SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (CORPORATE RESOURCES)

 

MINUTES of an extraordinary meeting held on 12th June, 2007.

 

Present: Councillor H.J.W. James (Chairman); Councillor Mrs. C.V.L. Clay (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Mrs. S.M. Bagstaff, Mrs. J.E. Charles, Ms. J. Cole, M.R. Harvey, T.H. Jarvie, Mrs. M. Kelly Owen, Mrs. A.J. Moore, C.L. Osborne, B.I. Shaw and K.R. Stockdale.

 

 

85        APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -

 

These were received from Councillors Ms. L Burnett, F.T. Johnson, A.D. Powell and M.R. Wilson.

 

 

86        DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -

 

No declarations were received.

 

 

87        DRAFT SERVICE PLAN 2007/08 - REGULATORY SERVICES (DLPPHS) -

 

The Operational Manager presented the new formatted Service Plan for Committee’s consideration and commented on the following matters which were contained therein:

 

·   the Council had received external funding from Welsh Water Authority to undertake sewer baiting of identified sites throughout the Vale of Glamorgan.  The work had been undertaken by Cardiff City Council on this Council’s behalf and sightings of vermin had been reduced as a consequence.  It was hoped that the grant funding could doubled in this financial year to provide for further sewer baiting programmes within the Vale of Glamorgan;

·    discussions had been held with officers representing the South East Wales Network of Local Authorities with regard to the feasibility of providing a shared Out of Hours Service.  Initial discussions had revealed that there was little support for shared arrangements in this service area;

·    the Operational Manager indicated that 86.2% of customers were satisfied with services provided by Regulatory Services;

·    the development of a Noise Strategy had not been achieved during the lifetime of the last Service Plan and confirmed that the matter would be pursued during the current year;

·    the Council would be undertaking a pilot in relation to the Food Standard Agency’s initiative “Scores on the Doors”.  This initiative provided for establishments to be assessed and graded on a “star” rating basis, 5 star being good, 1 star being poor.  The Operational Manager anticipated that the introduction of such an initiative would drive up standards;

·    the Operational Manager referred to the regulatory burden placed on such services within local authorities and alluded to the Hampton Report which addressed such issues.

 

The Chairman referred to Indicator PPN/005b(ii) and enquired of the Operational Manager whether self assessment was a statutory requirement and also if self assessments would be undertaken in the current year.  The Operational Manager confirmed that self assessment was not a statutory requirement and due to the fact that the Council would be piloting “Scores on Doors” initiative, self assessments would not be appropriate as a way forward in the Vale for the time being.  Further no work has been carried out in the UK to evaluate the effectiveness of self assessment as an alternative intervention to inspection.

 

Following the above, a short question and answer session took place on the following matters:

 

·    Councillor Stockdale referred to sustainability issues and in particular Air Quality Assessments required in relation to the Barons Court, Penarth Road network and the proposed Penarth Heights redevelopment project. The Operational Manager indicated that an Air Quality Impact assessment in relation to the redevelopment at Penarth Heights would be undertaken as part of the developer’s responsibility for undertaking an Environmental Impact assessment.

 

·    Councillor Jarvie referred to the new Licensing regime and enquired if the Council’s additional staff costs as a result of the new regime, were covered in their entirety by the new scheme of fees.  The Operational Manager indicated that findings of a recent survey revealed that local authorities on average, suffered a 7% shortfall in funding as a direct result of the new Licensing regime and was unsure if central government would address the funding gap.

 

·    Councillor Jarvie referred to enforcement issues relating to the new Smoking legislation and enquired as to how establishments were adhering to the new legislation.  The Operational Manager indicated that an extensive consultation and an awareness campaign had been undertaken shortly before the legislation came into effect and since that time planned inspections of establishments undertaken by Enforcement Officers would also include matters relating to smoking.

 

·    Councillor Harvey referred to the implementation of the Gambling Act and whether this was likely to create additional workloads for officers.  The Operational Manager indicated that given fewer establishments would require licensing under this Act and that determination of applications were likely to be dealt with under Officer Delegated Powers, the new regime was not anticipated to create a significant amount of additional work for Licensing Committee members.

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Draft Service Plan in respect of Regulatory Services be endorsed.

 

 

88        DRAFT SERVICE PLAN 2007/08 - ICT (DFICTP) -

 

The Head of Service presented the new formatted Service Plan for Committee’s consideration and commented on the following matters which were contained therein:

 

·    reference was made to the uncompleted Service Plan Actions which would be carried forward to 2007/08 and the reasons for non-completion of these activities.  The Chairman to assist, recommended that the Committee should, in acknowledging the reasons for slippage, give priority to those actions so as to ensure that they were undertaken as they had a clear Corporate Risk for the Council.  It was considered that matters relating to the provision of an on-site generator to supply the fire proof lift as well as the Computer Room and the provision of a contingency plan to support the OneVale Contact Centre be prioritised;

·    there were no specific National Performance Indicators for this service.  However, in the current Service Plan, there were a number of Local Performance Indicators which would require establishing baselines;

·    Indicator PA30 could possibly be altered in view of SOCITM who were establishing a standard set of indicators in respect of this area;

·    Indicator L381 - the Council was currently compliant at A standard and it was hoped that during 2007/08 that a AA rating could be achieved;

·    an ICT Governance Group which had been established to develop a new ICT strategy linked to the future direction and adoption of new technology within the Council.

 

Having regard to the above and related issues, it was

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T the Draft Service Plan in respect of ICT be endorsed.

 

(2)       T H A T the Head of Strategic ICT submit a further report to a future meeting of this Committee with regard to:

 

           (i)      Contingency plan for the introduction of an on-site generator to supply the fire proof lift and the Computer Room at the Civic Offices.

 

           (ii)     Contingency plan in respect of One-Vale to ensure the Council had the ability to continue business following a catastrophic or unexpected event.

 

 

89        DRAFT SERVICE PLAN 2007/08 - FINANCE AND PROPERTY (DFICTP) -

 

The Head of Service in presenting the new formatted Service Plan for Committee’s consideration commented on those areas contained in the Draft Service Plan which had been completed in the previous Plan and also to those matters which had not yet been achieved.  In addition, the Head of Service also referred to the potential for efficiency savings to be identified within the Benefits Service and also to the Small Business Rate Support Scheme which had been successfully implemented in April 2007.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Harvey in respect of efficiency savings monitoring, the Head of Service indicated that regular monitoring reports were submitted to all Scrutiny Committees and the Cabinet regarding this matter.  He further indicated that the Budget Review Group would commence their meetings in July 2007 to assess issues relating to the Council’s overall budget management.  Councillor N. Moore indicated that it was the intention for the Budget Working Group to meet on a regular basis to review budgetary processes and to ensure budgetary issues were addressed as soon as they arose.

 

Having regard to the above and related issues, it was

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Draft Service Plan in respect of Finance and Property be endorsed.

 

(N.B. Councillor N. Moore spoke on this matter with the consent of the Committee).

 

 

90        DRAFT SERVICE PLAN 2007/08 - HUMAN RESOURCES AND EQUALITIES (DLD) -

 

The Head of Service presented the new formatted Service Plan for Committee’s consideration and commented on the following matters which were contained therein:

 

·    the focus of the Service Plan related to four main themes viz:

Equal Opportunities; Occupational Health and Safety; Sickness Absence and Job Evaluation;

·    the Head of Service referred to specific objectives and Performance Indicators contained in the Draft Plan, specifically the need to develop a Linguistic Skills Strategy, but in respect of Indicator L266 there had been a reduction in voluntary leavers leaving the Council’s employment and two new Performance Indicators had been introduced in the current year’s Plan in relation to the successful defending of disciplinary and grievance appeals.  Councillor Cole referred to these latter matters and enquired of the appropriateness of such Indictors, in particular, whether it was more appropriate to record the total number of appeals being lodged in respect of disciplinary and grievances.  The Chairman also expressed the view that it was unclear if these new Indicators would be measuring the first, second, or third stage of the Council’s procedure in respect of such appeals and also whether the data collected should be expressed as a actual number and a percentage.  The Head of Service indicated that the Indicators were measuring final stage appeals and that the data could be collected in actual number and percentages.

 

Following the above, a short question and answer session took place on the following matters:

 

·    Councillor Stockdale referred to the Council’s Welsh Language Scheme and to the OneVale Contact Centre and in particular whether a dedicated Welsh speaking service would be provided.  The Head of Service Indicated that “a single telephone number” for Welsh speakers would be provided as part of the future provision at the Contact Centre.

 

·    The Chairman referred to those actions which had yet to be completed from the Service Plan 2006/07 and in particular to the review and development of the existing flexi-time system.  The Head of Service indicated that it was proposed that this would be developed as part of the Council’s Transact function which incorporated the Oracle system.  As was for the case in relation to Recruitment and Retention initiatives and the introduction of new job packs and provision on on-line completion and return of job applications (as part of Irecruitment).

 

·    The Chairman referred to Indicator CHR1 and enquired as to the reason for the actual outturns being lower in forthcoming years than the actual target achieved in 2006/07.  The Head of Service indicated that the actual outturn figure for 2006/07 was above what was expected, given in previous years the trend was circa 9.5%.

 

·    The Chairman referred to the WAO report received in respect of Sickness Absence and enquired when the findings of this report would be reported to this Committee for consideration.  The Head of Service indicated that the report had been received and an Action Plan was now being developed in consultation with the Corporate Management Team.

 

Having regard to the above and related issues, it was

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T the Draft Service Plan in respect of Human Resources and Equalities be endorsed.

 

(2)       T H A T a representative of the WAO be invited to a future meeting to present the findings of their report in respect of sickness absence to a future meeting of this Committee.

 

 

91        EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC -

 

RESOLVED - T H A T under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 4 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act, the relevant paragraphs of the Schedule being referred to in brackets after the minute heading.

 

 

92        “CONTACT ONEVALE” (CONTACT CENTRE) LOCATION AND OFFICE ACCOMMODATION CHANGES (REF) -

 

The Cabinet at its meeting held on 23rd May, 2007, considered proposals in respect of locating the “Contact OneVale” at the Barry Leisure Centre.  The Committee had noted that the original design which included the provision of a new entrance, staircase enclosure and lift to enable the Centre to operate independently of the Leisure Centre, was now deleted.  It was further noted that a Regulation 3 planning application had been submitted and would be considered by this Council’s Planning Committee on 14th June, 2007.

 

A full and frank discussion then ensued regarding the merits of the Contact Centre being located at the Leisure Centre and also to the related issues with regard to car parking, loss of Leisure Centre facilities, alternative appropriate accommodation to host the Contact Centre and budgetary issues.

 

Having regard to the above and related issues, it was

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the recommendations contained in Cabinet Minute No. C3038 be supported.

 

(Note: Councillor M.R. Harvey declared an interest in the above matter and withdrew from the meeting).