It was reported that Councillor College was unavoidably unable to attend this meeting, which would have been his final Executive Meeting as Leader of the Council. On his behalf, the Deputy Leader passed on Councillor Colledge’s thanks to Members of the Executive, Council, Corporate Management Team and officers for their engagement with him during his time as Leader.

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

No declarations were made by Members.

To receive and, if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 27^th January 2014.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 27^th January, 2014 be approved as a correct record.

To consider any matters referred by the Council or by the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

There were no matters to be reported.

To consider a report of the Executive Member for Education.

That approval be given to the proposals to amend the Council’s policy set out in Section 4 of the report and implement the new policy (Appendix 1 to the report) from 1^st April 2014.

The Executive Member for Education submitted a report proposing a revised policy following on from a review of the Council’s approach as a result of revised statutory guidance.

RESOLVED: That approval be given to the proposals to amend the Council’s policy set out in Section 4 of the report and implement the new policy (Appendix 1 to the report) from 1^st April 2014.

To consider a report of the Executive Member for Transformation and Resources and Corporate Director Transformation and Resources.

The Executive Member for Transformation and Resources and Corporate Director, Transformation and Resources submitted a report which provided a summary of performance, at the end of the third quarter, against the Council’s Annual Delivery Plan 2013/14.

RESOLVED: That the content of the Annual Delivery Plan Third Quarter Performance Report be noted.

To consider a report of the Executive Member for Transformation and Resources.

The Executive Member for Transformation and Resources submitted a report which provided information on Council-wide health and safety performance and trends in workplace accidents, and other key developments in health and safety for the six months ending on 30^th September 2013.

            RESOLVED:

(1)       That the content of the report be noted.

(2)       That the report be referred to Council at its meeting on 26^th March, 2014.

To consider a report of the Executive Member for Finance and Director of Finance.

That the latest forecast and planned actions be noted and agreed.

The Executive Member for Finance and Director of Finance submitted a report setting out the outcomes of the Council’s monitoring of the revenue budget to the end of Period 9 (December 2013).

RESOLVED: That the latest forecast and planned actions be noted and agreed.

To consider a report of the Executive Member for Finance and Director of Finance.

1. That the amendments to the 2013/14 Capital Investment Programme be approved.

2. That the content of the monitoring report be noted.

The Executive Member for Finance and Director of Finance submitted a report setting out the outcomes of the Council’s monitoring of the Capital Investment Programme to the end of the third quarter (December 2013).

            RESOLVED:

(1)        That the amendments to the 2013/14 Capital Investment Programme be approved.

(2)        That the content of the monitoring report be noted.

The Executive received for information details of decisions made by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and AGMA Executive Board at their meetings held on 31^st January, 2014.

            RESOLVED: That the content of the decision summaries be noted.

Motion   (Which may be amended as Members think fit):

            That the public be excluded from this meeting during consideration of the remaining items on the agenda, because of the likelihood of disclosure of “exempt information” which falls within one or more descriptive category or categories of the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, as amended by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, and specified on the agenda item or report relating to each such item respectively.

RESOLVED: That the public be excluded from this meeting during consideration of the following items of business because of the likelihood of disclosure of “exempt information” which falls within Paragraphs 3 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

To consider a report of the Executive Member for Finance and Director of Finance.

1. That the Council adopt a policy of requiring different levels of evidence in support of claims for HB and CTS according to their risk, as set out in the report.

2. That a new process be adopted for new online HB / CTS applications so that a customer is required to tick an online declaration form rather than a signed paper version.

The Executive Member for Finance and Director of Finance submitted a report proposing changes to the verification of Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Support (CTS) claims, by introducing a risk-based verification scheme.

            RESOLVED:

(1)        That the Council adopt a policy of requiring different levels of evidence in support of claims for HB and CTS according to their risk, as set out in the report.

(2)        That a new process be adopted for new online HB / CTS applications so that a customer is required to tick an online declaration form rather than a signed paper version.