Agenda and minutes

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 previous meeting of the Self Regulation Select Commission held on 21^st February, 2013, be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Reference was made to Minute No. 62 (Work Programme Update) and whether there were any additional items that the Select Commission wished to include as part of the work being taken forward.  Anyone wishing to include any issues should forward them onto the Senior Scrutiny Adviser.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Matt Gladstone, Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance, which provided an analysis of the Council’s current performance against the twenty-nine key delivery outcomes contained within the Corporate Plan. This report included the Quarter 3 details and a current position statement based on available performance measures for outcomes with a status of red or green, together with an analysis of progress on key projects and activities which contribute to delivery of the corporate plan.

As a result of service reductions, the Council’s ability to deliver all the corporate plan objectives is placed as a high risk. The potential for under performance as a result of budget reductions highlights the importance of integrating performance, risk and financial reporting.  The report also highlighted the various economic and political influences, including changes in national policy and funding which were already, or could potentially impact, on the performance of this Council’s corporate plan outcomes.

Further information was also provided by way of a presentation, which drew particular attention to:-

·                The Scorecard and the 29 Outcome Areas.

·                Changes in Risk Rating.

·                Examples of Good Performance and Areas for Improvement/Recovery Actions for each of the five priority areas.

·                Proposed Review of Corporate Plan Outcomes.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and subsequently clarified:-

-           Involvement of this Select Commission in the review of the Corporate Plan Outcome.

-           Opportunities to feed in comments to the review and the proposed outcome areas.

-           Comparisons against the national average profiles and not what was average in Rotherham.

-           Red rating for children living in poverty and how this could be mitigated.

-           Continuation of the CYPS Improvement Panel in order to push on and improve performance.

-           Low performance in No. 21 (more people are physically active and have a healthy way of life) and the reason for the shift from green to red rating.

-           The need for a full review and corporate assessment of all the priorities.

-           Self assessment/judgement calls of some of the priorities, whether these could be challenged and the need to take ownership.

-           Examples of good performance and objectivity of some areas for matters such as public transport.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the current position against each of the Corporate Plan outcomes be noted and that there should be continued implementation of the proposed interventions and corrective actions.

(2)  That the current Corporate Plan outcomes be revised and realigned to the Council’s key strategies and priorities with involvement from this Select Commission.

(3)  That any performance issues be kept under close review to prevent green/amber outcomes becoming rated red.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Simeon Leach, Regeneration Manager, which described the current and historical position for employment and worklessness in Rotherham. The report summarised the support currently available and identified potential activity which the Council could help to deliver in trying to improve employment prospects. The employment statistics for the Rotherham Borough area were appended to the report.

Further information was provided by way of a presentation which drew specific attention to:-

·                Employment Rate Comparisons.

·                Drivers of Worklessness.

·                How to Tackle Worklessness.

·                Previous Initiatives.

·                Current Intiatives.

·                Future Focus.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and subsequently clarified:-

-           Legacy of projects left by Yorkshire Forward and what support was being provided to Rotherham via the Sheffield City Region.

-           Unemployment in deprived areas and how the economies could be boosted to prevent areas being skilled bound.

-           Success rates of the local initiatives.

-           Attraction of new investment and growing existing firms, whilst ensuring that local residents could access them.

-           The need for supportive schemes to assist young people getting into work.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be received and the contents noted.

(2)  That the potential and current interventions in the Rotherham employment market be noted.

Further to Minute No. 21(6) of the meeting of the Self Regulation Select Commission held on 20^th September 2012, consideration was given to a report presented by Matt Gladstone, Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance, which outlined the current process for conducting performance clinics across all Council Directorates.

Concern had previously been expressed that Performance Clinics were not always effective and consistent and this Select Commission sought reassurance that improvements would be made to the process

With the aid of a presentation further information was provided on:-

·                The current format of Performance Clinics.

·                Issues that had been raised.

·                Proposals/next steps to improve the current format.

A discussion and a question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and subsequently clarified:-

-           The need for consistency in approach.

-           To ensure that Performance Clinic outcomes were clear and respective actions communicated.

-           Diary management and whether or not Performance Clinics could take place in an evening.

-           The need for a strong and independent Chair and appropriate membership to ensure appropriate challenge

-           The need for a robust and formalised framework for Performance Clinics to prevent any duplication with any spotlight scrutiny reviews.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be received and the contents noted.

(2)  That a robust and formalised framework for Performance Clinics be submitted to the next meeting of this Select Commission.

The Chairman, on behalf of the Select Commission, offered its best wishes for the future to Matt Gladstone, Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance, who would be leaving the Local Authority shortly to take up a position at Barnsley.

Resolved:-  That the next scheduled meeting of the Self Regulation Select Commission shall take place on Thursday, 2^nd May, 2013 commencing at 3.30 p.m.