Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Mr Steven Lambert, Mr Dev Dhillon, Mr David Shakespeare OBE and Mr Alan Stevens.

Mrs Netta Glover and Mr Dev Dhillon were welcomed as new Members on the Committee.

To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday 3 May 2016 and the Minutes of the Special Meeting held on Tuesday 7 June 2016.

The Minutes of the Meetings held on Tuesday 3 May and Tuesday 7 June were agreed as correct records.

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/getting-involved/

There were no public questions.

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

The Chairman reported that the Income Generation Inquiry had started and the first evidence gathering session had taken place.

The Chairman thanked Mr Brian Roberts for his hard work as Chairman of the Select Committee and asked for a letter of thanks to be sent to Mr Roberts.

ACTION: Chairman to send a letter to Mr Roberts

For Members to receive a 6 month update on the progress of the recommendations made in the Rent-in-Advance Inquiry report which went to Cabinet in November 2015 and to assign a RAG status to each recommendation.

Attendees:

Martin Phillips, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement

Richard Ambrose, Director of Assurance

Janice Moore, Assessments and Welfare Benefits Team Leader

Anna Colonnese, Local Emergency Support Co-ordinator

Attachments:

Table showing progress on the recommendations.

The Chairman welcomed Janice Moore, Assessments & Welfare Benefits Team Leader and Anna Colonnese, Local Emergency Support Co-ordinator.

Members discussed the progress of the recommendations made in the Rent-in-Advance Inquiry and the following main points were made:-

·         Initially it was agreed to deposit £30k with the Credit Union for the rent-in-advance scheme which was then increased to £50k.  After further research, the decision was agreed to use the original sum of £30k by way of a conditional grant rather than a subordinated loan.

·         Further discussions still need to be had with the Credit Union so the scheme was now due to start in this financial year (16/17).

·         A Member asked whether the results of the feasibility study would help to reduce duplication in the system and increase flexibility within the existing local emergency support service and make it more "user friendly".  Ms Moore explained that there would be closer working with partner agencies so that food vouchers could be accessed more quickly.  The LES team already worked with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau who administered monetary vouchers and the team also worked with food banks across the county.

·         In response to a question around whether the terms and conditions had been drawn up by the Legal team, Ms Moore explained that the scheme would now be undertaken as a Service Level Agreement between the Credit Union and the County Council.

Members discussed the recommendations and gave the following RAG status to each recommendation.

Recommendation 1 – due to a lack of information on the progress of this recommendation, Members gave this a red triangle.

Recommendation 2 – Members felt that this recommendation was on track so gave this a green star.

Recommendation 3 – Members felt that this recommendation was on track so gave this a green star.

For Members to receive a progress review on the budget savings which were part of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTP) process this year with further information on a number of specific budget saving projects.

Attendees:

Lin Hazell, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services 

David Johnston, Managing Director, Children’s Social Care

John Huskinson, Finance Director

Attachments:

Budget savings monitoring report

The Chairman welcomed Ms Lin Hazell, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Mr David Johnston, Managing Director of Children’s Social Care and Mr John Huskinson, Finance Director.

The following main points were made during the presentation:-

·         The portfolio reported an overspend situation.

·         The service had seen an increase in the number of placements being made which had created additional pressure on the budget.

·         A Digital Lead for the service had been appointed to assist with delivering some of the digital savings.

·         The service reported 37 completed adoptions last year.

·         There was a need to recruit new specialist foster carers.  A recruitment partner would be identified shortly to improve performance of the fostering team.

·         In response to a Member question, the number of agency social workers would continue to reduce incrementally from July.

·         Converting agency staff to permanent staff had been successful for some staff and managers had worked hard to create a good working environment for social workers.

·         Following a discussion around unaccompanied asylum seeking children, the Finance Director confirmed that a sum of money would need to be made available through the MTP process this year and this figure would vary depending on the number of young people placed in Buckinghamshire.

·         A Member asked whether the Special Guardianship Orders create any cost savings for the service.  The Managing Director responded by saying that these did not create huge savings and there would be ongoing costs for some years.

·         A Member expressed concern about the proposed savings to be made to short breaks for disabled children and their families.  The Managing Director explained that the aim was to support parents as much as possible and to provide the service in a slightly different way in order to deliver the savings.  The Service Area needed to make some savings in this area of provision and would be looking to deliver services and ensure equity in services and reduce the impact on those who reallt needed the support.

The Chairman asked that any future reporting on MTP savings include the baseline budget figures for each activity.

ACTION: Richard Ambrose, Director of Assurance

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member, Mr Johnston and Mr Huskinson for their presentation.

SEE PAPERS AND WEBCAST FOR FULL CONTENT

For Members to receive a progress review on the budget savings which were part of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTP) process this year with further information on a number of specific budget saving projects.

Attendees:

Zahir Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Education & Skills

David Johnston, Managing Director, Children’s Social Care

Nick Wilson, Service Director, Education

John Huskinson, Finance Director

Attachments:

Budget savings monitoring report

The Chairman welcomed Mr Zahir Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Education & Skills, Mr David Johnston, Managing Director for Children’s Social Care, Mr Nick Wilson, Service Director for Education and Mr John Huskinson, Finance Director.

The following main points were made during the presentation:-

·         There had been a significant increase in the number of SEND children which had put pressure on the budget.

·         In response to a question around managing the demand of SEND children, the Service Director explained that work was underway to re-design the service offer.

·         The Family Information Service was partly funded by the DSG (Delegated Schools Grant) and discussions would be taking place with Schools Forum on how this funding would continue.

·         The Home to School transport review was reported as a "work in progress".

·         Future Shape savings would primarily be made through the Home to School Strategic Options Appraisal.  The Transport Economy and Environment Business Unit would be working closely with the Children’s Business Unit to manage the pressures on client transport.

·         The Clinical Commissioning Group savings through additional income were still being discussed.

·         In response to a question about Children’s Centres, the Managing Director explained that these were being reviewed as part of the Family Support Review.  The Finance Director added that the budget savings against this activity should be changed from green to amber as the savings had been made this year but there was a risk to the savings being made in subsequent years.

ACTION: Finance Director to amend the MTP savings table

·         Schools were being encouraged to take on the direct licence for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for their presentation.

SEE PAPERS AND WEBCAST FOR FULL CONTENT

The reason for this item is for Select Committee Members to note and question the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources on the Council’s Service Performance.  Cabinet considers performance reports quarterly and the papers attached for the Select Committee are a copy of the balanced performance scorecard and joint budget monitoring report quarter 4 which was presented to Cabinet on 23 May 2016.

Attendees:

John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources

Attachments:

Balanced performance scorecard and joint Budget monitoring report – Quarter 4 and End of year 2015/16 with relevant appendices.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Richard Ambrose, Director of Assurance, who took Members through the Q4 performance and risk report.  The following main points were made:-

·         The report went to Cabinet on 23 May.

·         The provisional outturn position for Revenue reported an overspend of £363k which was a significant improvement from the Q3 forecast outturn of an overspend of £1.7m.

·         During 2015/16, the Council achieved its targets across 66% of the performance indicators.

·         Total capital slippage was £22.6m of which £6m was allocated to Local Enterprise Partnership projects.

·         In response to a question about the 13 red indicators which continue to go down, Mr Ambrose explained that during 2016/17, all the indicators would be reviewed to ensure they remained realistic.

·         A Member asked specifically about the Future Shape savings and asked for reassurance that these savings could be made across the Council.  Mr Ambrose responded by saying that a huge amount of work had been undertaken across the portfolios to identify savings and develop plans around delivering the savings.  Digital Leads had been appointed in each Business Unit to drive forward the digital savings.

·         A Member queried the number of FTE’s as the number had increased from 2088 in 2014/15 to 2409 in 2015/16.  Mr Ambrose agreed to look into this after the meeting (see below for response).

Addendum

Response from the Management Information team

"The reason the total FTE had increased so much, was because Adult Learning Tutors and Deputy Registrars had been included in the FTE counts throughout 2015/16, and they were not included in the 14/15 figures".

·         In response to a question around seeking assurances that the savings could be made, Mr Ambrose said that the budget was broadly on track to achieve the savings and the budget was being monitored closely.  If the savings which had currently been identified could not be made, then alternative ways of making the savings would need to be sought.

The Chairman thanked Mr Ambrose for his presentation.  He added that the Select Committee would continue to monitor the budget savings closely over the coming months.

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

Proposed agenda items for September meeting (to be agreed)

a.    Property update – report back on the latest review by Carter Jonas

b.    Update on the delivery of the Council’s training programme and skills gap report

c.    Business Services Plus – progress report on delivering outcomes from the business plan, including an update on recruitment agencies

d.    Budget Scrutiny – 6 month recommendation monitoring

e.    Q1 performance results

f.     Green Park update (exempt session)

Members noted the work programme.  It was agreed to include the following items for the September meeting:-

·         Property update

·         Update on the delivery of the Council’s training programme and skills gap report

·         Business Services Plus update

·         Budget Scrutiny – 6 month recommendation monitoring

·         Q1 performance results

·         Green Park update (exempt session)

It was also agreed to invite the new Chief Executive to the September meeting.

ACTION: Committee & Governance Adviser to invite the Chief Executive

Possible future agenda item about the effects to the Council of leaving the European Union.

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 13 September 2015 at 10am in Mezz Room 2, County Hall, Aylesbury.

The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 13 September at 10am in Mezz Room 2, County Hall, Aylesbury.