Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 16 April.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 16 April were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

No declarations of interest were made.

To consider whether it is in the public to exclude the public during consideration of the following agenda items that contains information “not for publication by virtue of Category 3 ‘Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority)’ as set out in the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

·         Item 6 – Solutions SK Working Group

·         Item 7 – Financial Update 2013/14

·         Item 8 – Solutions SK Business Plan Update

·         Item 9 – Fleet Replacement Strategy

·         Item 10 – Update on recruitment of MD

·         Item 11 – Governance Arrangements

·         Item 12 – Extraordinary General Meeting of Solutions SK

RESOLVED – That in order to prevent the disclosure of information which was not for publication relating to the financial or business affairs of the any particular person (including the authority), the disclosure of which would not be in the public interest, would not be fair and would be in breach of Data Protection principles, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the ‘not for publication’ items on the agenda 6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12.

Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair of the Area Committee on any matters within the powers and duties of the Area Committee, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice (Questions must be submitted prior to the commencement of the meeting on the cards provided. These are available the meeting and at local libraries and information centres.  You can also submit via the Council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/publicquestions.

No public questions were submitted.

To note the minutes of the meeting held on 13 May 2013.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting of the Solutions SK Working Group held on 13 May 2013 were submitted for information.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting of the Solutions SK Working Group held on 13 May 2013 were noted.

To consider an update of the Managing Director (Solutions SK)

LivingThe Managing Director and Finance & Commercial Director (Solutions SK Ltd) submitted a joint report (copies of which had been circulated) providing the Contributors Committee with an update in respect to progress which had been made in respect to a number of key issues, including:-

·         Procurement of a new ERP system

·         Phase 2 Management and Executive Director restructure

·         The review of Company Governance Documentation

·         Operational efficiencies and restructuring that support the Council budget

·         Conclusion of the consultation process and implementation of new terms and conditions.

The report also set out a summary of the company’s financial position and an overview of progress made against targets which support the company’s corporate strategy.

Councillors requested further information in respect to the following:-

·         The reasons for the variance between Actual External Revenue and that budgeted.

·         Which debtors were responsible for the 90 Days+ total debt.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the Managing Director (Solutions SK) be requested to circulate the additional information relating to Actual External Revenue and the 90 Day+ debtors.

(3) That in the future, should Councillors have any detailed questions relating to the Business Plan or the Company’s financial position, they submit them to the Democratic Services Manager in advance of the meeting so that answers can be prepared prior to the meeting.

The Chair reported that an all- party Living Wage Sub Group would meet on 26 June 2013.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider an update from the Managing Director (Solutions SK)

The Chair reported that this item had been considered in conjunction with agenda item 7 ‘Financial Update 2013/2014.’

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services.

The Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) outlining the Fleet Replacement Strategy and outlining the rolling annuity loan arrangement between the Council and Solutions SK to facilitate and support the implementation of the Strategy.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and the proposals within it be supported in so far as the Contributors Committee is concerned.

To consider an update from the Managing Director (Solutions SK)

David Teale, Chair of the Solutions SK Board reported that following a comprehensive recruitment process three candidates had been shortlisted to interviews for the position and interviews would take place later in the week. It was hoped that the successful candidate would be in post by September 2013.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Managing Director (Solutions SK)

The Board of Directors (Solutions SK) submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing with an update on the review commissioned of the Corporate Governance Framework for Solutions SK Ltd and Waste Solutions SK Ltd. The full set of the revised Governance Framework documents were attached at Appendix A to the report for considerations and comment.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

·         Councillors requested further clarification on the MD’s remuneration package.

·         It was suggested that only the parts which were relevant and of interest to the Contributors Committee should be included in the document and those parts which were not such as reference to Board Etiquette were not required.

·         Councillors requested that the document be revised where appropriate so that where it was that the Company “may” carry out an action, it be replaced with “must”.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and an extra meeting of the Committee be held on 8 July 2013 to approve the final version of the document.

To consider accepting a new set of Articles and Memorandum of Association as set out in the ‘Governance Arrangements’ report at item 11 of the Contributors Committee.

With the consent of the Committee this item was withdrawn.