Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the following members of the panel:

Cllr Payal Bedi

Cllr Wendy Thompson

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

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

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes]

Minute 6: Future Money: Agresso payment performance

Scrutiny Officer advised that a report on the Council’s performance in recovering payments owed by debtors for domiciliary services has been added to the panel work programme for 2016/17.

[Sam Axtel, Consultation and Community Involvement Officer, to present progress report on the Employee Volunteering Scheme.]

Sam Axtell, Consultation and Community Involvement Officer, thanked the panel for the opportunity to update them on progress made with the employee volunteering scheme. The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer outlined the main elements of the scheme and the benefits to the employee and the Council.

The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer highlighted the achievements to date and the progress in raising awareness of the scheme in a number of articles in City People.

The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer commented on the positive response from members of the Corporate Leadership team who volunteered to work in a soup kitchen and Food Bank. Mark Taylor, Director of Finance, shared his experiences of volunteering with the panel and what he had gained from taking part.

The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer commented that the willingness of the senior managers to take part in volunteering was very much welcomed and it was hoped that this would inspire other people to consider becoming a volunteer.

The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer reported that the number of volunteers had increased from 14 to 30 in February 2016.

The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer commented that in response to a suggestion from the panel about holding a celebration event for volunteers. A special category was added to recognise the work of volunteers at the recent Star Awards event, for their outstanding contribution to volunteering. The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer commented that the opportunity to volunteer will be part of the employee induction process, supported by other information available on the Council website.

The panel welcomed the progress made and the success of the volunteering programme in getting people involved. The panel queried if there was a clear link between the work being done by volunteers and the Council’s strategic priorities. The panel suggested that the scheme would benefit from have clear performance measures to show how it contributes towards the Council’s strategic priorities.

The Consultation and Community Involvement Officer agreed to have discussions with colleagues about taking forward the suggestion.

Resolved

The panel to receive a briefing paper at a future meeting about how the work of the employee volunteering scheme will be evaluated and linked to the Council’s corporate priorities.

[Claire Nye, Chief Accountant, will present report about the Council’s finances that has been reported to either the Cabinet and/or Cabinet (Resources) Panel since the last update. The report will include information relating to Monitoring of the Council’s Budgets and the Council’s Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy.]

Cllr Andrew Johnson, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report and invited panel comments on the management of budget risks and the budget forecasting work. The Cabinet Member for Resources commented on the progress in achieving the savings target.

A report will be presented to Cabinet on 20 July 2016 detailing how this will be achieved. The Cabinet Member for Resources commented that it will be a very challenging target to achieve the savings, but was confident that the Council was on course.

The panel discussed the financial implications of vote to leave the European Union on the Councils financial modelling work and how the issue has been considered in the forecasting work. The Cabinet Member for Resources referred to a recent Government treasury report which set out a number of different scenarios of a decision to leave on the economy.

Mark Taylor, Director of Finance, commented that the risk that might arise from a decision to leave would be considered in the risk register.

The panel welcomed the report.

Resolved

            The panel agreed to receive the report and noted the progress made in effectively managing the Council’s finances.

The meeting closed at 18.45