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 also being live streamed to the press and public.

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

Cllr Russell explained the process to be followed during the meeting for asking questions.

Apologies were received from the following Councillors:

Cllr Dr Paul Birch J.P

Cllr Louise Miles

Cllr Jaspreet Jaspal

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

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

[This item is being considered as pre-decision scrutiny and will therefore not be available for Call-in once a decision has been made by the Executive].

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

The Head of Customer Engagement advised the panel that the presentation would provide background to the development of the draft customer services experience strategy and an update on progress since the panel meeting in October 2022.

The Head of Customer Engagement advised the panel that it was agreed at the time a further report would be presented to the panel on the outcome of the consultation and engagement work on the draft strategy. A copy of the revised draft strategy was attached at Appendix 1.

The Head of Customer Services commented on the method used to consult with local people and specific groups about the draft strategy and an analysis of the  responses.The draft strategy was being presented to the panel for pre-decision scrutiny.

The Head of Customer Services commented on the key themes from the consultation exercise and the work done to address specific issues, for example, improving the ability for the public to access customer services online using facilities in libraries and community hub, the introduction Live Chat, improved accessibility, and translation services, providing clear communication with residents.

The Head of Customer Services advised the panel that focus groups have been established to continue and evaluate service delivery progress, particularly in relation to the implementation of a new omni channel customer services solution.

The Head of Customer Engagement and Registrars advised the panel that the revised strategy will be presented to Cabinet for approval on 22 March 2023. The panel were invited to comment on the revised draft strategy.

The Chair thanked the presenter for the report.

The panel commented on the reference to the public using local library IT facilities to access Council services in the presentation but highlighted the availability and opening hours of libraries varies considerably across the City. This issue of library coverage and current opening hours needs to be considered before encouraging people to use this option. The panel suggested that the current library opening hours provision needs to be reviewed.

The Director of Strategy advise the panel that the comments have been noted and would be included as part of work being done to make Council services more accessible.

The panel welcomed the report.

The panel commented on the high volume of telephone calls and expressed concern about long waiting times for public and the commented on the importance of the public being able to speak directly with the Council to resolve a query. The panel suggested that it would be helpful for the strategy to have clear service performance targets for how long the public should be expected to wait for a telephone calls and emails to be answered. 

The Head of Customer Services commented that the introduction of the new omni-channel telephony system systems will improves the current service as detailed in the presentation.  The new system will provide performance targets, and will be supported by regular focus groups surveys to check that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[Heather Clark, Head of External Funding and Digital Projects, to present report]

The Chair invited Heather Clark, Head of Digital Projects, to present the report.

The Head of Digital Projects commented on the importance of a futureproofed digital infrastructure to Wolverhampton and highlighted the benefits of the infrastructure to the City.

The Head of Digital Projects commented on the progress made since the previous digital strategy was approved in in January 2020. The latest version of the strategy builds on progress made since this was published. The Head of Digital Projects outlined the key aims of the strategy, for example, the ambition for Wolverhampton to be a Gigabit and Smart City using futureproofed digital infrastructure, including full fibre broadband and 5G..

The Head of Digital Projects commented on the key achievements of the digital Wolverhampton programme since 2019 to date. The Head of Digital Projects added that the Cabinet Member for Digital Cities and Resources has responsibility to taking forward the strategy.

The Head of Digital Projects briefed the panel about progress of developing the digital infrastructure and the key achievements to date, highlighting the fact that Wolverhampton has now surpassed other Black Country authorities in terms of both gigabyte growth and full fibre growth compared to the situation in 2020. The Head of Digital Projects listed the range of local and wider benefits of improving the digital infrastructure for different groups, such as new jobs, increase in property prices and cost savings and increased productivity.

The Head of Digital Projects commented on the progress of the digital inclusion work and gave examples of case studies of how individuals have benefit from the different initiatives such as Wolves Tech Aid.

The Head of Digital Projects outlined a range of initiatives linked to work to further build on the digital innovation and the economy.

The panel were invited to comment on the report and the presentation.

The panel welcome the report and congratulated the presenter on the excellent progress made since 2019 and the decisions made since to introduce a range of initiatives to anticipate and adapt to future technological innovations.

The panel commented on the higher charges from the company installing full fibre broadband for residential properties compared with other internet providers and asked for the details of take up.

The Head of Digital Projects agreed to send a request to CityFibre about the roll out of the programme for details of residential take up rates.

The Head of Digital Projects accepted that the new broadband service is more expensive and advised the panel of work with colleagues in cost-of-living team to promote lower social tariffs for broadband, where people in receipt of certain benefits get cheaper broadband connectivity rates.

The Head of Digital Projects highlighted the offer to help residents to connect to the internet with a six-month phone sim card if they cannot afford broadband connection costs.

The panel welcomed the extra financial support offered to people on qualifying benefits to get access to the internet but queried support for people whose income is above this level but not eligible  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[Alison Shannon, Chief Accountant, to present report]

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

The Chief Accountant advised the panel the treasury management activity report was presented to Cabinet in November 2022 and then to Council in December.

The report detailing the Council’s treasury management activity is being presented to the panel for information and comment. The Chief Accountant advised the panel that comments will be fed into the final draft that will be presented to Cabinet.

The Chief Accountant explained the background to the treasury management strategy and advised that the Council’s activities are underpinned by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Treasury Management Code of Practice (Code).

The Code requires a nominated body be responsible for ensuring effective scrutiny of the Council’s treasury management strategy and policies, the Resources and Equality Scrutiny Panel fulfils this role. The treasury management strategy is reviewed annually.

The Chief Accountant gave a definition of the term ‘Treasury Management’ and the six elements covered by the strategy report.

The Chief Accountant advised the panel that the Council can only borrow to fund its capital programme and that this is supported by other funding such as grants and capital receipts, from the sale of assets. The Council is under a statutory duty to keep under review how much can it afford to borrow to ensure that it is affordable and also fund the capital programme.  The Chief Accountant advised the panel that the Council’s strategy is to use cash balances (described as internal borrowing) first to fund capital expenditure to avoid the need for external borrowing.

The Chief Accountant commented on the changes to the Treasury Management Code of Practice and Prudential Code that CIPFA introduced in December 2021 which were aimed at strengthening the requirements for skills and training and applying restrictions on borrowing for investments not specifically for treasury management purposes. The required changes to the Code that apply to the Council will be incorporated into the strategy from April 2023.

TheChief Accountant commented that the changes to the Code have not affected the way the Council currently manages the capital programme or treasury management activities.

The Chief Accountant gave further details about the Council’s policy towards borrowing and investments.

The Chief Accountant gave a summary of the Council’s performance against five prudential indicators detailed in the presentation.

The panel were invited to comment on the report and presentation.

The panel queried the average interest rate payable for borrowing and the amount forecast to be spent on interest payments in 2022- 2023.

The Chief Accountant advised the panel that all Council loans are set at a fixed rate. The borrowing rates charged by Public Works Loans Board (PWLB) change on a regular basis and is uses as a basis to forecast future interest rate changes. The Chief Accountant advised the panel that total interest cost payments 2022 – 2023 is £27 million - £11.5m (Housing Revenue Account) and £15.6m (General Fund).

The panel discussed the rationale for borrowing and how it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

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

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

The Scrutiny Officer briefed on the panel on the agenda for the next meeting and invited comments on the draft work programme.

The panel queried the removal of the Yoo Recruit Review item from the work programme.  The Chief Operating Officer advised the panel that the item had been removed in error and confirmed it will be on the agenda for the panel meeting on 16 March 2023.

Resolved:

The panel agreed to note the report.