Agenda and minutes

As this was the last meeting of the Committee for the current municipal year and, before the local government elections, Councillor Galvin, expressed his thanks to all Members for their help and support with scrutiny over a number of years. In particular he expressed his best wishes to those Members that were not standing for re-election.

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the register of interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interest which they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. No additional interests were declared.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 12 January 2015.

Resolved: That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 12 January 2015 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered to speak can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Thursday 2 April 2015.  Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the remit of the committee.

To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.

Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings

Please note this meeting may be filmed and webcast or audio recorded and that includes any registered public speakers, who have given their permission.  The broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts  or,if sound recorded, this will be uploaded onto the Council’s website following the meeting.

Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting.  Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officer (whose contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.

The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present.  It can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/downloads/download/3130/protocol_for_webcasting_filming_and_recording_of_council_meetings

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

The Workforce Strategy 2012-15 was launched to staff in May 2012.  This committee has received six monitoring reports to date on progress and this is the final report on the current strategy.  The annex to the report brings together a summary of key actions and outputs/outcomes from the work.

Consideration was given to a report which gave an overview of the Council’s Workforce Strategy for 2012-15.

It was reported that the Committee had received six monitoring reports to date on progress and Annex A provided a summary of the key actions against each.

The Assistant Director, Customers and Employees reported on the changes in the Council’s workforce since the start of the strategy. She highlighted work currently underway on the development of a “People Plan” for 2015-18 to reflect the priorities arising from the transformation programme and to support the delivery of the Council’s new emerging corporate priorities, post election.

In answer to Members questions, Officers confirmed the success of the Council’s Springboard Programme with oversubscription year on year. It was also confirmed that the terms and conditions of outsourced staff would be kept under review during the procurement process. Members expressed concerns that management training was optional and highlighted the low take of the staff discount scheme, in view of the estimated savings involved.

The Assistant Director undertook to provide Members with a written response to the following points:

·        Reasons for reductions in number of part time staff

·        Reasons for reduction in average salary

·        Details of the Directorates involved in the 552 job losses

·        A breakdown of the reasons employees were referred to Health Management

In reply to concerns raised at the high number of occupational health/physician referrals, Officers confirmed that benchmarking would be undertaken year on year to ascertain levels and that occupational health data would be included in future workforce strategy reports to Committee.  

Following further discussion it was

Resolved:  That the report and its findings be noted and that support be given to the development of a People Plan for the 2015-18 period.

Reason:     To ensure Members are kept updated on progress with the strategy.

This report sets out the latest performance for 2014/15 and forecasts the outturn position for the services falling under the responsibility of the Corporate Scrutiny Management Committee. 

The Committee considered a report which presented details of the Council’s latest performance for 2014/15 and forecast the outturn position for the services falling under the responsibility of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee.

It was noted that whilst the Council’s net General Fund budget for 2014/15 was £124,186k, the net budget for the areas covered by the report were £19,414k and that a small under spend of £61k was forecast.

Members highlighted the following:

·        Concerns at the rising absence and stress related absence rates

·        High number of female as opposed to male employees

·        With the greater use of voice recognition in the customer centre it was important to ensure that the customer experience catered for vulnerable and elderly customers

·        Need to ensure all staff had had a Performance Development Review (PDR) within the last 3 years

·        Examine the offer of the staff discount scheme to Council volunteers

Officers confirmed that, it was looking likely that there would be an outturn of 9 days for sickness absence, in line with local authority’s national average, however the authority had a number of strategies in place to assist with stress. Officers also confirmed that Officers were targeting all staff who had not received a PDR to ensure as full coverage of the workforce as possible.

Resolved:  That the performance report be received and noted.

Reason:     To update the Committee on the latest finance and performance position for 2014/15.

To receive details of petitions received by the Council, in line with the Council’s published arrangements and any responses or proposed responses to those petitions, in accordance with the revised arrangement for petitions agreed by Council on 9 October 2014.

Consideration was given to a report which set out details, at Annex A, of petitions received since the Committee’s last meeting in January together with actions taking in relation to existing petitions. This was in line with the Council’s new arrangements for dealing with petitions received by the authority.

In answer to Members questions, Officers confirmed that all petitions were brought to the attention of the relevant Cabinet Member and that lead petitioners were kept informed of this Committee’s consideration of their petition, including any further action Members decided to take.

Following consideration of the listed petitions and updates it was

Resolved:           That the schedule of petitions, at Annex A, and the actions taken to date, be received and noted and that no further action be taken in respect of petition 18. (page 75 of the report) relating to Lendal Bridge, in view of the number of signatories and the advice provided as part of the Committee report.

Reason:     To ensure the Committee carried out its new requirements in relation to petitions.

To consider the Committee’s work plan for the 2014/15 municipal year.

Consideration was given to the Committee’s work plan for the 2014/15 municipal year.

Resolved:    That the Committee’s work plan for 2014/15 be received and noted.

Reason:     To inform Members of the Committee’s work during the current year and work that will be continuing into the next municipal year.