An opportunity for Members to ask questions of the Chief Executive.
Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed the Chief Executive (CE) to the meeting.
The Chief Executive explained that he had been in post for five weeks and in that time he had been establishing ‘the lie of the land’ from both a technical perspective and from how functions were discharged, looked at competency and performance and had discussions with Heads of Service. From an organisational point of view he had looked to see if the right things were being done and was forming judgements regarding where the organisation was. He explained that in due course he would reflect on this to make recommendations for different directions of travel.
The CE informed the Committee that since he had started in post he had been lobbied by officers, Members and local organisations and that he was taking this information on board. He had not yet finalised those judgements but was already working on a report for this Committee regarding planning enforcement and considered that the authority would benefit from improving communications. In the last few weeks he had met with people from the private and public sectors and what had become apparent during these discussions was that fact that whilst each organisation had its own organisational priorities everyone was clear that they loved the area and wanted to take it forward to preserve and enhance it. The message seemed to be that Mid Devon was a great place to live and work and that this should be built on and not sacrificed along the way.
Discussion took place regarding:
· Management Team and a recent redundancy:- the CE confirmed that on a temporary basis the IT service would sit under another Head of Service but that he was looking at the overall structure of Management Team for the future;
· Implications of the budget: - The CE explained that revisions to the Local Government Settlement had meant that the authority was not as badly off as expected, but that savings would still need to be made. He reminded the Committee that local authorities had until October to decide whether or not to accept the four year financial settlement. He anticipated changes to the New Homes Bonus and Business Rates, both of which were under consultation at the current time. Indications were that local authorities would get to keep Business Rates, but he said that the ‘devil would be in the detail’ and it seemed unlikely that this authority would get to keep the whole amount. Regarding the New Homes Bonus he anticipated that it would reduce, but he would update Members as soon as anything was known.
· Removal of Business Rates for small businesses: - the CE explained that if Business Rate income was devolved and then reduced there would be less to be distributed and that the government needed to ensure that there was an effective mechanism in place to share this. The Local Government Association (LGA) had been tasked to find a formula to suit all. Areas of concern for this authority were historical rate re-evaluations and back dated appeals, which had to be funded by MDDC. The CE stated that there had to be gains from local growth in order for it to be worth local authorities promoting it.
· Staffing:- The CE agreed that staffing levels in some services were at a level whereby officers were working as fast as they could to do the ‘day job’ but there was no room for establishing better ways of working or to put procedures in place to free up staff for other duties. Areas such as planning performance agreements could prove beneficial in the long run but staff needed the time to implement them. Capacity could also affect the work of other services, such as backlogs in legal work.
· Improving the local economy: - the CE explained that in the past councils had not taken the business community into consideration enough and that devolved business rates would make this an important area.
The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive for his time.