E.14/16
Members were asked to consider a report that set out
and commented on the findings of a detailed business case which had
been prepared by PriceWaterhouseCoopers
(PWC) at the request of Members on the potential establishment of a
Local Authority Controlled Company (LACC). The preparation of the business case followed the
Council’s decision on 16 February 2016 (minute reference
63/15) that a detailed business case and implementation plan be
produced to enable further consideration of the merits of
establishing a LACC jointly with West Devon Borough
Council.
The Leader
introduced the report and in doing so set out the background to the
decision to progress with a LACC. He
proposed an additional recommendation to those tabled (shown below
as recommendation 3).
During
discussion, the following points were raised:
·
The Executive Director (SD&CD) responded to
detailed questions regarding the set-up of the Joint Steering Group
(JSG), the background to the proposal in terms of other options
considered, capacity and the value of the existing contracts that
would be transferred to the LACC;
·
Local authorities in Oxfordshire were progressing
with a similar proposal and where possible the Council was
exchanging information and learning points with them;
·
PWC representatives responded to questions on
whether the changing political climate would affect their current
advice, on VAT matters, on additional management skills; and
advised how they had erred on the side of prudence in their
assumptions;
·
One Member asked that meetings of the JSG were
properly resourced and that minutes were taken and published for
the benefit of all Members;
·
Members of the Informal Market Analysis Group set
out the background to their supplementary paper;
·
One Member felt any future budget deficit could be
addressed by increasing council tax and also raised concerns over
the risks of the proposal;
·
The Section 151 Officer responded to detailed
questions regarding pensions;
·
One Member asked for assurance that, if appropriate,
SHDC and WDBC would each receive separate legal advice;
·
One Member asked if the Council was exploring
Central Government funding towards the start-up costs for the
LACC;
·
Senior Officers stated that the Leader’s
additional proposed recommendation was appropriate as it enabled
the opportunity to assess the best time to transfer to the
LACC. Members supported the additional
recommendation.
It was
then:
That Council be RECOMMENDED:
1.
to proceed with the implementation of a Local
Authority Controlled Company (LACC) jointly owned with West Devon
Borough Council scheduled for 1st April 2017, subject to
there being a satisfactory outcome to the outstanding pension, tax
and governance questions and actions as set out in paragraph 5.4 of
the presented report;
2.
that a Joint Steering Group (JSG) be established to
deal with matters concerning the implementation of the LACC as
detailed in paragraph 5.5 of the presented agenda report and the
terms of reference at Appendix B;
3.
that the date of transfer of staff to the Company
and the commencement of the contract between the Council and LACC
is to be decided by Council on the ...
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