Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Peter Bilson, Hazel Malcolm and John Reynolds.

Councillor Louise Miles declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5 (Housing Managing Agents Performance Monitoring Report – Quarter Four – January to March 2018), in so far as it refers to Wolverhampton Homes Anti-Social Behaviour Service.

[For approval]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 March 2018 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting]

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting that were not otherwise covered on the agenda for the meeting.

[To review and comment on the performance and any key areas for improvement]

Mila Simpson, Service Lead Housing Strategy presented the report on the performance of Wolverhampton Homes (WH) and the Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs) in managing and maintaining Council owned properties during quarter four (January to March 2018).  Generally, there was good performance across all performance indicators.  There were however, some ongoing issues for action that the service would be working on with WH and the TMOs in the coming weeks. 

Councillor Lynne Moran commented that with the roll out of Universal Credit in Wolverhampton the worry would be for rent and council tax collection and arrears.  The changes to the benefits system were causing damage to people’s lives and she asked where the Council could take this feedback.  The Chair commented that Wolverhampton Homes had done a lot of work on this area. Kate Martin, Service Director City Housing also reported on the work taking place in response to the introduction of Universal Credit Group. Through the Management Agreements more officers were providing support through the process.

Councillor Paul Sweet added that without the support of the Council’s partners, the problems being reported and experienced as a result of Universal Credit would have been considerably worse. Figures do not show the true picture of the work that has gone on to mitigate the effects of Universal Credit. 

Resolved:

That the performance of the housing managing agents for quarter four 2017/2018 be noted.

[To receive an update on the Information Governance performance figures for quarter four and on a quarterly update on the work currently being undertaken by the Information Governance (IG) team and directorates in preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation]

Kevin O’Keefe, Director of Governance presented the quarterly update on the work currently being undertaken in preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that would replace the current Data Protection Act 1998.  The Director also reported on the performance of Information Governance for quarter four (January to March 2018).  Targets had been maintained for the response to Freedom of Information/ Environmental Information (FOI) and Subject Access Requests (SARs) received. 

In response to the Chair, the Director of Governance reported on the uptake of GDPR overviews/ training sessions offered to recently elected and existing Councillors. There had been good attendance from new councillors and 50 % of all Councillors had been trained on GDPR.   The Chair asked that the training sessions continue to be offered to councillors who have yet to attend a GDPR session and as refresher training for all other councillors.  

Councillor Lynne Moran commented that from her experience of the training workshop for newly elected councillors, she was not sure that the focus on councillors and others personal information came across as powerfully as it could.  She also reported that she had not received the 66-page Councillor Information pack on GDPR that had been sent to all councillors.  The Director of Governance undertook to look into the matter.

Councillor Louise Miles reported at the University of Wolverhampton, employees had to complete an online GDPR test.  She asked if it was not  already available, the Council consider providing on line GDPR training in the future.  The Director of Governance reported that the Council had on line modules. 

Resolved:

1.     That the quarterly progress update on the General Data Protection Regulation be noted.

2.     That the quarter four performance for Information Governance be noted. 

3.     That it be noted that Audit Services is preparing a readiness analysis of the Council’s services in relation to GDPR.

4.     That the Leaders of the Political Groups on the Council be contacted regarding training/refresher training for their members on GDPR.

[To receive an update on the implementation of a revised, ‘streamlined’ version of Outcome-Based Accountability (OBA); development of a top-level suite of 25 core corporate indicators; the roll-out of PowerBi software to support operational performance; and progress on the new WV Insight website]

Ian Fegan, Head of Corporate Communications gave a brief overview of the report that covered progress with the implementation of a revised ‘streamlined’ version of Outcome-Based Accountability (OBA); development of a top-level suite of 25 core corporate indicators; the roll-out of PowerBi software to support operational performance; and progress on the new WV Insight website.

Geoff Simpson, Business Intelligence Manager (Corporate and Place) gave a demonstration of the top 25 corporate indicators;  James Amphlett, Business Intelligence Manager (People) demonstrated the Adults Safeguarding dashboard and audit tool which was an example of how performance analysts could develop a sustainable framework to support operational front-line practitioners; and Martyn Sargeant, Head of Public Service Reform and Project Manager for WV Insight gave an update and demonstration of the WV Insight site including the new homepage, councillor portal and latest PowerBi dashboards. It was anticipated that the WV Insight site would go live in July 2018. 

Councillor Steve Evans reiterated his concern that care need to be taken when including information on expenditure on WV Insight as raw data would not always give a true and accurate picture of the situation. 

Resolved:

1.     That progress with the continuing implementation of a new ‘streamlined’ outcome-based corporate performance framework focused on 25 top comparative indicator areas be noted.

2.     That progress on developing the new WV Insight website be noted.

3.     That the presentation and demonstration of PowerBI dashboards and in particular, how they support operational performance improvement be noted.