Councillor Graeme Brooks, Councillor Colin Jackson, Councillor Tommy McVey and Councillor Innes Nelson (Inverclyde Council); and Councillor Tom Begg, Councillor Jacqueline Cameron, Councillor Audrey Doig, Councilor Kenny MacLaren, Councillor Mags MacLaren, Councillor John McIntyre, Councillor Andy Steel and Councillor Bill Brown (substitute for Councillor Jim Sharkey) (Renfrewshire Council).

Councillor Doig, Convener, presided.

K Crawford, Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer, L Hendry, Divisional Assessor & Assistant Electoral Registration Officer and S Carlton, Principal Admin Officer (all Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board); A MacArthur, Head of Finance, M Ball, Accountant and E Currie, Senior Committee Services Officer (all Finance & Resources, Renfrewshire Council); and A Hassan and S Afzal (both Audit Scotland).

Councillor Begg entered the meeting prior to consideration of the following item of business.

There was submitted a revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer in respect of the Joint Board for the period 1 April to 21 July 2017.

The report intimated that gross expenditure was £29,000 over budget and income was currently £5,000 over recovered resulting in a net overspend of £24,000.  

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

Councillors Angela Convery (East Renfrewshire Council) and Jim Sharkey (Renfrewshire Council).

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.


Prior to the commencement of the meeting Councillor Doig referred to the tragic loss of life following the recent terrorist attack in Barcelona. 
  
A minute’s silence was then observed as a mark of respect to remember the victims of the attack.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Joint Board held on 30 June 2017.  

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

Under reference to item 9 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Board held on 30 June 2017 there was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to the annual accounts for the Joint Board for 2016/17.  

The report intimated that the audit certificate issued by Audit Scotland provided an unqualified opinion that the annual accounts presented a true and fair view of the financial position of the Joint Board as at 31 March 2017, in accordance with the accounting policies detailed in the accounts. A report on the 2016/17 audit by Audit Scotland was also attached to the report. 
       
DECIDED: That the audited accounts 2016/17 be approved for signature and the report by Audit Scotland be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer relative to the Joint Board’s Public Sector Equality Duty.  

The report intimated that under The Equality Act 2010 and The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 the Joint Board was a public authority and as such was subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty which required that the Joint Board eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct; advanced equality of opportunity between people who shared a relevant protected characteristic and those who did not; and foster good relations between people who shared a protected characteristic and those who did not. 
  
The report detailed the protected characteristics and the steps the Joint Board required to take. A copy of the Public Sector Equality Duty progress report 2017 was appended to the report. 
  
DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer providing an update on the annual canvass.

The report intimated that 163,008 household enquiry forms had been issued to all known domestic properties in the Joint Board area.  To date, 82,627 responses had been received which represented a response rate of 50.7% and the table in the report detailed the number of replies by telephone, text and paper return for both the 2016 and 2017 canvasses.

The second phase, the door-to-door canvass, would now be undertaken and approximately 35,000 homes where no response had been received would be visited. It was anticipated that this stage would be finished by October/November 2017 to allow for any changes in time for publication of the register on 1 December 2017.

It was proposed that the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer provide members with details of the steps taken when undertaking an annual canvass in accordance with Section 10 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and that members advise the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer of any ways in which the process could be improved.  This was agreed. 

DECIDED:   

(a) That the report be noted; and

(b) That the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer provide members with details of the steps taken when undertaking an annual canvass in accordance with Section 10 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and that members advise the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer of any ways in which the process could be improved.

There was tabled an amended report by the Divisional Assessor & Assistant Electoral Registration Officer providing an update on the current performance and workload issues facing the Joint Board together with the Valuation Roll and Council Tax performance statistics for 2016/17.

 

The report detailed the performance in Council Tax and non-domestic valuation against set targets. In relation to Council Tax valuation, it was noted that the addition of new houses to the Valuation List and the deletion of demolished houses remained a priority with the time taken to enter new houses into the Valuation (Council Tax) List exceeding the target of 95% within three months and also the target of 99.5% within six months.  

The report also detailed the average number of days taken to add a house in each constituent authority area between 1 April and 30 June 2017 and also the number of deletions from the Valuation (Council Tax) List between 1 April and 30 June during 2016 and 2017 by constituent authority area. 
  
The report set out the time taken to make statutory amendments to the Valuation Roll, excluding appeal settlements and amendments to the prescribed entries, between 1 April and 30 June 2017 by constituent authority area, which exceeded the targets of 80% to be actioned within three months and 95% within six months. 

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Joint Board would be held at 2.00 pm on 17 November 2017 within the Robertson Centre, Glasgow Road, Paisley.