Agenda and minutes

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

The Panel noted that Councillor K Chana was substituting for Councillor J Philip.

(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 consider and agree the notes from the meeting of the Panel held on 16 June 2009.

The notes from the previous meeting held on 16 June 2009 were agreed.

1.         (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.

2.         At their meeting on 2 June 2009 the Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed to disband the Customer Transformation Task and Finish Panel and place the remainder of their work with the Finance and Performance Management Standing Scrutiny Panel. The Task and Finish Panel’s end report is attached for information.  The Cabinet at their meeting in February 2009 agreed the recommendations with the proviso at (3) that:

“(1) That, given the increasing importance of the Council’s Website for communication, information and electronic interactions, the level of dedicated resource to the maintenance and development of the Council’s Website be increased;

(2) That a District Development Fund bid be made to fund an additional Grade 5 Website Support Officer on a three-year fixed term contract as part of the budget process for 2009/10, at an estimated cost of £25,000 per annum subject to job evaluation; and

(3) That the Task and Finish Panel on Customer Transformation be requested to reconvene and further prioritise the remaining seven recommendations of the original report.”

RECOMMENDATION:

The Panel is asked to consider where they would like to put this item within their work programme.

1.         The Terms of Reference and Work Programme were noted.

• It was noted that item 1 of the work programme (KPI – Performance outturn 2008/09) had now been completed and should be greyed out to indicate this.

• Under items 4 and 7 (performance of services to be scrutinised and value for money performance analysis), the Panel considered a suggestion to reconvene the sub-group looking at value for money in the council. It was intended that the findings of the Value for Money Customer Performance Analysis for 2008/09 would be considered by the Sub-group during October 2009 and that the sub-group would then report to the November meeting of the Panel. The new sub-committee will consist of Councillors Jacobs, Mohindra, Philip and Watts.

2.         The Panel then considered the inclusion of the final piece of work of the disbanded Customer Transformation Task and Finish Panel. They were tasked with further prioritising the remaining recommendations of the original report. They agreed that it should be added to their terms of reference and work programme; and that a report be brought to their next meeting.

(Deputy Chief Executive). To consider the attached report.

Councillor Jacobs introduced the quarter 1 report on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2009/10. It was noted that although there were 57 indicators the report only covered 51. Indicators 8, 15, 16, 48, 49 and 50 were not in the report. These were indicators that were monitored on an annual basis and would not have any figures to consider at this quarter.

A note from Councillor Mrs Wagland with comments on the various LPIs was tabled.

The Performance Improvement Manager, Mr S Tautz informed the Panel that the report was set out on a service based format. Improvement plans had been produced for all the KPIs, setting out actions to be implemented in order to achieve or maintain target performance. It was noted that as part of the process for agreeing the KPI improvement plans, some targets had been adjusted by the Corporate Executive Forum. But, where this had happened they had been increased and not lowered. Councillor Watts asked if the Panel could have a report on which indicators have had their targets altered. This was agreed.

AGREED: that the second quarter KPI reports to be presented to the Panel in November 2009, should identify those indicators where the target for 2009/10 had been revised by the Corporate Executive Forum.

Councillor Watts said he would also like to see the improvement plans for each of the indicators. He was told that there were 57 of them, each running to several pages. Councillor Watts replied that if any indicators were not meeting their targets for the next quarter then councillors would need to know what the improvement plans were so that they could comment on them. Councillor Bassett said that he had not seen the plans either. Councillor Mrs Collins added that the Portfolio Holder should have access to the relevant information.

AGREED that:

(1)   the Improvement Plans for each of the KPIs for 2009/10 be provided for the Portfolio Holder for Performance Management;

(2)   the improvement plans of any indicators not currently achieving the performance target should be brought to the relevant meeting of this Panel to be considered; and

(3)   the individual KPI Improvement Plan for 2009/10 be subject to ongoing review between the relevant service director and the Portfolio Holders.

Councillor Watts asked how the figures could be improved for LPI 24(a) ‘the number of visits to the Council’s website’. He was told that more information could be made available on the website; it could be made easier to access and to increase the promotion for the site on the council’s literature. LPI 24 (a) and (b) (the quality of the Council’s website) should be considered together.

Councillor Mohindra asked if the Panel could get an indication of the sample size used in LPI 02(a) ‘the percentage of premises licence applications determined within 30 days’. Mr Tautz said that officers could supply that information.

LPI 02 (b) (percentage of temporary event licence applications determined within 5 days) and (c) (percentage of Hackney Carriage/Private Hire licence applications  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

(Director of Finance and ICT) To consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director (Accountancy), Peter Maddock, introduced the quarterly financial monitoring report. The report provided a comparison between the profiled budgets for the period 30 June 2009 and the actual expenditure or income applicable.

The Panel noted that:

• The salaries schedule showed an underspend of £255,000 or 5.1% as at June 2009;
• The budget had allowed for a pay award of 2.5%, but given the current economic climate and level of inflation it was unlikely that any award would reach this level;
• Building control income showed an underachievement of £29,000;
• The £15,000 building control deficit that existed at 31 March 2008 made it difficult to recover the costs and break even;
• The Council had received the first tranche of money back from the Heritable Bank. A 15% return was due in July equating to £376,000, in the event £404,000 was received. An updating report was agreed to be presented at the next meeting;
• Development Control income at Month 3 was £19,000 above expectations, but there was an reduction in application levels compared to the first quarter of 2008/09;
• Income from industrial estates was higher than expected, due to a number of rent reviews being backdated to April 2008; and
• Payments to Sports and Leisure management Ltd were up to date as of 30 June 2009.

            RESOLVED:

That the Panel noted the position on both revenue and capital budgets as at Month 3 and the Major Capital Schemes monitoring schedule.

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 Panel.

Meetings are scheduled for:

17 November 2009;

12 January 2010;

23 February 2010; and

22 April 2010

The schedule for future meetings were noted.