Agenda and minutes

[The Chair to welcome everyone to the meeting.]

The 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.]

The Chair 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 Jaspreet Jaspal

Cllr Milkinderpal Jaspal

Charlotte Johns - Director of Strategy

Claire Nye - Director of Finance

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

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

The panel approved the minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2022 as being a correct record.

[Alison Shannon, Chief Accountant, to present report]

The Chair invited Alison Shannon, Chief Accountant, to present the report.

The Chief Accountant advised the panel of the background to the reports which were being presented for information and assurance.

The panel were invited to comment on the report.

There were no questions or comments about the report.

Resolved:

The panel agreed to note the contents of the Treasury Management report.

[Jin Takhar,Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion,to present report]

The Chair invited Jin Takhar, Head of Equality Diversity, and Inclusion, to present the report to the panel.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the report gives an update on progress made to deliver against the Council’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and supporting action plans. The Head of Equality outlined the four key priorities of the EDI Strategy and advised that the presentation would focus on priority one - To demonstrate Visible Leadership and Strong Organisational Culture.

The Head of Equality commented on specific sections of the report to provide the panel with reassurance that EDI is key priority for the Council.

The Head of Equality highlighted the progress of the staff equality forums and the support given by SEB leads and other initiatives.

The Council has recently adopted the Governance Forums’ The Race Equality Code. The performance of the Council will be independently peer reviewed against the four principles in the Code. The Head of Equality advised the panel that the Council will receive a report detailing the strengths and recommendations for any improvements are needed. The peer review full report will be published by December 2022. The Head of Equality suggested that the report could be presented to a future meeting of the panel.

The Head of Equality commented on the work being done to tackle equalities disparities at a service level with the aim of making the Council an equitable provider of service. The Head of Equality highlighted plans to support career progression and suggested that a report could be presented to a future meeting of the panel.

The panel were invited to comment on the report.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report. The panel queried the amount of time employees spend on equality and diversity issues and wanted reassurance that this activity was not impacting on the quality and delivery of Council services to the public. The panel asked for an estimate of employee time spent on attending and supporting the different equality forums and future for holding a Wolverhampton Pride.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the members of the staff equality forums meet monthly, and the length of meetings vary from one to two hours depending on the agenda. The Head of Equality commented on work done by the equality forum members and the value of their contributions to the development of Council policies. The Head of Equality added that line managers of forum members support employees and commented the issues of equality is the responsibility of everyone in their daily work to make sure that people are respected and valued whether they are an employee or a resident. The agenda of forums are focused on the business that matters to the public.

The Head of Equality advised the panel that the Council supports a future Wolverhampton Pride event in 2023.

The panel suggested that future reports should include key performance indicators to help Councillors better understand the work being done and that can also be shared  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[Alison Shannon, Chief Accountant, to present report]

The Chair invited Alison Shannon, Chief Accountant, to present her report. The Chief Accountant advised panel that this was an annual report to invite nominations to review the Council’s earmarked reserves as part of the budget setting process.

The Chief Accountant advised that the working group will be asked to scrutinise the allocation of reserves. The panel comments will be included in the report to Cabinet. The proposed date for the meeting is 8 November 2022.

The following members indicated their wish to be a member of Reserves Working Group

Cllr Zee Russell

Cllr Udey Singh

Cllr Johnathan Crofts

Cllr Louise Miles

Cllr Tersaim Singh

Cllr Ellis Turrell

The panel thanked the presenter for the report and supported the report recommendations.

Resolved:

1.    The panel approved the terms of reference for the Reserves Working Group.

2.    The panel accepted the nominations for the membership of the Reserves Working Group.

[John Thompson, Head of Procurement ,and Parvinder Uppal, Head of Commercial,to present report]

The Chair invited John Thompson, Head of Procurement, to present the report.

The Head of Procurement gave an overview of the background to the Procurement Bill. The Head of Procurement advised the panel that the proposed changes to public procurement regime is expected to be introduced in early 2023, following a six-month transition period.

The Head of Procurement commented on the key changes the procurement arrangements and welcomed the proposal to give the Council new discretionary powers in the Bill to exclude suppliers for poor performance but is awaiting further national guidance on how this change will work.

The Head of Procurement commented on the work done to prepare for the implementation of the Bill and highlighted a recent peer review exercise to assess the level of readiness for the changes. The Head of Procurement advised the panel that Wolverhampton scored the highest among the cohort for the Pipeline work being undertaken.

The Head of Procurement commented on the significant resource implications of the changes in the Procurement Bill and advised the panel that when they have been approved by Parliament then meetings will be held with colleagues in audit and legal to review the Councils Constitution, policies, and procedures to ensure that they are compliant with the requirements of the Act.

The Head of Procurement briefed the panel about the progress of implementing recommendations from the Wolverhampton Pound review which relate to work of procurement service.

The Head of Procurement introduced Parvinder Uppal, Head of Commercial, to comment on progress against the contract management project objectives previously presented to the panel.

The Head of Commercial commented on the link between this work and the new Procurement Bill, the strategic priorities of the Council and the work being done to improve capabilities of employees with contract management responsibilities. The Head of Commercial briefed the panel on training of employees and the development of templates as part of a complete overview of the contract management process.

The Head of Commercial advised the panel that 176 employees had completed the mandatory foundation training and currently 74 per cent of employees have successfully completed the training. The Council has accepted the offer of 10 places for Practioner level training, the next level of training, which has been funded through DLUC and CCS. A request has been made for extra places in response to requests from colleagues.

The Head of Commercial briefed the panel on the initial findings from the contract lifecycle management review from a sample of 346 contracts in the database as part of efforts to improve performance.

The Head of Commercial updated the panel on joint work with colleagues in legal and HR to consider changes as part of efforts to develop a streamlined contract process.

The Head of Commercial added that work had been done to procure a contract management system that would a provide a strategic overview of contracts and performance monitoring but unfortunately, the submissions received did not meet this aim. A business analyst has been recruited to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

[Lamour Gayle, Head of Customer Engagement and Registrars, to present report]

The Chair invited Lamour Gayle, Head of Customer Engagement and Registrars, to give the presentation to the panel.

The Head of Customer Engagement outlined the areas that would be covered during the presentation. 

The Head of Customer Engagement highlighted the key improvements and achievements of the service to date in the way it is working to meet the needs of both internal and external customers.

The Head of Customer Engagement gave an overview of the performance of the Customer Services contacts during 2021 – 2022 and a detailed analysis of enquiries by telephone, email, and face-to face, services delivered, and the call abandoned rate. The service handled 592,922 customer contacts in 2021-2022.

The Head of Customer Engagement advised the panel that face-to- face customer enquiries re-started in March 2022 and the service dealt with 1125 customer enquiries and an average of 60 – 70 customers visiting the Civic Centre daily. Most of these customers queries received related to Wolverhampton Homes.

The Head of Customer Services commented on the findings from the data analysis and highlighted issues facing the service in improving performance and the need to have a joined up digital transformation approach to address them. The Head of Customer Services commented on reduction in abandoned calls rate from 21 per cent in 2019 to 10.2 percent 2022-2023 and further work was planned to reduce this further to better understand the issue.

The Head of Customer Services commented that in response to customer feedback a new Customer Services Strategy is being developed to address issues highlighted in the data analysis.

The Head of Customer Services commented on service specific reviews covering the following areas taxi licensing, council tax and housing benefit and blue badge scheme. The findings from the reviews will inform the development of the strategy. The Head of Customer Services outlined the timeline for the development of the customer services strategy, and the aims and principles aimed at achieving specific objectives and outcomes.

The Head of Customer Services commented on the plans for replacing the current telephone systems nd detailed the advantages of introducing such a system in improving the service to customers.The main objective of the strategy is to deliver a consistent positive customer experience. The Head of Customer Services advised the panel that companies have been invited to demonstrate different telephony solutions to the Council next week.

The panel were invited to comment on the presentation.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report and the progress made to improve the performance of the service.

The panel queried the arrangements for dealing with enquiries from the public who contact the Council on services which are the responsibility of Wolverhampton Homes and suggested if having a representative from Wolverhampton Homes at the Civic Centre rather having to refer them on to resolve the issue would give a better experience.

The Head of Customer Services commented that the service meet regularly with colleagues from Wolverhampton Homes since the building was re-opened to the public to discuss issues.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

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

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

The Scrutiny Officer commented on the agenda for future panel meetings and advised that date for the Reserves Working Group will be added when details have been agreed. The draft work programme will be updated to include any specific actions arising from this meeting.

The panel were invited to comment on the draft work programme and suggest topics for future meetings.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report.

The panel suggested adding an extra meeting date to the work programme in February 2023 to better manage the agenda items.

The panel suggested that a report on the findings of the LGA Resident Satisfaction Polling should be added to the panel work programme.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the report.

2.    The panel agreed to add an extra meeting to the panel work programme in February 2023.

3.    The panel agreed to receive a report on the LGA Resident Satisfaction Polling to a future meeting of the panel.