Agenda and minutes

No declarations were made. 

Apologies were received from Cllrs: David Simmonds CBE; Philippa Roe; Mayor Sir Steve Bullock; Nick Forbes; Anne Western; and Gerald Vernon-Jackson.

The Chairman opened the meeting by congratulating all members on their appointment to the Leadership Board for the 2015/16 meeting cycle.

Huw Lewis (City of London) briefly introduced the item, which detailed recommendations regarding Layden House.

Decision

The Leadership Board agreed the recommendations of the Local Government Management Board.

Huw Lewis briefly introduced the report which updated on progress in relation to Local Government House.

Decision

The Leadership Board agreed the recommendations as outlined in the repport.  

Decision

The Leadership Board agreed the minutes of the previous meeting held on 10 June 2015.

Carolyn Downs (Chief Executive) introduced the item which sought Members’ initial steer on the priority work to be commissioned by the Leadership Board for 2015-16.

Decision

The Leadership Board agreed the priority policy work areas for 2015-16 subject to the inclusion of the Board’s comments.

Ian Hughes (Head of Place Policy) introduced the report which updated on the future of housing design and the implications for housing benefit staff.

Decision

The LGA Leadership Board endorsed the steps as outlined in the report.  

Action

LGA officers to progress in line with Leadership Board’s direction.

The Chairman moved the report regarding 4Ps (the predecessor to Local Partnerships).

Decision

The Leadership Board agreed the recommendations as outlined in the report.

The Chairman moved the report regarding appointments to the Local Capital Finance Company.

Decision

The Leadership Board agreed the recommendations as outlined in the report.

Report to follow on a supplemental agenda.

Stephen Hughes (Executive Director) introduced the report which summarised the key issues in the Chancellor’s Emergency Budget on 8 July with implications for local government and projected the funding position for councils as a result of the changes through the LGA’s Future Funding Outlook.

In the discussion that followed, Members made a number of questions and comments, including:

·     Serious concerns were expressed regarding the financial and administrative burden on councils as a result of the differential rate “Pay to Stay” proposal for social housing tenants with household incomes above specified limits.

·     Members asked that the an exercise be undertaken to profile the implications for local government of the raft of housing changes, with a view to providing a robust evidence base to Government. 

·     With reference to the wide-ranging review of business rates, Members highlighted the opportunity to influence Government on issues such as business rates revaluation and council tax increase limit, and advocated for adopting a pragmatic approach.   

·     In response to a question regarding wind energy development, officers agreed to clarify if there had been any recent Ministerial announcements.

Decision

The Leadership Board noted the update.

Actions

Profile the implications for local government of the raft of housing changes.

(Stephen Hughes / Ian Hughes).

Clarify Government announcements regarding renewable energy. (Stephen Hughes)

The Chairman moved the report which asked the Board to note its Membership and Terms of Reference for 2015/16.

A Member asked for a terminological amendment, so that the reference to ‘Whitehall’ be amended to ‘Civil Service’.

Decision

The LGA Leadership Board noted its Membership and Terms of Reference for 2015/2016, and agreed to amend the ‘Whitehall’ reference to ‘Civil Service’.

Action

Update the Leadership Board’s Terms of Reference.

(Frances Marshall)

The Chairman moved the dates of meetings of the LGA Executive, Councillors’ Forum and Leadership Board in 2015/16 without further comment.

Decision

The LGA Leadership Board noted the dates of meetings of the LGA Executive, Councillors’ Forum and Leadership Board in 2015/16.

The Chairman moved the LGA’s performance report for the year without further comment.

Decision

The Leadership Board reviewed the performance report for 2014-15.

David Holdstock (Director of Communications) introduced the report which set out the LGA’s communications activity for April 2014 to March 2015.  In doing so, he drew attention to a number of areas which had been progressed as a result of the Board’s direction the previous year.

·        Members commended the LGA’s communication activity and questioned how to better link the positive impact of the LGA’s media work to membership satisfaction levels.

·        With reference to the relatively small number of members that had fronted LGA media work in the past year, there was collective agreement that the number of board chairman doing media interviews should increase.   The Board agreed that group leaders and board chairman should be asked for a list of media training undertaken and subject areas for which they have expertise in.  

·        In circumstances where a cross party LGA line could not be reached, the current media protocol for groups to provide their own media statements should be adopted.

Decisions

The Leadership Board:

       i.          noted the communications activity for the period April 2014 to March 2015;

      ii.          agreed that the number of leading members undertaking media interviews should be broadened and that all group leaders and board chairman should be asked to provide a list of key areas they have expertise in.

     iii.          agreed that where political census could not be reached, the current media protocol should be used, giving the four LGA Political Group Offices the option for individual comment.

Action

Group leaders and board chairmen to be asked to provide details of media training undertaken and subject areas for which they have expertise.(David Holdstock)

David Holdstock introduced the report which set out the results of the 2014/15 perceptions survey.  In doing so, he drew Members attention to the upward trend in satisfaction levels as well as highlighting areas in which further work could be undertaken.

In the discussion that followed, Members made a number of comments, including:

·        Members discussed methods to improve response rates and agreed that the survey continue to be conducted on an annual basis. 

·        With reference to the success of First magazine as key vehicle of communication, Members discussed ways to make the publication more interactive and improve the profile of First online. It was suggested that each edition invite members’ views on a certain topic to be featured in the following publication.

·        With reference to awareness of what LGA membership means for individual authorities, it was noted that membership briefings are circulated by the Group Offices to all elected members, as well as to Chief Executives and Leaders. 

·        Members noted the awareness and satisfaction levels pertaining to the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) and Local Partnerships (LP) given that both bodies receive Revenue Support Grant (RSG) funding.

Decisions

The Leadership Board:

       i.          noted the results of the 2014/15 perceptions survey; and

      ii.          agreed the headline principles of the revised action plan for 2015/16.

The Chairman introduced the item which sought agreement to pilot a new portfolio and forum governance model for Resources and Community Wellbeing from 1 September, with a review after six months.

The report was agreed without further comment.

Decisions

The Leadership Board:

       i.          agreed to pilot the new portfolio holder governance model for Resources and Community Wellbeing from September 2015; and

      ii.          invited the Governance Task Group to monitor progress of the new model and to report back to Leadership Board in April 2016.

Action

Officers to progress the pilots in consultation with portfolio holders.(Ian Hughes, Sally Burlington, Frances Marshall)

The Chairman moved the report which summarised the work of the Leadership Board  from 1 September to date, outlined its main achievements, and invited Members’ views on areas for improvement.

Members emphasised the importance that criteria for success be put in place to enable meaningful evaluation of outcomes. 

Decision

The LGA Leadership Board reviewed its work over the past year and considered lessons learned.

Action

Agree criteria to measure outcome. (Claire Holloway)

Carolyn Downs introduced the report which invited Members to review the annual reports of the LGA’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs).  In doing so, she made reference to recent difficulties experienced with a particular SIG and suggested the Board consider what relationship they would like with SIGs going forward.

Members discussed the mechanisms in place to ensure that SIGs operate within their remit as defined by the LGA and asked that future annual reports be limited to one page in length, with a clear focus on achievements. 

Decisions

The LGA Leadership Board:

             i.            noted the annual reports of the LGA’s Special Interest Groups; and

            ii.            agreed to receive shorter, outcome focused annual reports from each Special Interest Group in future.

Action

Revise the format and focus of Special Interest Groups’ annual reports in line with the Board’s steer. (Frances Marshall)

Carolyn Downs introduced the report which set out the LGA’s main achievements against the Business Plan priorities. In doing so, she highlighted Government’s willingness to include provisions to enable data sharing between Clinical Commissioning Groups and local authorities within the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill.

The Board expressed their cross party support for legislating to enable data sharing that would facilitate health and social care integration, and highlighted the need for more integrated data sharing arrangement with all Government Departments.    

Decision

The Leadership Board noted the Chief Executive’s report for July 2015.

Carolyn Downs briefly introduced the report which sought Members’ views on the future agendas of the LGA Leadership Board, LGA Executive and Councillors’ Forum.

Members welcomed the Minister of State for Housing and Planning’s request to attend Councillors’ Forum in October and requested that the discussion should be broader than Right to Buy. 

Decision

The Leadership Board endorsed the Forward Plan.

On behalf of the Leadership Board, the Chairman expressed his gratitude to Carolyn Downs who would be leaving the LGA after four years as LGA Chief Executive. He congratulated her on being appointed to the London Borough of Brent as Chief Executive and thanked her for the commitment and dedication she had shown. 

Carolyn Downs thanked the Leadership Board for their support during her tenure, noting that it had been a privilege to have undertaken the role.