Agenda and minutes

- to receive the report

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Service Culture and Leisure which gave details of a recently completed self assessment for local authorities by the Archives & Local Studies Service.

This new form of assessing Local Government Archives, which focussed on public access and had been a fairly comprehensive assessment of the service as a whole, had arisen from an announcement in 2005 by The National Archives (TNA) to pilot a form of annual self-assessment for local authority archive services in 2006.

Arising from the self-assessment exercise, the results of which should be known by the end of October 2006, a performance band would be given to the Authority based on how the Service has been judged. 

A Panel has been established by The National Archives (TNA) to oversee the assessment process, with representatives of TNA, the MLA Partnership, CyMAL, the Association of Chief Archivists in Local Government and the NCA’s Public Services Quality Group.  Rotherham’s Principal Officer has also been invited to join the panel at the moderation stage, to represent Metropolitan Boroughs.

In future years it is intended that the judgement will be adopted as a performance indicator for CPA.

The self-assessment covers five broad themes:  governance and management; documentation of collections;  access;  buildings, security and environment;  and preservation and conservation.  The process looks comprehensively at the repository and the services it offers to the public.

The meeting discussed the professional benefits arising from a good assessment,  the significant benefits from external funding and sustainable issues, and benchmarking against other Authorities.

The meeting noted that Rotherham had been rated 98% in terms of user satisfaction, compared to the National percentage of 41%.

Resolved:-  That the report be received.

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Consideration was given to a report of the Acting Head of Service Resources & Access on a proposal to provide Zero FarePasses and a contracted school bus to pupils of Aston ComprehensiveSchool who live in Treeton.

The proposal had arisen from complaints from parents about the walking route being unsafe.  The Road Safety Officer had been asked to report on a particular part of the route about which the Education Transport Section had reservations.

The report by the Road Safety Officer recognises that a particular point within the walking route from Treeton to AstonComprehensive School, although meeting LARSOA guidelines, would not be recommended by the Officer as a safe place to cross and does not meet the criteria for the siting of a pedestrian facility (local transport note 2/95).

If declared unsafe to walk, the Authority would have a statutory duty to provide free transport to/from school for these pupils. 

Resolved:-  (1)  That the walking route from Treeton to Aston ComprehensiveSchool be declared unsafe to walk.

(2)  That pupils residing in the Treeton area attending their catchment school (Aston Comprehensive) be provided with ZeroFare Passes and a contracted school bus.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act – information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council).