Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR - COMMERCIAL

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet adopts the proposed North Hertfordshire District Council Commercial Strategy 2019-23, subject to the inclusion of the following paragraph to section 4 page 17 of the Commercial Strategy:

‘As set out in paragraph 2.2 of Section 3 above, all new initiatives will be fully explored and robustly challenged and if the outline business case demonstrates the initiative is worth pursuing a detailed business case will be produced. The business case will be presented to the relevant committee to seek approval (Cabinet or the Shareholder Sub-Cabinet) and will have clear timeframes and outputs. If the proposal is approved, these outputs will be measured against and reported to Members, either through the quarterly financial updates or through regular monitoring against the business plan as set out in the Council’s Constitution.’

     ii.        That the Executive Member for Finance and IT work with the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny to ensure the areas of concern regarding governance are addressed.

    iii.        That a meeting be arranged between the Service Director – Commercial, the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny, Executive Member for Finance and IT and Legal Services to discuss the concerns of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

   iv.        That the Leader of Council ensure that there is a clear reference within the Corporate Plan to commercialisation.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To ensure there is a clear strategy that identifies how the Council understands commercialisation and what it is doing to embed a commercial culture.

Audio recording – Start time of Item – 32 minutes 56 seconds

Councillor Henry, as Chairman, presented the concerns of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding the proposed adoption of the Commercial Strategy and governance issues and how this would be monitored.

Councillor Cunningham the Executive Member for Finance and IT introduced the report of the Service Director – Commercial asked Cabinet to consider and adopt the proposed North Hertfordshire District Council Commercial Strategy 2019-23, which sets out the strategic direction for the Council’s commercial services over the next five years.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet adopts the proposed North Hertfordshire District Council Commercial Strategy 2019-23, subject to the inclusion of the following paragraph to section 4 page 17 of the Commercial Strategy:

‘As set out in paragraph 2.2 of Section 3 above, all new initiatives will be fully explored and robustly challenged and if the outline business case demonstrates the initiative is worth pursuing a detailed business case will be produced. The business case will be presented to the relevant committee to seek approval (Cabinet or the Shareholder Sub-Cabinet) and will have clear timeframes and outputs. If the proposal is approved, these outputs will be measured against and reported to Members, either through the quarterly financial updates or through regular monitoring against the business plan as set out in the Council’s Constitution.’

2. That the Executive Member for Finance and IT work with the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny to ensure the areas of concern regarding governance are addressed.

3. That a meeting be arranged between the Service Director – Commercial, the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny, Executive Member for Finance and IT and Legal Services to discuss the concerns of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

4. That the Leader of Council ensure that there is a clear reference within the Corporate Plan to commercialisation.

REASON FOR DECISION:

To ensure there is a clear strategy that identifies how the Council understands commercialisation and what it is doing to embed a commercial culture.