Issue - meetings
Reference from Council - Executive Mayor's Car
Meeting: 03/12/2013 - Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Item 7)
7 Reference from Council - Executive Mayor's Car PDF 88 KB
To consider the information presented in the report and prepare a response for submission to Council.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Chris Holme (Acting Corporate Director Resources) in introducing the report, which provided:-
· An explanation of why this matter had been referred to OSC to investigate and report back to full Council.
· All relevant information on the matter to enable OSC to undertake full scrutiny of the issues and reach an informed conclusion as requested by OSC (October meeting).
summarised the salient points contained therein and highlighted key points for the information of the OSC. Paul Thorogood (Interim Service Head Finance & HR Development) and Martin McGrath (Finance Manager Chief Executive’s and Resources Directorates) were also in attendance for this item.
The following points were highlighted by Chris Holme:
· The decision to provide suitable transport facilities for the Executive Mayor, and separate arrangement for the Speaker of the Council was made in 2011 following a detailed options appraisal.
· Business case/ value for money offered by the current arrangements for transporting the Executive Mayor [Mayor’s car]:
o The current arrangements comprised of over 90% fixed costs including employee costs [driver salary], vehicle lease, insurance, and variable costs being fuel; with the total cost approximately £42,000 per annum. There would be significant redundancy costs if the current arrangements ceased and a termination cost of approximately £5,000 for the lease, which tapered off as the lease agreement neared expiry in October 2014.
o Were the driver to return to his role of driving the Speaker he would be utilised less, as the Speaker attended fewer engagements and this would be wasteful of Council resources.
o The LBTH arrangements for transport of the Executive Mayor were not unique and a review had shown the costs were comparable with neighbouring local councils.
· The decision that there should be separate arrangements for the Mayor and Speaker did however result in two lease cars currently and the OSC might wish to consider if that merited review in the future.
A comprehensive discussion followed which focused on the following points:-
· Clarification sought and given as to whether the current arrangements for transporting the Mayor (car and driver), at an approximate cost of £176 per working day represented value for money, particularly if compared to the costs of using a taxi instead. A large element of the cost of current arrangements was fixed, such as employee costs and lease-hire charges and consequently significant redundancy and premature contract termination costs would be incurred if these arrangements ceased.
· Consideration that one premise underpinning the business case/ value for money assessment of the current arrangements, that driver redundancy costs needed taken into account when assessing the costs of terminating the arrangements was flawed, as the driver could revert to the former role of driving the Speaker, and this would also yield a saving in relation to the substantial insurance costs of the Speaker’s lease car relating to the Speaker’s chain of office. This should be explored and factored into the review requested by full Council. Were the driver to return to his role of driving the Speaker he would be utilised less, as the ... view the full minutes text for item 7