To receive apologies for absence from Members. 

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members and Officers:-

Councillor GW Davies MBE

Councillor D Lewis

Councillor CE Smith

Councillor H Townsend

Councillor MEJ Nott

D McMillan

PA Jolley

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 approval the minutes of a meeting of the Corporate Resources and

Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committee dated 22 March 2016

RESOLVED:                  That the Minutes of a meeting of the Corporate Resources & Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committee dated 22 March 2016, be approved as a true and accurate record, subject to it being noted that Councillor Green had given apologies for her non-attendance at the meeting.

Invitees:

Cllr Hywel Williams, Cabinet Member - Resources

Andrew Jolley, Corporate Director - Operational and Partnership Services

Sarah Kingsbury, Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

Ian Vaughan, Workforce Planning Officer

The Chairperson welcomed to the meeting the Cabinet Member Resources, The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development and the Workforce Planning Officer.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development advised Members that there was a typographical error in paragraph 3.3 of the report, in that reference to the year should read ‘2015’. She further tabled for Members a replacement Appendix D, i.e. the latest quarterly Sickness Absence report for 2015/16 that was submitted to CMB, as the percentages included in Section 3.1 of Appendix D attached to the report had been incorrectly calculated.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development then introduced the report, the purpose of which was to provide the Committee with a position statement with regards to levels of sickness in the Authority for the year 2015/16 and the work/actions undertaken since the WLGA project was conducted in 2015.

The Chair questioned whether or not, if it was apparent early on that an employee off on sick would not be fit to return to work at all, the Trade Unions would show flexibility and perhaps support cases of early retirement or redundancy for the member of staff in question.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development confirmed that the majority of cases of continued sickness absence by an employee would involve them being represented by a Trade Union representative (on the basis that they were in a Trade Union).  All employees had a contractual entitlement, whereby they were paid in full for 6 months and receive half pay for the following 6 months, based on the fact that they had been in the Authority for sufficient time to receive this. The local authority were unable to disagree with this payment arrangement, as if it did, the employee would in all probability go to an Industrial Tribunal the result of which would be that as well as paying sickness entitlement to the employee, the Council would also have to pay added costs for going through this process.

A Member noted from the report that completion of Return to Work forms and interviews was particularly poor in schools, notwithstanding the fact that schools had been financially protected in the MTFS. He felt that Management should be making every attempt to ensure that steps are taken to improve this situation. He also questioned paragraph 4.10.4 of the report, where it stated that Line Managers had been instructed to have daily contact with employees who were absent from work due to short term sickness absence. He felt that this may not work in practice and could exacerbate a situation whereby the employee may be absent due to a stress related illness.

The Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development confirmed that when schools have been approached regarding Return to Work interviews, in the majority of cases, they confirmed that they were conducting these in accordance with sickness absence procedures and protocols. It was apparent however, that this was not always the case and she acknowledged that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 204.

Invitees:

All Members of the Cabinet and Corporate Management Board

All Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chairs

Randal Hemingway, Head of Finance

Lee Jones, Head of Regulatory and Partnership Services

Yuan Shen, Corporate Performance, Partnership and Transformation Manager

Chief Executives (including Resources Directorate)

The Chairperson invited the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance & S151 Officer to the meeting.

The Chief Executive confirmed that the report provided the Committee with an overview of the Council’s performance in 2015-16, compared with its commitments to delivering the Improvement Priorities in the Corporate Plan for 2013-17. He added that the report also provided the Committee with an update on the financial position as at year end 31 March 2016.

Members questioned the Corporate Reserves of the Authority that included the Major Claims Reserve and the Change Fund.

The Head of Finance and S151 Officer referred Members to page 130/131 of the report and the table entitled Moment in Reserves 2015/16. This he stated, reflected a full breakdown of the total movement regarding earmarked reserves as at 31 March 2016. As the report suggested, he confirmed that the remaining under spend of £154k had been transferred to the Council Fund.

A Member also referred to the above table, and the Directorate Reserves for Looked After Children (LAC) which showed no Expenditure or Additions having occurred in 2015-16, therefore outlining a closing balance of £824k as at 31 March 2016. She asked if Officers could expand upon this information.

The Head of Finance and S151 Officer, explained that at the start of the last financial year £824k of Reserves had been allocated to this service area, as historically, this degree of budget allocation was required to support LAC. However, due to the Directorates overall performance in terms of savings it had to make under the MTFS, there had been no requirement to draw upon this allocated funding. Therefore, it was not considered that there was a necessity to add to this estimated earmarked reserve for the coming financial year.

A Member making reference to the same table, referred to the expenditure incurred for 2015/16 in respect of the Major Claims Reserve, ie £3,162m. He asked what this had been spent on.

The Head of Finance and S151 Officer confirmed that he would obtain this information and come back to the Member outside of the meeting.

A Member referred to page 138 of the report and the High Risks for 2015-16. He noted that the risk of Disposing of Waste was fairly low, and he thought that this should be a higher risk, given that the Authority were going out to tender for Waste Management next year.

The Chief Executive confirmed that there was a meeting of Senior Management team next week, where a review of the Council’s Corporate Risks would be discussed on a Directorate by Directorate basis. He added that the risk that the Member was probably referring to, was MREC and the Residual Waste Contract. He added that these were existing risks and that risks such as these were covered corporately as they were the most important risks of the Authority. Due to this, they were specifically included as part of the Council’s Corporate Risk Register.

A Member referred to page  ...  view the full minutes text for item 205.

The Scrutiny Officer submitted a report, that presented the Committee with its draft Forward Work Programme for 2016-17 for consideration and approval.

The report confirmed that each Overview and Scrutiny Committee under the Council’s Constitution, had to set-up and publish a Forward Work Programme (as far as it is known), with this operating from May 2016 – May 2017.

The report also outlined the various Research and Evaluation Panels that would be established for the above period, for example the Budget REP.

The Scrutiny Officer reminded Members of the planning workshops that had been held in April, to enable Overview and Scrutiny Committees to carry out a review and planning exercise, as well as to a degree setting or suggesting items that could form part of each of the Committees Forward Work Programmes.

Members proposed as part of the FWP for 2016 - 17, that a Collaborative Committee Pilot subject area could be the Local Authority’s potential for creating an arm’s length trading company (e.g. Teckal approach), with the aim of being able to provide a range of services across the Authority on a more cost effective basis.

RESOLVED:                (1)  That Committee considered the topics for inclusion on the Committee’s Forward Work Programme 2016-17.

                                     (2)  Endorsed the 12 primary topics for inclusion on the Forward Work Programme as shown in the report’s attachment at Appendix B to the report.

                                     (3)  Noted the draft list of items that have been produced for each Scrutiny Committee shown at Appendix A to the report.

                                     (4)  Agreed to consider the further item as detailed in the final paragraph above preceding the resolution. 

The Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services submitted a report, that presented the suggested items due to be considered at the Committee’s meeting to be held on 21 September 2016, as well as presenting a list of further potential items for prioritisation at subsequent meetings for 2016-17.

The Committee were in agreement with the items suggested for the Committee’s agenda for the next two scheduled meetings, however, a Member proposed that scoping be carried out on the subject of how Legal Services cross-charge other Departments.

The Scrutiny Officer confirmed that she would consider this request, and endeavour to place it as an item at a future meeting as part of the ongoing FWP.

RESOLVED:                    That the Committee noted the items that would be considered at its next two scheduled meetings, as well as the further two item agreed by Members.

RESOLVED:                That having regard to the report of the Corporate Director Operational and Partnership Services, Members agreed that Councillor E. Dodd represents the Committee as an Invitee on the Corporate Parenting Cabinet Committee for the ensuing year.

To consider any items 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.