Agenda and minutes

Concerns had been received that the Council did not appear to be making progress towards using Prevent programme funding that was being made available by the Home Office.

Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor, explained the background to this funding and confirmed that he would be meeting Home Office officials in the next few days to discuss the best way that this funding could be used.  He gave an assurance that eth deadline for applying to this funding would not be missed.

In response to questions, Sir Peter Soulsby confirmed that his office was in very regular contact with the Police at both senior and operational levels.  The discussions to be held in the next few days were needed to ensure that the City Council was the most appropriate body to lead on this work, as it was not core council business.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Kitterick and Porter.

No interests were declared.

Councillor Westley, Chair of the Adult Social Care and Housing Scrutiny Commission, explained that it was proposed that this review would be a full review of adult social care in the City.  For example, consideration would be given to whether service users wanted to have their own budgets and remain in their own homes.

An examination then would be needed of the implications of this decision, (for example, to ensure that staying in their own homes did not lead to isolation for service users).  This would include a review of how charges were made for these services and an examination of how care for elderly people could be improved, to ensure they all received the decent standard of care they deserved.  Those in the private sector with relevant expertise would be invited to participate.

It was stressed that this work needed to start very quickly, so that the Scrutiny Commission’s findings could be used to help the Cabinet reach a decision on whether elderly persons’ homes should remain open.  Councillor Dawood, Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for Adult Social Care and Housing, advised that the consultation on this would close on 28 September 2011 and that input from the Scrutiny Commission would be welcomed.  Following this, a report would be prepared for submission to the City Mayor and Cabinet, possibly at the end of October 2011.

In view of this timescale, it was agreed that the Scrutiny Commission’s work needed to be completed by the second week of October 2011.

RESOLVED:

1)     that the scoping document for the review of Elderly Person’s Homes be amended as indicated above;

2)     that, once amended, the scoping document for the review of Elderly Person’s Homes be referred to the Adult Social Care and Housing Scrutiny Commission for review; and

3)     that the review referred to under 2) above be completed by the second week of October 2011.

In response to concerns from the Committee that the significant budget reductions required needed to be examined, the Director – Planning and Commissioning explained that the proposed review would consider three key areas:-

·           The scope and financial situation of services for children, young people and their families;

·           Outcomes of the consultation process and lessons to be learned from these; and

·           Consultation on delivery options for future services for children, young people and their families.

The starting point for this would be that considerably less money would be available for these services in the future.  For example, although £500,000 initially had to be saved, additional savings would be needed in future years, as the government had advised that grants for these services would reduce.  This meant that in the next few years savings of approximately £6- 7 million in would need to be made in services for children, young people and their families.

RESOLVED:

1)     that the scoping document for the review of 21st century services for children, young people and their families be amended to include an examination of how the budgeted financial reductions will be achieved and the impact of making these savings;

2)     that, once amended, the scoping document for the review of 21st century services for children, young people and their families be referred to the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission for review as soon as possible.

Councillor Waddington, Chair of the Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Scrutiny Commission, explained that government funding for courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) was changing, so that they would only be free for people in receipt of job seekers’ allowance.  This meant that approximately 3,000 people would no longer qualify for free access to these courses.  Changes to the scoping document to account for this therefore had been suggested.

Councillor Waddington advised the Committee that it was hoped that the proposed review of ESOL courses could be completed before the start of the Autumn term, in September 2011. 

It was recognised that the people who would no longer be eligible for free courses were not spread evenly across the City, but tended to be concentrated in certain areas.  In addition, general literacy levels in some parts of the City already were low, so the changes to government funding also could affect some of these people.  However, it was very important for people to be able to learn English to enable them to fully participate in daily life in the City.  It therefore was suggested that the review could continue in the Autumn term, to assess who the funding changes had affected and how. 

Councillor Cassidy, Assistant City Mayor with responsibility for Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, welcomed the review and explained that work already was underway with local colleges and other providers, to try to reduce the impact of the changes to funding.  Details of the key actions being taken were tabled and are attached at the end of these minutes for information.

From these actions, it was noted that:-

·           All ESOL courses planned for September would continue, but uptake would be monitored;

·           No feedback had been received about the possibility of introducing a student loan / credit system to help more learners find ways of funding ESOL courses.  Members suggested that this should be added to the scope of the review, as there was concern that not having such a facility could penalise those who could not afford to access ESOL courses.  Consideration also needed to be given to where the funding for such a scheme would come from;

·           A learning partnership that covered informal adult learning would be established.  It was suggested that it would be beneficial to consider this as part of the review, so it should be added to the scoping document. 

The proposed wider scope of the review was welcomed, as this would enable evidence to be taken from a range of stakeholders and a full examination to be made of the financial impact of the funding changes.  However, although this was an emergency situation, sustainable arrangements needed to be made for the future.

The collaborative working with local colleges and other providers also was welcomed, as all providers had limited resources with which to operate ESOL courses.  This collaboration also could help achieve the most efficient use of these resources, (for example, by ensuring that the best use of premises was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Chair reminded the Committee that quarterly budget monitoring reports would be received by the Committee, but the monitoring under consideration would identify whether the ambitious savings targets included in the last budget would be realised.

Members noted the savings that had been identified in the budget and progress made in achieving them:-

a)    Actions and Reports with Savings from the General Fund Revenue Budget Report approved by Council

The Acting Director of Finance was requested to include evidence of plans, targets, timescales and alternatives where needed in the savings monitoring reports and the quarterly budget monitoring reports to this Committee as appropriate.

b)    Key Transformational Projects & Programmes and Other Corporate Efficiency Activities & Controls

RESOLVED:

1)     that the adoption of a Scrutiny Handbook to support the work of Scrutiny be agreed in principle;

2)     that the Democratic and Civic Support Manager be requested to circulate a draft Scrutiny Handbook for comment; and

3)     that the draft Scrutiny Handbook be brought back to the Overview Select Committee for consideration and in principle approval and recommendation to Council for inclusion in the Council’s Constitution.

The Democratic and Civic Support Manager advised the Committee that the proposed procedure for monitoring petitions was similar to that used by the former Overview and Scrutiny Management Board.  The role of the Overview Select Committee within this process would be to ensure that the process was followed properly.

The following points were made during discussion on this item:-

·           Resources currently were not available to make more than a basic verification check of the people who had signed the petition.  This was being reviewed, to see how the situation could be improved;

·           The City Mayor’s office asked that it be ensured that early notification was given to Assistant City Mayors when a petition was received affecting their area(s) of responsibility; and

·           The proposed process could be kept under regular review, to ensure that it remained appropriate.

RESOLVED:

1)    that the process for monitoring petitions be agreed, subject to it being ensured that Assistant City Mayors know earlier in the process when a petition is received affecting their area(s) of responsibility;

2)    that the Democratic and Civic Support Manager be asked to send a flowchart showing the overall process for petitions to all Members; and

3)    that the process agreed above be used for 6 months and then reviewed.

The Chair stated that he expected all Scrutiny Commissions to be working on reviews by September. 

RESOLVED:

            that the following outline work programme be agreed and reviewed as necessary:-

Adults Social Care & Housing

·           Review of Elderly Person's Homes (see minute 4 above)

·           Fairer Charging Policy

·           Travellers' Sites (to be an in-depth review)

Children, Young People & Schools

·           21st Century Services (see item 5 above)

·           Schools Admission Process

·           Summer Play Schemes (Youth Services)

·           Capital investment to support and improve Adventure Playgrounds (Pledge 33)

Economic Development, Culture & Tourism

·           Review of Access to English for Speakers of Other Languages (see item 6 above)

·           Economic growth and employment - the role of the City Council in, for example, employment creation, and what can be done in times of high rates of unemployment, (especially for the younger and older working populations)

plus: other issues to be identified following consultation with the members of the Scrutiny Commission, when appointed

Health & Community Involvement

·           The broad issues around the forthcoming changes to the NHS

·           Public Health Work by the City Council

·           Revisit the Review of Adult Mental Health Services done last year

·           Value of continuing the current joint health scrutiny arrangements with Leicestershire and Rutland

plus: a public meeting to be held in the autumn, at which people will be invited to put forward their own concerns / ideas for reviews and last year's rolling work programme to be revisited and possibly "repopulated"

Heritage, Leisure & Sport

To be advised

Neighbourhood Services

·           How information on services provided by the Council is / can be accessed.  Including, when there are changes to services, who is this agreed by, why and how is information on the changes disseminated

·           Community Policing: the likely impact of cuts in Police budgets on this aspect of Police work

Transport

To be advised

RESOLVED:

            that meetings of the Overview Select Committee to be held at 5.30 pm on:-

Thursday, 1 September 2011

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Thursday, 27 October 2011

Monday, 28 November 2011

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Thursday, 19 January 2012

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Monday, 2 April 2012

Thursday, 26 April 2012

The meeting closed at 8.10 pm