No apologies were received.

No pecuniary declarations were made.

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Cabinet held on the 8 December 2014 were approved as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

a)     agrees the proposal for the implementation of a pilot wheeled bin scheme for the provision of the weekly collection of general waste and dry recycling to cover a sample of 1200 households within the Lavender Fields Ward, to be carried out over a period of six months commencing in April 2015, in order to test the benefits or otherwise of this method of collection

b)     requests the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel consider an officer report setting out the findings of the pilot and to ask Scrutiny to assess whether it offers opportunities to improve street cleanliness and ensure value for money for council tax payers.

c).    delegates to the Director of Environment & Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Street Cleanliness and Parking, the decision of where to implement the pilot scheme within Lavender Fields ward.

The Cabinet Member for Environmental Cleanliness and Parking presented the report which detailed proposals of a 1200 households pilot wheeled bin scheme for general waste and dry recycling, for a six months period starting in April 2015. The aim of the pilot would be to understand the benefits of a wheeled bin collection service in relation to three areas: recycling rates, value for money and improvement in street cleanliness.  It was noted that at the conclusion of the trial, a report setting out its findings would be sent to Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel, so they could scrutinise how successful the pilot had been against the three identified areas.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

a)     agrees the proposal for the implementation of a pilot wheeled bin scheme for the provision of the weekly collection of general waste and dry recycling to cover a sample of 1200 households within the Lavender Fields Ward, to be carried out over a period of six months commencing in April 2015, in order to test the benefits or otherwise of this method of collection.

b)     requests the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel to consider an officer report setting out the findings of the pilot and to ask the Scrutiny Panel to assess whether it offers opportunities to improve street cleanliness and ensure value for money for council tax payers.

c).    delegates to the Director of Environment & Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Street Cleanliness and Parking, the decision of where to implement the pilot scheme within Lavender Fields ward.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approves the council’s contribution to the London Councils Grants Scheme 2015/16 as per the subscription set by London Councils Leaders’ Committee on 9 December 2014.

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Engagement and Equalities, presented the report which sought Cabinet’s approval for Merton’s contribution of £217,275 to the London Councils Grants Scheme for 2015/16. It was confirmed that the figure could be met within existing resources.

It was noted that the level of contribution had been determined by the London Councils Leaders’ Committee, which Merton’s Leader served on. The Leader confirmed that the funding would be used for pan-London programmes and works.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approves the Council’s contribution to the London Councils Grants Scheme 2015/16 as per the subscription set by London Councils Leaders’ Committee on 9 December 2014.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet notes the results of the Annual Residents’ Survey 2014

The Cabinet Member for Finance presented the report which detailed the results and key findings from the Annual Resident Survey 2014.  The Cabinet were pleased to note continuing improvements over previous year’s results especially in relation to record high responses on people saying the Council was efficient and well run (72%) and in respect of the Value for Money (57%).

The Cabinet also affirmed its commitment to further improve, to address areas of concern and meet residents’ aspirations, including concerns over traffic congestion, litter on the streets and especially, the top residents concern over the way the Council deals with litter generally.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet notes the results of the Annual Residents’ Survey 2014

RESOLVED

That Cabinet

a).    notes the financial reporting data relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net overspend at year end of £4.75million, 2.92% of the net budget. This is a decrease of £9k from last month.

b).    approves the virement of £319K to transfer the Safety Services budget from Corporate Governance to Infrastructure and Transactions division within Corporate Services.

c).    notes the amendments to the Capital Programme in Appendix 5b and approves the following adjustments:

The Cabinet Member for Finance presented the report which provided the regular monthly financial monitoring update for November 2014.

RESOLVED

That Cabinet

a).    notes the financial reporting data relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net overspend at year end of £4.75million, 2.92% of the net budget. This is a decrease of £9k from last month.

b).    approves the virement of £319K to transfer the Safety Services budget from Corporate Governance to Infrastructure and Transactions division within Corporate Services.

c).    notes the amendments to the Capital Programme in Appendix 5b and approves the following adjustments:

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

a)     notes the financial information arising from the Provisional Settlement 2015-16 and that the financial implications will be incorporated into the draft MTFS 2015-19 and draft capital programme 2015-19.

b).    notes the draft Performance Management Framework and agrees the Corporate Indicators set for 2015/16

c).    considered and approved the draft Risk Management Strategy

The Cabinet Member for Finance presented the latest version of the Business Plan 2015-16, which including the provisional Local Government Settlement for 2015/16.

He stated that the assumptions that the Council’s finance team had been working to as part of its medium term financial planning, were very close to the provisional settlement figures. Therefore it justified that the Council’s approach to financial planning was correct, in terms of planning for the future through savings, rather than taking a short term view of having to simply make cuts year on year dependent on the settlement.

The report also included the draft Corporate Indicators for 2015/16 and the draft Risk Management Strategy. It was noted that the Council would be receiving an additional ring-fenced £6.5millons for schools, as part of the Dedicated School Grant.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

a)     notes the financial information arising from the Provisional Settlement 2015-16 and that the financial implications will be incorporated into the draft MTFS 2015-19 and draft capital programme 2015-19.

b).    notes the draft Performance Management Framework and agrees the Corporate Indicators set for 2015/16

c).    considered and approved the draft Risk Management Strategy