Agenda for Central Services Cabinet Member Meeting on Monday, 13th October, 2008, 4.30pm
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Agenda, decisions and minutes
PDF 211 KBVenue: Committee Room 1, Hove Town Hall. View directions
Contact: Nara Miranda, Democratic Services Officer. Tel: 01273 291004 (voice-mail only) Email: nara.miranda@brighton-hove.gov.uk
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Procedural Business
(b) Exclusion of Press and Public - To consider whether, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting when any of the following items are under consideration.
NOTE: Any item appearing in Part 2 of the Agenda states in its heading the category under which the information disclosed in the report is exempt from disclosure and therefore not available to the public.
A list and description of the exempt categories is available for public inspection at Brighton and Hove Town Halls.
Minutes: 29a Declarations of Interest
29.1 There were none.
29b Exclusion of Press and Public
29.2 In accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (‘the Act’), the Cabinet Member for Central Services considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during an item of business on the grounds that it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press or public were present during that item, there would be disclosure to them of confidential information (as defined in section 100A(3) of the Act) or exempt information (as defined in section 100I(1) of the Act).
29.3 RESOLVED- That the press and public be not excluded from the meeting. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting Minutes of the Meeting held on 21 July 2008 (copy attached). Minutes: 30.1 RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on the 21 July 2008 be approved and signed by the Cabinet Member. |
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Cabinet Member's Communications Minutes: 31.1 The Cabinet Member reiterated that, as he had announced at the first meeting of the Cabinet Member meeting for Central Services back in June 2008, he had promised to take his Cabinet Member meetings in an open and transparent way, as well as keeping the opposition updated with what was taking place. He confirmed that this remained the approach he would like to continue to take. |
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Items reserved for discussion (a) Items reserved by the Cabinet Member
(b) Items reserved by the Opposition Spokesperson
(c) Items reserved by Members, with the agreement of the Cabinet Member.
NOTE: Public Questions, Written Questions form Councillors, Petitions, Deputations, Letters from Councillors and Notices of Motion will be reserved automatically. Minutes: 32.1 There were none. |
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Public Questions (The closing date for receipt of public questions is 12 noon on 6 October 2008)
No public questions received by date of publication. Minutes: 33.1 There were none. |
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Written Questions from Councillors No written questions have been received. Minutes: 34.1 There were none. |
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Petitions No petitions received by date of publication.
Minutes: 35.1 There were none. |
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Deputations (The closing date for receipt of deputations is 12 noon on 6 October 2008)
No deputations received by date of publication. Minutes: 36.1 There were none. |
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Letters from Councillors No letters have been received.
Minutes: 37.1 There were none. |
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Notices of Motions referred from Council No Notices of Motion have been referred.
Minutes: 38.1 There were none. |
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Matters referred for reconsideration No matters have been referred. Minutes: 39.1 There were none. |
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Reports from Overview & Scrutiny Committees No reports have been received. Minutes: 40.1 There were none. |
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Potential 'Tell Us Once' Pilot Report of the Director of Finance & Resources (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the aims of the potential pilot project be noted.
2. That any involvement the Council is able to secure in the Tell us Once programme be supported and agreed, subject to there being no additional unfunded financial or resource implications. Minutes: 41.1 The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Finance and Resources concerning the Potential ‘Tell Us Once’ Pilot, which, were it to be approved, would benefit the citizens of Brighton & Hove and would sit within the Council’s Access Vision (agreed by Policy and resources Committee in November 2008) and Council’s priorities, including better use of public money (for copy, see minute book).
41.2 The Assistant Director, Customer Services, explained that there were three strands to this pilot scheme, which were the pilots on births, bereavement and change of address. She reported that, prior to the Cabinet Member meeting, it had been announced that Brighton & Hove City Council had not been chosen as a pilot, though officers had hoped it would be chosen for the bereavement pilot.
41.3 The Assistant Director explained that though the city was performing well where bereavement was concerned, the pilot would bring the required legal framework which would facilitate the standardisation of services for a uniform sharing of information between all services. She also explained that even though officers were disappointed with the outcome, the lessons learnt from becoming involved in the process of pilot such as this one had been positive.
41.4 The Assistant Director further explained that the third strand of the pilot, ‘change of address’, was still open and available for allocation. Officers were hopeful that Brighton & Hove still had a chance of getting this one pilot. She agreed to bring an update to the next Cabinet Member Meeting.
41.5 The Cabinet Member thanked officers for their work and involvement with this matter. He agreed that it was disappointing that the city had not been chosen to lead on this process. He pointed out, however, that it was good and positive that the council still wished to pursue more in future. He also recognised that the process had allowed the Assistant Director and her team to bring forward all that the services were already doing positively.
41. 6 RESOLVED - That having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, and to accommodate any future expression of interest with regards to the discussed change of address pilot scheme, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendations:
(1) That the aims of the potential pilot project be noted.
(2) That any involvement the Council is able to secure in the Tell us Once programme be supported and agreed, subject to there being no additional unfunded financial or resource implications. |
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Potential In and Out of Work Pilot Report of the Director of Finance & Central Services (copy attached). Additional documents: Decision: 1. That the In and Out of Work Project be noted.
2. That it be agreed in principle to Brighton & Hove becoming a pilot, if selected by DWP to take part, subject to satisfactory financial and resource arrangements. Minutes: 42.1 The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Finance & Resources concerning the potential ‘In and Out of Work’ Pilot, which aimed to improve access to in and out of work benefits and services to customers who moved frequently in and out of work (for copy, see minute book).
42.2 The Assistant Director, Customer Services, explained that, prior to today’s meeting, it had been announced that Brighton & Hove had not been chosen to lead on this pilot. The next step of the scheme would involve different groups of cities going nationally at a time and Brighton & Hove could be one of the first cities going national with the roll-out of the scheme.
42.3 The Assistant Director considered that though the process had been unsuccessful, it had proven to be a positive learning process, which had also resulted in officers obtaining good and useful contacts along the way for future enterprises.
42.4 The Cabinet Member congratulated the Assistant Director and her team for seizing the opportunity and for applying for the pilot scheme. He was pleased that Brighton & Hove was recognised by the DWP and might become one of the first cities in the roll-out process. He thanked the team of officers involved with this process and thanked the Chief Executive for supporting this.
42.5 The Assistant Director, Customer Services, advised that she would like to keep the recommendations as per the report to accommodate the possibility of Brighton & Hove being chosen as a replacement in the event of a cancellation occurring from one of the initially chosen cities. The Cabinet Member concurred with this proposal.
42.6 RESOLVED - That having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Cabinet Member accepted the following recommendations:
(1) That the In and Out of Work Project be noted.
(2) That it be agreed in principle to Brighton & Hove becoming a pilot, if selected by DWP to take part, subject to satisfactory financial and resource arrangements. |