Minutes:
Councillor R B Howe, Executive Councillor for Commercial Activities addressed the Council on some of the principal services within the portfolio responsibilities, namely CCTV, the Document Centre, parking services and One Leisure. A copy of Councillor Howe’s PowerPoint presentation is appended in the Minute Book.
Councillor Howe updated Members on the shared service arrangement that existed with Cambridge City Council for CCTV and reported that there were 260 cameras in the combined network. As a result £67k of savings had been realised and tranche 3 of the Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB) exercise was underway. He reported that commercial contracts had been renewed with Town and Parish Councils and investigations were underway with a view to expanding the service to external organisations for outdoor events such as the Secret Garden Party. In conjunction with the comments earlier from the Chief Constable, work was also underway to develop an image sharing system with the Police.
Members were acquainted with the level of income that the Document Centre had accrued of £60k compared with £26k in the previous financial year. In addition to this the ZBB process had yielded £91k of efficiencies in the service. A marketing study was underway to engage with neighbouring councils and Councillor Howe outlined the vision of the service to develop a High Security Document Management model operating on a 24/7 basis. Councillor Howe also highlighted the potential for developing a market for small job printing, such as housing associations and estate agents, through the development of website for this purpose.
In terms of the car parking service, Members noted that income had been £195k above budget with a full year forecast of £350k above budget. Councillor Howe reminded Members of the Council’s decision to reject the proposal for Civil Parking Enforcement and reported upon the rationalisation programme for the car parks estate resulting in a capital gain of £650k though their disposal.
Councillor Howe updated the Council on the One Leisure restructuring that had resulted in the appointment of a new Senior Management Team. In terms of the budgetary impact, it was reported that the service was currently profiled to surplus £157k to August 2015 and profiled to forecast a surplus of £350k at the year end. The Council had been informed of the improvement in attendances and increase in admissions and noted the rationalisation programme underway in Ramsey and Sawtry Leisure Centres. In concluding, Councillor Howe reported upon the success of the service in achieving a level of income above expenditure for the first time.
In congratulating the One Leisure Service in its achievement to make profit, Councillor D A Giles sought reassurance from Councillor Howe that car parking charges would not be introduced on Sundays. Councillor Howe confirmed that car parking charges would not be applied on Sundays.
Councillor D M Tysoe and Councillor P D Reeve stressed the community importance of Sawtry and Ramsey Leisure Centres and Councillor Reeve suggested building resilience for these services through the development of community apprenticeships.
In relation to CCTV, Councillor Reeve reported that Ramsey had renewed its contract and questioned that charging level. In response, Councillor Howe explained that the charges would be reviewed but had not been able to provide a timescale.
Councillor K J Churchill raised a question in relation to car parking in areas of high recreational use and Councillor Howe indicated that there were no plans to introduce further parking charges for such car parks but may be reviewed in the future.
In concluding, the Executive Leader, Councillor J D Ablewhite, congratulated the Teams on the achievements that had been highlighted by Councillor Howe and for the work of the Officers and Members involved.