Agenda and minutes

Resolved

That Councillor D Bastiman be elected Chairman of the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership for the ensuing year.

Councillor Bastiman thanked Members for his election and took the Chair.

Resolved

That Councillor B Cottam be appointed Vice-Chairman of the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership for the ensuing year.

Councillor Cottam thanked Members for his appointment.

Apologies for absence were received from David Archer, David Simpson, Maurice Cann and Councillors Allanson, Branch and Phillips.

The Chairman welcomed all those present to the meeting and appropriate introductions were made.

The Chairman then gave a brief presentation on the Parrtnership’s achievements over the last year which he considered were in no small part due to the efforts and determination of Councillor Mackman and to Councillor Baker’s Chairmanship, in combination with the excellent work carried out by the Building Control Manager and his staff.

The Partnership was in a better financial position than last year, but there was a need to review operational needs and to focus on service delivery.  It was essential to make best use of technology in order to implement change and to ensure that officers were able to access information on site.

The minutes of the last meeting of the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership held on 24 March 2010 were presented.

With reference to Minute No 37 (Revised Partnership Agreement) it was reported that the agreement had now been formalised and had been circulated to the relevant authorities for signature.

Resolved

That the minutes of a meeting of the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership held on 24 March 2010 be approved.

To receive notice of any urgent business which the Chairman considers should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There was no urgent business

Members to indicate whether they will be declaring any interests under the Code of Conduct.

Members making a declaration of interest at a meeting of a Committee or Council are required to disclose the existence and nature of that interest.  This requirement is not discharged by merely declaring a personal interest without further explanation.

There were no declarations of interest

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking Members approval for the accounts of North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership for the financial year ended 31 March 2010.

The income and expenditure account for the Partnership indicated an operating deficit of £50,861 for the period.  This was the third year that the Partnership had made a deficit and an additional contribution from the partners of £50,861 had been required in order to meet the requirement of a minimum level of reserves of £10,000.  This equates to £12,715 per Authority. An agreed rationalisation and recovery programme for the Partnership was implemented during 2009/10 which was planned to establish the Partnership in a better financial position for 2010/11.

It was noted that the level of long term debt was relatively low and that, whilst some bad debts would have to be written off, most debts were recoverable over a period of time.

The Chairman thanked the Corporate Director (s151) and his team for all their efforts in providing accountancy services.

Resolved

That the Accounts of the Partnership for the financial year 2009/10 be approved.

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) on the Partnership’s operational performance from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.

Appended to the report was the Covalent performance report for the period which indicated that the Partnership had, in the majority of cases, achieved its performance targets, the exceptions being the following:

·        BC3 Plans over statutory time period. 

·        BC7 Average number of inspections per development. 

·        BC11 Local Disability Groups Satisfaction. 

·        BC13 Market Share Schedule 2/3. 

·        BC16 Income gained through LABC Partnerships. 

A full explanation for these exceptions was given

It was noted that there was no statutory duty to consult with Disability Groups and, therefore, target BC11 had been removed from the Business Plan and performance monitoring for 2010/11.

It was also noted that BC12 had shown a substantial increase, with the Partnership achieving market share in the housing market for the first time in nine years.  However, this was likely to be short term, as the volume builders tended to use Approved Inspectors rather than the local authority.

It was considered essential that the Board continued to monitor the Partnership’s performance against the Business Plan to ensure each partner authority received an efficient and effective building control service.

The Head of Building Control reported that proactive steps would be taken in an attempt to attract more business. 

The report included the following information on training undertaken by Building Control staff:

·        Michelle Lanaghan had been awarded a 1^st Class Honours degree in Building Surveying at Leeds Metropolitan University.  She had also given birth to a son

·        Angela Samuels had completed Year 2 of a two year Diploma in Fire Engineering at Leeds College of Building

·        Simon Nichol had completed Year 2 of a five year BSc Honours degree in Building Surveying at Northumbria University

·        Julie Chapman was continuing a part-time HNC in Construction at York College

·        Daniel Page had attained Membership of the Institute of Building Engineers.

·        All staff had undertaken an in-house appraisal training course.

It was agreed that letters/cards of congratulation be forwarded to the above mentioned members of staff and that flowers be sent to Michelle and Angela, with an appropriate gift being sent to Daniel.

It was, however, considered that in future flowers be sent to female members of staff and an appropriate gift to male members, only following successful completion of the course.

Resolved

(a)  That the report be noted

(b)   That the Board’s congratulations, together with the appropriate gifts,  be forwarded to the members of staff as indicated above, but that in future this be done only when the relevant course has been successfully completed

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) in which Members were informed of changes to the charge regulations and procedures which were to become fully operative on 1 October 2010.

The report gave full details of the requirements of the regulations and the implications for the Partnership. The overarching principles of the regulations were full cost recovery and users paying only for the service they receive.  These principles would facilitate the implementation of a service level agreement based on risk assessment and help to demonstrate the value that building control added to the project.

It was emphasised that a new charging regime must be adopted and implemented by 1 October 2010 and it was considered essential that a Working Party be established to review the Partnership’s structure and service delivery and that their recommendations be submitted to the next Board meeting in September.

Resolved

(a)  That the report be noted

(b)  That a Working Party be established comprising the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board, the immediate past Chairman and the Head of Building Control to review the Partnership’s structure and service delivery

(c)  That a meeting of the Working Party be held at 9.30am on 10 August and reports back to the September meeting of the Board

EXEMPT ITEM

Resolved

That under Section 100(4)(A) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item as there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as the information relates to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (oether than the authority).

The Head of Building Control submitted a report (previously circulated) in which Members were informed of an additional income stream undertaking work on behalf of the MOD on the RAF main operational bases.

Resolved

That the report be noted.

Dates of Next Meetings

It was proposed that future meetings of the Board would be held on:

29 September 2010

22 December 2010

23 March 2011

29 June 2011

It was noted that these dates were provisional and would be confirmed at a future date.

Audit Commission

The Head of Building Control reported that a letter had been received from the Audit Commission in connection with a proposed increase in their charges.  A draft letter expressing concern about the potential level of charges was submitted to the Board, who agreed that the charges were grossly unfair and it was agreed that the letter be forwarded.

Resolved

That the Building Control Manager be authorised to send a letter on the lines indicated

Letter from Hambleton District Council

A letter had been received from Hambleton District Council (copy circulated) suggesting that there should be only one member from each authority on the Partnership Board.  Members were of the opinion that the status quo should be upheld.

Resolved

That Hambleton District Council be informed of the Board’s decision to maintain the status quo and that each authority have two representatives on the North Yorkshire Building Control Partnership