Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors M Bracken, T Dixon and S Wilson. Councillor R Stuchbury was present as a substitute for Councillor S Wilson.

Councillor M Fayyaz had replaced Councillor W Raja as a Member of the Committee.

Councillor R Bagge declared a personal interest in Item 14 as he had been the Leader of South Bucks District Council at the time Consilio was commissioned.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2022 to be confirmed as a correct record.

After brief discussion, the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 22 September 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in Buckinghamshire to put a question to a Select Committee.

The Committee will hear from members of the public who have submitted questions in advance relating to items on the agenda. The Cabinet Member, relevant key partners and responsible officers will be invited to respond.

Further information on how to register can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/get-involved-with-council-decisions/select-committees/

One public question had been received, however it was not related to any items on the agenda and would be answered outside of the meeting.

The Chairman provided an update on ongoing budget scrutiny activity. A briefing had been held on 22 November relating to the budget of the Children’s and Education portfolio and a briefing on the Adult Social Care budget would take place on 7 December. A further briefing would be held virtually with the Section 151 officer for Members on 6 January, the week prior to the formal inquiry sessions, to highlight key areas in the budget and assist Members with queries on the supporting paperwork. The Chairman reminded that if any Members knew that they would be unable to participate in the budget scrutiny inquiry group they were asked to make the Chairman and Scrutiny Officer aware.

The Quarter 2 Budget Monitoring Report as presented to Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 15 November is attached for the Committee to consider.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources

Dave Skinner, Service Director for Finance (Section 151 Officer)

The Chairman welcomed Councillor J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources, and the officers to the meeting.

In the Cabinet Member’s presentation, the following points were highlighted:

·       The forecast year-end revenue had reduced from £3.8m to £1.8m despite significant financial challenges including higher inflation, higher energy costs and increased demand on adults’ and children’s statutory services. The overall forecast deficit of £1.8m comprised an overspend in portfolio budgets of £15.7m, offset by £30.9m of corporate mitigations, including the use of reserves, contingencies, corporate funding and a one-off legal settlement of £4.4m. The main areas of overspend were £9.5m in education and children’s services due to a range of factors, including the rising cost of placements, the cost of agency staff and an increase in demand and complexity of cases, and an overspend of £4.7m in health and wellbeing. Higher energy costs and legal fees also resulted in £2.1m in overspend in accessible housing and resources. The increases were partially offset by a favourable variance of £3.3m in climate change and environment from the increase in electricity sales from the waste plant.

·       There was a forecast slippage of £13m, which equated to 8% of the budget, compared to the 10% target. There had been an underspend of £5.6m in education and children’s services, which related to savings against budget. This included over £1m of savings on the recently opened Kingsbrook school.

·       It was predicted that 98% of targeted savings would be delivered in the current financial year. Late payment performance had decreased over the quarter, though the causes had now been addressed.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

·       Legal and democratic services had an expenditure overspend of about £0.3m variance to budget. The legal costs relating to adult and children's social had increased due to an increase in the number and complexity of cases.

·       The funding received for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme was used for staff dedicated to the project. The funds received could be utilised for different issues within the resettlement scheme, both for ongoing work and activity specifically required for that period.

·       The Council had received £4.4m following receipts of non-recurring income to support the overall forecast position. This was a one-off income due to a legal settlement and was transferred into a reserve and then transferred back to offset pressure on the budget. This had reduced the forecast deficit for the year.

·       The increase in late payments was 7% in August, compared to the targets of 5%, and increased to 11% in September. There were two specific reasons for this issue. The first related to a problem with utilities, which was resolved by changing to direct debit with monitoring arrangements. The second was new staff members joining the team, who had yet to receive training. It was expected that an improvement in those areas would be seen within the coming months, with an anticipation that the backlog would be cleared by the end of the quarter.

·       There had been an increase in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Q2 Performance Report 2022-23 as presented to Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 15 November is attached for the Committee to consider.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources

Holly Pedrick, Head of Insight and Business Improvement

The Chairman invited the Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources, Councillor J Chilver, to introduce the report. In the Cabinet Member’s presentation, the following points were highlighted:

• The report outlined the quarter two performance outturns and commentary for the Council’s 116 Key Performance Indicators. 67 of the indicators were green and 20 were red, which showed an improvement from the previous quarter. 97% of the Council’s new website had been updated, with completion expected by the end of this calendar year.
• The percentage of phone calls answered and the average call waiting time had significantly improved since the last quarter.
• During quarter two, the Council was affected by missed bins in the South and the delivery of the £150 energy rebates and the revenue and benefits system closure.
• Sickness absences were marginally over the target, showing an improvement since quarter one.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

• Customers using Council Access Points (CAPs) could provide free-text feedback to suggest improvements to the service. The number of customers using CAPs would be circulated to Members.

Action: L Jefferies

• The number of phone calls to customer services fluctuated throughout the year, showing increases when council tax bills were issued or home to school transport was arranged. However, there were some unexpected increases this year due to waste bins and council tax rebates. After the new system had been rolled out, there had been a backlog, but this was expected to be resolved by the end of January 2023. It was expected that the percentage of calls answered would further increase in the following quarters, with improvements already being seen. External consultants IMPOWER had advised on the capacity needed for customer service, and a ‘rising tide’ framework of responses had been developed to respond accordingly to customer demands, such as moving call handlers to busier queues and implementing callbacks. Some lesser-used phone lines, such as libraries, had been temporarily closed to assist customer service during exceptionally busy times. However, these measures were short-term, two weeks maximum, and had been reinstated. A listening tool was also used to analyse the causes of increased demands, which could be acted on through behavioural nudges such as pointing customers to digital and self- service.
• Since the report was published, sickness rates had decreased from 9.56 days to 9.5 days. The team carried out additional analyses into different types of sicknesses and long-term sickness. Different interventions needed to be put in place for office-based and mobile staff. The Corporate Management Team were also working on mental health provisions, with various tools being developed for staff and managers. The data was also benchmarked across other councils and broken down in terms of directorates, though more comparison work with authorities who successfully measured sickness absence was needed. It was also noted that sickness rates had increased upon returning to the office, resulting in higher sickness rates when compared to 2020. Sick pay was offered as part of the Council’s employment contract, as not providing it would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee will receive a report on the Customer First Programme which will include an update on the Customer Service Centre.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

Councillor Tim Butcher, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources

Sarah Murphy-Brookman, Corporate Director for Resources

Lloyd Jefferies, Service Director for Resources – Business Operations

Paper:

Customer First and CSC Performance Update and Quarterly Dashboard

The Chairman welcomed Councillor T Butcher, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources, and the officers to the meeting.

In the presentation from the Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member, the following points were highlighted:

• The customer service centre had improved significantly over the last 18 months, with additional resources being used to answer the calls where there was increased demand. The updated IT system had also helped improve the service. In the week before the meeting, 7,712 calls (95%) had been answered. The average wait time was 2.9 minutes, with the average handling time being 11.1 minutes. This equated to the Council receiving three calls per minute across an eight-hour working day.
• The public were encouraged to contact the Council electronically where possible. Where spikes were anticipated (e.g. after sending Council Tax reminders), mitigations had been put in place. Reductions in the number of calls were also expected through the move to a single planning service system which would allow county-wide access rather than the existing legacy council arrangements.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

• A Member questioned whether the website’s search functionality was effective for customers. It currently still operated on the legacy systems due to a delay in the arrival of equipment needed to set up one system. Whilst improvements were needed to make the website more user-friendly, it was going through transformation and the search function was being improved. A web chat option was available on the ‘Contact Us’ page and would be implemented in other areas, such as the Revenue and Benefits pages. It would also respond to customers hovering over the web page as a pop-up to offer targeted support. Additionally, the service had met with Surrey County Council who had implemented AI and Chatbots.
• Due to additional demands in Revenue and Benefits, 10 additional full-time staff had been employed and trained. Turnover in the customer service department was high, with 34 staff having left the business over the last 12 months. Onboarding and training the new staff members were beneficial and low-cost, leading to an improvement in productivity.
• A Member noted that good risk planning helped to reduce the number of unknown events and highlighted the importance of keeping the customer service centre informed of any potential challenges. It was noted that the change of Revenue and Benefits systems was handled well due to the amount of preparation undertaken to inform customers and the customer service centre of the changes, and a similar exercise would be carried out during the Transport for Bucks contract transition. Weekly meetings were held by senior management to anticipate possible challenges, though it was not possible to foresee issues such as missed bins. The Customer First Initiative had highlighted the importance of good customer service and contributed to improvements. Overall, the challenges presented by unforeseen events had taught some important lessons about planning ahead and resulted in improved performance thereafter, alongside the use of behavioural nudges and call monitoring.
• Customer service training had been undertaken by all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Committee will consider two reports that were presented at Audit and Governance Committee on 23 November 2022.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

Dave Skinner, Service Director for Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Mark Preston, Assistant Director of Finance (Pensions, Procurement and Revenues & Benefits)

Papers:

Treasury Management Mid-Year Update

Treasury Management Loans to Other Local Authorities

The Chairman invited Councillor J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources, to introduce the reports and noted that Councillor R Newcombe, Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee, may also want to highlight comments made by the Audit Committee.

The following points were highlighted by the Cabinet Member:

• The treasury management report showed that the net borrowing position was £99m, a reduction of around £30m million in net borrowing since the start of the financial year. The analysis in section 2.12 showed that the level of investment in other local authorities is projected to reduce going forward. In terms of investments, the strategy dictated that the priority was first placed on security, then liquidity and then yield. The average investment return was marginally below the mark due to recent increases in interest rates. The annual treasury management strategy statement was approved by Full Council in February, and the Council had been fully compliant with it. No new borrowing had been undertaken since the Council became a Unitary authority. The strategy was to use surplus cash instead to reduce risks and keep external financing costs low. The net forecast position on interest was an improvement of £2.8m against the budget due to both an increase in interest receivable and a reduction in interest payable.
• The second report sought to emphasise the protection given to Councils who lend to other local authorities. It outlined the additional controls implemented and their specific protections under the Local Government Act of 2003, which stated that all loans were secured on future revenues, and legal action could be taken for non-repayment. It was noted that no local authority had defaulted on a loan. Additional controls were also put in place and the Council maintained a watch list of local authorities at risks. A letter of confirmation had been received from the Section 151 Officer that the outstanding loan would be fully repaid by January 2023.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

• Treasury management advisors had noted that continuous investments in local authorities were secure and beneficial for mitigating risks as no local authority had ever defaulted on these loans. Additionally, the Section 151 Officer at Thurrock had assured repayment of the loan.

·       A Member asked why the Council did not refinance its £10m Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) loan at a lower interest rate in July when the interest rate was forecast to rise for a considerable period of time. It was noted that the strategy was to use surplus cash instead of borrowing to reduce risks and moderate financing costs and use internal borrowing rather than take out new borrowing. Alternative options to refinancing were being considered in terms of the loan portfolio and the PWLB loan rates being offered were under constant review.

·       The Audit and Governance Committee felt that the Treasury Management Strategy was being complied with. Members had benefited from training on treasury management investment and borrowing which may also be useful for Members of the Finance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Committee will discuss the budget scrutiny inquiry group proposals.

Papers:

Budget Scrutiny Inquiry Group Scoping Paper and Timetable

Members agreed the budget scrutiny inquiry group scoping paper, which incorporated feedback from last year’s process.

The Committee will consider the upcoming work programme.

Contributors:

All Committee Members

Papers:

Work Programme

Members were encouraged to suggest items for consideration in the work programme and could email these to the Chairman and the scrutiny officer. Budget scrutiny in January 2023 may also highlight potential items for the work programme.

Budget Scrutiny will take place on 9, 10 and 12 January 2023.

The next Select Committee meeting will take place on 23 February 2023.

The date of the next meeting would be Thursday 23 February 2023 at 2pm.

Budget scrutiny would take place on 9, 10 and 12 January 2023.

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that discussion will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Paragraph 3 – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority that holds that information).

RESOLVED –

That pursuant to Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Minute No 12, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as defined as follows:

Minute 14 – External Property Companies

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) (Paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A, Local Government Act 1972) (The need to maintain the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure, because disclosure could prejudice the Council’s position in any future process or negotiations).

To consider the financial papers on Consilio and Buckinghamshire Advantage (BA) that were presented to the Buckinghamshire Shareholder Committee on 12 October 2022.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

John Reed, Service Director for Property and Assets

Mark Preston, Assistant Director of Finance (Pensions, Procurement and Revenues & Benefits)

Papers:

Consilio

Draft accounts 2021/22

Profit and loss – August 2022

Balance sheet – August 2022

Actual vs Budget August 2022

BA

Draft accounts 2021/22

This item was undertaken in confidential session due to the confidential reports. A number of topics were discussed which included:

·       The financial position of Consilio and BA.

·       Asset valuations, equity, yields and rents.

·       Future market considerations.