Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

No declarations of interest were made.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 18^th December 2015 (budget, am and pm), 29^th January 2016 (budget) and 11^th February 2016 (copies enclosed).

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

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18^th December 2015 (budget - am), 18^th December 2015 (budget – pm), 29^th January 2016 (budget) and 11^th February 2016 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

ACCURACY

            18^th December 2015 – pm meeting

Councillor Richard Lloyd requested that the name Brian Mullin be change to read Billy Mullin in the apologies section. 

29^th January 2016

            Councillor Robin Guest asked for the heading of the minutes and the date of the meeting to be correctly reflected in the body of the minutes. 

MATTERS ARISING

11^th February 2016

Councillor Richard Jones referred to page 22 and the clarification he had sought on the efficiency measure for minor adaptations.  He felt that further explanation should be provided in reports where efficiencies had not been achieved but had been replaced.  In response to a comment from the Chief Executive, Councillor Jones confirmed that he had received an explanation following the meeting but he felt that it was important that the information was provided in the report.  The Chief Executive replied that this could be included in future reports.   

RESOLVED:

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

That the presentation by Superintendent Alex Goss of North Wales Police be received and Superintendent Goss thanked for his attendance and contribution.    

The Member Engagement Manager introduced Superintendent Alex Goss from North Wales Police.  He reminded the Committee that a discussion on the 101 phone service had taken place during the attendance at the meeting by the Police & Crime Commissioner, Mr. Winston Roddick, in December 2015.  As a result of that meeting a presentation on the 101 service had been requested. 

                        Superintendent Goss provided a detailed presentation which covered the following areas:-

·         Operational Support Services (OSS)

·         Calls and Incidents recorded in 2015

·         Communications Operators

·         Contact (Voice)

·         Other Means of Contact

·         Web Chat

·         POD

·         What happens with a call?

·         Inappropriate 999 calls

·         Tri-Service working

Superintendent Goss was aware of the frustrations expressed about the 101 Service which he felt were shared nationally.  He explained that the Force Communications Centre at St. Asaph was the first point of contact for those dialling 999 or 101 and that all 999 calls were answered within 10 seconds.  He added that a visit to the Centre could be facilitated for Members if required.  Superintendent Goss commented on the use of social media, which was an extremely powerful form of contact, and Web Chat, which had been introduced in July 2015; both were available 24 hours a day. 

The Centre was split into three areas which were Eastern for Wrexham and Flintshire, Central for Conwy and Denbighshire and Western for Gwynedd and Ynys Mon.  A new telephony system was to be introduced in early 2017 which would allow calls from Flintshire to be directed to the Flintshire Pod where operators who knew the area well would be situated.  He provided details of the priority given to calls received at the Communications Centre and examples of inappropriate 999 calls which was a significant challenge as it blocked people who genuinely needed the Police from using the service.  Close working was ongoing for the Police, Fire Authority and Ambulance Service to ensure that the public got the best possible service available to them at critical times. 

            A number of Councillors thanked Superintendent Goss for his presentation. 

The Chairman sought clarification on the recorded message received when dialling 101 which asked the user to choose a language on two occasions; he queried whether this could be streamlined.  Superintendent Goss advised that for 101 calls, callers heard a nationally determined bilingual greeting which lasted 53 seconds before the call was put through to the Control Centre where it would be answered.  The greeting had been agreed for use in all Police Forces in Wales but a number of enquires had been received as to why it needed to be so long; work was ongoing to try and reduce the length of the message.  There was a charge of 15 pence per minute for the 101 calls which was a national charge and was out of the control of the Police as it was set by the Home Office.  In North Wales, the service had retained an 0300 number for the Control Room, which was free of charge. 

Councillor Richard Lloyd referred to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

(a)       That the Committee is assured by the explanations given over the purpose of using consultants, the control of total cost and how value for money is obtained from current Council commissioning and contract management practice;

(b)       That the officers provide the Committee with details of the expenditure between the £2.831m coded as consultancy spend in 2014/15 and the £0.433m figure from the procurement classification; and 

(c)        That an analysis of the expenditure on consultants, to provide assurance on Value for Money, be submitted to the June meeting of the Committee and thereafter on an annual basis. 

The Chief Executive introduced a report to explain Council practice in the use of consultants and how value for money was obtained from commissioned consultancies. 

                        The Chief Executive asked that the Committee review his report objectively and keep the issues in proportion.  The report from the Audit Committee on 27 January 2016 was attached as an appendix; at that meeting it had been agreed that an update report on controls would be submitted to the July Audit Committee meeting.  He commented on the use of consultants in the public sector for areas where specific expertise was not already available within those organisations, and gave details of the definition of a consultant compared with an agency worker or interim manager. 

It was acknowledged that the issue of financial coding had been a concern and it was difficult to correctly ascertain the cost of properly defined consultants for previous years.  The report to Audit Committee had reported a cumulative expenditure of £2.831m coded as consultancy spend in 2014/15.  The report had also identified figures shown as consultancy under the procurement classification codes for business and management consultancy and project management services to only be £0.433m for 2014/15; the four known consultants over £25,000 contract value were detailed.  The table in the report showed a current total of £431,906 for consultancy costs for 2015/16 along with details of the projects that the consultants were working on. The Chief Executive explained that all of these appointments were supported by written business cases. 

The previously used definitions of consultants had been too general in their wording, leading to a range of expenditure, which should not have been recognised as consultancy, being allocated to the consultancy codes in the general ledger.  A list of expenditure that had been incorrectly coded to consultancy codes in recent years was reported in paragraph 2.02.  New controls had been put in place where Chief Officers could approve agency spend up to £25,000 but approval of a business case for any new consultancy work of a value of £25,000 or more would need to be given by the Chief Executive. 

The Corporate Finance Manager had been invited to make a formal statement on cost control in his capacity as Section 151 Officer and this was reported in paragraph 2.04. 

The two types of consultancy used were ‘fee based’ or ‘risk and reward’ and details of ‘live’ consultancies within Streetscene & Transportation, Social Services and Corporate Services were reported.  The Chief Executive explained that consultancies were funded from one of three areas which were (i) core budget, (ii) through ‘invest to save’ options or (iii) through Welsh Government/other grant funding.  There was strong evidence that skills and knowledge had been transferred from the consultants to the Council to make the organisation more self-sufficient for the future and examples of this were detailed in the report.  The Council was not too over-reliant on consultants.  He explained that whether ‘value for money’ was obtained from a consultant was a judgement best made by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

Report of the Corporate Finance Manager.  Portfolio of the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance.

(a)       That the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report be received;

(b)       That the Capital Programme Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report be received; and

(b)       That the Committee confirms that it is not making any formal recommendations to Cabinet on this occasion. 

Revenue Budget Monitoring (Month 9)              

The Finance Manager – Corporate Accounting and Systems introduced a report to provide Members with the Revenue Budget Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which was to be submitted to Cabinet on 22 March 2016. 

                        For the Council Fund, the projected net in-year expenditure was forecast to be £1.242m lower than budget which was a positive movement of £0.499m from Month 8.  Appendix 1 detailed the movements from Month 8 which included an additional surplus from the Council Tax Collection Fund, an underspend on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme provision, additional funding from the Department of Work and Pensions and a reduction in external audit fees and bank charges. 

Appendix 3 provided details of the latest position of the programme of efficiencies and it was projected that £10.744m (83%) would be achieved resulting in a net underachievement of £2.130m.  The Finance Manager had noted the earlier comments on efficiencies which had not been achieved but had been replaced.  Taking into account the current underspend at Month 9 and previous allocations, the balance on the contingency reserve at 31 March 2016 was projected to be £4.878m.  A summary of Earmarked Reserves as at 1 April 2015 was reported and the Month 9 estimate for the amount of reserves at 31 March 2016 was £17,261,681.   

The Month 9 Monitoring Report for the HRA was projecting in-year expenditure to be £0.082m lower than budget and a projected closing balance as at 31 March 2016 of £1.319m which was 4.25% of total expenditure. 

Councillor Richard Jones referred to the movement from Education & Youth to schools and sought an explanation of why this has occurred.  He also felt that the 83% figure for the achievement of efficiencies was incorrect as the difference between the amount achieved from Month 8 to Month 9 was £0.170m which was a difference of 1.3%.  In response, the Finance Manager explained that the movement from the Education & Youth budget related to the Additional Learning Needs delegated funding being moved from the Inclusion Service to Schools.  On the issue of efficiencies, she agreed to check the figures. 

Capital Programme Monitoring (Month 9)

            The Technical Finance Manager introduced the report to provide Members with the Capital Programme Monitoring 2015/16 (Month 9) report which was also to be submitted to Cabinet on 22 March 2016. 

Table 1 set out how the programme had changed during 2015/16 and appendix A provided detailed cumulative information relating to each portfolio.  There had been a net decrease of £2.2885m in the programme with the main decrease being a reduction in the budgeted level for the 21^st Century Schools programme.  Table 2 provided the summary of the changes and the overall decrease had been offset by grants and contributions which were reported in paragraphs 1.07 to 1.10.  Table 3 showed the current projected outturn of £140.826 which was an overall underspend of £3.513m (£2.013m for Council Fund and £1.500m for the HRA).  A total  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

            That having considered the Quarter 3 Improvement Plan Monitoring Report, the Committee is assured of progress and performance. 

The Member Engagement Manager introduced a report to present the monitoring of progress for the third quarter of 2015/16 focussing on the areas of underperformance relevant to the Committee. 

                        The Chief Executive advised that the efficiency targets were reported monthly and any variations would be absorbed into the year-end information.  The risk relating to the scale of the financial challenge was recognised as a national risk due to the uncertainty about future national financial planning. 

                        On the issue of alternative delivery models through community asset transfers, there had been 106 expressions of interest for 208 assets and if they were all achieved, then 49% of the assets would be transferred.  A report which was to be considered by Cabinet on 22^nd March 2016 included a list of community assets with approved business plans.  The Chief Executive commented on the official handover of the Gwernymyndd Village Centre and the recent opening of the Mancot Community Library.        

            RESOLVED:

            That having considered the Quarter 3 Improvement Plan Monitoring Report, the Committee is assured of progress and performance. 

            That having considered the Quarter 3 Workforce Information report, the Committee is assured of progress. 

The Interim Human Resources and Organisational Change Manager introduced the report to provide Members with an update for the third quarter for 2015/16 for the following:-

·         Headcount and Full Time Equivalent (FTE)

·         Organisational Age Profile

·         Employee Turnover and Stability (including Redundancies and Early Retirements)

·         Attendance (Including 100% Appraisal)

·         Performance Appraisals and Development

·         Resource Management (Agency Workers)

·         Equality and Diversity

The headcount for the Council continued to decrease and the cumulative absence FTE days lost for quarter three was 7.34 which was a positive movement.  The projected outturn for 2015/16 was currently 9.78 which was slightly above the annual target for the year of 9.60 days.  The outturn figure had reduced when compared with 2014/15 but there was a need to continue to monitor the situation.  On the issue of agency workers, the Interim Manager explained that the majority of spend was within Streetscene & Transportation which had 75 front line vacancies and Social Services which had used a number of agency workers to cover vacancies and to supplement some of the core workforce allocated to special/ad hoc projects. 

            Councillor Robin Guest sought clarification on whether the issues relating to appraisals had been resolved.  The Interim Manager indicated that there had been a positive response to the completion of appraisals but difficulties in capturing the information within the software were still continuing.  Both the Chief Executive and the Interim Manager shared the frustrations expressed by Members and the Interim Manager added that being able to capture the data would assist with workforce planning. 

            In response to a question from Councillor Arnold Woolley, the Interim Manager advised that the Council’s induction programme had recently been updated to include those employees who had changed jobs within the Authority.  It was expected that this would be undertaken even though the information was not being captured.  Councillor Woolley expressed his concern that the expectation was not being delivered and that there were no controls in place to monitor this.  The Chief Executive referred to the transition arrangements that were in place and the Interim Manager explained that both the employee and the manager had to sign to indicate that the induction had taken place.  The Chairman asked whether there were any employees who had not had an appraisal for longer than a year.  The Interim Manager responded that there was a system in place to monitor when appraisals took place which would include the date of the appraisal and any follow up action or competency assessment that had been carried out. 

            The Chairman sought clarification on the 77 agency placements that had exceeded the 12 week Agency Worker Regulations threshold.  The Interim Manager explained that the regulations gave agency workers additional protection after 12 weeks on areas such as pay and holidays. 

            Councillor Arnold Woolley raised concern at the number of agency workers who had been in place for more than 12 weeks and queried why they were not employed by the Council to fill the vacancies that they were covering.  He also asked about costs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme, as submitted with the verbal amendments, be approved; and

(b)       That the Member Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Chair, Vice-Chair and officers, be authorised to vary the work programme between meetings.   

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

                        He detailed the items for consideration at the 14 April and 12 May 2016 meetings and indicated that the report on the Use of Agency Workers could be included on the 12 May 2016 agenda.  Presentations on BT and the Flintshire Community Endowment Fund were due to be submitted to the April and May meetings respectively. 

                        The Chief Executive explained that the newly appointed Emergency Planning Manager would be in attendance at the April meeting. 

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme, as submitted with the verbal amendments, be approved; and

(b)       That the Member Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Chair, Vice-Chair and officers, be authorised to vary the work programme between meetings.    

                        There were no members of the public and one member of the press in attendance.