Agenda item

This report provides details of council performance for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010. Three areas in particular are covered in the report; finance, performance and key projects.

Members received a report that provided details of council performance for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.  Consideration was given to three areas:

• Finance – covering the council’s financial outturn for 2009-10, including requests for carry forwards and a position statement on the council’s reserves.
• Performance – the council’s performance against the National Performance Indicator set and 2009-10 Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets.
• Key Projects – projects delivered throughout 2009-10, which supported the council’s key priorities.

Officers went through the key issues and responded to Members’ questions on the data that had been provided.

Details were given of the strategies that were in place to address staff absence.  The Committee would continue to be informed of progress through their monitoring of the Workforce Development Plan, including the breakdown for each directorate.  Members stressed the importance of ensuring that PDRs were carried out for all staff and that there was consistency in the way back to work interviews and sickness reporting arrangements were implemented.

Members questioned officers as to why there had been a fall in the number of disabled people employed by the council and in the number of BME staff. Officers provided more detailed statistics on staff equalities, including a breakdown by directorates.

Members requested that additional information be provided on the following issues¹:

• More detailed figures on staff turnover and the reasons for the increase.
• Reasons behind the reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on York’s roads.
• A response from the Directorate of Adults, Children and Education as to whether financial constraints were preventing homecare needs from being met.

It was noted that a review was currently taking place as to the content and format of the information that was presented to scrutiny committees. Members recommended that the following items should be presented to the Committee:

• Regular reports on the More for York efficiency savings.  The reports should include a timetable for the programme and outcomes.  More detailed information should be presented in respect of those efficiencies relating to corporate services.
• The report on finance and performance should include a summary of the corporate position and more detailed information in respect of the Chief Executive’s Office and the directorate of Customer and Business Support Services.

Members suggested that a possible topic for a scrutiny review would be expenditure on external legal support.  It was noted that work was currently taking place on this issue and it was suggested that the Head of Civic, Democratic and Legal Services be invited to present a briefing to the committee detailing internal and external expenditure on legal support by each directorate and including an explanation of key areas of expenditure in order to focus the scope of the suggested review.

RESOLVED:            (i)            That the performance issues identified in the report be

                                    noted.

(ii)That, at the meeting on 14 September 2010, a briefing report be presented in respect of expenditure on external legal support and that the Head of Civic, Democratic and Legal Services be invited to attend the meeting. 

REASONS:            (i)             To monitor the performance of the service plan areas

                                    relevant to the remit of the committee.

(ii)To enable the Committee to determine whether or not to carry out a scrutiny review on expenditure on external legal support.