Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting Members were asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 6 October 2010.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 October be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. The deadline for registering is Monday 22^nd November 2010 at 5pm.

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

This report provides details of the headline performance issues from the Q2 performance monitor of 2010-11. This covers the period 1st April to 30th September 2010. However, more up-to-date data has been provided where it was available.  The report covers:

·        Finance – Service and corporate budget management.

·        Performance – How well the Council is performing across a wide range of performance indicators, at both corporate and directorate level, including progress on priority actions and projects.

Members considered a report which provided details of the headline performance issues from the Quarter 2 performance monitor of 2010-11. The report covered the period from 1^st April to 30^th September 2010 and covered the following areas:

• Finance – service and corporate budget management.
• Performance – how well the Council is performing across a wide range of performance indicators at both corporate and directorate level, including progress on priority actions and projects.

Officers outlined the report and members queried the following:

• If the expenditure reduction figures in the table at paragraph 25 are achievable. Officers advised the figures are challenging but could be achieved.
• If there is a legal requirement for the level of the councils reserves. Officers advised the level of reserves can be decided by individual councils.
• Car parking charges as outlined in paragraph 39 of the report. Certain members pointed out that a 10p increase is quite a significant one and queried if increasing the charges across other car parks would enable the Foss Bank charges to remain unchanged. It was also queried if the machines could be programmed to accept a 5p price increase.

RESOLVED: (i)That Members noted the performance issues identified in the report.

REASON:                  So that corrective action on these performance issues can be taken by Members and Directorates.

RESOLVED: (ii)That Members noted the finance issues identified in the report and noted the use of strategy designed to reduce the current forecasted pressures.

REASON:                  So that the Council’s expenditure can be contained within budget where possible by the end of the financial year.

RESOLVED: (iii)In accordance with Financial Regulations and referencing paragraph 41, Members noted that approval is requested from the Executive for a non-recurring release from Contingency of £400k to support services currently suffering the effects of the Economic Downturn.

REASON:                  To ensure the City Strategy budget is sufficiently funded.

RESOLVED: (iv)That Members noted the proposal to amend car parking charges as shown in Annex 1.

REASON:                  To ensure that the increase in VAT rate does not negatively impact council revenue.

This report provides Members with the service and financial performance update for April – September 2010, together with an analysis of areas that are reporting exceptions.

Members considered a report which provided them with a service and financial performance update for April to September for the Customer and Business Support Services Directorate.

Members made the following comments:

• Abbreviations in the report are not helpful to the public.
• Queried the under spend in IT as the department doesn’t seem to come in on target. Members requested that the Head of ICT attend the next update to answer queries.

RESOLVED:            (i)            That Members noted the report.

REASON:                  To monitor financial and performance information.

RESOLVED: (ii)That Members requested the Head of ICT attend the meeting in February when the next CBSS Finance and Performance report is due to be considered.

REASON:                  To respond to Member queries.

This report presents information on the current position and the ongoing work that is being conducted in relation to developing the 2011-12 budget.

Members received a report which had originally been considered by the Executive, that provided an update on the 2011-12 budget process, with particular emphasis placed on the impact of the recent Spending Review and an overview of forthcoming plans for the More for York programme.

Officers outlined the report and advised that reports containing more detail would be fed into the Decision Sessions by February.

RESOLVED:             That Members of the Effective Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the recommendations that were made to the Executive as follows:

                                    (a)To note the current position and ongoing work that is being conducted in relation to developing the 2011-12 budget.

                                    REASON: So that the 2011-12 budget process can be completed in a timely manner.

                                    (b) to recommend to Council the approval of the use of £13k of investment costs in 2010-11, for Trade Union facility time as requested by UNISON, and subject to the acceptance of recommendation c.

                                    (c) to recommend to Council the approval of £95k  for new investment costs for Trade Union facility time as requested by UNISON over the period 2011-12 and 2012-13, that are to be met by additional savings to be identified.

                                    REASON: So that the pace of change of the More for York programme is maintained and saving realised earlier.

REASON:                  So that the 2011-12 budget process can be completed in a timely manner.

This report informs Members of the approach taken by HASS Attendance Management Steering Group that resulted in a 50% reduction in absence levels in adult social care.

Members considered a report which informed them of the approach taken by the Housing and Adult Social Services (HASS) Attendance Management Steering Group that resulted in a 50% reduction in absence levels in adult social care.

Absence levels within HASS adult social care were unacceptably high with a 2006/07 outturn of 21.1 days lost per full time employee compared with a corporate average of 12.2 days. A project was launched and co-ordinated by an Attendance Management Steering Group who looked at the overall approach to attendance management in the department. A number of suggestions were made to improve the situation and as a result the 2008/09 outturn was 10.86 days lost per full time employee. However there are signs the 2009/10 absence levels have risen again to 12 days.

Members noted the progress made and commented that it was worrying that bullying had been identified as a problem in paragraph 11 of the report and registered their concern that sickness levels appeared to be rising again.

RESOLVED:             That Members noted the report.

REASON:                  To keep Members informed on the measures taken to address high absence levels in the HASS Adult Social Care department.

Members will consider the Work Plan for the Effective Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee for 2010-11

Members considered a draft workplan for the Effective Organisation Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the remainder of the 2010-11 municipal year.

At Members request, the Head of ICT would be invited to attend the 22 February meeting when the third quarter monitoring report will be considered.

RESOLVED:             That the draft workplan be approved with the amendment detailed above.

REASON:                  To ensure a robust and relevant workplan is in place for the municipal year.