Meeting documents

Venue: Mezzanine Room 2, County Hall, Aylesbury. View directions

Contact: Clare Gray/Karen Jones 

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Media

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Items
Note No. Item

10am

1.

Apologies for Absence/Changes in Membership

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Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr B Chapple, Mr S Lambert and Mr D Shakespeare.

2.

Declarations of Interest

To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

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Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 221 KB

To agree the Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 July 2014

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Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 30 September 2014 were agreed as a correct record.

4.

Public Questions

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in the county to put a question to a Scrutiny Committee about any issue that has an impact on their local community or the county as a whole.

 

Members of public, who have given prior notice, will be invited to put their question in person.

 

The Cabinet Member and responsible officers will then be invited to respond. 

 

Further information and details on how to register can be found through the following link:-

 

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about-your-council/scrutiny/get-involved/

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Minutes:

There were no public questions.

5.

Chairman's Report pdf icon PDF 165 KB

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity.

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Minutes:

The Chairman reported that the guide for the Community Leaders Fund had been updated and was attached to the agenda for information.

10.10am

6.

Grass Cutting Contract -Joint session with ETL Committee Members pdf icon PDF 212 KB

For the Committee to consider the role and requirements of the Local Authority in relation to grass cutting, including any statutory duties (and the roles of district, parish and town Councils) and the Local Authority’s policy in relation to urban and rural grass cutting (e.g. frequency of cuts), and how this has changed over recent years.

 

Contributors:-

Ruth Vigor-Hedderly - Cabinet Member for Transportation

Gill Harding – Transport Economy Environment Strategic Business and Commercial Development Director

Martin Heeley – Ringway Jacobs

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Cabinet Member for Transportation on the grass cutting operation carried out during 2014-15 and what measures have been taken to address any problems. Mike Freestone, Director of Transport and David Stewart, Scheme Delivery Manager also attended the meeting.

 

The Cabinet Member for Transportation reported that in 2013-14 the budget was under pressure to reduce costs and it was agreed to reduce the number of cuts for the urban verges down from 12 to 10 occasions. For 2014-15 there were added pressures and the number of cuts in urban areas was reduced to six over the season with two rural cuts. It was recognised that additional cuts may need to be programmed in to meet health and safety requirements. As a result of these reductions there were a number of complaints from residents and the report refers to action taken as a result of this. As the previous Deputy Cabinet Member for Transportation, she had submitted a report outlining the impact of this reduction in service. The reduction in cuts had been exacerbated by the wet winter and warm spring.

 

She had been appointed Cabinet Member on 1 April 2014 and had introduced new ways of working to address some of the issues raised by complaints. She had:-

 

·         changed the focus of delivery to Area Depots which gave them an enhanced ability to monitor and identify problem areas. Each Depot had a Supervisor who would take ownership of their local area.

·         Discussions were being held on devolving services to other organisations such as Town and Parish Councils.

·         There was an increase in partnership working with Aylesbury Vale and South Bucks District Council. They were looking to increase urban cuts to eight times a year. There was information on benchmarking with other Authorities within the report which showed that the Council was providing a similar service to other Authorities. The Council could not provide a ‘bowling green’ cut as this required regular cuts. However if services were devolved it would up to local areas to make this decision.

 

During discussion the following points were made:-

 

·         One of the difficulties with grass cutting was that different agencies had responsibility for different patches of grass that were close together so one side could be cut and the other side would be long. There was confusion over who had responsibility for particular areas of grass. Members were informed that officers had undertaken a new mapping process which had been particularly important for the devolution of services to identify areas of responsibility.

·         There was also concern about the quality of equipment used and that some of the equipment was semi-domestic. One of the cutters used had left some grass uncut in the middle of the patch. Members would like to be assured that the quality of grass cutting would be improved. The long grass and associated hidden debris caused significant wear and tear on the grass cutting equipment which had to be maintained and replaced.

·         The Cabinet Member for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

11am

7.

Future Shape & Outcomes-Based Budgeting pdf icon PDF 249 KB

For the Committee to consider the process and timeline of Future Shape and how the views of residents and communities feed into outcomes-based budgeting, how the process will enable priorities to made in light of demand-led budgets, how in-year decisions on capital and revenue budgets will be made and implication of the new approach for staffing – HQ and BU roles and responsibilities of officers.

 

Contributors:-

Peter Hardy – Cabinet Member Finance and Resources

Sarah Ashmead Service Director Policy Performance and Communications

Richard Ambrose Service Director Finance and Commercial Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources on the development of the arrangements for setting the Council’s budget for 2015/16. The Cabinet Member reported that as the Council moves into an increasingly challenging financial environment, Members will be faced with difficult choices about their priorities and areas for disinvestment. The Future Shape Business Case therefore set out a clear ambition that the Council should move to a stronger focus on outcomes, rather than outputs and these outcomes should also focus on making a difference for service users, residents and communities. The Cabinet Member commented that there is a lack of clarity around what statutory services the Council needs to provide e.g. library service. The Strategic Plan sets out the Council’s priority outcomes and some informal Member Groups have been discussing what areas should be prioritised or reduced. There was also the budget consultation process which was about to be undertaken where resident’s priorities could inform the budget.

 

The Service Director Policy Performance and Communications reported that the Strategic Plan themes had been discussed and developed by Members. The delivery of the priority outcomes generally involves contributions from different service areas and portfolios. It also depends on working effectively with a number of external partners. Members need to prioritise what is important e.g. protecting the vulnerable and take ‘tough decisions for tough times’. This new process challenges the way the Council organises budgets and its planning processes and therefore needs a stronger understanding of how to support the priority outcomes and to develop processes which use this understanding to drive performance and value for money. There would be a report submitted to Cabinet in November 2014.

 

During discussion Members made the following comments:-

 

·         Members welcomed the new approach. There had been concern about continuous ‘salami slicing’ of services. It was important to support the focus on outcomes for the Council to deliver, rather than a list of individual services. This would be a fundamental change to the way the Council operates. In addition the Council needed to support its business units in generating revenue for the Council and being clear about its skills base. A Member expressed concern about previous Strategic Plans being too wide and all-embracing and should focus on priorities such as protecting the vulnerable and providing services in a different way e.g. community libraries. The Cabinet Member reported that the Strategic Plan had previously been aspirational but should now manage expectations and be clear about what the Council could deliver within limited resources. The Service Director (PP&C) reported that work has been taking place to map the Council’s revenue and capital budgets against each of these high level outcomes. This was a pilot process and budgets would continue to be operated on a service/business unit basis during 2015/16.

·         A Member referred to the high quality services which the Council had provided in previous years and the need to reduce these where they were not a priority and to get the community  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

11.30am

8.

Revenue and Capital Update including Balanced Performance Scorecard pdf icon PDF 200 KB

The aim of the report is to provide the Committee with the Quarter 1 Balanced Performance Scorecard and Joint Budget Monitoring Report, to provide an update on the Capital Gateway Process and to provide an update on the Children’s Services position

 

Link to Cabinet Minutes on this item for information:-

https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=124&MId=5758&Ver=4

 

Contributors:-

Peter Hardy – Cabinet Member Finance and Resources

Richard Ambrose – Service Director Finance and Commercial Services

Kevin Wright – Performance and Projects Officer

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources on the Quarter 1 Balanced Performance Scorecard and Joint Budget Monitoring Report, the Capital Gateway Process and an update on Children’s Services.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources reported that the overall revenue outturn forecast position for the Authority was an overspend of £5.3m, made up of a £6.9m overspend on portfolio budgets, which is offset by a £1.6m underspend on Corporate costs. The Council at a meeting on 18 September 2014 had agreed to release £4.8 million from the general fund reserves with £1million from the contingency fund to help with the draft Improvement Plan responding to the recent Ofsted Inspection on Children Social Care. There was also an overspend in Health and Wellbeing of £1.4m and £0.5m overspend with Transportation and there were action plans in place to address this.

 

In terms of capital, a gateway system had been introduced to monitor schemes. The real test of this new process will come as part of the strategic planning process in the Autumn when new bids would need to be presented. They would need to present a full business case which would initially be looked at by the Business Investment Group which was chaired by the Cabinet Member. Funding would only be released if the business case was approved. Members were informed that the gateway process would not apply:-

 

·         To block allocations for rolling programmes of activity e.g. property maintenance

·         Retrospectively to projects that were committed.

·         To projects below £250k

 

These Capital Schemes would be monitored robustly on a scheme by scheme basis and there would be far more visibility of each Scheme with regular challenge. Work has commenced on the templates required to support the gateway process such as the specific requirements of Outline and Full Business Cases.

 

During discussion Members made the following points:-

 

·         The Committee welcomed the new approach. Previously there had been differences in the quality of submissions made to the Business Investment Group. The monitoring was crucial with regular updates. A Member emphasised the importance of action being taken as soon as there was slippage of any Schemes. The Cabinet Member reported that in terms of governance the Business Investment Group would informally agree and monitor Schemes. Business Units would be responsible for achieving the outcomes for the Council, by following the correct processes and in line with the guidelines set by the Section 151 Officer, therefore the Commercial Board was no longer required. Cabinet Members would sit on Business Unit Boards and monitor progress. The Member commented that if there was poor performance for a Scheme then this should be addressed at an early stage with the relevant officer. The Service Director Finance and Commercial Services reported that each Business Unit Board would have a Finance Director who would have an important role. It was also noted that a Finance Business Partner had been employed to look at Children’s Services to strengthen financial support in the portfolio.

·         Reference was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

11.45am

9.

Update on Emergency Crisis Support Inquiry

Verbal report from the Chairman.

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Minutes:

The Chairman reported that they had attended three meetings so far on Emergency Support Services, including looking at the Council Service, visiting The Vineyard in Aylesbury and meeting with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Job Centre Plus. It was a complex Inquiry which needed some additional time to look into other areas. There was a further meeting with the Homeless Action Group and the Chiltern Foodbank. The Chairman reported that the Inquiry so far had been an enlightening experience which involved a myriad of agencies. Another Member who was involved in the Inquiry commented that emergency crisis covered such a wide areas including the MASH which had been discussed in the previous item. An interim report would be made to the meeting in November with the final report at the December meeting.

12 pm

10.

Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 28 KB

To consider and agree the Finance, Performance and Resources Select Committee Work Programme 2013/14.

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Minutes:

The Committee Work Programme was noted. Members suggested that the following items be added to the Work Programme:-

 

·         Day Care Centre Capital Programme Update

·         Update on the Financial Benefits of the Energy for Waste Plant - For the Committee to consider progress in the delivery of financial benefits arising from the implementation of the Energy from Waste Plant; investments and savings.

·         Capital Programme Overview and Project Progress Update - For the Committee to consider the Capital Programme and to be provided with an update on progress including an insight to how Projects are presented and monitored through the informal Business Investment Group.

·         A Member asked for an item on Home to School Transport however it was considered that this came under the remit of Education, Children’s Services and Skills Select Committee. Another Member asked whether it was possible to have an item on Primary Hot School Meals relating to Capital Expenditure and this item could be considered as a joint review with the Education, Children’s Services and Skills Select Committee.

12.15pm

11.

Date and Time of Next Meeting

11 November 2014

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Minutes:

11 November 2014