Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Angus who was represented by Cllr Hodgkiss.

There were no declarations of interest.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising in the minutes.]

Councillors enquired about resolution three in minute item five from the previous meeting which referred to a ward by ward break down of accessibility to computers in Wolverhampton.  Abby Vella, Graduate Management Trainee, advised that she would follow this up following the recent departure of the Group Manager – Democracy.

Councillors also requested that the national review of the freedom of information be circulated to Councillors.  Penny Williams, Interim Democratic Services Manager, advised that she would look into this.

Resolved:

1.     That the Graduate Management Trainee circulate ward by ward details of accessibility to computers in Wolverhampton to the Board.

2.     That the Interim Democratic Services Manager circulate results of the national review of freedom of information to the Board.

[To review the comments of each Scrutiny Panel and provide further feedback to Cabinet.]

Councillor Andrew Johnson, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report.  He advised that although the provisional local government finance settlement was to be announced in due course, an additional £4.1 billion of expenditure cuts for local government was expected.  The Cabinet Member for Resources outlined the Council’s saving proposals and progress and reported that it was working with a revised savings target of £24 million.  These projections were to be confirmed once central government had released the local government finance settlement.

The Cabinet Member for Resources highlighted that seven million pounds had been saved through treasury management and financial transaction arrangements, without which, the impact of cuts on the Council would be much greater. He thanked the officers involved in making these savings.

Councillors discussed the need for additional funding to pay for the reshaping of Older People Services outlined on page 13 and the impact of this on savings proposals. The Cabinet Member for Resources and the Director of Finance advised that this was a subject of consideration in the budget process and further details would be reported to scrutiny once the settlement was announced.

A discussion took place between the Board and the Cabinet Member for Resources about the new funding formula for Public Health. Councillor O’Neill advised that these questions were asked at Health Scrutiny Panel and officers were going to investigate these details.

Referring to page 25 of the report, the Cabinet Member for Resources outlined proposals to ensure that City venues such as the Art Gallery, Bantock House and Bilston Art Gallery were generating considerable income.  Councillor Collingswood was concerned about the length of time this was taking, since these City Venues formed part of Wolverhampton’s cultural heritage. In response, the Cabinet Member for Resources advised that development proposals were being driven forward by officers. Councillors requested that these proposals come back to the relevant scrutiny panel.

Councillor Brookfield announced that she was unable to comment on the recommendations of other panels.  Since these had already been scrutinised once, she was happy to accept the recommendations of other panels but felt unable to comment without all the details.  The Chair requested that future budget reports have details of figures appended to the report.

A discussion took place about grounds maintenance reductions and efficiencies in service, in particular, ceasing annual bedding outside the City centre outlined on page 42 of the appendix. Following debate around the positive, visual impact the bedding had, Councillor Bateman was concerned that the reputation of the Council could potentially be compromised by this small saving. The Director of Finance advised that £22,000 would be saved over two years, with bedding converted into shrubbery or lawn. The Cabinet Member for Resources advised that this service was faced with financial saving necessity but would welcome the option of the relevant scrutiny panel re-visiting this.  The Chair requested that the Chair of Vibrant and Sustainable City be informed.

Councillors suggested that the development of City sites, such as West Park, should be collated as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[To review performance of the corporate performance indicators for quarter two 2015/16.]

Adrian McCormick, Head of Transformation and Gareth Payne, Policy Officer, presented the quarter two Corporate Performance Report, drawing attention to the summary of performance in section 4.0.

Councillors were concerned with and enquired about the low completion level of appraisals. It was suggested that the value of appraisals should be highlighted. The Head of Transformation advised that the system was not proportionately reflecting the number of appraisals that had been completed. He reported that this was being looked into by officers and the quarter three report should be more accurate. The Head of Finance advised that performance management efforts were taking place to ensure that managers were recorded information on the system correctly.

Councillors discussed the red indicator in 4.4 of the report which referred to the rate of alcohol related emergency admissions. It was agreed that a focus on this should be put on next year’s work programme for Adults and Safer City.

Referring to equalities, Cllr Hardacre requested that a scrutiny review of equalities implications in public premises take place.  This was agreed by the Chair.

Resolved:

1.     That the level of alcohol related emergency admissions be revisited by Adults and Safer City in next year’s work programme.

2.     That a scrutiny review of equalities implications be put on next year’s work programme.

[To review and comment on the Quarter Two performance for Information Governance.]

Anna Zollino-Biscotti, Information Governance Manager, presented the quarter two Information Governance report drawing attention to the infograph on page 117.

In response to a question requesting clarification on quarter two training levels, the Information Governance Manager reported that managers needed to be more proactive in ensuring that new starters complete training in the first month.  The Director of Finance advised that this was being looked into and reports were now going to managers which listed the training completion details of their staff.

Resolved:

1.     That the Board reviewed and commented on the quarter two performance for information governance.

2.     That the Director of Finance review the Agresso report of levels of training completion.

[To review complaints management and performance for the period of 1 July 2015 to 30 September 2015.]

Sue Handy, Head of Customer Service and Sarah Campbell, Complaints Manager, presented the quarter two Social Care and Public Health Complaints Report. 

Councillors requested further details of the 30 compliments received in section 4.8 of the report. The Head of Customer Service agreed to circulate details of compliments to Councillors.

A discussion took place between Councillors about complaints where the Council is/is partially/is not at fault. The Complaints Manager advised that improvement reports for corporate complaints had been implemented which highlighted a reduction in corporate complaints. Reporting on adult social care complaints was in its early stages, but the Complaints Manager advised that a reduction in complaints was expected as this was implemented. The Chair requested a verbal update on this once the figures were obtained.

Resolved:

1.     That the Head of Customer Services circulate details of compliments to Councillors.

2.     That Councillors receive a verbal update on the improvement reports for corporate and adult social care complaints.

[To consider the Board’s work programme for future meetings.]

Scrutiny Board received a copy of the work programme and noted its content. It was requested that for future meetings, completed agenda items be removed.

Resolved:

1.     That the format of the work programme be amended to include only present and future agenda items.

The Chair thanked Adam Hadley, Group Manager – Democracy, for his work with Scrutiny Board.