Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Catherine Wilman  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

13.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Councillors

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Added Members Mrs P Barnett and
Mr P Thompson.

14.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

No interests were declared.

15.

Minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2017 pdf icon PDF 134 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 June 2017 be approved by the Board and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

16.

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

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the Board that Mr P Thompson, the Church of England representative had resigned from the Board and would be replaced by Rev Sue Evans who was a member of the Diocesan Board of Education.  Rev Evans was unable to attend the meeting and had sent her apologies.

 

 

17.

Consideration of Call-Ins

Minutes:

No call-ins had been received.

18.

Consideration of Councillor Calls for Action

Minutes:

No Councillor Calls for Action had been received.

19.

Performance of the Corporate Support Services Contract pdf icon PDF 191 KB

(To receive a report which provides an update of Serco's performance against contractual Key Performance Indicators (KPI) specified in the Corporate Support Services Contract between January 2017 and May 2017.  The report also provides an update on the progress made on key transformation projects being undertaken by Serco)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report which provided an update of Serco's performance against contractual Key Performance Indicators (KPI) as specified in the Corporate Support Services Contract between January 2017 and May 2017.  With the addition of a new KPI, the total number for SERCO was 41.

 

Performance up to and including December 2016 had been previously reported to the Value for Money Scrutiny Committee at its meeting held on 28 February 2017.

 

The Board was required to seek reassurance about the performance of the Corporate Support Services Contract and provide feedback and challenge as required.

 

At this point, an addendum to the report was circulated which showed the performance of the Corporate Support Service Contract up to and including June 2017.  It was noted that the Overall KPI Performance Summary figures for June on the addendum were incorrect and should read 30 (instead of 29) for Target Service Level Achieved; and 2 (instead of 3) for Below Minimum Service Level.

 

The Officer reported that performance had been difficult for SERCO to manage and as a result, Service Credits had been applied totalling £2million since the beginning of the contract.  The level of Service Credits would fall over time as the service stabilised.

 

The Board discussed some of the KPIs in detail and the following points were noted:

 

Customer Service Centre (CSC)

 

·    It was highlighted that in May 2017, 17.53% of all calls to the CSC had been abandoned and 14.05% in the last month.  Officers advised that abandoned calls could be due to a number of reasons, for example, the caller terminating and calling back the next day, which the figures did not identify.  However, despite this, performance on this KPI was not as high as desired and both LCC and Serco had concerns;

·    It was highlighted that 100% of safeguarding calls were answered;

·    In relation to KPI 4 - % of total calls that are abandoned calls, this KPI had failed to be met and between January – April 2017, mitigation had been agreed, although no service credits had been taken.  It was confirmed that this was during the period when Mosaic had been introduced which could have reflected on this particular KPI.  Further information was requested by the board on how many calls had actually been abandoned and what the average call answering time was;

·    The report claimed that Serco had sampled a percentage of calls for the April/May performance information and clarity was sought by Members on how the samples were decided.  Officers confirmed that the quantity of sampling had been agreed at 30% as set out in the Book of Measures, and that 30% was chosen at random.  The Board requested further information on how the sampling was done;

·    Clarity was sought on the specialised staffing requirements in the Children's Hub of the CSC (which included safeguarding).  Officers confirmed this was something which had been discussed within the service with a view to relaxing the rules around answering children's calls so that more operators could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Trade Union Recognition of the Royal College of Nursing pdf icon PDF 14 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered a report concerning the Trade Union Recognition of the Royal College of Nursing which would be presented to the Executive on 5 September 2017.  The views of the Board would be reported to the Executive.

 

Due to the transfer of Public Health service commissioning from NHS to Local Authorities for 0-19 year olds over recent years, in October 2017, 240 employees were due to be transferred from the NHS to Lincolnshire County Council employment.  The two main Trade Unions who supported this staff group were Unison and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), however the Royal College of Nursing was not recognised by the Council and has requested Trade Union Recognition by LCC.

 

During discussion of the report, the following comments were made:

 

·         It was suggested that the unions should look into having learning representatives as these would be beneficial to staff and to the employer. There was a vast array of courses available to help staff which could be promoted through learning representatives.

·         It was queried what the relationship was like between Unison and the Royal College of Nursing and whether the Council had negotiated with them before. It was confirmed that the Council had not negotiated with the RCN before, but engagement meetings had been taking place between the RCN and Unison in the NHS and the Executive Director of Children's Services. The Council's Unison officers were being engaged in preparation for the forthcoming consultation.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Board unanimously support the recommendations to the Executive as set out in the report;

 

2.    That the additional comments made be passed to the Executive for its consideration of this item.

 

 

 

 

21.

Working Group into the UK's Exit from the European Union pdf icon PDF 32 KB

Minutes:

The Board considered a report on the previously established Working Group to consider the impact of the UK's exit from the European Union on the County Council and on Lincolnshire more generally.  The report recommended to the Board that the Group be re-established with a cross-council remit.

 

In the previous council term, the Working Group had met twice, and had undertaken a lot of work as a result.  LCC had been very proactive in setting up the working group and were ahead of many other authorities.

 

Board members asked what the working group could achieve.  The Officer explained that it would be difficult for the Council to have influence over the main Brexit negotiations, however keeping abreast of what was involved and the progress being made may enable the Group to have influence over issues which affected the county, in particular in relation to agriculture and Britain's food exports to Europe.  Huge changes in funding were expected and the Group would be there to represent Lincolnshire at the table.

 

Specific rules around procurement and data protection were expected which were important issues for Lincolnshire and its ever increasing population. 

 

The Working Group would be established on a voluntary basis for those who were interested in the issues.  It was suggested there should be a representative and a substitute from each committee on the Group.  As the Constitution only allowed working groups to meet a maximum of three times, it was also proposed that the Board authorised the Working Group to meet more than three times so that it could continue to meet throughout the Brexit negotiation period.

 

There was discussion regarding the membership of the Group and it was agreed that the terms of reference state the Group be "politically inclusive" rather than politically balanced.

 

It was noted that Councillor Mrs M J Overton MBE did not currently sit on a scrutiny committee, and as the Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association, she may be a helpful member of the Group.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Working Group on the UK's exit from the European Union with a new membership consisting of one member from each Scrutiny Committee, and being politically inclusive be re-established;

2.    That the Working Group on the UK's exit from the European Union be authorised to meet  more than three times during the Brexit negotiation period;

3.    That the Working Group on the UK's exit from the European Union report back to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board after each meeting.

 

22.

Scrutiny Reviews 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 512 KB

(To receive a report which invites the Board to agree the topics for in-depth scrutiny reviews to be undertaken by the two Scrutiny Panels, taking into account the Prioritisation Toolkit)

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which invited the Board to agree topics for in-depth scrutiny reviews to be undertaken by the two Scrutiny Panels, taking into account the Prioritisation Toolkit.

 

It was reported that the Chairmen of the two Scrutiny Panels had met with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board to discuss and identify two topics for the Panels.

 

It was proposed that Scrutiny Panel A would look at the impact of current IT provision on council working practices with particular reference to the potential for enhancing roles by means of updated IT provision.  The review would consider ways of maximising the use of IT, what opportunities were available to communicate better and the costs involved.

 

Issues were raised that data protection and safeguarding could be seen as having a negative impact on the use of IT in the field.  The Scrutiny Panel Chairman would include this comment in the Panel's remit.

 

The impact of the new street lighting policy to turn street lights off in certain areas at midnight would be the topic for Scrutiny Panel B.  The Chairman of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee supported this, however it was noted that a full 12 months' worth of data would have been useful, however data could be factored in to the review as it became available.

 

As both subjects were cross-cutting across all Scrutiny Committees, it was agreed that both Panels should report back to the Board.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That a Scrutiny Review on the impact of current IT provision on council working practices be undertaken by Scrutiny Panel A;

 

2.    That a Scrutiny Review on the impact of the new Street Lighting Policy be undertaken by Scrutiny Panel B;

 

3.    That approval of the terms of reference for each scrutiny review be delegated to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board.

23.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Programmes pdf icon PDF 46 KB

(To receive a report which sets out the work programmes of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee; and the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire)

Minutes:

The Board considered the work programmes for Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire (an updated replacement for which was circulated at the meeting).

 

Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

 

The Chairman of Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, Councillor C E H Marfleet updated Members on the work being undertaken by the Committee and its plans for the coming year.  The work programme was in part driven by topics following the national agenda, as well as including several pre-decision scrutiny items.  The Committee was also seeking to hold meetings on a themed basis.

 

The Chairman referred to the financial position of Adult Social Care which had stabilised over recent years.  The Committee continued to receive regular updates on the overall financial position of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing.

 

The January agenda would include an item on Mosaic and other IT items.

 

There were often issues which fell within both Adult and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee's and the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire's remits, and these items would be addressed by liaison between the respective Chairmen.

 

Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire

 

There had been various updates to the Committee's work programme since the publication of the Board's agenda, and a new version of the work programme was circulated.

 

The Chairman of Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire, Councillor C S Macey, highlighted three items which would be considered by the Committee in the coming months: -

 

Sustainability and Transformation Plan

 

A key question was when the local NHS was going to begin its consultations on the main elements of the STP, such as women's and children's services; and emergency and urgent care.  The timing of the consultation was dependent on approvals from NHS England and this meant it was largely outside local control, but it was more likely to be towards the end of the calendar year than any earlier. 

 

An update item had been scheduled on the STP at the October meeting.  The Committee will be seeking information at this meeting on the developments since the STP was last considered by the Committee in January of this year.

 

The terminology had evolved as STP was now also being used to mean a 'Sustainability and Transformation Partnership'.  In effect each Sustainability and Transformation Plan area was being viewed as a 'partnership'.  This usage was confirmed by an announcement by the Secretary of State for Health on 19 July 2017 of £325 million of capital to support 15 out of the 44 Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships.  (Lincolnshire STP had not been included in this round of funding). 

 

Lincoln Walk-in-Centre

 

On 19 July 2017, the Committee considered the Lincoln Walk-in-Centre and agreed that it did not support the proposals from Lincolnshire West CCG to close the service.  If the CCG went ahead with the closure, they had indicated the walk?in-centre would close "during the autumn".  The Committee was not convinced that the CCG would put in place alternative provision prior to this intended closure time.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

Overview and Scrutiny Management Board Work Programme pdf icon PDF 33 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 focused where it can be of greatest benefit)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Board's own work programme and it was reported that there were no changes to the programme published in the report.

 

It was further reported that the Chairmen of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee would be updating the board on the work of their committees at the next meeting on 28 September 2017.

 

There was a discussion regarding substitutions at Board meetings which were encouraged to ensure continuity.  Any information which was required in advance for a substitute could be sought from the Chairman or officers.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Board's work programme as set out in Appendix A to the report be agreed.

 

 

 

 
 
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