Members Induction May 2015 John Mitchell Chief

Members’ Induction May 2015

John Mitchell Chief Executive Tel: 01799 510400 Email: jmitchell@uttlesford. gov. uk

Meet the Team John Mitchell Chief Executive T: 01799 510400 jmitchell@uttlesford. gov. uk Adrian Webb Director of Finance & Corporate Services T: 01799 510421 Roger Harborough Director of Public Services T: 01799 510457 rharborough@uttlesford. gov. uk awebb@uttlesford. gov. uk Michael Perry Assistant Chief Executive Legal & Monitoring T: 01799 510416 mperry@uttlesford. gov. uk Andrew Taylor Assistant Director Planning & Building Control Richard Auty Assistant Director Corporate Services T: 01799 510500 Angela Knight Assistant Director Finance rauty@uttlesford. gov. uk T: 01799 510446 T: 01799 510413 T: 01799 510601 aknight@uttlesford. gov. uk nwittman@uttlesford. gov. uk ataylor@uttlesford. gov. uk Accountancy, exchequer, procurement, council tax, business rates, housing benefits ICT, facilities, nonhousing assets, print room, GIS, corporate team Planning & housing policy, development management, building control, conservation, parking, economic development Customer services, communications, website, HR, scrutiny, performance, museum Nicola Wittman Assistant Director ICT & Facilities T: 01799 510616 Cat Chapman Operations Manager Street Services (*) T: 01799 510557 rmillership@uttlesford. gov. uk cchapman@uttlesford. gov. uk Roz Millership Assistant Director Housing and Environment Housing needs and landlord services, day centres, estate management, environmental health, health and safety Waste collection, street cleaning, grounds maintenance, highways rangers (*) Not a member of CMT

CE’s Role • Head of Paid Service: statutory role • Leadership: working with elected members to ensure strong and visible leadership and direction, encouraging and enabling managers to motivate and inspire their teams • Strategic Direction: ensuring all staff understand adhere to the strategic aims of the organisation and follow the direction set by the elected members • Policy Advice: acting as the principal policy adviser to the elected members of the Council to lead the development of workable strategies which will deliver the political objectives set by the councillors • Partnerships: leading and developing strong partnerships across the local community to achieve improved outcomes and better public services for local people • Operational Management: overseeing financial and performance management, risk management, people management and change management within the council • Returning Officer at elections

Community Partnerships, Democracy and PA’s • Local Strategic Partnership (Uttlesford Futures) • Community safety partnership • Sports & Leisure • Committee services • Elections • Support to CE and Directors • Chairman and Leader support • Corporate Management Team (CMT)

Roger Harborough Director of Public Services Tel: 01799 510457 Email: rharborough@uttlesford. gov. uk

Key issues for the new council: Planning and Building Control • Growth agenda • Coordinating planning with other authorities • Infrastructure to support growth • Developers/ builders do not need to use local authorities’ building control services • Retention and recruitment Andrew Taylor, Assistant Director Planning and Building Control

Key issues for the new council: Housing and Environmental Health • • • Homelessness and housing options Housing association tenants to enjoy Right To Buy Development programme and investing in existing stock Private sector rents and standards Housing as a health issue Preventing, delaying or reducing the need for social care support • Services to individuals to reduce hospital admissions • Ensuring that duty to safeguard adults is being met • Recruitment to professional and technical roles Roz Millership, Assistant Director Housing and Environmenta Health

Key issues for the new council: Street services • Growth in service demand • Market for dry recyclables • Contamination of recyclables • Challenges for trade waste • Street cleansing/ litter picking review • New depot for southern area • Recruitment of Class C drivers Cat Chapman, Street Services Operations Manager

Adrian Webb Director of Finance & Corporate Services Tel: 01799 510421 Email: awebb@uttlesford. gov. uk

My Areas • • Customer Services Communications Website HR and Payroll Performance and Audit Committee Scrutiny Committee Saffron Walden Museum Richard Auty – Assistant Director Corporate Services

My Areas • • • Finance Insurance Procurement Council Tax Business Rates Housing Benefits Angela Knight– Assistant Director Finance

My Areas • • ICT – computers and telephony Assets – non-Housing Stewarding Cleaning Printroom Postroom and corporate scanning Corporate Team Nicola Wittman – Assistant Director ICT and Facilities

What Are My Current Issues/Concerns Mainly around the Strategic Finance area • What is the 8 July budget going to say about our funding? • How do we continue to run everything ourselves as the money starts to run out? • Devolution and our budgets • Reducing avoidable expenditure wherever possible (spend to save? )

Upcoming Meeting Items • Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) 2016/17 – Cabinet in June • 2014/15 draft accounts to Performance and Audit in July • 2014/15 final accounts to Performance and Audit in September • 2016/17 budget strategy and MTFS update to Cabinet in October • LCTS 2016/17 final scheme to Council in December • 2016/17 council budget/MTFS to Scrutiny/Cabinet/Council in February 2016 • 2016/17 Asset Plan, Procurement Strategy and Pay Policy to a mix of Cabinet/Council in March 2016 • 2015/16 Budget/progress reports to Cabinet every quarter

‘Speed Dating’

Andrew Taylor Assistant Director Planning and Building Control Tel: 01799 510601 Email: ataylor@uttlesford. gov. uk

Areas covered Building Control, Conservation, Trees, Housing Policy, Planning Policy, Rural Exception housing enabling, Energy Efficiency, Cycling, Economic Development, Access and Equalities, Development Management, car parking and admin support.

Planning and Housing Policy • Development of housing policy. • Rural ‘exception needs’ housing enabling. Specialists: • Economic Development/Town Teams. • Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. • Landscape and Trees. • Energy efficiency. • Liaison and oversight of Stansted Airport.

Local Plan • Sets out planning policy and location of new development for next 15 years. • Used to determine all planning applications. • Timetable: – June/July – consider strategy, housing numbers, sites – Autumn – public consultation on all three – February 2016 – Draft plan **FULL COUNCIL briefing Monday 8 June**

Development Management • Dealing with planning and other applications • Appeals. • Providing planning advice (Do I need planning permission? Will I get planning permission? ). • Monitoring development during construction. • Energy Performance certificates. • Street naming and numbering.

Parking/Highways • Provision and management of car parks. • Liaison with NEPP for enforcement of onstreet parking restrictions and new restrictions. • Highway Panel – Highway Rangers – Not pot holes!

Roz Millership Assistant Director: Housing & Environmental Services Tel: 01799 510516 Email: rmillership@uttlesford. gov. uk

Housing and Environmental Health Key role of the Division is to ensure that people have a decent home to live in and to contribute to the improvement of public health, quality of life and general wellbeing by: – Tackling the issue of poor quality housing and promoting health and wellbeing through better designed accommodation – Securing availability and choice of decent, secure, accessible and affordable homes – Regulating housing standards – ensuring safe, comfortable and well managed rented housing – Supporting the elderly and vulnerable to enable them to remain in their own homes living as independently as possible – Preventing homelessness – dealing with homeless people and the causes of homelessness – Tackling fuel poverty – environmental challenges – Protecting the community and environment through a range of statutory, strategic and advisory services – Regulating food hygiene, health and safety at work and infectious disease controls

Housing and Environmental Health Diverse range of services: – housing management - manage just under 3, 000 homes including 450 units of sheltered accommodation and 120 leasehold properties – homelessness and housing options - including housing advice and housing allocations – property services - response and planned maintenance to the Council’s housing stock, development of new council housing – environmental protection - air quality, private sector housing, animal welfare and licensing, public health complaints – commercial environmental health - food premises inspections, health and safety at work, infectious disease control, port health control

Housing Management • What we do: – Provide support for vulnerable residents – Support over 400 older tenants to live independently in safe environments – Facilitate activities for sheltered residents to combat social isolation – Provide lifeline services to nearly 900 customers so they can remain in their own home – Help tenants and leaseholders get involved with decisions about their housing - listen to the diverse views, choices and needs of local people – Collection of rent - rental income of just over £ 15. 5 million. Proactively manage rent arrears – Deal with nuisance complaints and antisocial behaviour • Challenges – Welfare reform – Care Act/aging population – early intervention and protection

Homelessness and Housing Options • What we do: – Provide housing advice to people within all tenures of housing – Prevent homelessness wherever possible – Take homelessness applications and make decisions on these in accordance with homelessness legislation – Manage the council’s use of temporary accommodation – Assess applications for the housing register – Allocate vacancies within council and registered provider's stock within the district • Challenges – Lack of affordable housing – High rents – low local housing allowance – RTB – proposal to sell off HA properties

Homelessness Statistics 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 Homelessness 74 Presentations 97 112 Homelessness 52 Acceptances 57 60 Homelessness 125 Prevention 80 45 433 859 People seeking in depth housing advice 307

Property Services • What we do – Ensure that all our tenants live in a decent home – Environmental improvements - external wall insulation, air source heat pumps. Improvements reduce the risk of our tenants falling into fuel poverty – Cyclical maintenance - decorating, annual safety checks including electrics, legionella, gas and water – Response repairs - in-house operatives including carpenters, plumber and decorators. Approx 1, 500 works orders a month with 96% customer satisfaction – 250 voids a year - ensure loss of income is minimalised through the void (empty) property process – Build new affordable rented Council housing in an efficient and effective manner • Challenges – Ambitious development programme – Construction type and age of our properties

Environmental Protection • What we do: – Pollution and noise control – Air Quality - the quality of air is of increasing importance for health – Assess environmental impacts on proposed developments – Contaminated land/water - risk assess, monitor and sample – Animal Welfare and Licensing – Private Sector Housing – DFGs, HMOs, HHSRS, empty homes • Challenges: – Consult on our Local Air Quality Action Plan - the plan will identify measures to help improve air quality further by reducing traffic emissions – Real cost of poor housing – currently looking at the health impact of our policies and actions with regard to housing interventions

HHSRS Statistics

Commercial Team Environmental Health • What we do: – Food hygiene inspections - over 750 food businesses located in the district which include everything from manufacturers to shops, restaurants, cafes, takeaways, schools, residential care homes and home caterers – Health and safety at work – enforcement responsibility for premises such as warehouses, shops and caterers to ensure both employees and the public are protected – Port health control – port health functions include providing a 24 hour port medical officer service – Border inspection post and imported food control – inspect cargos containing meat and animal products as well as fruit, vegetables, spices and herbs arriving from countries outside the EU – Infectious disease control - investigation, monitoring and sampling to determine the likely source • Challenges – Fluctuations in throughput of imports at Stansted – Reducing the burden on businesses by providing information and advice

Housing Board • Terms of Reference – Inform on and monitor the performance and delivery of all Council housing related strategies and policies – Monitor housing related performance indicators – Monitor the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) – Inform on and monitor the Council’s HRA Business Plan – Monitor and inform on the delivery of affordable housing units in the District – Consider the use of existing housing stock and other housing assets • Challenges – Consult on and implement new Housing Strategy – Consult on and implement new Homelessness Strategy – Consult on and implement new HRA Business Plan

Want to know more? • Workshop • Housing Board • Come and see us! Improving housing can improve public health and children’s education, and make communities more sustainable Building Better Lives, September 2009

Corporate Services Richard Auty Assistant Director

Corporate Services • • Customer Services Communications Website HR and Payroll Performance and Audit Committee Scrutiny Committee Saffron Walden Museum

Corporate Services Customer Services • Deals with majority of calls and visitors • Provides services in Dunmow and Thaxted • Large number of background duties • 80% FPT resolutionumber of background duties

Corporate Services Customer Services §Reception § 3500 umber of background duties § 3000 § 2500 § 2000 § 1500 §passed on §dealt with § 1000 § 500 §A p ri §M l a §J y un e §J § ul §S Aug y ep us te t m §O be §N cto r ov be §D em r ec be em r §J be an r §F ua eb ry ru a §M ry ar ch § 0

Corporate Services Customer Services §Telephones of background duties § 12000 § 10000 § 8000 § 6000 §Passed on § 4000 §Dealt with § 2000 §A p ri §M l a §J y un e §J ul § §S Au y ep gu te st m §O be §N cto r ov be §D em r ec be em r §J be a r §F nua eb ry ru a §M ry ar ch § 0

Corporate Services Communications • • • Proactive and reactive media relations Publications Campaigns Social media Photographic support

Corporate Services Communications Legal framework: • Local Government Act 2000 • Code of Practice on Local Government Publicity • Our own Media Relations Protocol

Corporate Services Website • 578, 740 visits last year, of which 138, 000 from mobile devices – up more than 100, 000 on 2013/14 • Mobile site highlighted as good practice by Socitm • Web services will only increase in importance • Coordination of transparency requirements • Team also runs citizens panel

Corporate Services HR & Payroll • Staff wellbeing • Employment contracts • HR policy advice • Expenses admin • Payroll via Sage • Pensions, inc auto enrolment

Corporate Services Performance and Audit Committee • One of two overview and scrutiny committees • Four main functions: 1. 2. 3. 4. Approves Statement of Accounts Key link with external audit Receives reports from internal audit Monitors performance and risk

Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee • • • Can look at external and internal services Can set up task and finish groups Makes recommendations to Cabinet/Full Council Power of call-in Annual budget pre-scrutiny

Corporate Services Saffron Walden Museum

Corporate Services Saffron Walden Museum • Building and collections owned by Saffron Walden Museum Society, council has run it since 1974 • All staff are council employees • Museum service managed through Museum Management Working Group

Corporate Services Saffron Walden Museum • • • Only 15 percent of collection on display Existing storage is inadequate Want better access to collections for displays, researchers and the public

Angela Knight FINANCIAL SERVICES

What we do • • • Accountancy Accounts Payable Insurance Revenues Housing Benefits Procurement

Accountancy Budget setting – General Fund, Housing Revenue Account and Capital Programme – Commences September/October each year – Presented to Cabinet and Council in February for approval. • Gross Direct Budgets 2015/16 – – General Fund expenditure £ 33. 8 m General Fund income £ 24. 2 m Housing Revenue Account expenditure £ 12. 2 m Housing Revenue Account income £ 15. 7 m

Accountancy Statement of Accounts – Annual process of closure of all accounts – Production of Draft Statement of Accounts to be published and available to the public by 30 th June – Presentation of the draft Accounts to the Performance and Audit Committee on the 16 th July – The final accounts are subject to External Audit and we have consistently received an ‘Unqualified Opinion’ (which is good) since 2008/09 – Final audited accounts submitted to Performance and Audit on 25 th September for sign off by the Leader and Chief Executive – Publication of the Final audited accounts by the 30 th September

Accountancy Treasury Management – Investment of Council cashflow to generate income by maximising rate of interest received – Annual production of the Treasury Management Strategy, reviewed for any new risks, amendments to counterparties and that the strategy allows for the best rates of return whilst ensuring the investments are ‘safe’ – Strategy approved by Members at February Council

Accountancy Accounts Payable – Payment of supplier invoices – Manage and administer the Insurance renewals for all assets including the Museum – Manage the Service Level Agreement with Epping DC regarding our insurance claims and policy advice – VAT returns and claims – CIS returns and claims

Revenues Council Tax (CT) – Collection of Council Tax income – Reviewing Council Tax discounts, Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) and single person discounts eligibility – Uttlesford has the best LCTS scheme in Essex and this is subject to public consultation annually in the summer – Fraud Prevention – we are part of an Essex wide sharing agreement to identify fraud and increase our taxbase

Revenues Business Rates (BR) – Collection of Business Rates income – Administration of entitlement to local and central rate reliefs – Debt management support for Businesses Collection Fund – Ring fenced account for the accounting transactions relating to Business Rates and Collection Fund – We collect all the BR and CT for preceptors, Essex County Council, Police, Fire and Parishes – Administer the allocation of CF income to all preceptors

Housing Benefits – Calculate and Administer Housing Benefit – Calculate LCTS financial entitlement – Review claims and ensure current information is up to date to avoid under or over payment of benefit – Review and check for fraudulent claims – Prepare documentation and attend court for claimant appeals

Procurement – Ensure that we are compliant with all legislation relating to procurement – Manage and co-ordinate all tender documentation for contract and services over £ 50 k ensuring compliance with current legislation – Manage the corporate ordering system – Ensure procurement of goods and services adhere to the Council’s value for money policy – Transparency documentation is up to date and published according to government guidelines

Nicola Wittman Assistant Director ICT and Facilities

ICT and Facilities • • Facilities Cleaning ICT Printroom Postroom and Corporate Scanning Corporate Support Team Assets

ICT and Facilities • Two members of staff Mick and Leo • Stewarding of London Road Office – Setting up meeting Room, microphones, tea, coffee – Courier Service • Internal fittings e. g. carpets, redecoration – Fire prevention of non HRA buildings – Office Moves • London Road Car Park

ICT and Facilities Cleaning • Cleaning service brought back in house in 2013. • 2 Full time cleaners, 15 part time – Void Cleans – Clean 32 Sites – 364 days a year Challenges • • Recruitment (Living Wage helps) Holiday, weekend and sickness cover

ICT and Facilities ICT • 10 Members of staff – Managed by Alan Mose who is the ICT Service Delivery Manager – First point of contact is usually the ICT support desk 01799 510412 • Support over 50 applications, 60 Servers, PC’s, telephones and mobile devices • A number of our larger applications are in the cloud (held in large data centres with our data being accessible via the internet). The rest are in a Server room in these offices

ICT and Facilities. Services ICT continued • Disaster Recovery Testing Challenges • Public Sector Network Code of connection (PSN Co. Co). • Staff Recruitment

ICT and Facilities Print Room and Scanning • Print Room – Maintain the Photocopiers – Design and Print – Large print runs diverted from MFDs – Drinks/Vending machines • 90% of incoming post is scanned • Back scanning for Planning and Environmental to dispose of paper files and free up storage space

ICT and Facilities Corporate Support Team • • Set up in 2008 to identify and deliver savings To date saved about £ 2. 5 million Now focussed on quality as much as saving 1. 5 FTE at present at peak was 3 FTE

ICT and Facilities Assets • Not many Assets • We have an Asset Plan • Minor and Major works to Council buildings e. g. project management of Thaxted CIC refurbishment, public toilet refurbishment and new museum store