Agenda and minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting. The Scrutiny Officer will then read out a list of those invited to the meeting to confirm who is in attendance.]

Cllr Zee Russell, Chair, welcomed everyone to the  meeting and advised it was being live streamed to the press and public. A recording of the meeting would be available for viewing on the Council’s website.

[The Chair will explain how the meeting will proceed, how questions are to be asked and any matters of meeting etiquette.]

Cllr Zee Ruselll,  explained the protocol to be followed during the meeting for asking questions and reminded everyone that microphones should be muted and cameras off, unless have been invited to speak by the Chair.

Apologies were received from the following:

Cllr John Reynolds

Cllr Jonathan Croft

Cllr Jacqueline Sweetman

Cllr Bhupinder Gakhal – Cabinet Member for City Assets and Housing

Cllr Zee Russell and Cllr Paul Appleby declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda Item 7

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

The panel approved the minutes of the meeting held on  30 June 2021 as being a correct record

[Julia Nock MRICS,Head of Assets, to present report]

Julia Nock, Head of Assets, introduced the report to the panel. The Head of Assets outlined the context of the report and explained that the Our Assets strategy is incorporated into the Relighting Our Council programme.

The Head of Assets advised the panel that all Council employees have been classified as either having field, fixed or flexible working patterns, which will fundamentally change the demand for buildings and assets in the future and also lead to changes in the use and occupancy of some buildings.

The Head of Assets added that the approach to the management of land and buildings will ensure the Council proactively reviews and rationalises its portfolio to achieve improvements in outcomes for local communities, a rationalisation of property portfolio, reductions in carbon footprint, and maintenance costs.

The Head of Assets advised the panel that all land and property assets were in scope for the review and explained that there will remain a strong need for buildings across the city, The needs will differ from community to community and the right solutions will be reached by involving key stakeholders such as city partners, local community organisations, and local councillors.

The Head of Assets gave a brief overview of the different work streams linked to the Our Assets strategy and highlighted the importance of the Civic Centre building. The Head of Assets outlined the mandate previously agreed and which was also presented to panel members last year for comment.

The Head of Assets gave further details of the proposed accommodation strategy and advised the panel that Civic Centre building will be the base for city wide services and the organisational headquarters for the Council. The Head of Assets acknowledged that the Civic Centre is not suitable for all, especially for those employees categorised as field workers and there will be a need for other locations to deliver community or place-based services across the City.

The asset review will identify other buildings that are required for touchdown and collaboration purposes. These buildings will be multi service use or occupancy and will be managed corporately by the city assets service unless agreed otherwise. The aim will be to maximise the use and efficiency of the assets which will support the Relighting Our Council programme.

The Head of Assets outlined the four proposed review groups and advised the panel that the target date for completion of the work is 31 December 2021. The work on corporate offices groupings is nearing completion.

The Head of Assets advised the panel that in the commercial estate category there an estimated 450 leases in place across the city. The leases will be reviewed in terms of the benefits of holding those assets versus the income versus the cost to Council of retaining these assets. In the land category there are an estimated 1000 assets which will be reviewed. The work is expected to be completed in December 2021.

The Head of Assets outlined the asset review criteria which was approved by the Our Assets Board,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[Jenny Lewington, Service Manager - Housing Strategy & Policy, to present report]

Jenny Lewington, Service Manager – Housing Strategy and Policy, presented the report. The Service Manager advised the panel the report was being presented for comment about planned changes to the monitoring arrangements between the Council and its housing managing agents. The panel comments will be considered by the Council’s Housing Strategy Landlord Services Team.

The Service Manager also wanted to brief the panel about changes to the reporting and monitoring arrangements of the Council’s housing stock in response to the requirements detailed in the Government’s Charter for Social Housing White Paper.

The Service Manager advised the panel about the monitoring arrangements for the management of the Council's housing stock managed by Wolverhampton Homes and the three tenant management organisations, Dovecotes, New Park Village and Bushbury Hill Estate.

The Service Manager explained that the monitoring arrangements set out in the report are required to enable the Council to respond to increasing regulation of the sector, and inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The Council through its existing management agreements has monitored the services provided and performance of its housing managing agents.

The Service Manager advised the panel that the Government published a White Paper in November 2020. The document included a proposal that the RSH move from a reactive service to a proactive consumer regulatory regime. This role would include proactive oversight of the consumer standards and mandatory inspection of landlords with more than 4000 homes, which will include the City of Wolverhampton Council.

In response to this proposal it was considered timely to review the Council's monitoring and reporting arrangements. The Service Manager commented on the four consumer standards set by the RSH against which the performance of the Council would be monitored. The Service Manager advised the panel that Councillors would be responsible for ensuring that the housing provider – Wolverhampton Homes and the three tenant management organisations met these standards.

The Service Manager advised the panel that the RSH expects systems to be in place to provide assurance to Councillors, that the standards are being met with the responsibility remaining solely with the Council and not the housing providers.

The Service Manager briefed the panel on the monitoring arrangements which will review performance, asset management, finance, and the delivery plan. The housing business plan is presented to Council annually for approval, which is supported by quarterly monitoring progress reports presented to Cabinet.

The Service Manager advised the panel to further improve and strengthen the Council's understanding of its housing managing agent’s compliance with the proposed consumer standards an external company Savills were commissioned to undertake an independent review. The details of the review findings are summarised in the main report.

The review concluded that for most areas, the Council, and Wolverhampton Homes, has an adequate policy framework in place to ensure compliance against the consumer standards. The report did however identify specific areas requiring improvement.

In response to the review Wolverhampton Homes developed an action plan to improve those areas identified for improvement. The progress of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Charlotte Johns, Director of Strategy, and Jai Ghai, Head of Digital and IT,to jointly present report]

Charlotte Johns, Director of Strategy, introduced the report which sets out the Council’s approach to managing strategic risks around cyber security. The Director of Strategy invited Jai Ghai, Head of Digital and IT, to present the detailed briefing to the panel. 

The Head of Digital and IT advised the panel that the purpose of the briefing paper is to provide information and assurance regarding the strategic risks facing the Council and the private and public sector organisations face in terms of cyber security and ransomware threats.

The Head of Digital and IT highlighted the risk of cyber-attacks during the pandemic and how hackers have taken advantage of the situation which has led to an increase in the number of attacks on public and private data and network services.

The Head of Digital and IT added that in the response to the significant national increase in cyber-attacks the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) highlighted the need for public sector organisations to take action to mitigate against the risk of ransomware threats and to raise awareness of the importance of cyber security. The NCSC issued guidelines which highlighted the importance of public sector bodies taking remedial action to protect citizen data and the network and other preventive measures.

The Head of Digital and IT outlined the action taken by the Council to increase local security and to introduce appropriate measures for prevention and remediation, in the event of a cyber-attack.

The Head of Digital and IT commented on the importance of the Council protecting data and as an employer doing what is necessary to make sure that access to the network by employees is always secure regardless of their location.

The Head of Digital and IT reassured the panel that the issues of cyber security is a key priority for the Council and is monitored rigorously through the strategic risk register. The service is also audited on an annual basis for cyber risks by the NCSC. The City of Wolverhampton Council is one of a few Councils nationally that have attained Cyber Essentials Plus certification, which was awarded recently following a review.  The Head of Digital and IT commented that this is an indication of the level of commitment by the service. In addition, the Council also maintains its Public Services Network accreditation which allows the Council to transact and interact securely with the NHS and other public sector organisations.

The Head of Digital and IT commented on the key actions taken to protect the Council from cyber security threats and highlighted the importance of encouraging the workforce to make sure that locking a laptop is good practice in reducing the number of potential threats to the network. 

The Head of Digital and IT commented that any potential threats and ransomware attacks can be identified through the regular monitoring of the network and information is also shared with third party suppliers to further mitigate risks to the Council.

The Head of Digital advised the panel that earlier in the year the service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

[Claire Nye, Director of Finance, to present report]

Claire Nye, Director of Finance, introduced the report and advised the panel that this was presented for information. A more substantive Treasury Management report will be presented to the panel in January 2022, which will then be presented to Cabinet in February and Council in March 2022 for approval. The report in January will be the opportunity for the panel to be updated on consultations on proposed changes to the Treasury Management and the Prudential Code. 

The Director of Finance commented that the Council will review the recommendations from the consultations in detail and consider any potential impact, which will be reported to Councillors, if required.

Resolved:

The panel agreed to note the report.

[Parvinder Uppal,Head of Commercial and Claire Nye, Director of Finance, to jointly present report]

Claire Nye, Director of Finance, made a few introductory remarks about the reasons for presenting the report to the panel.

The Director of Finance commented that the Council is striving to make improvements and achieve the highest standards in all areas. The area of contract management was identified for improvement. The Director of Finance added there are good areas of practice but there was more that could be done to further improve standards. The Director of Finance commented on the important role of contract management in ensuring the Council delivers value for money.

The Director of Finance commented that the review of contract management began in 2020 but progress was delayed because of the pandemic, however there is a commitment to bring about the necessary improvements in contract management.  A self-assessment of the service was completed against the new financial management frameworks earlier in the year.

As a result of the review the area of contract management framework was flagged with Audit and Risk Committee in June 2020 as needing action to improve current practice. The findings of the review were also shared with the Council’s external auditors.

Parvinder Uppal, Head of Commercial Services, commented on the link between contract management and the Council’s strategic objectives as detailed in the Council Plan. The Head of Commercial Services commented that improving contract management practice will cover two areas, firstly at the officer level, with the aim of improving capability through skills and knowledge and secondly at the strategic level, to improve current processes by introducing an improvement plan and evaluating progress against a contract management framework.

The Head of Commercial Services commented on the findings from the National Audit Office which highlighted how effective contract management can be in helping to achieve savings and drive value across the supply chain.

The Head of Commercial Services commented on the main findings of the contract management survey of employees and explained that it was aimed at getting feedback on current practice across the Council to make improvements and drive excellence across the organisation.

The Head of Commercial Services advised the panel that 61% of contracts were bespoke – these are contracts that are drafted specially for service goods which highlight the need for good contract management practices.

The survey identified that employees manage contracts with different values across the organisation. The information will help the service to inform the development of a risk-based framework and further work is planned to be better understand this issue.

The Head of Commercial Services commented on the issues experienced by employees when managing contract across the organisation. The issues highlighted were as expected and the findings will be used to develop the contract management framework and ensure that the training covers the right areas.

The Head of Commercial Services advised the panel that new procurement regulations are expected in January 2022.

The Head of Commercial Services commented on specific plans for improving contract management practice in the future and the gave a summary of the contract management  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present report]

Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, presented the report and explained the terms of reference and the purpose of the group.

The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel that the date for the meeting will be confirmed shortly.

The Scrutiny Officer advised that two nominations were needed for the group. Cllr Tersaim Singh and Paul Appleby agreed to join the group.

Resolved:

The panel agreed to nominate the following Cllrs to be members of the specific reserves working group:

Cllr Zee Russell (Chair)

Cllr Udey Singh (Vice Chair)

Cllr Paul Appleby

Cllr Tersaim Singh

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present report]

The Chair invited Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Officer, to present the draft work programme report.

The Scrutiny Officer outlined the criteria for suggesting topics for the work programme and briefed the panel about future work programme items and invited panel members to comment on the draft document.

The panel agreed note the report and agreed the changes to draft work programme.

Resolved

The panel agreed to note the report and the approved changes to the draft work programme.