Issue - meetings

That the reports be received. 

The Chief Executive introduced a report for the Committee to consider elements of the 2014/15 Improvement Plan Monitoring report relevant to the Committee for the period April to July 2014. 

Representatives from each of the service areas gave a short presentation on the Improvement Plan progress, outlining the progress status, how the achievements would be measured and the actions/arrangements in place to control the risk.  They also answered questions, as shown below, on each of the service areas which were:-

·         Welfare Reform

·         Organisational Change

·         Financial Strategy

·         Procurement Strategy

·         Asset Strategy

·         Access to Council Services

·         People Change & Development

Welfare Reform

Councillor Ian Dunbar welcomed the work of the Welfare Reform Team and, in referring to householders with disabilities, commented on there not being any smaller adapted properties available for them to move into.  He queried whether it would be more cost effective to allow them to stay in their current property rather than them having to move.  The Team Manager Advice & Homeless Service spoke of a common sense approach but referred to the spare room subsidy which would result in tenants losing benefits if they had too many bedrooms in their property.  The Welfare Team would ensure that the tenants were receiving all the benefits they were entitled to including access to Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP), which could be paid for as long as it was deemed necessary.  He also referred to a recent Private Members Bill that the spare room subsidy should only apply if alternative properties were available, which had been discussed in Parliament.

In praising the work of the Welfare Reform Team, Councillor Paul Shotton asked whether Flintshire County Council had received any of the funding from the extra DHP monies made available specifically for Wales.  The Team Manager advised that Flintshire had not received any of the funding specifically for rural locations but had been successful in its application for £50,000 from the Welsh Government’s ‘Additional DHP Fund’ which would contribute to the Welfare Reform Team and the development of Advice Gateway Service. 

Organisational Change

Councillor Robin Guest queried the quarter 1 outturn which was reported as being ‘under review’.  The Chief Executive responded that as there were many ongoing service reviews, it was impossible to set a meaningful target at this point.   

Financial Strategy

Councillor Mike Peers queried whether it would be possible to produce a four year sustainable plan, as reported, due the current financial climate.  The Chief Executive responded that in the absence of indicative figures it was difficult to plan with any certainty.  He added that requests had been put forward for three to four year budget proposals from Welsh Government (WG) rather than the current annualised information. 

Councillor Richard Jones sought clarification on the entry for the 2014/15 target on page 40 and in response, the Corporate Finance Manager explained that it had been confirmed for 2014/15 that 100% of resources were in place.  Following a further query from Councillor Jones, the Chief Officer (People and Resources) explained that the ‘Red/Amber/Green’ (RAG)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26