Agenda and minutes

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

The Panel noted that there were no substitute members.

(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 of the meeting held on 20 November 2012.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 20 November 2012 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 Panel noted their Terms of Reference and Work Programme.

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

The Assistant Director ICT, Dave Newton, introduced the report updating the members on Information and Communication Technology  in the authority. The meeting noted that the plans for disaster recovery was ongoing with the telephone system taking priority. The Council had invited quotations in January 2013 and had 5 suppliers respond. The 3 most suitable would be interviewed and assessed within the next month.

The new website went live in July 2012 and the website delivery board was keeping its performance under constant review.

The authority would be upgraded to Microsoft Office 2010 sometime in July of this year. The meeting noted that this upgrade was free but had been delayed because some of our core systems have had to be upgraded before Microsoft Office 2010 could be installed. New hardware such as laptops and tablets were also being evaluated to assess our ability to carry out mobile working off site.

The email system was also being reviewed. It was noted that it took up a lot of storage space on our servers and they were looking at ‘out hosted’ solutions. They were also looking to increase the size of file attachments that the system could handle.

Councillor Mohindra asked how the new telephone upgrade selection process would work. He was told that the there were a number of processes to be assessed, the top three would then be evaluated, they would have to give a presentation to the project team where they would be scrutinised.

Councillor Stallan was interested in mobile working and what equipment would be used. He asked that a presentation be arranged for this. Mr Newton said they were still evaluating equipment but a presentation could be arranged when  they were further along the process.

Councillor Lion noted that a forum had been set up to review the new website and that he had been asked to take part in this. Councillor Stallan added that the Tenants and Leaseholders Federation were also looking at the website and would give feedback on their findings.

A few members commented that from a members perspective they found the new website harder to navigate than the old one. They wondered if members could have their own corner of the website for information significant to them only. They would also like to have another presentation on the new site and perhaps a training session for members.

            RESOLVED:

(1)               That the progress made on the ICT systems were noted; and

(2)               That a presentation be arranged when practical to review the possible mobile working equipment available and also to review the new website.

(Director of Corporate Support) To consider the attached report.

The Assistant Director (Human Resources), Paula Maginnis, introduced the sickness absence report for quarter 3. It was noted that they were still below the target set for the year; the target being an average of 7.5 days. The council’s average figure for quarter 3 was 1.85 days, with the cumulative total for Q1 to Q3 being 5.21 days. Figures for each directorate was set out in the report. It was noted that two thirds of staff had taken no sick absence this quarter.

Members noted the continued year on year improvement and debated whether they should receive a six monthly report or keep it as is, a quarterly report. They agreed that the Panel was better suited to reviewing activities that were not going so well and causing problems other than constantly reviewing things that were improving. They agreed that this would now be a six monthly report.

RESOLVED:

(1)               That the current position of the authorities sickness absences be    noted; and

(2)               That this report now be presented to the Panel on a six monthly basis.

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

The Performance Improvement Manager, Mr S Tautz, introduced the report on the Council’s performance against its adopted Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the third quarter of 2012/13. This report reviewed the target performance for this year and the indicator targets for 2013/14. The meeting noted that most of the annual indicators had been removed, to be returned at the end of the year review in June for a final sign-off.

Councillor Mohindra noted that there was no specific corporate KPI target listed. He was told that Management Board thought that a target would be counterproductive as the Council should be achieving 100%. They would still see the direction of travel by reviewing the quarterly figures.

It was noted that 15 (55.6%) of the indicators achieved the cumulative third quarter target and that 12 (44.4%) did not achieve their cumulative target. It was anticipated that 13 (48.1%) of the indicators would achieve their year end performance target and 7 (25.9%) were not anticipated to achieve their target. The achievement of the year end performance targets for 7 (25.9%) indicators was uncertain.

The meeting went through the KPIs as listed in the report.

KPI 21 - % of household waste sent to be recycled, reused or composted – the Panel were unsure of the mark for quarter 2; was it a cross or question mark? They were told that it should be a tick.

KPI 24 – how well have we done in reducing flytipping and taking action against those believed to be responsible – it was noted that this was proving to be a bit of a problem as they were using an old indicator to satisfy DCLG Monitoring. This indicator may never be achieved. A more constructive indicator was being proposed elsewhere on this agenda.

KPI 30 – what % of the invoices we receive were paid within 30 days – Councillor Mohindra asked officers to comment on a 20 day turnaround. It was noted that housing (who have the largest volume of invoices) now had an electronic system for their housing repairs invoices which had an average of a 2 day turnaround, but they could not be responsible once an invoice had left them. The Council as a whole received around 15,000 invoices per annum. Essex County have an automated system but their volume was much larger. Our system operates on a 30 day turnover once the invoice had been registered.  In the near future housing would only generate one invoice per month for materials used. It may be possible to go to a 20 day cycle. A report about this will be going to a future meeting.

KPI 31 – what % of the district’s annual Council Tax was collected – it was noted that Council tax collection was 2% up at the end of February and officers were hopeful that they would achieve their target. Councillor Watson asked how many people would have to pay Council Tax for the first time from April and was told about  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

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

The Performance Improvement Manager, Mr S Tautz, introduced the report reflecting progress against the Equality Objectives, the duty to publish equality information and systems to evidence due regard. It was noted that in future progress reports would be made on a quarterly basis, rather than at the start of the municipal year. Periodic  review of progress to meet the Council’s equality duties provides an opportunity for the authority to consider how it can better meet its equality duties and improve outcomes.

The Panel would receive the action plan at the start on the new municipal year.

            RESOLVED:

That the progress against the achievement of the Council’s Equality Objectives and other work to ensure compliance with equality duties be noted.

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

The Assistant Director of Finance, Peter Maddock, introduced the quarterly financial monitoring reports, on key areas of income and expenditure. The report provided a comparison between the probable outturn for the period ended 31 December 2012 and the actual expenditure or income as applicable. This was the third quarterly report for 2012/13 and covered the period from 1 April 2012 to 31 December 2012.

The Panel noted that:

• The salaries schedule showed an underspend of £112,000 or 0.8%;
• The investment interest levels in 2012/13 were in line with expectations, and significantly below the prior year;
• The Council received £1.872m of the original £2.5m investment placed with Heritable Bank as at 30 December 2012;
• Development Control income at Month 9 was £6,000 above the updated position;
• Building Control income was £4,000 higher than the probable outturn figure, though this was a significant reduction on the original position;
• Both Hackney carriage and other licensing was ahead of the revised expectations;
• Income from MOT’s was in line with the probable outturn. It was noted that some dealerships now do their own MOTs. Our MOT work was safe enough for the next two years, but it would have to be kept under review;
• Local Land Charge Income was in line with the revised expectation, which was £20,000 higher at £190,000;
• The Housing Repairs Fund showed an underspend of £185,000. Due to seasonal factors this underspend was expected to reduce as the final quarter progresses;
• The Waltham Abbey Payment Kiosk was to be installed before the end of the current financial year and would be kept under review to see if it could be extended to other sites.

            RESOLVED:

That the revenue and capital monitoring report for the third quarter of 2012/13 be noted.

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.

The meeting set up a sub-committee consisting of Councillors Lion, Watson and Mohindra to look in depth at interdepartmental recharging and to report back to this Panel with their recommendations. They will have an initial scoping meeting and report their deliberations back to the Panel for their agreement and for it to be put on next years work programme.

The Panel would also like to look at the Business Planning Process and would like to add it to their terms of reference and work programme.