Agenda and minutes

Apologies for non attendance were received from Councillors Hicks, Jessop and Philpott.

All Members are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter, any disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest in any item(s) being considered at this meeting.

Councillor Hylands declared a pecuniary interest in agenda item 7 as a business owner in the Borough.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 21^st November 2018 be signed as a true and correct record.

(NOTE: The Board is required to receive a deputation(s) on a matter which is before the meeting of the Board provided that notice of the intended deputation and its object shall have been received by the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Friday,1 February 2019.  The total time for deputations in favour and against a proposal shall not exceed 10 minutes).

There were none.

(NOTE: The Board is required to allow a total of 15 minutes for questions from Members of the public on matters within the terms of reference of the Board provided that notice of such Question(s) shall have been submitted to the Borough Solicitor by 12 noon on Friday, 1 February 2019).

There were none.

To set out proposals for Former Councillor Peter Edgar MBE to be conferred the Title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough.

Consideration was given to a report of the Chief Executive setting out proposals for Former Councillor Peter Edgar MBE to be conferred the Title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough.

Members advised that they were pleased to support the recommendation and paid tribute to the fact that Peter Edgar’s service extended far wider than the work he had undertaken on the Council.

RESOLVED: It is recommended that, in accordance with Section 249(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, and in recognition of his eminent services to the people and Borough of Gosport over many years, the Board request that an Extraordinary Council Meeting be called, to confer the Title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough to Peter Edgar MBE.

The purpose of the report is to consider the proposed additions to the Council’s Discretionary Rate Relief Policy relating to the Retail Discount announced in the Autumn Budget by the Government.

Councillor Hylands declared a pecuniary interest, left the room and took no further part in the discussions or voting thereon.

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Treasurer to consider the proposed additions to the Council’s Discretionary Rate Relief Policy relating to the Retail Discount announced in the Autumn Budget by the Government.

Members welcomed the proposal from central government and welcomed the boost it would provide business owners in the Borough.

Members hoped that upon the conclusion of the 2 year period the government take notice of the business needs and extend the discount.

RESOLVED: That The Discretionary Rate Relief Policy relating to Retail Discount as detailed in Appendix A.

The purpose of this report is to seek members’ approval to create a new post of Neighbourhood Operations Manager

Consideration was given to the Head of Housing seek members’ approval to create a new post of Neighbourhood Operations Manager.

The Board was advised that the post had been evaluated and had been scored as a grade 12.

The Head of Housing advised that she was confident that the housing options team would manage any issues that resulted from the changes and that staff would benefit from peer to peer support.

Members welcomed the improvement to the Housing Service following the review and welcomed the proposal and the support it offered to the Head of Housing.

RESOLVED: The creation of the post of Neighbourhood Operations Manager be approved.

Thepurpose ofthereport is to consider whether Gosport Council should sign up to the TUC 'Dying to Work' charter and what additional actions, if any, it would need to carry out to comply with the charter.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Human Resources requesting that consideration be given to  whether Gosport Council should sign up to the TUC 'Dying to Work' charter and what additional actions, if any, it would need to carry out to comply with the charter.

Members welcomed that the proposal would show a commitment to staff in times of need.

In answer to a Member’s question, the Board was advised that there would not need a change to staff contracts to implement the charter.

RESOLVED: That

P&O Board is recommendedto agree that:

             i.     Gosport should sign up to the TUC charter since the charter largely reflects our current practices.

           ii.     In meeting our commitment to the charter, continue the current practice of investigating with an eligible employee which option under the pension scheme would be most financially beneficial. In some cases, this could mean retiring the employee on grounds of ill-health where this is the best option for them.

          iii.     As part of the charter, state that under an organisational change process a member of staff with a terminal illness could still be made redundant. However, as with our current practice, redundancy will only be actioned once all other options have been exhausted

The purpose of this report is to advise P&O Board  about the Disability Confident standard, and seek members' approval to request accreditation under the scheme.

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Human Resources advising P&O Board  about the Disability Confident standard, and seek members' approval to request accreditation under the scheme.

Members welcomed additional provision to make the Council a considerate employer to those with disabilities.

Members were advised that accreditation at differing levels was a staged process and to achieve level 3 would require investment in resources.

Members welcomed that the Civic Wing toilets were being refurbished to include a disabled toilet facility.

RESOLVED: That immediate accreditation be sought to be a Level 1: Disability Confident Committed Employer as described.