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Meeting Details

Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board.
30 Jun 2017 - 14:00 to 15:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Agenda
Notification
Committee Members
Membership
Councillors Angela Convery, Danny Devlin, Charlie Gilbert and Paul O’Kane (East Renfrewshire Council); Councillors Graeme Brooks, Colin Jackson, Tommy McVey and Innes Nelson (Inverclyde Council); and Councillors Tom Begg, Jacqueline Cameron, Audrey Doig, Kenny MacLaren, Mags MacLaren, John McIntyre, Jim Sharkey and Andy Steel (Renfrewshire Council).
Present
Councillors Angela Convery, Danny Devlin and Paul O’Kane (East Renfrewshire Council); Graeme Brooks and Innes Nelson (Inverclyde Council); and Tom Begg, Jacqueline Cameron, Audrey Doig, Kenny MacLaren, Mags MacLaren, John McIntyre and Andy Steel (Renfrewshire Council).
In Attendance
K Crawford, Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer, L Hendry and J Murgatroyd, both Divisional Assessors & Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and S Carlton, Principal Admin Officer (all Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board); K Graham, Clerk, K Campbell, Assistant Chief Internal Auditor, V Howie, Finance & Resource Manager and E Currie, Senior Committee Services Officer (all Finance & Resources, Renfrewshire Council).
Chair
Councillor Audrey Doig thereafter took the chair.
Standard Items
Further Information
This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. 

A copy of the agenda and reports for this meeting will be available for inspection prior to the meeting at the Customer Service Centre, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley and online at www.renfrewshire.cmis.uk.com/renfrewshire/CouncilandBoards.aspx

For further information, please either email
democratic-services@renfrewshire.gov.uk or telephone 0141 618 7112.
Members of the Press and Public
Members of the press and public wishing to attend the meeting should report to reception where they will be met and directed to the meeting.
Items Of Business
The Clerk of the Joint Board will preside prior to the election of the Convener.
Apologies
Apologies from members.
Councillors Charlie Gilbert (East Renfrewshire Council) and Tommy McVey (Inverclyde Council).
Declarations of Interest
Members are asked to declare an interest in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest.
There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.


Prior to the start of the meeting the Clerk welcomed members to the first meeting of the Joint Board following the Local Government Elections in May 2017.
 
1
The Clerk asked for nominations for the post of Convener of the Joint Board. 

Councillor K MacLaren moved that Councillor Audrey Doig be appointed as Convener of the Joint Board. 

There being no further nominations it was agreed that Councillor Audrey Doig be appointed as Convener of the Joint Board. 

DECIDED: That Councillor Audrey Doig be appointed as Convener of the Joint Board.
2
The Convener asked for nominations for the post of Depute Convener of the Joint Board. 

Councillor O’Kane moved that Councillor Devlin be appointed as Depute Convener of the Joint Board.

There being no further nominations it was agreed that Councillor Devlin be appointed as Depute Convener of the Joint Board. 

DECIDED: That Councillor Devlin be appointed as Depute Convener of the Joint Board.
Report by Clerk.
3
There was submitted a report by the Clerk detailing the appointment of members to the Joint Board by the constituent member councils.  

DECIDED: That the appointments be noted.
Report by Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer.
4
There was submitted a report by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer relative to the establishment of the Joint Board in terms of the Valuation Joint Boards (Scotland) Order 1995 together with details of its main functions.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.
Report by Clerk and Treasurer.
5
There was submitted a joint report by the Clerk and the Treasurer relative to remuneration for elected members who are appointed conveners and vice conveners of Joint Boards.  The report intimated that The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Regulations 2007 introduced a new system of remuneration for elected members which created four grades of councillors for the purposes of calculating remuneration. The Regulations also introduced special provisions for those councillors who held offices as convener or vice convener of a joint board such as the Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board. 

The convener of a joint board would be paid a total yearly amount of £21,160 and the vice convener of a joint board would be paid a total yearly amount of £20,102 both inclusive of any amount payable to a convener or vice convener as a councillor or senior councillor. 

It was noted that if the convener and vice convener of the joint board were senior councillors within their own authority and their remuneration was equal to or greater than £21,160 and £20,102 respectively that the costs would be met by the appropriate authority. If the convener and vice convener were not senior councillors, or if senior councillors their remuneration was less than £21,160 and £20,102 respectively, the difference would require to be met by the Joint Board.

DECIDED: 

(a) That the introduction of The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Regulations 2007 be noted;

(b) That it be noted that if the convener and vice convener of the Joint Board were senior councillors within their own authority, and their remuneration was equal to or greater than £21,160 or £20,102 respectively for the convener and vice convener, that they would be paid at this higher salary; and

(c) That it be noted that if the convener and vice convener were not senior councillors within their respective authorities they would be paid £21,160 and £20,102 respectively, the difference from these amounts and the basic councillor salary being payable by their respective authority as per the relevant regulations.
Minute of meeting of the Joint Board held on 20 January 2017.
6
There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Joint Board held on 20 January 2017.  

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.
Minutes of meetings of the Appointments Board - Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer held on 6 and 17 February 2017.
7
There were submitted the Minutes of the meetings of the Appointments Board – Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer held on 6 and 17 February 2017.  

DECIDED: That the Minutes be approved.
Report by Divisional Assessor and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer.
8
There was submitted a report by the Divisional Assessor and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer relative to the service review, the aim of which was to highlight areas of best practice and, potentially, opportunities for improved working processes which might require investment from constituent authorities to realise savings in the longer term.

The report intimated that meetings had taken place with Renfrewshire Council’s Workforce Planning Team and a report on progress would be submitted to a future meeting of the Joint Board once all interested parties had been consulted.  This report would include all necessary financial information.

Initial investigations had highlighted the requirement for a document management system (DMS) to be procured.  Renfrewshire Council had procured a DMS on behalf of the Joint Board which would allow the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer to electronically create, index, track, manage, store and retrieve existing mail, files and documents.  The DMS contract would commence on 1 July 2017 for a period of one year with an option to extend the support and maintenance element of the contract for a further year.

In terms of planned future changes, the service review had highlighted the possible procurement of an electoral management system (EMS) and changes to the business software currently used by the Joint Board were being explored.

DECIDED:   That the report be noted.
Report by Treasurer.
9
There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to the unaudited annual accounts for the Joint Board 2016/17 which were attached to the report. The report intimated that the Accounts for the year ended 31 March, 2017 had been completed and forwarded to Audit Scotland for audit. The accounts showed a deficit for the year of £152,378 compared to a budgeted deficit of £109, 500, returning an overspend of £42,878.   

In accordance with the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2014, and in a change to previous practice, the unaudited accounts had only been signed by the Treasurer as proper officer.  The audited accounts would be signed by the Convener and Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer, as well as the Treasurer, in accordance with the new guidelines.  
     
DECIDED: That the annual accounts for the year ended 31 March 2017 be noted and that the accounts be further presented to the Joint Board on completion of the audit.
Report by Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer.
10

There was submitted a report by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer providing an update on electoral registration matters and advising of current activities and issues facing the Joint Board.  

The report provided information on the Local Government Election on 4 May 2017; the UK Parliamentary General Election held on 8 June 2017; the 2017 Canvass and young voters.

The report intimated that the Annual Canvass would commence in July 2017, earlier than previous canvasses, and it was anticipated that this earlier start would improve Household Enquiry Form response rates.  Table A of the report detailed the total electorate by council ward and Table B detailed the total electorate by Scottish Parliamentary Constituency for the Joint Board area.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

 

 

Report by Divisional Assessor and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer.
11
There was submitted a 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 marginally missing 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 2016 and 31 March 2017 and also the number of deletions from the Valuation (Council Tax) List between 1 April 2016 and 31 March during 2015/16 and 2016/17 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 2016 and 31 March 2017 by constituent authority area, which fell below the targets of 80% to be actioned within three months and 95% within six months. 

Given the additional workload in meeting statutory duties in relation to completing the 2017 Non Domestic Revaluation timeously, it was noted that narrowly missing targets did not give cause for concern.

DECIDED:

(a) That the report be noted; and

(b) That the publication of the summary report, which formed the appendix to the report, be approved.
Report by Chief Auditor, Renfrewshire Council.
12
There was submitted a report by the Chief Auditor, Renfrewshire Council relative to the Internal Audit annual report on the Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board 2016/17. The report intimated that the public sector internal audit standards required that the Chief Auditor prepare an annual report on the activities of internal audit to demonstrate performance. The report must also provide an audit opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system of the audited body. 
  
The annual report for the Joint Board was attached as an appendix to the report and outlined the role of internal audit, the performance of the internal audit team and the main findings from the internal audit work undertaken in 2016/17 and contained an audit assurance statement. 
  
DECIDED: That the Internal Audit annual report for 2016/17 be noted.
Report by Clerk.
13
There was submitted a report by the Clerk relative to the setting of dates for meetings of the Joint Board for August 2017 to January 2022.  

DECIDED:

(a) That meetings of the Joint Board be held at 2.00 p.m. on 18 August and 17 November 2017; 19 January, 1 June, 17 August and 23 November 2018; 18 January, 31 May, 16 August and 22 November 2019; 17 January, 29 May, 21 August and 20 November 2020; 15 January, 28 May, 20 August and 19 November 2021; and 21 January 2022; and
  
(b)That authority be granted to the Clerk, in consultation with the Convener, to arrange a meeting or meetings of the Joint Board at venues in the area covered by the Joint Board.

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

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