Agenda, decisions and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 5^th July 2012 and 12^th July 2012.

That subject to the suggested amendments, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meetings of the Committee held on 5 July 2012 and 12 July 2012 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

Matters Arising

5 July 2012 meeting

                        Councillor C.S. Carver asked whether a date had been arranged for the next meeting of the Single Status Project Board.  The Chief Executive confirmed that he would make enquiries and advise Councillor Carver outside of the meeting. 

            Councillor P.J. Curtis indicated that a written response had not yet been received on further details on car parks; the Member Engagement Manager circulated a response. 

            12 July 2012 meeting

            The Member Engagement Manager advised that the end time for the meeting would be amended to read 11.44 a.m.

            RESOLVED:

That subject to the foregoing, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman indicated that there would be a slight change in the order of business to bring forward the Quarter 1 Service Performance reports for Legal and Democratic Services and Finance.  The remainder of the agenda would then be considered in the order as shown.   

(a)               That the reports be received;

(b)               That a report on the financial impact of Welfare Reform be considered by the Committee at a future date; and

(c)        That the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development provide further details on the policy on subsistence claims. 

Legal and Democratic Services

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services introduced a report to request that the Committee consider the 2012/13 Quarter 1 service performance reports, note the position of the Strategic Assessment of Risks and Challenges (SARC) contained within the performance reports and note progress made against the Improvement Targets contained within the performance reports.  He gave a short presentation on the performance within Legal and Democratic Services, outlining work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within the report. 

The Chairman asked if an estimate could be provided of when the risk for data protection could be reported as green in the SARC document.  The Chief Executive explained that it was a specific risk but should be amber or green next year. 

Councillor C.S. Carver commented on the small number of Members who attended the Code of Conduct training sessions.  He also asked if letters which did not specifically refer to being a Freedom of Information request were included in the figures reported as being received and determined.  The Chief Executive and Head of Legal and Democratic Services confirmed that the figures were indicative of the number of questions which specifically mentioned being a Freedom of Information request. 

In response to a question from Councillor P. Curtis, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that the 51 new parking prosecutions were those which had been taken to Court and not just the number of people who had been given parking tickets.  He added that the figures did not include prosecutions undertaken by North Wales Police. 

Councillor R. Lloyd asked if the turnout for voting could be increased.  The Chief Executive said that the Authority did all it could to encourage voters and the Chairman said that candidates could also remind the public about voting when they were visiting areas in the run up to the elections. 

            Finance

The Head of Finance introduced a report to request that the Committee consider the 2012/13 Quarter 1 service performance reports, note the position of the Strategic Assessment of Risks and Challenges (SARC) contained within the performance reports and note progress made against the Improvement Targets contained within the performance reports.  She gave a short presentation on the performance within Finance, outlining work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within the report. 

The Leader of the Council explained that a substantial risk to the Council was the introduction of the Welfare Reform and that an early estimate for the new Council Tax Support Scheme was that it could cost £2m in 2013/14.  An announcement was awaited on the amount of funding which would be available from Welsh Government.  The Welfare Reform Board, which was open to all Cabinet Members and Group Leaders and other partner organisations, had recently been established with the risk of costs being identified as a key priority for those on the Board.  The Head of Finance said that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Report of the Head of Finance enclosed.

(a)       That the report be noted; and

(b)       That variances on Locality Teams (Localities), Vacancy Management (Development & Resources), Family Placement (Children’s Services) and Professional Support (Children’s Services) reported in appendix 1 be referred to Social and Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee for detailed consideration. 

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced the report to provide Members with the latest Revenue Budget Monitoring information for 2012/13 as at Month 3 which would be submitted to Cabinet on 18 September 2012. 

                        The projected in-year overspend of £1.053m was mainly due to a currently forecast overspend of £1.303m within Lifelong Learning, comprising of Leisure £0.399m, School Improvement Service £0.073m, Schools related £0.345m, Service units £0.245m and Facilities £0.274m, offset by minor savings of £0.033m.  The significant in-year projected variances to date were detailed in appendices 1 to 5 for Council Fund and appendix 7 for Housing Revenue Account (HRA).  Within Leisure Services, the £8m refurbishment of Leisure Centre Provision in Flint and Deeside had been completed on time and on budget.  The business plans for each centre highlighted the need for the Council to invest revenue funding to support the new facilities in their first year of operation.  It was now being recommended to Cabinet that £0.361m be allocated from contingency as a one-off investment for this purpose.  It was the intention of Management to contain the currently projected variation within the overall agreed Council budget for the year. As part of the ongoing work to develop the Medium Term Financial Plan, opportunities to generate efficiencies were being explored, including those that may have a positive impact on the 2012/13 projected outturn. 

                        The Corporate Finance Manager also highlighted the risks/assumptions and non standard inflation of £0.078m in respect of Energy for Street Lighting, Energy, Fuel and Food.  Appendix 6 detailed the movements to date on unearmarked reserves and the level of contingency sum remaining.  As a result of these movements, the current projected level of the contingency reserve at the end of March 2013 was an overdrawn amount of £0.422m.

                        The HRA reported an overall projected overspend of £0.030m at Month 3 and a projected closing balance of £1.590m, which at 6% of total expenditure satisfied the prudent approach of ensuring a minimum level of 3%.  Appendix 7 provided details of the variance for the HRA.  It was recommended that delegated authority be granted to the Head of Housing to allocate additional CERA contributions from HRA balances over and above the required level of 3% of total expenditure. 

                        The Chief Executive explained that the projected outturn for Central & Corporate Finance reflected additional corporate “windfall” income of £0.081m, arising from payment of a claim against Welsh Government for costs in respect of staff time incurred in supporting the recent Housing stock transfer tenants consultation and ballot.  A total of £0.100m was claimed for staff time, which had been apportioned as appropriate between the Council Fund (£0.081m) and the HRA (£0.019m).  The Chief Executive added that the overspend in the Lifelong Learning Directorate was being taken seriously and he introduced the Director of Lifelong Learning and the Head of Culture and Leisure to provide details and answer questions on the issue. 

                        The Leader of the Council felt that it was important that a detailed discussion was undertaken by the Lifelong Learning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

ICT and Customer Services

The Operational Services Manager introduced a report to request that the Committee consider the 2012/132 Quarter 1 service performance reports, note the position of the Strategic Assessment of Risks and Challenges (SARC) contained within the performance reports and note progress made against the Improvement Targets contained within the performance reports.  He gave a short presentation on the performance within ICT and Customer Services, outlining work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within the report. 

In response to a question from Councillor I. Dunbar on the Procurement – General Update and the national pilot scheme being undertaken by the Authority alongside Swansea and Merthyr, the Operational Services Manager provide further detail on how the scheme worked. 

Councillor C.S. Carver commented on the problems which he had experienced when using the Guest wireless system.  The Operational Services Manager explained that he would look at the issues raised and try and identify a solution.  

Human Resources and Organisational Development

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development introduced a report to request that the Committee consider the 2012/132 Quarter 1 service performance reports, note the position of the Strategic Assessment of Risks and Challenges (SARC) contained within the performance reports and note progress made against the Improvement Targets contained within the performance reports.  She gave a short presentation on the performance within Human Resources and Organisational Development, outlining work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within the report. 

Councillor P.J. Curtis welcomed the pilot scheme in Streetscene for physiotherapy but raised concern about the sickness levels and asked whether enough was being done on enforcement of the policy.  The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that she would provide further information on the pilot scheme to a future meeting of the Committee.  There had been a slow but steady improvement in the reduction in sickness levels and she added that the policy was enforced and had led to some employees being dismissed due to their sickness record.  Councillor Curtis felt that the sickness levels would have reduced because of the flexi scheme operated by the Council but this had not been the case, however he welcomed the work that was ongoing. 

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development provided an update on progress made on implementing the self service modules on iTrent.  She explained that the Expenses module for claiming mileage and subsistence was being rolled out across Corporate Services currently.  In response to a question from Councillor M. Bateman, the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development said that the guidance on subsistence was being reviewed and explained that only a small number of the workforce were eligible to receive subsistence payments.  She added that she would provide further information on the policy.  The Leader of the Council welcomed the offer to provide further information but said that one example may be where an employee was representing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

That the Member Engagement Manager, Chairman and Vice-Chairman populate the Forward Work Programme for the future meetings. 

The Member Engagement Manager introduced the report to advise on the Forward Work Programme for the Committee. 

            During earlier discussions it had been agreed that reports on the following be submitted to future Committee meetings:-

1.         Workforce Information Report

2.         People Strategy update

3.         Financial risk developing from the Welfare Reform project

The Member Engagement Manager added that as the Cabinet developed its Forward Work Programme, topics would be fed into the programme for this Committee but reminded Members that they could also suggest topics for inclusion.  He suggested that the Chairman, Vice-chairman and Member Engagement Manager populate the Forward Work Programme for the future meetings. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the Member Engagement Manager, Chairman and Vice-Chairman populate the Forward Work Programme for the future meetings. 

                        The meeting commenced at 10.00 a.m. and ended at 12.50 p.m.

                        There was 1 member of the public or press in attendance.