Law and Governance Business Centre Plan 2015/2016. Version control Author: Mario A Leo Date: 06/03/15 Version No: 1 Status: Final

Transcription

1 Law and Governance Business Centre Plan 2015/2016 Version control Author: Mario A Leo Date: 06/03/15 Version No: 1 Status: Final

2 Contents Content Page Section 1: Law and Governance Business Centre structure 3 Section 2: Law and Governance Business Centre overview 4-6 Section 3: Key drivers/influences for the Business Centre 7-8 Section 4: Team/function objectives and delivery tables 9-14 Section 5: Law and Governance Business Centre Performance Indicators 15 Section 6: Summary of the Law and Governance Business Centre s contribution to Sustainable Community 16 Strategy/Corporate Business Plan Section 7: Risk and opportunity management 17 Section 8: Key action points for this Business Centre from the Corporate Business Plan 18 2

3 Section 1: Law and Governance Business Centre/Team structure: Committee(s): Business Centre interacts with all Committees of the Council by virtue of the various functions different elements of the Business Centre carries out, ranging from organisation of meetings, attending meetings to provide advice, writing Minutes, supporting all Councillors in their role and providing specialist administrative support. 3

4 Section 2: Law and Governance Business Centre overview Law and Governance Business Centre The Business Centre comprises five teams which undertake a diverse range of functions. Some of the teams discharge a statutory function such as Electoral Services. Some support the overall work of the Council such as Democratic Services, Legal Services and Office Services. One team, Property, carries out a number of tasks ranging from providing professional property advice, managing property assets of the Council and generating revenue. The Office Services team provides a complete suite of specialist administrative support to other Business Centre teams and the organisation as a whole. There are situations when a team will carry out dual functions such as supporting the overall work of the Council and discharge of a statutory function e.g. Democratic Services which in addition to provision of support for the democratic process also deals with matters such as Freedom of Information and licensing of charitable collections. Electoral Services Team Is responsible for overseeing the infrastructure of the electoral process, which includes both electoral registration and conduct of elections. The team provide support to and report to the Chief Executive in his capacity as Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer, which are positions he is appointed to by the Council and carry with them personal responsibility for the functions they are responsible for. The team administers on an annual basis the compilation of the register of electors and will organise the conduct of a wide range of elections on a regular basis. The team has four staff (two part-time), supplemented by casual staff at critical times. Legal Services Team Performs the various functions of advising the Council and its Committees, providing legal advice, providing advice on governance matters and undertaking casework for various Business Centres. The team is the Council s in-house lawyers and carries out the full range of activities that is expected of an in-house legal function. The work undertaken by the team ranges from the drafting of contracts, the conduct of civil and criminal litigation, the sale and purchase of land, advising on housing matters, regulatory and licensing functions, Data Protection, Freedom of Information, employment and planning matters. Members of the team also attend meetings of the various committees and working groups of the Council to provide legal and procedural advice. The team has eight staff (two part-time). 4

5 Democratic Services Team Responsible for the provision of an efficient committee administration service to the Council and its committees, the provision of support to Councillors and effective and lawful decision making. The team also deals with corporate coordination of advice and liaison and responding to Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to the Council and various other miscellaneous administrative tasks such as some aspects of licensing, tenders, appointments to external bodies, some grant aid, some road closure/car parking orders, street trading consents, review of Constitution and maintenance of committee webpages. The team provides support to individual councillors by acting as a source of information and advice, undertaking research and maintaining the records of member interests. The team s principal responsibility is to ensure that all the necessary legal and constitutional requirements are complied with to guarantee that the various meetings of the Council are properly convened and decisions are made lawfully. The team also provides senior support during the various elections organised by the Council. The section has five full time staff. Property Team This team is responsible for the management of the Council s non-housing property portfolio and for maximising income from the corporate estate. This work involves keeping accurate records of the various property assets, negotiating the lettings of such assets, the collection of rents, ensuring the fabric of those assets is properly maintained and health and safety matters are attended to. In addition to its management of the existing property portfolio the team also provides in relation to the acquisition and disposal of property assets. The team has two full time staff. Office Services Team A small team that provides support to the Council through the provision of specialist documentation production, records management, some financial management, general administrative duties including specialist research and briefing papers. The team also provides support to other Business Centres on major projects. The team has four staff (one part-time). 5

6 Key Business Centre/Team statistics/volumes (optional): Democratic Services Team Produce Agendas for approximately 110 meetings annually convened by the Council and produces the Minutes of those meetings. The team also deal with over Freedom of Information requests per annum. Provides support to all forty-two members of the Council. The team deals with 20 road closure orders per annum. Each year 40 applications for charitable collections are also processed. Each year grant aid applications are processed and it administers approximately 75 appointments to outside bodies. Election Services Process annual canvass of Electors which involves reviewing over 59,000 voters, organising annual elections for the Borough and County Council elections for the six Electoral Divisions situated in the borough and assisting in elections for the European Parliament and General Election for the Runnymede & Weybridge constituency taking on a further 16,500 electors from Elmbridge Borough Council. Implementation work associated with IER and dealing with 60,000 registered voters in the borough. Postal vote refresh exercise dealing with approximately 2000 voters. Property Team Oversee the management of a property portfolio valued in excess of 17million. The team manage approximately two hundred individual property assets. The rental income collected by the team exceeds 1 million per annum. Legal Services Team Deal with a variety of legal matters, volume varies from year to year. Office Services Team Manages approximately 5000 paper files and 1000 deeds, agreements, contracts, departmental and corporate records. Processes over 1600 requests for document production, prepares and uploads all web related material in respect of the democratic process in addition to supporting colleagues around the organisation. 6

7 Section 3: Key drivers/influences for the Business Centre Drivers and influences Internal drivers/influences Key corporate drivers/influences Key drivers/influences of any Business Centre/Team strategies/key documents The SCS is trying to achieve against four priorities: A voice for Runnymede, An environment to be proud of, Healthy and vibrant communities, and revitalisation. Key action points from the Corporate Business Plan (will follow once CBP written). Corporate Key Performance Indicators. Strategically maximise income generation opportunities. Continue to drive to make efficiency savings. Council Constitution need to ensure compliance with its various provisions thus ensuring lawful decision making by the Council and its officers. Asset Management Plan need to ensure that property assets are managed strategically and in line with objectives set out in AMP Local Development Framework need to provide legal advice to support delivery of LDF Corporate Document Retention Schedule ensures corporate records are managed in accordance with best practice and in compliance with the Data Protection principles. Housing Strategy - need to provide legal advice to enable delivery of the Housing Strategy. Property Investment Strategy need to provide legal and property management services to support delivery of strategy. Separately, the Corporate Head, in addition to his other duties also acts as the Corporate Monitoring Officer, the Corporate Data Controller and the Senior Responsible Officer in respect of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). 7

8 External drivers/influences Key community/consultation drivers/influences Consultation outcomes Polling Places review on a periodic basis. Key partner s / supplier s drivers/influences Ensuring delivery of Council s obligations in relation to development projects where undertaken with partner bodies e.g. Addlestone ONE. Facilitating delivery of events conducted by external organisations i.e. Egham Show and other similar events. Providing legal and property management services in relation to properties owned by the Council. Dealing with legal agreements related to the development of land. National key drivers/influences Legal requirements to introduce Individual Elector Registration Participation in Parliamentary elections. Legal requirements to conduct Election process Compliance with requirements of national bodies in relation to Election functions Ensuring that decision making and actions of Council comply with legal requirements and best practice Ensuring compliance by Council with Freedom of Information legislation Ensuring compliance by Council with Transparency Agenda Ensuring compliance by the Council with Human Rights and Equalities legislation 8

9 Section 4: Team/function objectives and delivery tables Team or function: Democratic Services Section Objective Outcome(s) Action Resources Risk/Opp. Reference To co-ordinate Council s response to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests. To ensure that the Council responds within the statutory time limit or indicates why it will not provide the information requested. To advise the relevant officer/department/section of the request in a timely fashion and to provide advice and assistance. To ensure that a response is sent out within the requisite time period. Staff resource is Democratic Services Assistant supported by a Democratic Services officer who is responsible for keeping log of requests and tracking responses. Democratic Services Assistant also provides technical advice to colleagues when dealing with requests L&G Risk 1 To issue Agenda papers for meetings of Council and Council Committees. To ensure that Agendas are issued within the statutory time frame. To co-ordinate the preparation of reports, edit agendas, arrange for their printing, publication and distribution of the Agendas. Staff resources are the five Officers who constitute the Committee Services Section. L&G Risk 2 External resources are the Council s external print contractor. Financial resources are the budget allocated to cover the cost of printing of the Agendas. Annual review of Council s Constitution. Production of a document which sets out the internal governance arrangements for the Council as statutorily required To co-ordinate the revision of the Council s Constitution by ensuring that other departments revised various parts of the Constitution they are responsible for. Staff resources are the Democratic Services Manager and Corporate Head of Law & Governance L&G Risk 3 Implementation of electronic transmission of agendas. To allow Members to exercise their legal right to receive agendas in an electronic format and better use of modern technology. To agree the methodology to be used for issuing agendas in an electronic format and to ascertain which Members would wish to use the service. Staff resources are the five Officers who constitute the Democratic Services Section and three Officers in Office Services Team. L&G Risk 4 Review of Member remuneration. To obtain recommendations from the Independent Remuneration panel for consideration by the Full Council. To convene and service meetings of Independent Remuneration Panel and prepare report for consideration by Full Council. Staff resources are the Democratic Services Manager and Corporate Head of Law & Governance L&G Risk 5 9

10 Team or function: Democratic Services Section Objective Outcome(s) Action Resources Risk/Opp. Reference Induction of new Members elected in May 2015 Borough To ensure new Members are aware of their legal rights and obligations and duties. To organise meetings with new Members and issue them with information and explain matters. Staff resources are the Democratic Services Manager and Corporate Head of Law & Governance L&G Risk 6 Internal Audit Governance Audit To achieve a good outcome to the Internal Audit. To participate in Internal Audit process Staff resources are the Democratic Services Manager and Corporate Head of Law & Governance L&G Risk 7 10

11 Team or function: Office Services Team Objective Outcome(s) Action Resources Risk/Opp. Reference To provide administrative support to the various Business Centres in the Council. To ensure that the Council complies with its legal requirements through ensuring that all relevant documents are prepared correctly, filed appropriately and retrievable on demand. To ensure that duties are undertaken in a timely fashion. Staff resource is the one staff. L&G Risk 8 To provide project support to other Business Centres in the Council. To ensure projects are delivered in a timely fashion and within budget. To ensure duties are undertaken in a timely fashion. Staff resource is four staff. L&G Risk 9 Implementation of electronic transmission of agendas. To allow Members to exercise their legal right to receive agendas in an electronic format and better use modern technology. To prepare agendas in a format suitable for electronic transmission. Staff resource is two staff. L&G Risk 10 Delivery of Addlestone ONE project To deliver Addlestone ONE project on time and within budget. Provide project support services to project team. Staff resource is one staff. L&G Risk 11 11

12 Team or function: Property Team Objective Outcome(s) Action Resources Risk/Opp. Reference To manage the Council s commercial property portfolio effectively. To ensure that the Council achieves an appropriate financial return on its property investments. The effective management of all commercial property assets. Staff resource is the two staff L&G Risk 12 To increase the Council s property portfolio. To produce for the Council a greater financial return on its investments. To identify suitable property assets which can be acquired by the Council for a reasonable price which will produce an acceptable income stream. Staff resource is two staff and external professional advisers if necessary. L&G Risk 13 To secure the vacant possession of Council commercial property units required for the development of Addlestone ONE scheme. To ensure that the Council is able to progress the redevelopment of Addlestone. Undertake all the necessary legal steps to secure vacant possession of the relevant units. Staff resource is two staff and support from the Legal Services Team if necessary. L&G Risk 14 To provide technical support to Housing Business Centre in relation to acquisition of properties. The acquisition of properties in a timely fashion. Provide technical advice. Staff resource is two staff and support from the Legal Services Team if necessary. L&G Risk 15 To support the Egham revitalisation. To create a more vibrant local community and contribute to the overall vitality of the Borough. Provide technical advice. Staff resource is two staff and support from the Legal Services Team if necessary. L&G Risk 16 12

13 Team or function: Electoral Services Team Objective Outcome(s) Action Resources Annual Election Register Canvass To produce an accurate record of persons entitled to vote any elections or referendum held during the year. To send out to household forms to register and to undertake visits to electors who have not returned forms. Staff resource is four staff and support from temporary staff recruited internally and externally for exercise. Risk/Opp. Reference L&G Risk 17 Implementation work associated with Individual Elector Registration To ensure that data held by is accurate and that technical systems are able to facilitate the implementation of Individual Elector Registration To participate in the preparatory work being undertaken by the Government to introduce Individual Elector Registration. All year round canvassing of non-responding individuals is now required. Staff resource is four staff and external IT system supplier L&G Risk 18 Parliamentary elections To ensure that the electoral process for the Parliamentary area covering the Borough and take on area from Elmbridge is conducted in such a fashion as to avoid any challenge To conduct the election and enable voters to exercise their franchise. Staff resource is four staff and support from temporary staff recruited internally and externally for exercise. L&G Risk 19 Postal vote Refresher exercise To update personal identifiers of those individuals who have indicated a preference to vote by post To send out the necessary document to update those postal votes where the personal identifier are older than five years. Staff resource is four staff and external IT system supplier L&G Risk 20 Borough elections To enable all Councillors standing for election to be elected lawfully To conduct the election and enable voters to exercise their franchise Staff resource is four staff and support from temporary staff recruited internally and externally for exercise. L&G Risk 21 13

14 Team or function: Legal Services Team Objective Outcome(s) Action Resources To provide legal services to the Council in relation to litigious matters, property matters, contract matters and regulatory matters. To ensure that the Council is properly advised from a legal perspective in relation to all its work. To undertake all legal work in an appropriate fashion to protect the Council s interests. Risk/Opp. Reference Staff resource is the seven staff L&G Risk 22 To provide legal advice to the various Council Committees and Full Council. To ensure that the various meetings of the Council are properly advised in relation to any decisions they make of matters they consider. To consider any reports to be considered by meetings to ensure they address all relevant legal issues and to attend meetings to provide advice as necessary. Staff resource is the seven staff. L&G Risk 23 To undertake conduct of Judicial Review of decision to grant Planning Permission for DERA development. To ensure that Council is successful in defeating the Judicial Review. All necessary legal work is undertaken to ensure that the Council presents its cases in the strongest possible manner. Staff resource is three staff L&G Risk 24 Delivery of the Magna Carta celebrations To ensure that a range of activities are held to commemorate the 800 th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. To undertake all legal work in an appropriate fashion to protect the Council s interests. Staff resource is the seven staff. L&G Risk 25 Delivery of Addlestone ONE project To deliver Addlestone ONE project on time and within budget. To undertake all legal work in an appropriate fashion to protect the Council s interests. Staff resource is one staff with support from Property Team staff. L&G Risk 26 To address breaches of Planning legislation including Padd Farm site. To secure compliance with planning legislation including Padd Farm site. To progress various legal proceedings relating to breach of Planning legislation including Padd Farm site. Staff resource is two staff with support from Planning Officers. L&G Risk 27 Delivery of Enforcement Task and Finish Group work. To ensure that enforcement work is undertaken in an efficient and effective manner. Review way in which Enforcement work is undertaken to identify improvements to systems and working practices. Staff resource is three officers with support from other parts of the Council. L&G Risk 28 14

15 Section 5: Law and Governance Business Centre Performance Indicators Target Actual Performance Indicator Q1 (Apr- June) Q2 (Jul- Sept) Q3 (Oct- Dec) Q4 (Jan- Mar) Full year (Apr- Mar) Q1 (Apr- June) Q2 (Jul- Sept) Q3 (Oct- Dec) Q4 (Jan- Mar) Full year (Apr- Mar) Current status Trend Number of formal complaints related to the business centre. Number of decisions investigated by the ombudsman requiring a remedy by the Council. Average number of days learning per full time equivalent in the business centre Percentage of FOI requests processed in statutory deadline % 99% 99% 99% 99% 0 15

16 Section 6: Summary of the Law and Governance Business Centre/Team s contribution to Sustainable Community Strategy Priority 1. A voice for Runnymede 2. An environment to be proud of 3. Healthy and vibrant communities 4. Revitalisation Key action points from CBP Objectives Support the 800 th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta celebrations by providing legal advice. Implement IER to ensure all voters are able to register and exercise their right to vote. Providing legal support to address breaches of Planning legislation. Review the way in Enforcement action is undertaken to deliver it in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Providing legal support in relation to the Empty Homes Initiative. To provide legal support to deliver the Addlestone ONE project. To secure the vacant possession of Council commercial property units required for Addlestone ONE project. To provide legal support to deliver the Egham revitalisation project. Performance indicators 16

17 Section 7: Risk management This section is removed for the public version. 17

18 Section 8: Key action points for this Business Centre/Team in the Corporate Business Plan Please list below the relevant key action points for this Business Centre/Team from the Corporate Business Plan (CBP). THIS SECTION IS TO BE COMPLETED ONCE CORPORATE BUSINESS PLAN IS APPROVED CBP key action point number To be completed once the Corporate Business Plan has been written Key action point description To be completed once the Corporate Business Plan has been written 18