Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Thomas.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Councillor Senior declared in respect of agenda item 12 (appendix D2), the Historical Context of Ofsted Inspection of Services for Children in Need of Care and Protection, that she was a member of Unison.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, this interest was not considered so significant that it was likely to prejudice the respective Councillor’s judgement of the public interest. Councillor Senior was not, therefore, required to withdraw from the meeting.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview Select Committee held on 28 January 2016 have been circulated and the Committee will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Overview Select Committee held on 28 January 2016 be confirmed as a correct record.

It was confirmed that actions arising from the previous meeting of the Overview Select Committee held 28 January 2016 had been completed.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations or statements of case received.   

There were no questions, representations or statements of case.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

Councillor Porter handed in a petition which related to access and egress to the proposed development on Franklin Fields via Franklyn Road.  Councillor Porter had met with the developer and local residents to discuss this and added that he would like to talk to the City Mayor about this issue. The City Mayor confirmed that he would be happy to do this.

The Monitoring Officer submits a report that updates Members on the monitoring of outstanding petitions. The Committee is asked to note the current outstanding petitions and agree to remove those petitions marked ‘Petitions Process Complete’ from the report.

The Committee considered the tracking of petitions monitoring report, along with the update on the monitoring report which was circulated at the meeting. The update is attached to the back of these minutes.

AGREED:

       that those petitions marked as Petition Process Complete, namely        29/10/2015, 18/11/2015-2, 19/11/2015-2. 28/08/2015,

18/11/2015-1 and 17/12/2015 be removed from the monitoring report.

The City Mayor will answer questions raised by members of the Overview Select Committee on issues not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Chair invited members to raise questions for the City Mayor.

Councillor Porter asked the City Mayor to provide a brief update on access to Franklin Fields.

The City Mayor responded that issues around access were currently being investigated by officers and this was work in progress. Councillor Porter invited the City Mayor to come in person to look at the site after Easter. The City Mayor responded that he had planned to do this anyway, and would be happy to do so.

The Chair congratulated the City Mayor that a recent survey had shown Leicester to be the ninth best city in the United Kingdom.  The City Mayor responded by saying that there had been a number of reviews relating to UK cities and the majority of these rated Leicester very positively. It was one year on from the re-internment of King Richard 111 (KR111) and Leicester currently had a very high national profile. Councillor Cleaver added that she was aware from talking to students that they knew of KR111 and that they found the city to be very welcoming.

The City Mayor commented that the universities were very important to the life of the city and there was a need to engage with those students, provide job opportunities and encourage them to stay in Leicester. Councillor Chaplin added the Primary Care Workforce Review made that point and the importance of promoting the city to make sure that professionals were retained in Leicester.

The Commission will receive an update to accompany a Corporate Complaints (Non Statutory) report that went to the Audit and Risk Committee in December 2015. A minute extract from that meeting is also attached.

The Director of Finance submitted a report to the committee on Corporate Complaints (Non Statutory), which had also been considered by the Audit and Risk Committee in December 2015.  The Director along with the Vacancy Management Service Manager provided an update to the committee on the current situation. Points made included the following:

·         Previously complaints had been dealt with by each division; this had resulted in differing standards of practice.

·         The Vacancy Management Service Manager had been asked to find ways to improve the process. This had resulted in a new Customer Relations Management System.

·         The old system had recorded what might have been merely an enquiry from a member of the public, as a complaint.

·         As part of the new system there would be one team to investigate the complaint. There would also be a triage system and the customer would be asked from the outset what they wanted the council to do.

·         Some of the complaints received were quite complex and technical; in those situations officers would talk to the customer and agree a response time.

·         Previously a complex complaint might have necessitated being investigated by four different sections, but the new system would look at the customer holistically with the complaint being dealt with by one designated team.

·         The scheme would be piloted from 1 April 2016 and could be amended following evaluation and feedback.

·         There would be a self- portal on line where customers could create their own account. It was expected that this would roll out in June 2016.

Members praised the initiative and made comments and raised queries which included the following:

·         The new system was originally due to be implemented in January; was there a reason for the delay?

The committee heard that they had been asked to delay the implementation because another system went live at the same time.

·         At the meeting of the Audit and Risk Committee that was held in December 2015, councillors had been informed that complaint statistics would be available in the summer. Councillor Patel queried whether this was still on target and also whether councillors had been informed of the new system.

The Vacancy Management Service Manager confirmed that statistics would be available in the summer. Councillors had not yet been informed of the new complaints system, but this could be done.

·         Officers were asked to ensure that a distinction was made between statutory and non-statutory complaints.

·         Councillors queried if, for example, statistics revealed that there was a particular problem in a specific area, whether this would be picked up and addressed. Previously it had sometimes been difficult to identify  relatively minor issues, such as requests for orange bags.

The committee were informed that the new system was more sophisticated and would identify these issues.

·         How could the system cope if an email was sent in which it raised several issues and perhaps involved a number of different agencies?

Officers responded that there would be business analysts looking at the incoming email traffic, but there may be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

The Committee will be asked to receive the Report of the Finance Task Group which will consider the following finance reports:

·         Budget Monitoring Report Period 9, 2015-16 (Appendix C1)

·         Capital Budget Monitoring Report Period 9, 2015-16 (Appendix C2)           

·         Spending Review Update.(Appendix C3)

The meeting of the Finance Task Group will be held on Thursday 17 March 2016 after the agenda is published and the minutes of that meeting will be circulated as soon as they become available.

Task Group minutes of the meeting held 17 March 2016 are now attached (Appendix C4).

The Committee considered the report of the Finance Task Group which had met on 17 March 2016 to consider the three reports attached to the agenda.

The Chair asked the Director of Finance to provide an update first on the Spending Review.  The Director explained that a target of £45m had been agreed; savings of £15m in 2015/16 had already been secured, which left a balance of £30m to find. In order to secure these savings, extra scopes had been added to the list of spending reviews.

Councillor Porter stated that in 2012, the council had received approximately £189m from the government in the Formula Grant, and he asked how the current figure compared when taking into account Revenue Support along with the element of business rates, bus rates top up and new homes bonus etc that the council now received.

The Director explained that the calculations were complex and the changes made it difficult to compare like for like. In addition, the government had also given councils new responsibilities such as public health, which they did not have before. However, the council had approximately £85m less in resources now than they had in 2010. The Director offered to forward information on this to all committee members if they wished to receive it.

Councillor Chaplin asked whether the Deputy City Mayor (Executive Lead for Adult Social Care, Health Integration and Wellbeing), wished to comment on the Health and Wellbeing budget, particularly in relation to the funding for the cessation of smoking and tobacco.  In relation to smoking cessation the Deputy City Mayor responded that the use of E Cigarettes was something that the service had adopted and engaged with very well and the evidence demonstrated that this was the route that people were taking in order to stop smoking.  In respect of the reductions in the public health budget, this was not a cut that the council wanted to make but was indicative at the time that the council budget was set.  This might change at the moment of decision. In the light of this, Councillor Chaplin asked that the recommendations to the Executive, in respect of approval of the reduction of the Health and Wellbeing budget by £1.0m should be amended to include the word indicative. This inclusion to the recommendation to the Executive was agreed.

Councillor Chaplin referred to the Substance Misuse Spending Review and questioned whether this included the Anchor Centre. The Deputy City Mayor responded that the council were coming to the end of the procurement process and this was a key issue in its aspirations to provide a better facility, with better outcomes for people.

Councillor Dempster referred to Legal Support in Children’s Services and stated that a Legal Officer had been recruited to a permanent post but with increasing numbers of care proceedings there was a need to be alert to that officer’s capacity.  Within Children’s Services there were a number of inexperienced and agency staff along with staff turbulence and it was very  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98.

a)    To receive and endorse the following Scoping Document:-

Capturing the Performance of Leicester’s Heritage and Culture (Heritage, Culture, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission) (Appendix D1);

b)    To receive and endorse the following reports of reviews carried out by Scrutiny Commissions:-

i)             The Historical Context of Ofsted Inspection of Services for Children in Need of Care and Protection – January 2015  (Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission) (Appendix D2)

Please note that the legal implications to the report contain exempt information and are attached for Members only. The paper is marked “NOT FOR PUBLICATION”. The information in this paper will be exempt as defined in paragraphs 5 of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended and it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The information therefore must not be disclosed or discussed at the meeting. Should Members wish to refer to any of these details it is recommended that the meeting move to exclude the Press and Public during its consideration.

Paragraph 5: Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

ii)            Adult Social Care Community Screening and Assessment (Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission) (Appendix D3)

iii)           Primary Care Workforce Draft Report (Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commission) ( Appendix D4)

The Committee were asked to receive and endorse the following scoping document and reports of reviews from scrutiny commissions as follows:

Capturing the performance of Leicester’s heritage and culture: The Heritage, Culture, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission – Scoping Document

Councillor Dr Barton, Chair of the commission presented the scoping document and explained that at a time when many local authorities were making cuts, they believed that Leicester’s heritage and culture encouraged growth and investment in the city. For the next stage they hoped to focus on the social benefits and the impact on health and well-being.

AGREED:

                        that the scoping document be endorsed.

Historical Context of Ofsted Inspection of Services for Children in Need of Care and Protection – January 2015: Report of the Children, Young People and Schools’ Scrutiny Commission

The Head of Law provided advice to the committee and reminded members that the report was anonymised and that comments needed to be directed towards processes. Members were subject to the law of defamation and they needed to ensure that they were not addressing individuals. 

Councillor Dr Moore, Chair of the commission introduced the report and with the sanction of the Chair of the Overview Select Committee invited the Vice Chair of the commission to participate in the discussion.  Councillor Dr Moore stated that the Task Group conclusions largely echoed those of Ofsted and there were some issues that she was exploring with the Strategic Director of Children’s Services. She was having meetings with the Strategic Director and together they had developed a good relationship. The Task Group had also found it useful to familiarise themselves with the service.

Councillor Senior commented that the report contained a series of statements which were not evidenced and because of the way it was written she was not able to endorse the report. Councillor Willmott expressed concern relating to the credibility of the report and stated that Councillor Dr Moore had acknowledged a bias towards those people that the Task Group had spoken to. He added that in his view the report was disappointing in that it did not demonstrate anything that was not already known.

Councillor Porter sought clarification as to how the report would help children in the future. He added that before the election, queries were raised as to whether the review was driven by the need to make savings. This was denied at the time, but this report stated that the review was undertaken because of the need to make savings.

Councillor Patel commented that it was important that people who wanted to give evidence to the Task Group were able to do so; not everybody wished to avail themselves of this opportunity. She felt that the recommendations were workable and she congratulated Councillor Dr Moore on developing a constructive relationship with the Strategic Director.

Councillor Dempster thanked the Task Group for their hard work in producing the report and stated that she had found it helpful to have the opportunity to talk to the Task Group.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

A work programme for the Overview Select Committee is attached.  The Committee is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

There were no comments on the Overview Select Committee work programme.

Members are asked to consider and comment on the Corporate Plan of Key Decisions.

The Chair asked that the commissions would look at the Corporate Plan of Key Decisions in order that they would be able to scrutinise relevant items at the appropriate time.

The Chair thanked everyone who had contributed to the work of the Overview Select Committee during the year. The Chair then closed the meeting at 8.30 pm.