Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Emily Wilcox  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

12.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs W Bowkett and C E H Marfleet, and Patricia Barnett (Parent Governor Representative). 

 

It was reported that, under the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, Councillor C R Oxby had been appointed as replacement member for Councillor Mrs W Bowkett, for this meeting only.

 

13.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

In relation to item 11, Councillor C R Oxby declared a non-pecuniary interest as the Elected County Councillor representing Digby.

 

 

14.

Minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2019 pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Minutes:

In relation to the minutes, the Chairman welcomed the opportunity to establish a cross party working group to consider the report on the newly published statutory guidance on Overview and Scrutiny in Local and Combined Authorities. It was noted that officers were still awaiting notification of the last nominations, after which the group would be established.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2019 be approved as a correct            record and signed by the Chairman. 

 

15.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor for Resources and Communications and Chief Officers

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the Executive Support Councillors and the Executive Director -Resources to the meeting.

 

It was noted that Councillor R Foulkes was no longer a member of the Board, and on behalf of the Board, the Chairman paid tribute to Councillor R Foulkes for his work as Chairman of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and a member of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.

 

Members were informed that the Chairman had attended a symposium which had discussed the Government's new statutory guidance on Overview and Scrutiny. The main theme of the event had been the culture of organisations and how this was seen to be related to the effectiveness of scrutiny in local government. It was felt that the relationship between the Executive and Scrutiny was crucial, and there had been a strong emphasis on optimism bias.

 

The Chairman informed the Board that the East Midlands Council's Scrutiny Conference would take place on the 4 October 2019, and encouraged members and officers to attend.

 

 

16.

Consideration of Call-Ins

Minutes:

None were received.

17.

Consideration of Councillor Calls for Action

Minutes:

None were received.

18.

Council People Management and Workforce Plan 2019 - 20 Progress Report Update pdf icon PDF 203 KB

(To receive a report from Lucy Shevill (Strategic People Management Advisor), which provides an update on the HR Management Information and the actions which have been taken forward following the 2017 employee survey)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by Lucy Shevill, Strategic People Management Advisor, which provided an update on the HR Management Information and the actions which had been taken forward following the 2017 employee survey.

 

The report highlighted the performance of the key areas within HR Management. 

 

Officers acknowledged that there was still work to be carried out to improve sickness rates; mental health support and agency spend within the Council.

 

It was noted that the Council was focusing on the development of apprenticeships and supporting employees to progress, and ensuring that the Council had the right staff for the future.

 

Members were invited to ask questions, during which the following points were noted:

 

·       The Strategic People Management Advisor agreed to provide the figures on the percentage of men and women employed above a Grade 13, including a comparison of other local authorities.

·       It was explained that the Council did not offer employments on zero hour contracts.

·       It was suggested that it would be beneficial to give employees the opportunity to share information with managers which may outline any 'hidden talents' that could help them progress within the Council.

·       Members were pleased to see the gender pay gap had decreased.

·       It was noted that there was generally a good local understanding of the number of vacancies across each service area, but the vacancy reporting across the organisation was currently under review.

·       The Assistant Director – Strategic Finance explained that the Council budgeted for 100% occupancy of posts.

·       It was recognised that it was difficult to decrease the level of sickness absence within Adult Care, but officers were working with the Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing to improve the sickness levels for the service area.

·       It was confirmed that the Council did operate a return to work interview process, which was a standard item across the sickness management process. HR advised all managers to carry out return to work interviews at the earliest opportunity. 

·       HR policy stated that managers needed to keep regular contact with employees whilst on long term sickness; the amount and level of contact would depend on the individual and their circumstances.

·       It was noted that the Council offered an employee support and counselling service, in addition to the perkbox employee benefit scheme providing an opportunity to engage with a telephone counselling service.

·       As part of the health and wellbeing strategy, there were a number of initiatives planned to offer mental health support to employees, which included the introduction of mental health first aiders, increased use of stress risk assessments and the encouragement of general health and wellbeing activities.

·       It was agreed that officers would make contact with the Assistant Director of Corporate Property to highlight the possible need for improvements to the childcare facilities for members of the public, as well as requesting information on possible plans to install more electric car charging points to the car park for both employees and members of the public.

·       It was explained that the annual leave purchase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Performance Reporting against the Council Business Plan - Quarter 4 pdf icon PDF 115 KB

(To receive a report from Jasmine Sodhi (Performance and Equalities Manager), which considers a report on the 2018/19 Council Business Plan Quarter 4 performance, which will be presented to the Executive on 9 July 2019. The views of the Board will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Performance and Equalities Manager, which invited the Board to consider a report on the 2018/19 Council Business Plan Quarter 4 performance which was due to be presented to the Executive on the 09 July 2019.

 

The report set out the performance level of each of the commissioning strategies. Members were referred to Appendix A of the report for a summary of the measures that did not achieve their target in Q4.

 

Members were advised that there was an error in the report and that the Qualifications achieved by adults (Measure 70) had been reported as not meeting the target in Quarter 4, when in fact the target of 525 had been exceeded and the 2018/2019 outturn was 1,114. As a result, there would be changes to the report that would be presented to the Executive on 9 July 2019 due to an improvement in the number of commissioning strategies that had performed really well from four to five commissioning strategies as the Sustaining and Growing Business and the Economy Commissioning Strategy had now achieved all its targets.

 

The following changes were proposed to the reporting of performance against the Council Business Plan 2018/19:

 

·         'Safeguarding enquiries where the 'source of risk' is a service provider' (M114) be removed from the Council Business Plan and replaced with 'Adult safeguarding concerns that lead to a safeguarding enquiry' (M130)

·         The title of the measure 'Achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers at Key Stage 4' (M42), had been amended to 'Achievement gap between pupils eligible for Free School Meals and their non-Free School Meals eligible peers nationally at KS4'

·         The title of the measure 'Achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers at Foundation Stage' (M48), had been amended to 'Achievement gap between pupils eligible for Free School Meals and their non-Free School Meals eligible peers nationally achieving Good Level of Development'

 

Members supported the recommendations and agreed that the following comments be passed on to the Executive:

 

Sustaining and Growing Business and the Economy Commissioning Strategy - Qualifications achieved by adults (Measure 70)

 

·         The Board was informed that the Qualifications achieved by adults (Measure 70) had initially been reported in the Executive report considered by the Board as not meeting the target in Quarter 4, when in fact the target of 525 had been exceeded and the 2018/2019 outturn was 1,114.

·         The Board supported the amendment of the annual target from 525 as published in the Council Business Plan 2018/2019 to 1,000 for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 Council Business Plans. As a result, there would be changes to the Executive report due to an improvement in the number of commissioning strategies that had performed really well from four to five commissioning strategies as the Sustaining and Growing Business and the Economy Commissioning Strategy had now achieved all its targets.

·         In response to a query about whether the targets were correct where the measures were overachieving all the time, it was confirmed that the targets  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Review of Financial Performance 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 219 KB

(To receive a report from Michelle Grady (Assistant Director – Strategic Finance), which invites the Board to consider a report on the Review of Financial Performance 2018/19, which is being presented to the Executive on 9 July 2019. The views of the Board will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Assistant Director – Strategic Finance, which invited the Board to consider a report on the review of Financial Performance 2018/19, which was due to be presented to the Executive on 09 July 2019.

 

The Assistant Director – Strategic Finance:

 

·         Highlighted the Council's financial performance in 2018/19;

·         identified and explained the variances from the Council’s revenue and capital budgets;

·         reported the use made of flexible capital receipts to fund revenue expenditure on transformation during the years up to and including 2018/19;

·         made proposals on the carry forward of over and under spends into the current financial year 2019/20;

·         reported the Prudential and Financial Performance Indicators for 2018/19; and

·         proposed an updated Flexible Use of Capital Receipts Strategy for 2019/20.

 

The Board supported the recommendations set out in the Executive report and agreed the following comments to be passed on to the Executive for consideration:

 

School Budgets

 

·         In response to a query about the £21M underspend relating to School budgets, it was confirmed that there was no limit on how much or for how long schools could carry forward their underspend.

·         As schools funding was based on pupil numbers, it was subject to variations each year so schools prudently kept some of their funding back to address this. However, finance officers did monitor school budgets and could intervene when necessary.

 

Flood and Risk Management

 

·         In relation to the £97,000 underspend on flood and risk management, it was queried whether it could be used to address the flooding issues in Wainfleet. It was reported that the funding would be used to match fund proposals from other agencies such as the Environment Agency. 

 

Children's Centres

 

·         In relation to the £161,000 underspend in children's centres, concern was raised as to why the money was not being used to facilitate extra services or equipment.

·         It was highlighted that Children's Services utilised a number of grants and therefore it was difficult to commit to a service for a year and then have to remove it altogether if the Council was unable to fund it long term. It was also questioned whether children's centres could be utilised as a day centre for adults with Special Educational Needs.

 

School Improvement

 

·         Support was given to the use of the Children's Services bid to use its 1% underspend on the City of Lincoln Project, as detailed in Appendix B, to enable schools and academies in Lincoln to work collaboratively together to improve teaching and help children.

 

Adult Social Care

 

·         Given the financial pressures which Adult Social Care will face in future following the cessation of the Better Care Fund, the Board recommended that a volatility reserve should be set up for Adult Social Care.

 

Children's Services

 

·         It was suggested that an Invest to Save approach to funding early intervention services was needed to ensure better outcomes overall for children and young people.

 

Adoption

 

·         It was questioned whether a lack of funding was contributing to adoptions taking 362 days on average and how the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

21.

Treasury Management Annual Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 640 KB

(To receive a report from Karen Tonge (Treasury Manager), which details the results of the Council's treasury management activities for the financial year 2018/19)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Treasury Manager, which detailed the results of the Council's treasury management activities for the financial year 2018/19.

 

Attention was drawn to the key areas of the report, which included:

 

·       Economic overview and interest rate review

·       Treasury Investments

·       Long Term Borrowing

·       Other treasury issues arising during 2018/19

 

Chris Scott, Link Asset Services informed members that the overall performance of the Council's treasury management was very credible, taking into account the economic backdrop and level of risk the Council was willing to take.

 

Members were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were raised:

 

·       It was clarified that the Council did not hold any property in investment funds or directly in property investment itself, as it was above the Council's risk profile.

·       Chris Scott, Link Asset Services, confirmed that he did not foresee any major issues, or any investors used by the Council to be affected by changes in the market. It was noted that institutions were in a stronger position than they had been historically.

·       The Board thanked officers for their work over the past year.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    That the report be noted;

 

2.    That the comments made, as set out above, be passed onto the Executive         Councillor with responsibilities for Finance.

 

22.

Scrutiny Committee Work Programmes pdf icon PDF 297 KB

(To receive a report which sets out the work programmes of the Environment and Economy and Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committees, in accordance with the Board's agreed programme)

 

Minutes:

The Vice-Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee outlined the recent work undertaken by the Committee, which included the following highlights:

 

·         The Committee had considered the outcomes of the High Street Vitality Working Group and had supported the recommendations to the Executive.

·          At its meeting in May, the Committee had supported recommendations to approve the Digby Surface Water Alleviation scheme and recommendations to approve the Council taking up membership of the Water Resources East Company.

·         The Committee had considered the Council's procurement of green or brown electricity to power its corporate portfolio. The Committee had unanimously recommended that the County Council procure 'Pure Green' energy as a way to meet the Council's carbon emission targets.

 

Members were referred to Appendix A of the report, which set out the future work of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Chairman of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee outlined the recent work undertaken by the Committee, which included the following highlights:

 

·         In April, the Committee received reports on Transport Connect; the Winter Maintenance End of Year Report and the Lincoln Transport Strategy.

·         At its meeting in June, the Committee had recommended the adoption of the Holbeach Transport Strategy.

·         The Committee had also received a report on the Passenger Transport Update and the issues faced by rural communities in accessing public transport, along with a number of other reports.

 

Members were referred to Appendix B of the report, which set out the future work of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee.

 

Members were invited to ask questions, in which the following points were noted:

 

·         It was suggested that the Council consider letting grass verges grow into wild meadows, which is an approach that some councils had already adopted. The Chairman of Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee agreed that he would consult with Highways and look into this further.

·         It was suggested that the reduction of rural transport services be monitored and scrutinised wherever possible.

 

RESOLVED:

 

            That the Board is satisfied with the future work programmes of the   Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee and the Highways and       Transport Scrutiny Committee.

 

23.

Overview and Scrutiny Management Board Work Programme pdf icon PDF 231 KB

(To receive a report which enables the Board to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year, to ensure that scrutiny activity is focussed where it can be of greatest benefit)

 

Minutes:

The Head of Democratic Services and Statutory Scrutiny Officer presented the Board's prospective work programme.

 

Members were reminded that there was no meeting scheduled for July, and that the next meeting of the Board would take place on 29 August 2019.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That the work programme be agreed.

 

 

 

 
 
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