Archived decisions

REPORT OF THE

Cabinet

PART I

CLARIFICATION OF DECISION PROCESSES AND UPDATING OF ASSOCIATED FINANCIAL LIMITS

1. The County Council aims to improve democratic and business processes by reducing bureaucracy and a comprehensive review has been undertaken of the current decision making process with the intention of streamlining it, along with a review of associated financial limits to strengthen financial management and internal control. A report detailing the outcomes of this review was considered by the Governance Committee on 5 April 2007, and its recommendations were incorporated in a subsequent report to the Cabinet on 23 April 2007. A series of flowcharts were appended to the Cabinet report describing the financial processes, a copy of which are available in the Members' Rooms and can be viewed on the County Council's website at the following link: /decisions/decisions-docs/070423-cabine-R0416093144. Alternatively, additional copies can be obtained upon request from Democratic Services in the Chief Executive's Department.

2. Since the introduction of the new style of governance resulting from the Local Government Act 2000, the number of Executive Member decisions has steadily increased, which in turn has led to more Executive Member decision making meetings being held. Consultation with Executive Members and senior officers together with an analysis of decisions taken in a sample nine month period has highlighted that some decisions are being submitted through the decision making framework due to misinterpretation of the process, which can result in duplication, or as a means of keeping Executive Members informed or aware of issues when the decision could have been taken under the Scheme of Delegation set out in the County Council's Constitution. Consequently, available opportunities for new ways of working with Members to keep them fully informed are not being taken. Although the County Council has a robust track record in respect of its decision making activity, the review has indicated that adjustments could be made to the current system by adopting a more flexible approach aimed at reducing bureaucracy, particularly for smaller projects, whilst maintaining tried and tested processes for larger projects, and to ensure effective use is made of the delegation system. The process could usefully be supported by short business or recipient focused report formats.

3. Although financial limits are subject to regular review, there has been a tendency for changes to be made in isolation rather than as part of an overall review, hence some limits have remained unchanged for 25 years. The review that has been undertaken has therefore been a fundamental one and the proposed revision of financial limits aims to:

    · simplify the number of different financial limits

    · remove mis-alignment in standing orders to avoid matters requiring a decision going around the decision making process several times

    · focus attention on decisions where cost is significant in financial terms

    · delegate decisions of low financial significance without the risk of Members not being kept fully informed

4. The areas for which changes are being proposed are detailed in the appendix attached to this report and can be summarised as follows:-

    · Executive Member approval only required for a virement on any one budget in any one year that exceeds £250,000 in total.

    · Financial limit for debt write-off by the Chief Officer and County Treasurer remains at up to £5,000 with Executive Member approval required above £5,000 up to £50,000, and approval required by the Leader above £50,000.

    · Financial limit for grants by an officer be raised up to £5,000 with Executive Member approval required for grants above £5,000; officers to provide Members with regular updates of grants approved.

    · Financial limits for tenders be revised as follows: below £25,000 three quotes required; at or above £25,000 but below EU procurement limits, at least three tenders required; above EU procurement limits requires a full formal EU tendering process or use of government compliant framework contracts which have already been tendered.

    · It is also proposed that the financial limit for a key decision be raised from £500,000 to £1 million.

RECOMMENDATIONS

With immediate effect, that the financial limits outlined in the attached appendix are approved and that the financial limit for a key decision be raised from £500,000 to £1million.