SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (CORPORATE RESOURCES)

 

 

MINUTES of a meeting held on 22nd January, 2008.

 

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, N.P. Hodges, F.T. Johnson, Mrs. M. Kelly Owen, C.L. Osborne, A.G. Powell, B.I. Shaw and K.R. Stockdale.

 

 

730     APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE -

 

These were received from Councillors Miss J. Cole, T.H. Jarvie, Mrs. A.J. Moore and M.R. Wilson.

 

 

731     MINUTES -

 

RESOLVED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 11th and 18th December, 2007 be approved as a correct record.

 

 

732     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST -

 

There were no declarations received.

 

 

733     SOCIAL SERVICES BUDGET MANAGEMENT ISSUES (CMT) -

 

In accordance with the Scrutiny Committee’s previous recommendations made at its meeting on 11th December, 2007 regarding the requirement of a further report on how best Social Services could be brought to manage their affairs within the budget set.  A Corporate Management Team report was presented which detailed the results of a review by Social Services to manage their affairs within the agreed budget.  In conjunction with these matters, the report also dealt with the current budget monitoring situation in respect of the Directorate which at the current anticipated level of savings projected an overspend for the service for 2007/08 of £1.3m.  This represented an improvement of £200,000 on the previous month’s budget monitoring report but excluded an estimated £1.1m. additional funding which had been allocated to the service due to increased care home costs.

 

As reported to the Committee on 11th December 2007, should Social Services continue to fail to restrict their expenditure to their allocated budget, this would bring about an overall impact on the Authority’s ability to maintain other services.  In order to address this, a revised Budget Action Plan and accompanying report had been submitted by the Director of Social Services to the Cabinet at its meeting on 9th January 2008.  A copy of this report was attached for consideration by this Scrutiny Committee.  This report set out proposals to further reduce expenditure through a combination of measures viz supplementary funding, deferring expenditure, improving efficiencies, income generation, re-figuration service expenditure and reducing service provision.

 

It was also noted that part of the overall strategy included a review of care packages across the whole of Community Care and Health and this was currently ongoing.  It was stressed that this exercise was being undertaken as part of a clear and coherent strategy for Social Services and as a consequence should be coupled with strong financial management and robust budgetary control within the service in order to ensure that services to vulnerable client groups were maintained and allocated budgets were not exceeded.

 

Crucial to the aim of achieving this, was that an appropriate eligibility criteria for Community Care and Health care packages was set having regard to available budgets.  The process for this was summarised in the report.  For this process to be successful, it was essential that officers adopted a consistent interpretation of the eligibility criteria to be applied across all the different client groups within the service area.  Further developments in respect of the assessment and provision of the care packages arise from case law whereby councils could take into account relevant legislation.  The Director of Social Services would review how best to ensure the Council’s liability and statutory duty was met under this new framework within current policy and resources available whilst also ensuring that it was not liable for NHS Continuing Health Care expenditure.

 

It was further noted that the Corporate Management Team would act as the Project Board for the Social Services Change Plan and Budget Savings Plan.  The delivery of the overall Change Plan for Social Services, which took account of other issues raised by the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales, would also remain the key priority for the Director of Social Services.

 

Discussion ensued with regard to the report considered at the Cabinet meeting on 9th January 2008.  In particular, reference was made to Appendix 2 regarding the framework used for considering how to deal with budget shortfalls and secondly in relation to Appendix 4 which related to “Balancing the 2007/08 Revenue budget and preparing for the longer term.  The Director of Social Services and the Head of Strategy and Support commented on the contents of both documents and outlined measures that would be put in place in order to progress the plan and relevant mitigation measures where appropriate in order to achieve further efficiencies.

 

The Director also referred briefly to proposals for change management arrangements within Social Services and it was proposed that one new Head of Service post would be jointly funded by the Local Health Board and one Operational Manager post would be deleted.  This proposal would bring about a saving of £104,680.

 

Having regard to the above and related issues, it was

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the progress made and proposed for Social Services to enable service delivery to be managed within the allocated budget be noted.

 

 

734     THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE WASTE AGENDA - PROSIECT GWYRDD (DEER) -

 

This Scrutiny Committee had previously requested a further report in respect of the cost implications and cost benefits for the Council associated with shared service proposals relating to the above Waste Agenda.  Members were updated on the progress to date and the cost implications of the above project, it being noted that this project only dealt with residential waste.  Significant progress had been made since June 2007 to develop the project and make progress in reaching a possible procurement function including the formation of an Officer Steering Group, the formation of an Elected Member Steering Group, the appointment of legal, financial and technical external advisers, the appointment of a Project Manager and the Memorandum of Understanding completed and signed off.  Work on the Outline Business Case (OBC) had commenced, that work being anticipated to be completed in February / March 2008.  All five authorities involved in the project had invested significant resources and had clearly demonstrated their determination to make the partnership deliver its agreed objectives.  The future residential treatment option was the only way that local authorities could deal with any residual waste remaining following the recycling and composting of their municipal waste arisings.  The WAG future Municipal Waste Targets announced by the Minister of Environment, Sustainability and Housing on 18th October 2007, and the continued dialogue between the partnership authorities and WAG would have a major bearing on the OBC and the affordability gap that would need to be bridged to deliver the project objectives.

 

It was noted that following completion of the pre-procurement stage of the project, each member Council would review the work undertaken, the further work required to deliver the project and determine if the project was to be continued beyond the pre-procurement stage.  As part of the project, joint applications would continue to be made to WAG for further grant aid to supplement the £600,000 contributed to date.  The grant covered a 30 month period and was claimable against 70% of all eligible costs associated with the procurement process.  It was not however, ring-fenced to the pre-procurement work.  It was further noted that all five authorities Finance Directors had now provided written confirmation acknowledging an equal initial individual financial commitment of £46,942 to progress the OBC to completion in 2007/08.

 

Appended to the report was an indicative procurement cost schedule for the period 2007/08 - 2009/10.  The Council’s total financial commitments during this period as part of the pre-procurement was up to £250,000 and funding for this would be made available from the existing Visible Services Reserve.  It was noted that considerable officer time would be required and to lessen the burden on the partnership authorities, £124,000 had been set aside for 2007/08 within the procurement cost schedule to allow for backfilling required to cover the costs of lead officers involved with the project.  In addition, other separate budget heads had also been identified as follows:

 

§          Project Manager and Project Support          -           £61,000

§          Communication and Planning Support         -           £11,000

§          Supplies and Services                                    -           £9,000.

 

The schedule also identified the WAG Regional Capital Access Funding (RCAF) within 2007/08 to be £79,000.  Further indicative costs and funding details were provided and these were detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.  In summary, the overall cost of pre-procurement production of the OBC for the project was £1,583,571.  Given the amount of existing grant support being £600,000, the adjusted total of £983,571 would result in a total cost commitment of £196,714 for each of the authorities involved in the project.  In response to a question regarding budget reductions in the current financial year, it was indicated that this service area budget had been reduced by approximately £300,000.

 

The Chairman referred to the Elected Member Steering Group and enquired if the minutes of this Group would be referred to the Council’s Cabinet and relevant Scrutiny Committee(s).  It was indicated that the body at this time was non decision-making.  However, should this change in the future, the minutes would be reported to this Council’s Cabinet and relevant Scrutiny Committees for information.

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T the cost implications for the Council as outlined above associated with the shared services proposals relating to residual waste treatment, be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T in the event of the Elected Member Steering Group assuming decision-making powers, that the minutes of the Group be reported to this Council’s Cabinet and appropriate Scrutiny Committees for consideration.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)       To apprise Members of the possible costs associated with the Council’s involvement with Prosiect Gwyrdd.

 

(2)       To ensure that the Council’s Cabinet and relevant Scrutiny Committees are kept abreast of any developments in respect of Prosiect Gwyrdd.           

 

 

735     LEISURE CENTRE USAGE (DEER) -

 

The report had been submitted in response to this Scrutiny Committee’s previous request for a report in respect of progress achieved in relation to “increased usage of leisure centres” which had been a recommendation of a previous Council Public Opinion Survey undertaken in 2006.

 

It was noted that the Council currently operated indoor leisure facilities at various locations within Barry, Penarth, Llantwit Major and Cowbridge.  The Council’s leisure centres generally had increased usage from 1,027,839 users in 2000/01 to 1,389,386 in 2005/06.  However, in 2006/07 usage had dropped back to 1,231,812.  The reduction in attendances at the Council’s leisure centres could be attributed to a number of reasons and these included increased private sector competition, lack of available finance to make significant investment in facilities in recent years and new school hall facilities at Barry and Penarth.

 

In recent years, investment had been made in new equipment including Point of Sale System, Technogym gym equipment and these had resulted in improved performance in key business areas.  A new Membership Scheme was also introduced in 2005 branded as Freestyle to encourage more usage.  The opening of the International Sport Village (ISV) was also likely to have a significant impact on attendances in the forthcoming year.  It was indicated that in respect of the potential affects of the opening of the ISV on the Penarth Leisure Centre, a number of measures had been taken to date to reduce that impact including:

 

§          a marketing campaign;

§          a review of prices for Lifestyle to compete with the ISV resulting in reduced prices;

§          a variation to opening hours;

§          a clear explanation of the advantage of being a Lifestyle member as opposed to other facilities and

§          some changing room improvements out of existing asset renewal funding.

 

Officers would continue to market the Leisure Centre in order to maintain and improve usage, subject to budgetary considerations and attention was drawn to the fact that any future improvements to the Leisure Centre would have to compete for asset renewal resources, which in the main, were used almost exclusively for essential Health and Safety works.  It was further noted that capital bids to upgrade facilities had been made by the service over the past few years.  However, due to financial constraints on the Council these had been unsuccessful.  The recent closure of bar / cafes operational within leisure centres also provided potential space to increase usage / income but again this required appropriate financial investment. Whilst accepting there would be a likely initial drop-off in the numbers, discussion ensued on ways in which to encourage use of the Centre. 

 

Appended to the report were also details of current usage of leisure centres across Wales and of the current budget spend per head on sport and recreation.

 

In response to a question regarding the condition of the fabric of the Colcot Sport Centre, Barry, the officer indicated that options had been previously assessed for improving this 1960’s circa facility however, these had been cost prohibitive. Given this facility was in the main used for weekend football related activities, it was difficult to provide a robust business case for funding improvements when compared to other funding priorities of other leisure centres throughout the Vale of Glamorgan. There had also been difficulties in attracting external funding from Sportlot given the Governments commitment to the 2012 Olympic games. 

 

Further questions were raised regarding data extrapolation from the existing Leisure Centres databases, which could be utilised to inform a future targeted market strategy and secondly, the potential for community benefit of future proposed leisure facilities to be constructed at part of the academy development by Metrix at St Athan.

 

Discussion ensued in respect of the current Asset Renewals budget for all leisure and community centres and the need to re examine the current allocation of funding having regard to the increasing age of such buildings. It was considered appropriate to request Cabinet to review the level of funding for asset renewals in relation to the above facilities.

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T  a further report be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment) in respect of leisure centre data availability that could be utilised to inform a future market strategy to increase patronage at such facilities.

 

(2)       T H A T Cabinet be requested to review the current Asset Renewal budget allocation for leisure and community centres.

 

(3)       T H A T the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration be requested to submit the independent consultants’ report to this Scrutiny Committee and the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment) in relation to the future requirements for leisure centre provision in the Vale of Glamorgan including any associated funding implications.

 

Reasons for decisions

 

(1)       To apprise Members of the possible opportunities for utilising user data.

 

(2)       Having regard to the increasing age of such buildings.

 

(3)       To apprise Members of future service and funding implications.

 

736     REVENUE MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL 2007 TO 30TH NOVEMBER 2007 (DFICTP) -

 

The projected outturn for the 2007/08 Revenue Budget was for a forecasted balanced budget on both the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account.

 

In relation to Education Services as previously reported, there were a number of pressures on this service.  The expenditure on placements in independent schools included in the Access and Inclusion budget was forecasted to be £130,000 less than was estimated.  This was due to a number of pupils returning to placements within the Authority.  At present there was also potential additional income of £350,000 as a result of more out of county pupils.  However, given the volatile nature of this budget, the income had not been considered secure at this time.  In addition, within the Strategic Planning and Performance budget, as a result of the combination of a recent re-tendering exercise on certain Home to School Transport routes and contract inflation for all other routes being lower than expected, there was a projected saving of £137,000 on Home to School Transport.  The Education base budget currently included £45,000 to support the School Investment Strategy.  In 2007/08 the budget would be used to help fund the cost of the external design team.  From 2008/09 it would be available to support Prudential borrowing.  Any further savings that were realised by the end of the financial year would also be available to further support the School Investment Strategy.

 

With regard to Learning and Development, there was an adverse variance of £137,000 as previously predicted for this service due to delays in starting new learning programmes to the economically inactive and low enrolments over the summer period.  There had also been an adverse variance in respect of Catering Services of £90,000 and this was due to reduced meal numbers not yet recovering to the previous levels and additional cost pressures as a result of the implementation of the Welsh Assembly Nutritional guidelines.

 

In relation to Social Services, the budget for each division of service reflected the allocation of the original Temporary Uplift of £3,641,000 approved by the Council, the savings of £2,000,000 originally needed to achieve a balanced budget and the additional Temporary Uplift of £1,110,000 to meet the cost of increased Care Home fees and the additional costs of arbitration.  Projecting the outturn figures for 2006/2007 and using information on current commitments, the budget was currently projected to outturn with a deficit of £1,520,000.  The probable budget outturn for Children’s Services was showing a surplus of £98,000.  This was mainly attributed to a reduction in the cost of Children placements £66,000, savings on fostering costs £85,000, vacant posts £221,000 and additional savings as a result of negotiations on service level agreements with the not for profit sector £26,000 offset by additional costs associated with adoption allowances, court expenses and general expenses.

 

Community Care and Health was projecting an outturn with a deficit of £1,618,000 at year end.  This position reflected the continuing pressures on Community Care packages and included the increase in Care Homes fees already agreed and an estimate of new commitments that may be made before the year end.

 

Finally, there was a projected underspend in Policy of £1,520,000 and was mainly attributable to additional external interest earned.

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position with regard to the Council’s 2007/08 Revenue Budget be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

That Members are aware of the projected revenue outturn for 2007/08.

 

 

737     CAPITAL MONITORING FOR THE PERIOD 1ST APRIL 2007 TO

30TH NOVEMBER 2007 (DFICTP) -

 

The Capital Programme for the above period which included where necessary, requested changes to the programme, was set out for information.  The following changes were noted:

 

(i)         Directorate of Environmental and Economic Regeneration

 

§          Visible Services Asset Renewal 2007/08 - the proposed refurbishment of the public convenience at Porthkerry Park, Barry was estimated to cost £81,000.  It was proposed to amalgamate two existing Asset Renewal budgets for this work.  As the combined budget of these two amalgamated budgets (£72,000) was still not sufficient and it was proposed that the Capital Programme be increased by the sum of £9,000 to be funded from the EER Maintenance Fund reserve.

 

§          Visible Services Asset Renewal 2006/07 - an agreed contribution of £59,700 towards the cost of the equipment provided at the Knap Skate Park had been received from the Richard Taylor Memorial Fund, with a further £1,000 to follow once all snagging works had been completed.  Accordingly, Cabinet had been requested to approve an increase in the 2007/08 Capital Programme of £61,000 to reflect this additional funding.

 

§          Holton Road Public Realm Improvements - a retrospective grant bid had now been approved by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) in order to extend the works at the lower end of Holton Road, Barry.  The offer in the sum of £451,000 had been made on the condition that works were completed by the end of December 2008 and it was requested that the 2007/08 Capital programme be increased accordingly.

 

(ii)        Directorate of Legal, Public Protection and Housing Services

 

§          Building Safer Communities - the Home Office had awarded the Council two capital grants for community-based initiatives for the current financial year.  The schemes were Alley Gates Phase 8 at a value of £30,000 and CCTV In Park Crescent, Barry at £30,000.  Accordingly, it had been requested that the Capital Programme 2007/08 be increased by £60,000 of which £30,000 would be added to the currently existing Alley Gates Phase 8 scheme.

 

It was anticipated that the below schemes would not be completed on target:

 

(iii)       Directorate of Environmental and Economic Regeneration

 

§          Barry Island Replacement Footbridge - option appraisal was now complete and tender documentation was anticipated to be completed in February 2008.  Before works could commence, approval was sought from Network Rail and, as such, the works budget would not be required until the next financial year.  Accordingly, it had been requested that the budget remaining after current year engineering fees had been paid in the sum of £360,000, would be carried forward into 2008/09 to fund the actual works.

 

§          Dyffryn Gardens Phase 1 - ongoing delays with the glasshouse restoration at the gardens prompted a request to slip the amount of £332,000 into the 2008/09 Capital Programme.  It was anticipated that this work would be completed early next financial year.  This extension had been agreed by the Heritage Lottery Fund who was funding these works.

 

§          Waste Resource Park - the original design had had to be amended in order to identify a suitable design to fit the available budget.  This had created delays to the scheme and as such no works were likely to be undertaken until 2008/09.  It was intended that engineering fees would be funded from this year’s budget and, it was requested that a sum of £870,000 be slipped into 2008/09 to fund works.

 

§          Spine Road Infrastructure/Innovation Quarter - the proposed road was an integral part of the development of the proposed Primary Care Centre at the Waterfront, Barry.  Having consulted with Design Commission for Wales, the Primary Care Centre’s developers were re-designing the scheme and a submission for planning approval was anticipated in January 2008.  The new programme for the delivery of the project was now 2008/09 and accordingly it had been requested that the current budget be slipped into 2008/09.

 

Appendix 2 to the report also provided non-financial information on capital schemes with a budget over £100,000.

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the position with regard to the Council’s 2007/08 Capital Programme be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

That Members are aware of the projected capital outturn for 2007/08.

 

 

738     SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - TRACKING OF RECOMMENDATIONS (DLPPHS) -

 

The Committee was apprised of the progress in relation to recommendations that had been made during the quarterly period October to December 2007 and to consider actions against those uncompleted recommendations for the period April to September 2007.  The Committee’s views were also sought in relation to progress against each recommendation, where further action may be required to ensure the required action was undertaken, and to confirm any action as completed.

 

RECOMMENDED -

 

(1)       T H A T the actions indicated as completed below be agreed:

 

October 2007 to December 2007

 

Date

Scrutiny Recommendation

Action

09 Oct 07 - Min. No. 421

Barry Town Hall - Exhibition Area (Minute No. C3198) - Recommended

(1) That the Cabinet be advised of this Scrutiny Committee’s objection to the establishment of a coffee shop facility.

(2) That, Cabinet in light of recommendation (1) above, be requested to ensure that professional and a dedicated art space is preserved on the basis of the existing Exhibition Area.

 

 

Completed

 

 

Completed

Min. No. 422

Social Services Budget 2007/08 - Recommended

(2) That the report be referred to the Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety) for consideration.

 

 

Completed

Min. No. 426

Task and Finish Group; Ward Member Consultation - Recommended

(1) That a Ward member Consultation task and Finish Group be established and the following membership for 2007/08 be as follows:

    Conservative Group: Councillors H.J.W. James, Mrs. C.V.L. Clay and C.L. Osborne

     Labour Group: Councillors F.T. Johnson and M.R. Wilson

     Plaid Cymru: Councillor N.P. Hodges

     Independent Group; Councillor Mrs. S.M. Bagstaff

(2) That the draft Checklist Scoping relating to the above review be agreed at the first meeting of the Group.

 

 

Completed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed

06 Nov 07 -

Min. No. 503

Scrutiny Committee - Tracking of Recommendations - Recommended

(3) That the following uncompleted actions be noted and the following action be taken to address these outstanding actions:

     12 June 2007 - Min. No. 90 - Draft Service Plan 2007/08 - Human Resources and equalities (DLD) - Recommended (2) That 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.

     11 September 2007 - Min. No. 327 - Public Opinion Survey 2006 - Action Plan (CX) - Recommended (2) That 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) That 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”.

 

 

Completed

Min. No. 506

Quarterly Performance Monitoring - 2nd Quarter - 1st July - 30th September 2007 - Finance and Property (DFICTP) - Recommended

(2) That sickness absence management information be reported to the Scrutiny Committee on a quarterly basis as part of the quarterly performance monitoring arrangements.

 

 

 

Completed

11 Dec 07 -

Min. No. 646 -

References from Scrutiny Committees - That the following references be noted (the detail of each further considered in the agenda), and referred to Cabinet:

-   References from Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety): 26th November, 2007 -

Min. No. 566 - Initial Revenue Budget Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) -

 

(2) That the minutes of the meeting be forwarded to the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) for consideration.

Min. No. 567 - Initial Capital Programme Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) - Recommended - That the report and the suggestions be supported and referred to Scrutiny Committee Corporate Resources).

Min. No. 568 - Initial Housing Revenue Account Budget Proposals 2008/09 and Revised Budget 2007/08 (DLPPHS & DFICTP) - Recommended - That the report be noted and referred to the Scrutiny Committee Corporate Resources for consideration.

 

-   Reference from Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment): 27th November and 4th December, 2007 -

27 November 2007: Initial Revenue Budget Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) -  Recommended -

(1) That Cabinet be notified of the Committee’s concern at the proposal to set an additional savings target for the Directorate of £650k. at this late stage in the financial year and at the consequent impact on services.

 

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS - 4TH DECEMBER, 2007

Initial Revenue and Capital Programme Proposals 2008/09 - Additional Budgetary Information (DEER) - Resolved -

(1) That, having carefully considered the savings put forward by the Director, and the fact that the £650k. cuts required by Cabinet within the current financial year were considered excessive and would inevitably lead to a reduction in services, the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) be asked to recommend to Cabinet that, if savings were required to be made, those proposed savings relating to Highway Maintenance affecting weed spraying, priority patching and surfacing repairs only and the non-replacement of stolen / damaged street names be removed from the list shown above given the importance to the public and, in the case of the latter two, the false economy of not undertaking the necessary work would place further service pressures on the Directorate for the following financial year.

 

(2) That the Initial Revenue Budget proposals for 2008/09 and the Initial Capital Programme proposals for 2008/09 be noted and the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) requested to take account of the views of this Committee as indicated above.

Initial Revenue Budget Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) - Recommended - That the initial revenue budget proposals for 2008/09 be noted.

Initial Capital Programme Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) - Recommended - That the initial capital budget proposals be noted and that Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) and Cabinet be informed accordingly.

Completed

Min. No. 648

Initial Revenue Budget Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) - Recommended -

(1) That this Scrutiny Committee notes the Initial Revenue Budget Proposals for 2008/09, subject to recommendation (2) - (4) below, and be referred to Cabinet.

(2) That the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety) be noted.

(3) That the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment) be noted.

(4) That the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) be noted.

 

 

Completed

 

 

 

Completed

 

 

Completed

 

 

Completed

Min. No. 649

Initial Capital Programme Proposals 2008/09 (DFICTP) - Recommended -

(1) That the Initial Capital Programme Proposals for 2008/09 be noted, subject to recommendations (2)-(4) below and referred to Cabinet.

(2) That the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety) be noted.

(3) That the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee (Economy and Environment) be noted.

(4) That the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) be noted.

 

 

Completed

 

 

 

Completed

 

 

Completed

 

 

Completed

 

(2)       T H A T the actions indicated below for the uncompleted quarters period April - June 2007 and July - September 2007 be agreed as completed:

 

Date

Scrutiny Recommendation

Action

29 May 07 -

Min. No. 71

Social Services Change Plan 2007-10 (IDSS) -

(2) That quarterly monitoring reports of the Plan be submitted to this Scrutiny Committee, the Scrutiny Committee (Community Wellbeing and Safety) and the Cabinet based on a "traffic light" format.

 

Completed

12 Jun 07 -

Min. No. 88

Draft Service Plan 2007/08 - ICT (DFICTP) - Recommended -

(2)   That 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

 

 

 

 

 

Completed

Min. No. 90

Draft Service Plan 2007/08 - Human Resources and Equalities (DLD) - Recommended -

(2)   That 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

 

 

Completed

26 Jun 07 -

Min. No. 154

Implications of the Waste Agenda (REF) - Recommended -

(2) That the Director of Environmental and Economic Regeneration be requested to submit a further report to the Committee in respect of the cost implications and cost benefits for the Council associated with shared service proposals relating to waste management matters.

 

 

Completed

11 Sep 07 -

Min. No. 327

Min. No. 327 - Public Opinion Survey 2006 - Action Plan (CX) - Recommended -

(2) That 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) That 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".

 

 

Completed

 

 

 

 

 

Completed

 

(3)       T H A T it be noted that in respect of uncompleted recommendation Minute No. 269, Scrutiny Committee 24th July, 2007, that the Director of Learning and Development would be presenting a report to the Scrutiny Committee (Lifelong Learning) at its next meeting to be held on 18th February, 2008 regarding the use of grants under the 14-19 Learning Pathways Scheme.

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

(1-3)    In order to ensure effective scrutiny monitoring.

 

739     CONTACT ONEVALE QUARTER 2 2007/08 PERFORMANCE (CX) -

 

This Scrutiny Committee, at its previous meeting held on 18th December, 2007 required an explanation with regard to Performance Indicators L468, L472 and L476 addressing why no information had been available in relation to Performance Indicator L468 and L476; an explanation as to why there was poor performance in respect of Indicator L472 for Quarter 2 2007/08; and to advise what mitigation arrangements were in place to address the above matters.

 

The Operational Manager reported that in respect of Indicator L468 the percentage of enquiries on Welsh Line answered by a Welsh Speaker was linked to the introduction of the new single customer service number which was scheduled for March 2008, consequently there was no dedicated Welsh Language line in existence.   With regard to Indicator L476, the Committee was informed that whilst all Customer Service Representatives (CSR’s) at C1V had performance objectives based on the quality of service they provided, no formal Quality Assurance regime had been put in place and currently quality assessments had been undertaken on an ad hoc basis.  The Operational Manager reported a number of reasons for this, namely:

 

·                    the pace of introduction of new services and subsequent process and data capture changes over the period had meant that CSR’s were constantly adapting to new ways of working and were effectively trainees.  This had made it impossible to configure a consistent means of measuring quality.

·                    In January 2007 one of the two team leaders had resigned from their post and a decision was made to use this resource budget to bolster call handling capability at that time by the recruitment of CSR’s.  C1V continued with a single team leader under December 2007, during which period the workload involved in implementing new services with associated training and project work meant that the implementation of a formal performance management framework had not been possible.

 

It was noted that with regard to Indicators L716, L719 and L720 these had all been recorded as “Information not available from Oracle”, however data had been reported that had been maintained locally.  As for Indicator L472, a number of issues had impacted on this Performance Indicator.  Firstly, the Contact Centre was launched with estimated knowledge only of call volumes and patterns of demand and given the fact that the Contact Centre was still bedding in an assessment was still being undertaken to how best to schedule available resources to minimise abandoned call rates.  Secondly, C1V had been operating with at average CSR resource of 10 full time equivalent staff and consequently any sickness absence or requirement to schedule offline activity had had a significant impact upon call handling ability.  Thirdly, the floods experienced in July 2007 and the transference of Public Protection business in September 2007 saw an increase in second quarter call volumes and an increase in average handling time associated with taking calls for a new service.  All these above issues had served to increase abandoned call rates during the second quarter period.

 

In addition to the above matters, the Operational Manager also reported mitigation measures to minimise the risk of future under-performance in respect of Indicator L476 and L472 the details of which were outlined in the report. 

 

Discussion ensued with regard to Contact Centre arrangements with regard to their ability to undertake certain enquiries and first point of contact assessments in respect of the Social Services Directorate and the ability of Elected Members to contact officers directly. 

 

Having regard to the above and related issues, it was

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the report be noted.