Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from those Members who are unable to attend the meeting.

All Members of the Committee were in attendance.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27^th February 2024.

Resolved -

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27^th February 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

No interests were declared.

Most agenda items take place in public. This only changes where there is a need to consider exempt information, as contained at Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. You will be informed at this point which items are to be recommended for exclusion and to be resolved by the Committee.

All items were considered in public session.

The Committee will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

No deputations or petitions were received.

The Service Director – Finance, Isabel Brittain, shared a presentation in respect of capital and borrowing.

The following points were highlighted:

·       The Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators for Quarter 3 2023/24.

·       The Council measured and managed its capital expenditure, borrowing and commercial and service investments with reference to the prudential indicators set out in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Prudential Code. The Code required that the indicators were reported on a quarterly basis.

·       Detailed information under each of the following headings was provided:

-          Capital Expenditure

-          Capital Financing Requirement

-          Gross Debt and the Capital Financing Requirement

-          Debt and the Authorised Liming and Operational Boundary

-          Net Income from Commercial and Service Investments to Net Revenue Stream

-          Proportion of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream

Questions and comments were invited from the Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       In response to a question in respect of the use of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts, it was acknowledged that although PFI contracts may not be the first choice for the Council’s financing in the future, they would not be ruled out without undertaking financial due diligence.

·       It was suggested that consideration could be given to the use of Municipal Climate Bonds, which had been adopted by a number of other Local Authorities and had the benefit of keeping money within the local economy. It was acknowledged that the use of such bonds could be considered but the set-up and administration costs would need to be investigated further. This could be raised with the new Chief Finance Officer, coming into post in May, and consideration given to inclusion in next year’s treasury strategy.

·       It was noted that the Council’s commercial income was relatively low due to the Council’s current approach, but this could be subject to change through the Council’s budget setting process for 2025/26.

·       In respect of the approach and opportunities for income generation in the future, it was acknowledged that additional income streams could be considered but decisions would have to be underpinned by business cases, with a clear understanding of the potential risks and sensitivities for the Council.

Resolved –

That the Service Director – Finance be thanked for attending meetings of the Committee to provide updates on the Council’s financial position.

A report was submitted which set out the high-level findings emerging from the annual refresh of Kirklees Strategic Intelligence Assessment and the suggested priorities for the Communities Partnership Plan refresh for 2024-25. The report also highlighted the work that had taken place in 2023/2024, with a specific focus on serious violence, the Inclusive Communities Framework and drugs and alcohol.

The Service Director - Communities and Access Services, Jill Greenfield, introduced the item, explaining that the plan set out how all partners could and would work collaboratively to make Kirklees a safer place.

Sarah Mitchell, Head of Communities, gave a presentation which covered the following:

·       The strategic themes in the Partnership Plan were developed using the findings from the partnership’s Strategic Intelligence Assessment (SIA). The SIA provided an all-encompassing overview of what affected communities. It was refreshed annually and was used to make sure that the Partnership Plan themes remained valid and that any exceptions/areas of future focus were highlighted and actioned.

·       The Partnership Plan was overseen by the Communities Board. The Partnership Plan for 2024 was currently being revised and any feedback from the Committee would be reported to the Communities Board in May when the priorities for 2024/25 would be formalised.

·       An overview was given in respect of the four strategic outcome themes and the approach taken by the Partnership. The themes had remained the same for the last couple of years.

·       An overview of the priorities contained within each theme:

Serious Violence and Exploitation - Serious violence, violence against women and girls, modern day slavery and human trafficking, and youth exploitation all remained categorised at amber RAG rating, however, domestic abuse had been increased to a red RAG rating, due to a high number of domestic homicide cases.

Neighbourhood Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour - Neighbourhood crime remained categorised at amber RAG rating and anti-social behaviour had been increased to a red RAG rating, despite some elements staring to decrease, due to the impact it had on communities.

Reducing Risk - Road safety was prioritised as a red RAG rating, based on residents’ concerns and numbers of fatalities.

Resilient and Inclusive Communities - A review would be undertaken of what was contained within this theme, and how it worked, during 2024/25. The aim was to further develop the place-based response to the Communities Plan and have in view communities of higher risk and concern. In addition, it would include recognition of where good work had taken place in communities.

Chief Superintendent, Jim Griffiths of West Yorkshire Police, explained that all the partners had undertaken a significant amount of work and contributed a lot of data and intelligence so that a balanced decision could be taken on what the priorities needed to be under each theme.

District Commander, Dale Gardiner, from West Yorkshire Fire Service agreed with the Chief Superintendent, confirming that all partners fed into the plan and worked together on the outcomes.

Questions and comments were invited from the Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:

·       In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

The Lead Members for the Children’s Scrutiny Panel and the Adult and Social Care Scrutiny Panel will update the Committee on the work being undertaken by their panels.

Contact: Sheila Dykes – Principal Governance Officer

Updates were submitted in respect of the work of the Children’s Scrutiny Panel and Health & Adult Social Care Panels.

The latest version of the Committee’s Work Programme for 2023-24 will be submitted for consideration.

Contact: Sheila Dykes – Principal Governance Officer

The latest version of the Committee’s Work Programme for 2023/24 was submitted for consideration.