report setting out the outcomes of a fundamental review of the management and staffing arrangements at the Council’s leisure centres.

The Budget Strategy Implementation Plan report, which had been approved at Cabinet on 14 November 2023, had set out a series of stage one and stage two proposals to help deliver a balanced medium term financial plan. Contained within that report as a stage two proposal was the action to take forward:

·        A fundamental review of leisure centre operations focussed on achieving at least a cost neutral budget position. To include areas such as operational management, fitness suite activities, activity coordination, and facility programming.

The officer’s report set out the results of this work to date. The review had identified a range of opportunities to improve the financial performance of the Council’s leisure centres whilst preserving the valued service delivery currently provided from Queens Park Sports Centre and the Healthy Living Centre.

Both leisure centres had been operating with the current management and staffing structures for several years. When compared to current practice within the leisure industry it was apparent that the structures currently in use in Chesterfield had been phased out by other operators several years ago. Consequently, given the financial pressures facing the Council, it was deemed appropriate to review the structures and to achieve operational efficiencies where possible.

The current and proposed structures were attached at Appendices A and B of the officer’s report. The new structure would ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities and enable the leisure centres to operate in a more commercial way.

Both leisure centres currently utilised lifeguards to ensure safe swimming pool environments for customers. To support the continuation of high standards the service had considered technological developments pertaining to drowning detection systems. These were now readily available to swimming pool operators to compliment the activities of traditional lifeguards.

The service was keen to further explore this technology to better understand its advantages. These systems would not replace lifeguards but would be there as an additional safety measure.

The proposed changes to the management and staffing structure would generate on-going savings of circa £140,000 per annum as shown in the table at paragraph 6.1 of the officer’s report. 

Implementation of the new service structure would be progressed in line with the Council’s HR policies and procedures. Trade Union colleagues had been and would continue to be fully engaged in the process.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the new management structure as set out in Appendix B of the officer’s report be approved and implemented.

2.   That the staffing changes that have resulted from supporting staff to access the Council’s Voluntary Redundancy / Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme be noted.

3.   That a detailed review of the potential use of drowning detection systems be undertaken by the service and authority be delegated to the Service Director Leisure, Culture and Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing and the Service Director for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.