Agenda and minutes

There were no communications to report.

There were no Declarations of Interest to report.

There were no questions from members of the public or the press.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting of the Self Regulation Select Commission held on 12^th July, 2012 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Matt Gladstone, Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance, and supplemented with a presentation which provided an analysis of the Council’s current performance against the twenty-nine key delivery outcomes contained within the Corporate Plan.  This was a year end and/or current position based on available performance measures together with an analysis of progress on key projects and activities which contributed to the delivery of the plan.

As a result of service reductions the Council’s ability to deliver all the corporate plan objectives was high risk.  The potential for under performance as a result of budget reductions highlighted the importance of integrating performance, risk and financial reporting.

All of the twenty-nine outcomes and associated high level measures would be reviewed during this reporting year to ensure that they remained meaningful and relevant, taking into consideration any new or changing outcomes dictated by external bodies.

The presentation drew further attention to:-

·              The Scorecard.

·              The Changes in Risk Rating.

·              The areas of good performance and areas for improvement and recovery actions within:-

à              Making sure no community is left behind.

à              Ensuring quality education, ensuring people have opportunities and improve skills, learn and get a job.

à              Ensuring care and protection are available to those people who need it most.

à              Helping create safe and healthy communities.

à              Improving the environment.

·              Political Influences.

The Select Commission welcomed this report, but raised a number of queries, particularly relating to:-

·              Outcome No. 1 (Fewer children are living in poverty) – relaunch of the Early Help Strategy, its current and future success, the escalation of an outcome that had been a “red” (not meeting targets) concern and the discrepancies around the criteria used/target setting in the information contained in the report (pages 10 and 26).

·              Involvement of schools in the targeting of support to vulnerable families.

·              Outcome No. 21 (More people are physically active and have a healthy way of life) - the apparent increases in obesity levels and the reasons for this, alongside the delivery of effective treatment to more people.   A detailed overview was required of the initiatives around active lifestyles and obesity.  It was recognised that the reduction in benefits as part of the Government’s welfare reforms and low wages, may mean that fresh, healthier food is less affordable to many families on low incomes

·              Outcomes 18 and 19 (People feel safe where they live and anti-social behaviour and crime is reduced) - whilst this was “green” this may be due to people to under-reporting.  This still needed to be closely monitored.

·              Format of Performance Clinics and their effectiveness.

·              The need for a full assessment of targets and standards and their importance.

·              Outcome No. 20 (People are able to live in decent affordable houses of their choice) - how this could be improved given that it only related to Council owned properties and whether this should be “amber” rather than “green”.

·              The impact on the environment and the reductions to services such as grass cutting and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

Further to Minute No. 6 of the meeting of this Select Commission held on 31^st May, 2012, consideration was given to the report presented by Caroline Webb, Senior Scrutiny Adviser, which provided an update on the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2012/13. 

The work programme was drawn up on the basis of its priorities and informed by comments from Commission Members and discussion with Cabinet Members and the Senior Leadership Team.

The work programme was flexible and issues may be referred to the Commission which were not known about at this stage.

The issue of parking charges was raised at the meeting on the 31^st May, 2012 and it was noted that the Chair and Vice-Chair had met with the Director of Streetpride and the Parking Services Manager to explore concerns. As a result of the discussions, changes have been made to information provided to customers.  The Chair and Vice-Chair agreed that no further action was required at this time.

In considering the contents of the work programme it was noted that the review into district heating, chaired by Councillor Beck, would be reporting to the November, 2012 meeting of this Commission.

Discussion ensued on areas for future scrutiny and it was suggested that some consideration be given to the commissioning of contracts and for this to be performance managed, the need for the budget setting process to come forward at a much earlier stage, Council Tax reforms and the timetabling of revenue account outturns.  It was suggested that, in light of previous discussions, a review of the corporate outcomes also be included in the work programme.

The Select Commission noted the changes that had occurred during the last year and in the reduction of staffing resources and suggested that an update be provided on the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the work programme and its contents be noted.

(2)  That the budget setting process and the corporate plan outcomes be listed as priority areas for future scrutiny.

(3)  That the Deputy Leader and Strategic Director of Resources be invited to a future meeting  to provide an update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Resolved:-  That the next scheduled meeting take place on Thursday, 11^th October, 2012 at 3.30 p.m.