SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (CORPORATE RESOURCES)
MINUTES of a meeting held on 11th
September, 2007.
Present: Councillor H.J.W. James
(Chairman); Councillor Mrs. C.V.L. Clay (Vice-Chairman);
Councillors Mrs. S.M. Bagstaff, Ms. L Burnett,
Mrs. J.E. Charles, M.R. Harvey, T.H. Jarvie, Mrs. M.
Kelly Owen, Mrs. A.J. Moore, C.L. Osborne,
A.G. Powell, B.I. Shaw and M.R. Wilson.
322 APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors Ms. J.
Cole and F.T. Johnson.
323 MINUTES -
RESOLVED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting
held on 24th July, 2007 be approved as a correct
record.
324 DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST –
No declarations were received.
325 INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT (REF.) -
Cabinet at its meeting held on 4th
July, 2007 had received a report relating to the above matter which
also included the Council’s proposed Information Management
Strategy which encompassed a “Systems Architecture” towards
Information Management.
At that time the Cabinet had been informed
that the purchase and implementation of an Electronic Document
Records Management System (EDRMS) across the Council would be
rolled out in a staged process.
The Corporate back office systems to be
integrated into the proposed EDRMS included:
· SWIFT (Social Services)
· OHMS (Housing Repairs and
Rents)
· Academy (Council Tax, NNDR
and Housing Benefits)
· Strand (Electoral
Registration)
· Flare (Public
Protection)
· Datawright (Planning)
· Immediacy (Content
Management System - Website / Intranet)
· Oracle e-Business Suite
(corporate system for Finance, HR, Payroll and Customer
Relationship Management).
Some of the efficiency benefits of such a
system included centralisation of scanning, post opening and paper
filing, freeing up offices and storage space, less telephone costs
and quicker response times in finding information, one stop shop
and access to information, improved service delivery to customers
and others which were detailed in the report.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position with regard
to progress in relation to Information Management be noted.
326 SOCIAL SERVICE
BUDGET 2007/08 - 2009/10 (REF.) -
The above matter had been subject to Cabinet
consideration at its meeting held on 18th July,
2007. The proposals contained in the report at that time
sought endorsement to address the overspend within Social
Services. The Cabinet at that time had approved the range of
proposals and referred the proposals to this Scrutiny Committee for
consideration.
The Interim Director gave a comprehensive
progress report in respect of action taken to date to address those
matters contained in the Change Plan. He alluded to the
complex nature of social services in general and also to the
complexities of the accompanying budget.
He further indicated that across all service
areas performance indicators showed a significant upturn since
April 2007.
In relation to the budget there had been
success in most service areas with regard to reducing costs by
focussing on controlling expenditure, in particular care packages
so that they were managed in a more efficient way without
prejudicing the needs of the individual client and referred to
specific case illustrations. However, he stressed that there
was still a need to continue their work and to review the work that
had already been undertaken to ensure efficiencies were
maximised. There was still very great pressure on the care
homes Revenue Budget. Matters in relation to staffing costs
were now being managed more effectively with managers being
provided with reasonable running expenses. The staff
establishment had now been checked and fully costed and agreed with
all operational managers. Any circumstances where there was a
need to fill a post was required to meet stringent vacancy control
arrangements. The Interim Director then referred to the
recent arbitration panel findings in respect of residential care
home fees which had resulted in additional budgetary pressures now
having to be addressed by the Council.
Councillor Mrs. Charles raised a number of
concerns in relation to any likely implications the Change Plan
would have on the most vulnerable of clients currently receiving
services from the Council. The Interim Director responded to
each individual point and stressed that the emphasis was on
creating the opportunity to provide top quality services by
improving performance and managing the budget with greater
efficiency. In response Councillor Charles referred to those
matters contained in Paragraph 8 of the original Cabinet report and
suggested that these issues should be fully costed to provide the
Council with a greater degree of certainty and any associated
implications for the Council’s overall budget. The Interim
Director indicated that the likely implications of increases in
care homes costs for the Council’s budget would result in an
increase circa £2.6m. However, he believed that this figure
may be under-estimated. In addition to this, he had also
received formal notification from a care home within the Vale of
Glamorgan of their intention to significantly increase their fees
in respect of residential care. This was undoubtedly
challenging for the Council given that these were additional costs
and therefore outside the scope of the Change Plan and the
situation was currently being viewed to assess fully the
implications. However, he stressed that there were a number
of initiatives in place to reduce expenditure and it was some of
these improvements, which had not yet feed through into revenue
savings.
The Chairman alluded to the fact that the
Change Plan was six months into the financial year with it
increasingly clear that as time progressed it was becoming more
difficult to realise efficiency savings for 2007/08 especially with
the additional pressure on the budget as a result of the
arbitration panel findings. Given the lack of clarity with
regard to the efficiency savings identifiable to date relating to
the Change Plan (£2m.) and the additional costs as a result of the
arbitration panel findings, he asked the Interim Director if it was
now the appropriate time to review the Change Plan so that
efficiency savings for 2007/08 could be reasonably achieved.
In response, the Interim Director reiterated some of his points
made previously in that some of the efficiency improvements had not
yet fed through into revenue savings; that any increase in
residential care fees would have a detrimental impact and these
would need to be fully assessed to assess the exact implications
for the Council; that as the Change Plan progressed any ongoing
changes as a result of the Plan would need to be reviewed to ensure
performance and financial targets were being maximised.
At this point Councillor Harvey gave notice of
his intention to request a further report to this Committee seeking
clarification of the exact financial position of the Change Plan
efficiency savings achieved to date for the 2007/08
period.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the proposals as set out
in the Cabinet report of 18th July, 2007 in respect of
the Social Services Budget 2007/08 to 2009/10 be noted.
327 PUBLIC OPINION
SURVEY 2006 - ACTION PLAN (CX) -
The Committee had previously considered at its
meeting on 24th April, 2007 the results of the 2006
Public Opinion Survey and at that time the Committee had requested
that the areas that had experienced significant decline in
satisfaction levels be identified and that an action plan be
prepared and produced for consideration by this Committee to
improve satisfaction levels. The five areas, which had been
identified, related to the following:
· provision and access of
information about public transport
· perceptions of crime
· satisfaction with public
toilets
· use of leisure centres
· satisfaction with library
facilities such as availability of music CD’s, DVD’s and computer
facilities.
These issues had been placed into an action
plan which was appended to the report with expected dates for
delivery on each of the actions. The actions had been
produced in conjunction with the relevant officers who were aware
that they would be expected to provide an update on the progress of
each action within specified timescales.
The Committee raised a number of points in
relation to these actions, in particular, leisure centres and the
cleanliness of changing room facilities and the buildings generally
and latterly in relation to public transport particularly the need
to improve publicity of appropriate information such as timetables
within bus shelters and other means. It was requested that
the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration be
requested to raise this issue with the relevant public transport
providers within the Vale of Glamorgan.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A T
the Public Opinion Survey Action Plan as detailed in the appendix
to the report be endorsed.
(2) T H A T
the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration be
requested to write to public transport providers within the Vale of
Glamorgan to request that the provision and access of information
about public transport be improved through appropriate methods.
(3) T H A T
the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration be
requested to submit a further report to a future meeting regarding
progress achieved in relation to action POS4 “Increase use of
leisure centres”.
Reasons for recommendations
(1) In
recognition of areas where public perception had deteriorated and
the work that was going to be undertaken.
(2) To
ensure external stakeholders were appropriately involved with
improving satisfaction levels.
(3) To
ensure that a marketing strategy was appropriately revised and
reported to the Scrutiny Committee for consideration.
328 STAFF SURVEY 2007
(CX) -
The above survey had been conducted to obtain
an insight into staff opinions on a range of topics and to
ascertain if there had been any shifts in staff opinion. The
survey had also been conducted as a requirement to fulfil the
Council’s Corporate Plan commitment to “undertake consultations
with the Council’s workforce to assess employee’s perception of
cultural change within the Council” (CR4).
The survey focused upon the PDR and TDR
system, personal development issues, internal communications and
communication tools. A total of 771 completed surveys were
returned which was an increase on the returns of 2005 of 611.
The main findings of the survey were set out
in the report and the results of survey had been discussed by the
Corporate Management Team who had identified staff opinions around
PDRs and TDRs as the key issue arising from the survey.
Councillor Wilson briefly referred to training generally within the
Authority and in particular the need for refresher training
particularly in relation to health and safety matters so as to
ensure that employees observed appropriate safety procedures.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A T
the results of the 2007 Staff Survey be noted.
(2) T H A T
the Cabinet’s decision relating to improvements to the current PDR
and TDR system be endorsed and further support the principle that
staff be encouraged to access the StaffNet more frequently (as a
means of keeping up to date with developments within the
Council).
Reasons for recommendations
(1&2) To recognise staff perception
of key internal communications and staff development issues.
329 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
ELECTIONS 2007 (CX) -
The report referred to a number of issues
which had been raised following the Welsh Assembly Government
elections 2007.
Two focus groups had been held, one with
political agents and candidates and one with visiting officers and
senior count officials, to identify any other issues which arose
from the elections and also produced two brief questionnaires to
obtain an overview around particular issues. One
questionnaire had been sent to all presiding officers and poll
clerks and another questionnaire had been sent to all
counters. The findings of the focus group and the
questionnaires were set out in Appendix A to the report and the
main issues arising from the research were identified as
follows:
· there was a need to review
the training given to presiding officers and poll clerks
· the new postal system was
complex and cumbersome
· staff should be given leave
to take part in election duties which will facilitate better choice
over who was engaged in the elections
· the method for aggregating
votes for individual candidates required review.
In response to these matters the Chief
Executive was proposing the following:
· a review of the training
arrangements for presiding officers
· to report to Cabinet
recommending that staff be given leave for election duties
· to train non electoral
registration staff to deal with postal votes
· to streamline the stacking
process at the count.
It was also noted that some of the issues
raised in the above process such as the size of the ballot papers,
were beyond the control of the Electoral Registration team and were
specified in electoral legislation.
Individual members of the Committee reiterated
concerns in reference to the conduct of the above election in
particular, to the lack of security present during the election
count, the calibre of election counters and the suitability of
certain election stations during the poll. In response the
Electoral Registration Officer acknowledged that difficulties had
been encountered in relation to the election count and that there
had been difficulties in recruiting appropriate experienced staff
due to the Council’s current policy of not allowing time off to
employees involved with elections. For the May 2008
Elections, it was proposed that “sheet counts” would be used for
all election counts. With regard to the suitability of
election stations, signage was prescribed by legislation however
the suggestion of a polling station location map being included on
the poll card itself would be investigated to ascertain the
feasibility of this being facilitated. It was further
indicated that the Electoral Registration Office would be
undertaking a Polling Station Review which would be completed by
the end of November 2008, to assess the suitability of polling
stations. Members were invited to submit any comments
regarding existing polling stations used during elections so as any
issues could be considered by the Electoral Registration
Office as part of their review.
The Chairman referred to the lack of corporate
identity at the election count, particularly when the poll was
declared which was televised. He suggested that the Chief
Executive consider at future elections to have in place appropriate
corporate display boards at the count venue.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A T the
findings of the focus groups and the questionnaires be noted.
(2) T H A T the
proposals from the Chief Executive as detailed in the report be
endorsed and that an action plan be presented to the next meeting
for consideration.
Reasons for recommendations
(1) To
recognise the issues that arose during the election period and to
support the key findings which arose from the research.
(2) To
ensure appropriate procedures and processes were in place for the
May 2008 Elections.
330 UPDATE ON MAJOR
PROJECTS (DEER) -
The report provided a further set of briefing
notes on major projects currently managed by the Project Management
Unit in line with the recommendations of the Cabinet meeting of
28th February, 2007.
The report, subject to the update report,
related to:
· Barry Town Hall
· Penarth Heights
· Thompson Street Bridge
· Waterfront Innovation
Quarter
· Business Support Centre,
Barry Waterfront
· Hydraulic Pumphouse, Barry
Waterfront
· Medical Centre, Barry
Waterfront
· Barry Steam Railway
Project
· Central Station Project -
Phase 1 Barry Docks Platform, Barry
· UWIC: Wales International
Centre for Tourism and Leisure
· Penarth Pier Pavilion and
Italian Shelter
· Barry Island Footbridge and
Plymouth Road Access.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the report be noted.
331 REVENUE MONITORING
FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL TO 31ST JULY,
2007 (DFICTP) -
The projected outturn for the 2007/08 Revenue
Budget was for a forecasted deficit of £2,539,000 on the General
Fund and a surplus of £215,000 on the Housing Revenue
Account.
With regard to the Council’s Education Service
there was currently a projected saving of £267,000 at the year
end. With regard to Learning and Development, following a
review of the service it was anticipated that savings were not
accruing and there was a potential adverse variance of
£147,000. This was due to delay in starting the new learning
programmes to the economically inactive and the low enrolments of
the summer period (£51,000), unbudgeted premises costs at the
Heritage Skills Centre (£9,000) and the uncertainty of future
funding sources of the Vale Learning Network (£87,000).
Actions would be implemented in an effort to reduce this figure and
consequently reduce the support needed from the Strategy and
Performance budget. In addition to these matters, the
Catering Service was now projecting an outturn with an adverse
variance of £120,000 and this was mainly attributed to reduced meal
numbers and cost pressures on food and staff resources resulting
from the implementation of Welsh Assembly Nutritional
guidelines. This service was currently being reviewed in
order to achieve a balanced budget.
With reference to Social Services, there was a
projected outturn deficit of £2,539,000. Actions had been
identified to achieve savings of £2,000,000, further action would
be required to achieve a balanced budget. The probable
outturn in regard to Children’s Services which reflected the level
of the one off uplift and efficiencies allocated to this service
was currently showing a deficit of £379,000 which was unchanged
from last month’s figures.
Community Care and Health was showing a
projected outturn deficit of £2,160,000 at year end. This
reflected the continuing pressures of Community Care packages and
that all the actions included in the Change Plan had not yet been
impacted on the projections. The main areas of spend that
required to be controlled and monitored in order to bring
expenditure within the budget were Community Care packages,
managing Delayed Transfers of Care from hospital, the Supported
Housing Contract and staffing budgets. In addition to the
projected figures there was additional pressure resulting from the
increase in the cost of residential care which could amount to as
much as £2,600,000 in a full financial year.
The General Fund balance as at 31st
March, 2007 stood at £5,250,000. The initial Revenue Budget
for 2007/08 required that £4,050,000 was met from General Fund
balances. This would require that certain specific reserves
would need to be un-earmarked to keep general reserves at an
acceptable level. In the event of measures not being taken
within Social Services to bring back the projected overspend as
required to meet their budgetary targets, this would increase the
deficit by £2,539,000 and this would need to be addressed.
Councillor Harvey, in referring to his earlier
comments made in considering the earlier report regarding Social
Services Budget 2007/08 to 2009/10, reiterated that in his opinion
a further detailed report was required dealing solely with the
Social Services Change Plan and, particularly, details of planned
efficiency savings and associated efficiency savings achieved to
date including any unforeseen cost pressures. The Chairman
requested that the report also contain details of any contingency
plan arrangements to address any budget deficit situation in
relation to planned efficiency savings for 2007/08 in relation to
the Social Services Change Plan.
Having regard to the above and related issues
it was
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the Director of Finance,
ICT and Property and the Interim Director of Social Services submit
a further report to the next meeting of this Committee regarding
details of efficiency savings achieved to date against each of the
actions contained within the Social Services Change Plan;
details of any unforeseen budgetary pressures in relation to Social
Services generally and details of contingency arrangements in the
event of the planned efficiency savings for the financial year
2007/08 not being achieved.
Reason for recommendation
To allow effective financial monitoring of
budgetary information in relation to the Social Services Change
Plan and related matters.
332 CAPITAL MONITORING
FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL TO 31ST JULY, 2007
(DFICTP) -
The Committee received a report on progress on
the 2007/08 Capital Programme for the above period, including,
where necessary, requested changes to the Programme. These
changes related to:
(i) Directorate of
Learning and Development -
· Attendance
Management System - receipt of a grant in the sum of £41,971 for
the continuation of the procurement of the above System.
(ii) Directorate of
Environmental and Economic Regeneration -
· Coastal Access
Improvement Programme 2007-10 - receipt of grant funding from the
Countryside Commission for Wales (CCW) in the sum of £147,000 in
relation to various items of work relating to coastal access
improvements. The allocation had to be spent by February 2008
and the sum of £109,000 of the total grant related to capital
improvements and accordingly the Capital Programme had been
increased by this amount.
· Civic Amenity
sites - a grant of £18,000 had been received from the Valpak Retail
WEEE Services for the recycling centres at Sully and Llandow.
The money had been granted for works required to adapt the existing
facilities required to be recognised as a “Designated Collection
Facility” under the UK Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment
Directive.
· Alley Gates -
additional work to the value of £50,000 was required under the
Alley Gates initiative to carry out works at Buttrills and Cadoc
wards. This amount would be funded from the Visible Services
Maintenance Fund and accordingly the Capital Programme and been
increased by this amount.
· Transport Grant
- WAG approval to transfer grant in 2007/08 to the Barry Central
Station Scheme from the Merrie Harrier Gyratory scheme resulting in
the new proposed budget being £535,000, Barry Central Station and
£10,000, Merrie Harrier Gyratory scheme.
(iii) Directorate of Legal,
Public Protection and Housing Services -
· Major Repairs
Allowance (MRA) - the Chief Executive had used his emergency powers
to increase the above budget in relation to the window replacement
contract within the MRA by £150,000 and reduce the Voids budget
accordingly.
In future the power to vire between schemes
within the MRA would be delegated to the Director of Finance, ICT
and Property in consultation with the Leader.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position with regard
to the 2007/08 Capital Programme be noted.