Issue - meetings

 Reportby Alistair Cunningham,Corporate Director

Councillor Philip Whitehead presented the report which presented the Commercial Policy and Approach 2018-27 that enables the Council to support its Medium Term Financial Strategy and Plan (MTFS and MTFP) that drives long term financial sustainability and delivery of its Business Plan.

Matters highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: that the policy had been through the Financial Planning Task Group and  the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee; that the Cabinet Member had welcomed the collaborative approach, and had accepted the seven proposals made through the scrutiny process, incorporating their suggestions into the plan; the ability of the policy to support the business and financial plan; and subsequent how decisions on individual projects will be made.

Councillor Graham Wright, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, confirmed that there had been a full discussion of the document and commended the open approach taken to its development.

Councillor Ian Thorn, Chair of the Financial Planning Task Group, stated that the report of the task group outlining their recommendations had been circulated. In addition, Councillor Thorn stated that he believed for the policy to be effective it would require a cultural shift for members and officers, and that he would welcome an opportunity to discuss what steps would be required to make this happen.

In response to a question from Councillor Steve Oldrieve, Councillor Philip Whitehead stated that as the wider objectives of the council were already detailed in the business plan, he did not want to amend the Commercial Policy further. He also confirmed that the projects delivered under this policy would have an aim to be delivered for at least nil cost to the council.

In response to a question from Councillor Jon Hubbard, Councillor Philip Whitehead stated that, whilst there was a commercial value in the anonymised meta-data held by the council, the personal data of individuals would not sold.

In response to a question from Councillor Richard Clewer, Councillor Philip Whitehead stated that, whilst he was happy to pilot a short version of the business case for the initial assessment of project, he would ensure that all projects were assessed using a full business case to ensure that there was a consistency of the quality and the amount of information presented.

At the conclusion of the debate, the Cabinet;

Resolved

To endorses the Commercial Policy and Approach 2018-2027 attached at Appendix A.

Reason for Decision:

To enable Council to support its Medium Term Financial Strategy and Plan that drives long term financial sustainability and delivery of its Business Plan.