To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies from absence were received from the following Members:

Councillor B Sedgebeer

Councillor R Penhale-Thoams

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including whipping declarations)

None

To receive for noting the minutes of the following meetings of Overview and Scrutiny Committees:-

(a)  Community, Environment and Leisure – 26 January 2017

(b)  Partnerships and Governance – 6 February 2017

(c)  Adult Social Care – 14 March 2017

RESOLVED: That Members noted the minutes of the following meetings of  previous meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees

• Community, Environment and Leisure – 26 January 2017
• Partnerships and Governance – 6 February 2017

Adult Social Care - 14 March 2017

RESOLVED:   That Councillor CA Green was elected as Chairperson of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Invitees:

All Cabinet Members

Corporate Management Board

The Scrutiny Officer presented a report to members which related directly to the Council’s Corporate Plan 2016-20 which set out the Council’s Improvement priorities and identified actions to realise those priorities and to its Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016-17 to 2019-20

The Chairperson welcomed the Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing, Head of Finance and the Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help to the meeting.

Members asked for clarification on the figures in paragraph 3.2 of the report in relation to the Capital Programme. The Head of Finance stated that he would check the annual allocations that the Authority has every year and clarify this with members.  

A Member thanked the Officers for the report and commented on the large amount of detail and data within it and asked if it would be possible in future, to have a brief report that highlighted the areas of concern so Members were better able to provide advice and add value in areas that matter the most.  Members agreed that this would also make the report easier to read for the public and to better understand the functions of the Council and the challenges that we face as a local authority.

The Head of Finance stated that if Members prefer this option they could do this in the future.  The document Members had in front of them was an executive summary of a report that is produced for Cabinet.  He added Officers were trying to strike a balance between not providing Members with enough  information they need to effectively scrutinise the report and providing sufficient information. 

Members queried if the Authority had any data to compare with other Local Authorities in Wales to see how BCBC compared nationally in our sickness rates as the data alone for this authority was difficult to analyse in isolation and it would be useful to know how we compared on an all Wales average.

Members also questioned how the Authority was helping staff to return to work and overcome mental health issues.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing advised that the Directorate held performance information around sickness and they have a performance management process in place.   She stated that sickness levels of staff who work in personal care are generally higher due to the nature of their work.  She added that as a comparison the Social Services and Wellbeing Directorate were fairly even at the moment and they were currently showing a slight improvement in the 3^rd and 4^th quarter and were focussing on maintaining this.  She added that the Directorate works closely with HR and together they ensure there is a plan for every long term sickness and had recently improved their return to work procedure. 

A Member asked how the Directorate were supporting staff that were off sick, or had returned to work with stress, anxiety and depression.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing advised that the Authority as a whole were promoting wellbeing amongst staff and if they were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Scrutiny Officer presented Members with the Overview and Scrutiny Draft Forward Work Programme for 2017-18 for their consideration and approval. 

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee Forward Work Programme was approved as set out in the report with the following change discussed and agreed by Members for the next meeting.

• 2017-18 Quarter 1:  Budget Monitoring and Financial Performance.  This will be an information report to Members.  Members will instead receive a report on Procurement.

The Committee agreed the Subject Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Forward Work Programme as follows:

It was agreed that the following items were important and needed to be prioritised for later in the forward work programme:

• Schools Strategic Review
• School Standards Report 17-18
• Prevention and Wellbeing and Local Community Coordination
• Residential Remodelling – Extra Care Housing Schemes
• Safeguarding
• Dementia Care

Finally, the Committee determined that the following items be taken up as briefing sessions either independently or as part of the pre-Council briefing schedule:

• Overview of Direct Payments
• Social Services Commissioning Strategy
• Western Bay Regional Working – Update going forward

RESOLVED:  Councillor Gebbie was nominated as its Corporate Parenting Champion to represent the Committee at meetings of the Corporate Parenting Cabinet Committee

RESOLVED: The following Members were nominated to sit on the Public Service Board Overview and Scrutiny Panel:

Councillor K Watts

Councillor JC Spanswick

Councillor T Thomas

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None