Agenda and minutes

(Assistant to the Chief Executive)  To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

The Panel noted that Councillor Mrs J Hedges was substituting for Councillor J Hart.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a personal or a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings of the Panels held on 10^th February 2009.

The notes from the previous meeting held on 10 February 2009 were agreed.

(Chairman/Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Panel and associated Work Programme. This is attached. The Panel are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

The Terms of Reference and the Work Programme were noted subject to:

• Item 2 of the work programme (Key Performance Indicators) – noted that the 4^th quarter figures would be coming through in late May or early June 2009.

(Deputy Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

The Performance Improvement Manager, Mr S Tautz, introduced the report on the National and Local Performance Indicators for 2009/10.  The Panel noted that this report went to the recent Finance Cabinet Committee and that Directors had reviewed the indicators with a view to rationalising the set. This report made proposals for the adoption of a range of ‘Key’ Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2009/10, comprising of both National Indicators (NI) and Local Performance Indicators (LPI).

It was noted that the Council’s overall rate of performance improvement was below average, so for the next year (2009/10) focus has been placed on improving performance against the whole spectrum of performance indicators rather than just a selected few.

A few amendments were made to the Nis as listed. They were:

NI 182 – Satisfaction of business with local authority regulation services – to add “suggested for 2009/10” at the end of the listed comments.

NIs 195 a, b, c and d - should have their improving performance set as ‘Low’ instead of ‘High’.

LPI 14 – Percentage of Council Tax collected – Quarter 3 performance should read 80%.

LPI 15 – Percentage of non-domestic rates collected - Quarter 3 performance should read 82%.

Items shaded were to be deleted and transferred to the relevant business plans. Councillor Philip asked if there would be some level of scrutiny of these plans. He had concerns that some may be failing and should be scrutinised. He was told that it was not intended to bring these to the Panel as they would be going on to the relevant business plans. But if members here wanted it, they could be reported back to the Panel. As the Panel goes through the complete list of NIs they could highlight any greyed out indicators they thought should be singled out for special attention.

The Panel then considered the proposed indicators for 2009/10.

They noted that the indicators pertaining to the Local Strategic Partnership would be scrutinised by the main Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

NI 154 – Net additional homes provided – Councillor Jon Whitehouse asked why this was measured in hundredths, surely it should be to the nearest full house. He was advised that the Audit Commission had issued guidance on this and it had to be measured in this way.

NI 184 – Food establishments in the area which are broadly compliant with food hygiene law – Councillor Philip asked why the target was being reduced. He was told it was a new indicator and was not the same as last year, this new target had been carefully chosen.

NI 192 – Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composing – Councillor Jacobs suggested that the target could be bumped up above 42%. He was informed that the better they performed against the LAA target the more funding the council would get.

NI 186 – Per capita CO2 emissions in the local authority area – Councillor Philip asked why the target was N/A. He was told that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

(Deputy Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

The Performance Improvement Manager introduced the progress report on Equality and Diversity. The Performance Improvement Unit were developing a tool kit to enable managers to monitor these issues, there would also be relevant training for managers. It was noted that Equalities was a key matter for the Council and that it was statutorily required to carry it out.

The Panel noted that the government was introducing a new Equalities Bill in 2010, extending the range of groups covered by the equalities legislation. The Bill also introduced a single new equality duty for public bodies, which required them to tackle discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and encourage good community relations. The Council currently measures its equality performance against the Equality Standard for Local Government, through local performance indicators. In April 2009 a revised equality standard known as the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG) was to be introduced. The EFLG has simplified the measurement of equality performance by reducing the previous five levels of attainment down to three, encouraging a proportional approach, and favouring critical self-assessment rather than external auditing.

The Council will be required to monitor its policies and functions for any adverse impact on the promotion of equality. The new range of monitoring statistics will be brought to this Panel in June 2009 for their information.

It was noted that the proposed equalities staff group was to be a group for minorities of all kinds and not just as stated, those members of staff who have declared themselves to have a disability.

            RESOLVED:

That the current progress in relation to the development and implementation of the Council’s approach to Equality and Diversity issues be noted.

(Deputy Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

The Performance Improvement Manager introduced the Value for Money (VFM) Strategy review.  The purpose of this report was to set out best practice and set out the responsibilities for the Value for Money officer. The report contained an action plan that needed more development and will be monitored on a six monthly basis.

The Panel noted that a sub-group had been set up originally by this Panel to monitor the Value for Money provision within the Council’s planning functions. In future it was suggested that standard data published by the Audit Commission through its VFM Profile tool be used. This would be supported by relevant commentaries from service directors. It was intended that future analysis of the Council’s cost performance should focus on comparisons with its ‘nearest neighbour’ authorities (those that are geographically and demographically similar) to gain meaningful benchmarking information. But this could not be done early as the Audit Commission do not publish their data when it was needed by this Council.

Councillor Whitehouse queried the action plan and asked how it would be carried out in relation to VFM, how it linked in with the budget and how the Panel could review this. There needed to be more details on the VFM review. It was agreed that more information and detail would be complied and brought back to the members on this Panel.

            RESOLVED:

That the Council’s draft Value for Money Strategy for 2009 to 2012 be adopted in principle subject to further information being brought back to the Panel on the arrangements for the annual scrutiny of the Council’s Value for Money performance.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

To report back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with a general update on the reports considered at this meeting.

To consider the forward programme of meeting dates for the new year for this Panel. They are:

16^th June 2009;

25^th August 2009;

17^th November 2009;

12^th January 2010;

23^rd February 2010; and

22^nd April 2010.

The meeting noted that this was the last meeting of this Panel for this municipal year. The Chairman offered his thanks to the members and officers for their hard work during the year. The Chairman was, in his turn, thanked for his chairmanship during the year.