Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

No declarations of interest were made.

No declarations of interest were made.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 May 2016 (copy enclosed).

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 May 2016 had been circulated with the agenda.

Councillor Arnold Woolley requested that officers pay more attention to the use of grammar and avoid long sentences in minutes.  This was duly noted.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

(a)       That the committee notes the corporate cost pressures and main areas of income and expenditure under review for 2017/18 and supports the proposals;

(b)       That the committee notes the Corporate Services Portfolio Business Plan cost pressures and proposed efficiencies and supports the proposals; and

(c)       That the committee accepts, in principle, the developing strategy for the 2017/18 budget, and the process and timelines for setting the annual budget , in its wider role of corporate financial governance.

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced the update report on the financial forecast for the 2017/18 financial year, including the budget pressures and main areas of income and expenditure under review for corporate financial stewardship.  The report also set out the budget pressures and proposed efficiencies for corporate services in 2017/18 as the third and final year of the current portfolio business planning cycle.  The budget process was being started earlier in the year to enable all Overview & Scrutiny committees to consider proposals within their respective areas, prior to public consultation later in the year.

The officers delivered a presentation on proposals for the Corporate Services portfolios for 2017/18 together with the ongoing work on corporate financial planning and stewardship.  The presentation covered:

·         Local context

·         Summary of independent review of corporate services

·         Corporate Services comparative analysis

·         Corporate Services - efficiencies and pressures

·         Efficiency targets 2017/18

·         Efficiency statements

·         Resilience statements

·         Summary of corporate cost pressures

Councillor Richard Jones spoke about differences in operating shared services in larger private sector companies and added that the independent review on corporate services could have been undertaken by Welsh Government (WG) for a more balanced view.  He suggested that areas such as Health & Safety, Performance and Quality could be created as shared services with other Authorities in Wales where the same measures applied.  On the comparative analysis, Councillor Jones stressed the importance of focussing on Legal and Finance where value for money, efficiency and resilience were rated as Amber.

The Chief Officer spoke about the expectation for increasing the pace on collaborative working and for the Council to seek out as many opportunities for efficiencies in the meantime.  The purpose of the independent review was to ensure that efficiency opportunities had been maximised whilst recognising that further work could be done.  For example, in ICT, the business model was seen as good practice and significant savings had already been achieved prior to the business planning stage.  There was potential for more income generation, however further cuts would be challenging at this time due to high demand on the service.  To address this, temporary investment had been earmarked to improve working practices and help deliver the necessary efficiencies.

Councillor Marion Bateman asked about the prospect of increased collaborative working if local government reorganisation did not proceed.  The Chief Officer stated that this was the expectation, adding that officers were exploring a range of shared services with other councils including those across the border with England.

Councillor Aaron Shotton reported that there had been an indication from WG that local government reorganisation on a boundary basis would not go ahead.  He suggested that there could be more regional working with perhaps a greater focus on economic activity.

Human Resources & Organisational Design

Whilst Councillor Paul Shotton commended the efficiencies made to date, he raised concerns about the potential impact of further savings.  The Interim HR & OD Manager pointed out that the current model represented leading industry practice and stated her confidence in achieving the proposed savings, however any further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

That the Committee accepts the Revenue Budget Monitoring Report 2015/16 (Month 12).  Whilst the Committee confirmed that there was no specific issue which is to be formally raised at the Cabinet, it was agreed that the concerns at the continued level of agency staff use be reported.

The Corporate Finance Manager introduced a report on the revenue budget monitoring position for Month 12 of 2015/16 for the Council Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) prior to its consideration at Cabinet on 21 June 2016.  The projected position was that net spend would be £1.372m less than the budget which was a negative movement of approximately £0.200m.  This was mainly due to an increase in projected out of county placement costs but had been offset by additional income on the Council Tax collection fund.  Some additional requests had been made to carry forward funding, mainly comprising changes to previously agreed amounts and these were recommended for approval.

Councillor Marion Bateman referred to the increased overspend and high percentage of agency workers in Streetscene.  Although more a question for the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee, it was reported that the number of agency workers in Streetscene was likely to reduce over the coming months as permanent posts were filled as part of the restructure.

Following a question from Councillor Paul Shotton, the Corporate Finance Manager confirmed that there had been a downward trend in recycling sale values which had been identified as a risk in the report.  All pressures would continue to be monitored and projections amended for 2016/17 and 2017/18 and built into the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  Councillor Richard Jones pointed out that projections for 2016/17 had already taken account of the pressure for recycling.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee accepts the Revenue Budget Monitoring Report 2015/16 (Month 12).  Whilst the Committee confirmed that there was no specific issue which is to be formally raised at the Cabinet, it was agreed that the concerns at the continued level of agency staff use be reported.

That the Committee welcomes the savings and benefits delivered by the project, the proposed steps to close the project and thanks all staff involved for their contributions to it.

The Chief Officer (Governance) introduced a report seeking comments to Cabinet on the savings and benefits delivered by the project and the proposed steps to close the project.  He summarised the outcomes from the review which had so far generated savings of £1.133m.  The streamlining of administrative posts had built greater resilience into the team, giving more flexibility to maximise resources.  A separate report on the next phase of the process to bring together the remaining portfolio administrative teams into two services would be considered later on the agenda.

In responding to questions from the Chairman, the Chief Officer gave an explanation on the consistency achieved across generic duties and salaries of the administrative team, and felt that this process could not be applied to other role groups other than administration.

Following a request by Councillor Arnold Woolley, the Chief Officer explained that the report made clear that the number of administrative posts identified at the start of the review was an estimate that had not been validated.  Posts had been taken out of the scope of the review for various reasons and other posts had been deleted with the savings accounted for elsewhere.  He agreed to provide a breakdown of the full-time equivalent posts which had been deleted by the review, including details of full-time and part-time hours.

Members expressed their appreciation to the officer team for their work on the review and were informed of the excellent support which had been given by a number of officers across the Council.  The Chief Officer agreed to pass on thanks to those involved.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee welcomes the savings and benefits delivered by the project, the proposed steps to close the project and thanks all staff involved for their contributions to it.

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

(b)       That the Member Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, should this be necessary.

In presenting the Forward Work Programme for consideration, the Member Engagement Manager advised that the Police & Crime Commissioner had been invited to attend the Committee’s meeting in November.

Following a suggestion by Councillor Richard Jones, it was agreed that comments from Overview & Scrutiny committees on specific proposals for the Council Fund Revenue Budget 2017/18 would be reported to the September meeting.  To accommodate this extra item, it was agreed that the Community Safety Partnership report may need to be deferred to a special meeting, if necessary, subject to consultation between the Chairman and officers.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)       That the Member Engagement Manager, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, should this be necessary.

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as the following items were considered to be exempt by virtue of paragraph 15 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting as the following items were considered to be exempt by virtue of paragraph 15 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The Chairman indicated that there would be a slight change in the order of business to consider Agenda Item 9 before Item 8.

That the Committee accepts and approves the proposed functions for the Combined Administrative service to the Cabinet at its meeting on 21 June 2016.

The Chief Officer (Governance) presented a report seeking comments to Cabinet on the proposed functions and structure for the combined administrative service.

The Committee supported Councillor Woolley’s proposal that the recommendations be accepted and approved without comment.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee accepts and approves the proposed functions for the Combined Administrative service to the Cabinet at its meeting on 21 June 2016.

That the Committee supports and commends the proposed structure for the Governance portfolio to the Cabinet.

The Chief Officer (Governance) presented a report seeking comments to Cabinet on the proposed structure for Legal Services.  A number of factors had informed the proposals, including the recommendations of the recent Corporate Services review, the views of service users and team members and efficiency targets.

In responding to questions, the Chief Officer said that the proposed structure would generate a greater degree of flexibility and help to improve the responsiveness of the service.  He alluded to the key support that the section gave across the Council which required the necessary level of resources.  Members were also reminded that the proposals for Democratic Services would need to be reported to Cabinet followed by Democratic Services Committee and endorsement at full Council.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee supports and commends the proposed structure for the Governance portfolio to the Cabinet.

There were no members of the press or public in attendance.