Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

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

Councillor Beck, Chair of the Improving Places Select Commission, presented the findings and recommendations of a Scrutiny Review undertaken by the Commission into Waste Management.

A Task and Finish Group had been established and considered options in relation to Household Waste Recycling centres, re-use facilities, collection of bulky items, green waste collections, kerbside collections of bric-a-brac and collection of commercial waste.

Listed within the report were both the original terms of reference of the Review and the ten recommendations arising therefrom.  A copy of the full report of the Review was included with the documents submitted.

During discussion of the report, Members raised the following salient issues:-

-          Opportunities for income generation through the collection/disposal of commercial and non-domestic waste;

-           Possibility of an additional service with a third sector provider would be welcomed 

-          Efforts would be made to encourage more residents to compost green waste

-          Making it as easy as possible to dispose of waste at Household Waste Recycling Centres would help reduce flytipping together with enforcement action

Resolved:-  That the report be noted and forwarded to Commissioners and Cabinet for their consideration.

Karen Borthwick, Assistant Director of Education and Skills, presented an overview of the educational outcomes of children and young people in primary and secondary schools for the academic year ending in the summer of 2015.

Pupil outcomes in Rotherham had increased year on year in many areas.  Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 outcomes were still below the national average for a number of Indicators, however, the gap to the national average had reduced significantly.  Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 4 outcomes had exceeded the national average for a number of years.

The report set out further information under the headings of:-

-          Early Years Foundation Profile – Gender, Free School Meals

-          Early Years: Key Priorities

-          Key Stage 1 – Phonics, Gender, Pupil Premium. Assessments

-          Key Stage 2

-          Key Stage 4

Discussion ensued with the following issues raised/clarified:-

·           It would be possible to ascertain the benefits (if any) of children receiving free school meals with regard to their performance in examinations due to the children in Key Stage 1 currently receiving the meals.  There was no current evidence to support this issue

·           Rotherham mirrored the national patterns of different performance for boys and girls (with girls outperforming boys). The report was generic and covered the whole of the Borough of which there were some areas of outstanding performance.  The challenge that all schools faced was ensuring that both genders achieved well and were excited by learning. Schools were aware of the issues and had action plans in place.  There was evidence of where specific action had taken place improvements had been made

·           The responsibility for careers education and the guidance element of the curriculum rested very much with the school.  It was important that the school developed appropriate information and guidance for young people, raising their aspirations and making it clear about the pathways into apprenticeships, vocational work or onto further learning and employment.  The Local Authority was very much focussed on developing enterprise and also linkages with employers.  It worked as part of the Sheffield City Region developing links between schools and employers with the aim that all schools would have a link to an employer

There had been a good response across the whole City Region but specifically in Rotherham with some of the first schools picking up that opportunity where the school would be linked with an employer so that employer could engage with the school in terms of the education offer and information, advice and guidance.  It also gave a real insight into the Labour Market Information about the growing opportunities for young people within the labour market.  Special schools had also taken up the opportunity and this was starting to influence some of the employers about their attitude to working with and offering employment opportunities to children with SEND

·           The Local Authority was aiming to ensure that schools had an opportunity to meet with employers on a fairly regular basis to share information about the emerging curriculum and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

Consideration was given to a report, presented by the Interim Strategic Director of Adult Care and Housing containing the forecast outturn position for Adult Care and Support to 31st March, 2016, based on actual income and expenditure to 31st January, 2016.

The report stated that the forecast was for an overall overspend of £0.051m against a net revenue budget of £69.782m. The principal budget pressures were due to the increase in demand for services mainly in respect of direct payments and residential care placements. These pressures were being reduced by non-recurrent grant funding plus a number of actions including reviews of high cost placements and efficiency savings targets to ensure tight financial management. 

Members’ discussion highlighted the following salient issues:-

-          Acknowledgement that it would be useful to have someone who was in receipt of direct payments as part of the Direct Payments Task Group

-          Consultation was taking place with other local authorities in similar positions to that of Rotherham to learn from their experiences

-          It was the aim to have a fully integrated Children’s and Adult Services.  It was essential colleagues in Children’s and Adult Services worked together positively.  Discussions had taken place between the two Strategic Directors to set the approach and tone

-          The estimated cost for Rotherham arising from the Living Wage was estimated to be £3.3M.  The 2% precept would raise half.  This issue would need to be addressed as the Authority faced significant pressures from a number of areas and would grow

-          The review of all residential care placements within Learning Disabilities was underway and hopefully would be completed shortly.  There were currently nineteen out of Borough placements.  There were monthly performance meetings of the Adult Care Development Programme which were reported to the Cabinet Member and Commissioner Myers

-          There were severe budget targets and there was confidence that they would be met although it was acknowledged that there were significant variations amongst the budget headings particularly for Physical and Sensory Disabilities.  Dedicated officers were reviewing this budget heading and progress was being made

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

(2) That the latest financial forecast against budget for 2015/16 and the actions being taken to mitigate the budget pressures facing Adult Social Services, as described in the report now submitted, be noted.

(3)  That a further report be submitted on Physical and Sensory Disabilities particularly in relation to the projected variance of the budget.

The Interim Strategic Director of Adult Care and Housing, presented an update on the work that had been undertaken to date and set out the scale of the challenge and the need to invest in an integrated approach to improve the Authority’s offer for Community Assets in Rotherham.

As part of the Adult Social Care Development Programme, there had been a specific piece of work around Community Assets which had formed one of the five key areas of work within the Programme.  The Community Assets Board consisted of a multi-agency approach and was responsible for delivering on the required outcomes for Adult Social Care. 

Frank Markham, Enabling Services, gave the following powerpoint presentation:-

Thriving Communities

-          Under the Care Act, a move from assessing people for services and packages of care to assessing how the local authority could improve their outcomes for leading a quality life

-          That must entail utilising community assets to provide people with the opportunity to “thrive” and not just “survive”

-          Our obligation is not met when we put in place homecare to address a need arising from an inability to do a daily living task

-          We have to go beyond this but not through using even more resources but using community assets and services and resources provided by other organisations

-          We can achieve this by working in partnership and improving our offer to customers which gives them more choice and control over their lives

-          To achieve the outcome of Thriving Communities we need to have a rich mix of activities within our communities and encourage participation and engagement from all

Information Sharing

-          So we know we need to improve the way we share information and get smarter at what we do

-          We know that we have lots of activity within Rotherham and lots of good practice but we are not very good at sharing our information

-          Over the last seven months Adult Social Care have concentrated on looking at what Rotherham has to offer in respect to community groups, voluntary groups and what the use of the assets we have

Our aim is for a seamless system but at the moment this is what we hold:-

-          Lots of data about activities within communities in different formats and different systems

-          We cannot continue to operate in a fragmented way – it is not helpful to officers and does not provide the best services for the citizens of Rotherham

How do we move forward?

-          By having an integrated approach and investing in one system that holds all information including a visual element

-          We need to share information between colleagues and partners and take ownership for keeping our information up-to-date and then promote this with our customers and citizens of Rotherham

-          The report set out what we want to achieve and why

-          The scale of the task needs to be acknowledged and we will be appointing officers to start this piece of work within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 137.

Nick Ward, Housing Development Manager, presented the Council’s proposed response to Central Government on proposed changes to national planning policy.  Responses were required to be submitted by 18^th May, 2016.

The Government had committed to building 200,000 high quality starter homes exclusively for young first time buyers under the age of forty to be sold at a minimum of 20% below the open market value and subject to the buyer occupying the property for five years.

The consultation document set out a number of questions on which views were sought.  Appendix 1 of the report submitted set out the consultation questions together with the proposed response.

Consideration was given to the proposed responses with the following issues raised:-

-          There should be reference to the declining industries in Rotherham and the wages that went with them and, as a result, the Starter Home may not be appropriate.  15% below the open market value may be too high for the Rotherham area

-          The Government appeared to be backing away from their Localism agenda

-          Council houses were needed

-          Had consultation taken place with the Equalities Team with regard to question 17?

-          Clarification that “local area” as referred to in question 18ii was probably at Ward level due to the number of fluctuations across a Borough

Resolved:-  (1)  That discussion take place with the Equalities Team with regard to question 17.

(2)  That subject to (1) above, the Council’s proposed response be endorsed for submission to Central Government before the consultation deadline of 18^th May, 2016.

No issues had been raised.

However, it was noted that there was a review taking place into Area Assemblies.

Resolved:-  That the outcome of review of Area Assemblies be submitted to this Board in due course.

Caroline Webb, Senior Adviser, reported that Councillor Sansome and Janet Spurling, Scrutiny Officer, had met with the Rotherham Youth Cabinet to discuss the findings of the recent work undertaken at the Children’s Commissioner Takeover Day.  Discussion had taken place on the recommendations arising out of that meeting and work was taking place on the report which was hoped to be submitted to the Board early in the new Municipal Year.

The Youth Cabinet had had input into the procurement process for the 0-19 contract around the Mental Health Services particularly in relation to access to School Nurses. 

Councillor Sansome reported that one of the concerns that the young people had had at the Takeover Day was a number of questions they had raised which they felt had not been answered as clearly as they would wish.  It had been discussed that officers from the areas concerned should meet with them in the evening to address concerns.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, held on 18th March, 2016 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

Health Select Commission

Councillor Sansome reported that the Commission had met the previous week and received updates on:-

Scrutiny Review of Access to GPS,

Scrutiny Review of CAMHS

Scrutiny Review of Urinary Continence Service

Improving Places Select Commission

Councillor Beck reported that the Commission had met on 13^th April and discussed:-

Town Centre Planning document

Housing Tenant Involvement Strategy

Improving Lives Select Commission

Councillor Hamilton reported that at the last meeting the Commission had scrutinised the Prevent agenda.  Recommendations on the performance management and governance would be forwarded to the Commissioners and Cabinet for consideration.

A number of areas had been identified that the Select Commission would like to take forward for the new Municipal Year which included Missing from School and Home, Domestic Abuse particularly the effects on children and young people and performance monitoring of Children and Young People’s Services.

Audit Committee

Councillor Wyatt reported that the Committee would be meeting the following week and would complete its auditing process of all the Directorates with the “deep dive” into Economic and Development Services and the Assistant Chief Executive reporting on risk management going forward.

There were no formal call-in requests.

The Chairman referred to it being Councillors Hamilton and Whelbourn’s last meeting before their retirement as Councillors. 

He placed on record his thanks for all their hard work, commitment and efforts on behalf of the people of Rotherham and wished them well in their retirement.

He also reported that he had met the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team.  A lot of work was being carried out with regard to pre-Scrutiny.  He felt this would be the ideal opportunity for Scrutiny to influence Cabinet decisions and, whatever the outcome of the election, this course of action should be pursued.