Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28^th July, 2009 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the Town Centre Events Group held on 22^nd July, 2009.

There were some plans to merge this Group with the Town Centre Marketing Group, but the logistics of the proposals were still subject to some discussion.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 22^nd July, 2009 be received.

Nomination of two representatives to sit on the above Outside Body.

Consideration was given to the nomination of two Members to the South Yorkshire Archives.

Discussion ensued on the membership and the confusion that existed around Rotherham rejoining and the need for some input. 

Resolved:-  That Councillor St. John, Cabinet Member, represent Rotherham with a request that the Cultural Services Manager confirm the named officer as soon as possible.

Consideration was given to a report on the performance against the revenue budget for the Environment and Development Services Directorate as at the end of July, 2009 and provided a forecast outturn for the whole of the 2009/10 financial year.

Following the July cycle of budget monitoring the Directorate identified that it was likely to incur an overspend of £718,000 against its total net revenue budget of £45,814,106.  However, all possible actions to mitigate this would be taken.

In terms of Culture and Leisure the key pressures contributing to this position was the restructuring costs within Culture and Leisure.

Pressures totalling £66,000+ within Sports and Recreation have been identified relating to stadium costs and closed pools totalling £39,000.  As reported last month, ongoing security costs at Ulley Reservoir were currently estimated to be £27,000.  The Service was continuing to work on achieving savings offered for 2009/10.

Discussion ensued on the charges for the stadium, costs associated with closed swimming pools and the reasons for variances from the approved budget.

Resolved:-  That the current forecast year end outturn position of an overspend of £718,000 for the Environment and Development Services Directorate, based on expenditure and income as at July, 2009, be noted.

Consideration was given to a report which set out in detail the performance against the approved Environment and Development Services Directorate’s capital programme for the period April to July, 2009.

At this point in the financial year the Environment and Development Services     Directorate was reporting a capital programme which showed a balanced budget for the year end against its total approved capital budget of £64,036,933 for 2009/10.

As this was the first reported Capital Monitoring for Environment and Development Services for 2009/10, each scheme or project had been reviewed and updated, to reflect the latest projected spend in year and the funding allocations for each scheme or project.

There had been a significant amount of reprofiling on some schemes since the Approved Five Year Programme, which was presented in a report to Cabinet on the 25th February, 2009.

The report set out in detail the key projects in the areas identified.

Discussion ensued on the funding sources for 2009/10 and the unsupported borrowing, an explanation of which was given in detail.

Resolved:-  That the projected outturn position as balanced for the Environment and Development Services Capital Programme, based on monitoring to the end of July, 2009, be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Customer Services Standards Co-ordinator which detailed performance statistics for Quarter 1 (April –June, 2009), on complaints received by Environment and Development Services.

The report set out a brief summary of complaints received in Environment and Development Service and detailed the percentage number of complaints acknowledged and responded to within timescales in the Corporate Complaints procedure, whose target was 100%.

All complaints, comments and compliments for Environment and Development Services were monitored through the Siebel system. 

Discussion ensued on the number of complaints for Culture and Leisure Services and the actions taken to address the one complaint that had been received.

Resolved:-  That the current performance on complaints be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Customer Services Standards Co-ordinator which detailed performance statistics for Quarter 1 (April – June, 2009), against the Customer First Charter and suggested recommendations for improvement where necessary.

The Performance and Quality Team were currently reviewing the procedure for producing the statistical information received via this report and would be introducing changes over the next few months.

Reference was made to the dip in Culture and Leisure Services’ performance recently relating to the percentage number of letters responded to from the public within ten working days.

A system of sending reminders when outstanding letters were approaching the deadline was now in place.  This was working well and an improvement was evident on previous quarters.

Discussion ensued on the administration of complaints received by the Directorate, linkages with the surgery complaints received by Elected Members and the reporting mechanism for complaints relating to the new Leisure Centres.

Resolved:-  That the contents of the report be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Leisure Services Manager which set out in detail a proposal to lease a section of land in Rosehill Park to enable the Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership to progress their plans to develop a centre for tennis and badminton.

As part of the proposal Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership intended to establish a new charitable organisation to lead on the project development, implementation and operation. The organisation would initially include members from Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership and other key stakeholders, widening to include other interested parties and members of the public as the project developed. In terms of previous experience of project development, Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership secured £750,000 from external funding to develop the Hall in Rosehill Park; they managed the redevelopment process and run the Charity which managed the Park Hall operation.

The proposed tennis and badminton centre was a multi-million pound project and the Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership were planning to raise the majority of the funds through a combination of commercial sponsorship/investment and grant awards from the tennis and badminton governing bodies of sport.

Due to the large amounts of funding involved the external funding organisations would require security for their investment by way of a long term lease agreement from the Council.

To date Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership have undertaken significant work at their own risk to develop the proposals, although there was still more detailed work to be done in order to establish the project viability and included:-

·              Completion of a sustainable business plan, including clear evidence of demand.

·              Completion of a feasibility study including a deliverable and sustainable sports development plan that identifies clear evidence of need.

·              Community consultation

·              Establishing a firm commitment from potential investors and grant funders.

·              Obtaining advice on the viability of the project from an Asset Management, Planning and Transportation perspective.

There was still a lot of work to be done both by the Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership and the Council in taking this proposal forward, but at this stage the Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership were seeking an in principle agreement from the Council. Such an agreement would give the confidence to further develop their proposals to the level of detail that would be required by the Council in order to make an informed decision about a lease agreement. It would also help to gain commitment from potential funding partners.

The proposal may also have a significant impact on the park environment and as such consideration would need to be given to:-

·              The potential loss of ‘high value’ green space, which was needed to provide the indoor tennis and badminton courts.

·              The impact of the new facilities on the 19th Century character of the park.

·              The impact of the proposals on the existing master plan for the park, which had already been agreed through public consultation. The Rawmarsh and Parkgate Partnership proposal would require changes to the existing plan, including the relocation of a planned new skate park.

·              The potential ecological impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.