Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence made.

None

Councillor Jane Kidd declared a nonpecuniary interest in Agenda Item No.6, by virtue of being employed by an association that provided services for those with disabilities getting into work.

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 28^th June 2018 were agreed as true record.

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up

to 5 members of the public on matters within the

Committee’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be

considered or contribute towards the future development of

the Committee’s work programme.]

There were no public statements made.

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee was presented with the Finance and Performance Report for Quarter 1 2018/19, which provided an overview of progress made since the last report.

The Director of Corporate Resources and Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Director of Finance were in attendance at the meeting, and responded to key issues of concern raised within the report.

HIGHLIGHTS

It was explained that performance and the overall position in Quarter 1 had shown a good start with the majority of performance indicators being on track.  Highlights included;

• 243 new homes built this quarter;
• Local authority spend with local businesses stable and on target at 73% at the end of the quarter.

It was outlined that areas for further improvement included;

• Overall staff sickness - which for year-end stood at an average of 9.19 days per employee, a slight increase from Q4 position.  It was noted that an improvement had been made last year which had previously reduced this figure. 

Reference was made to progress made in Quarter 1 around all aspects of Doncaster Growing Together, our partnership transformation. Highlights of that included the launch of the Post 16 Review of Education, the announcement that a Doncaster University Technical College (UTC) would be located in Doncaster and the opening of the second phase of Great Yorkshire Way

CONNECTED COUNCIL

Doncaster Children’s Services Trust (DCST) Finance - Looking at the Councils financial position, it was commented that the picture across Council services was satisfactory.  It was recognised that the Doncaster Children’s Services Trust contract proved to be the biggest financial pressure for the Council and it was noted that the Council was meeting with the Trust on a regular basis to monitor progress, considering what actions could be taken and what further savings could be delivered in 2018/19. 

It was explained that other Local Authorities were fairing worse than Doncaster due to increasing costs occurring across the sector.  Members were assured that steps were being taken to produce an action plan, with a range of measures in place to achieve better outcomes.  It was added that going forward there was now an arrangement in place that would benefit from the Council having a greater influence and closer control.

Members were reminded that the Trust had attended an OSMC meeting during February 2018 and recommended that the Trust be invited back to the Committee to provide an update subject to their financial performance.  Members emphasised the need to get underneath the structure and nature of the Trust’s finances to find out more about the challenges and expectations around the financial management needed to operate within their budget.  It was recognised that there was a need to work with the Trust to ensure that the statutory function was delivered.  It was acknowledged that Council reserves could be used although concern was raised around the longevity of that as a long term solution.

The Committee’s union invitee raised concern about potential savings to be delivered through restructuring and questioned whether the Terms of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Members were presented with the Quarter 1 report for Performance and Delivery from St Leger Homes of Doncaster (SLHD) which provided feedback on performance against Key Performance Indicators for 2018/19.

Officers provided Members with relevant updates on the issues contained within the report, and the Committee were invited to raise areas of concern in relation to the performance of SLHD. The following issues were raised during the course of the discussions:-

Firstly the key performance elements for the Committee to note included;

• Seven key performance indicators on target (green)
• Three indicators within acceptable tolerance levels (amber)
• Two indicators below target

There was a brief discussion around the following indicators;

Performance Measure: Number of households placed in Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accommodation (no target):It was commented that this area had experienced a rapid increase due to a number of reasons including complex lives, homelessness and rough sleeping.  Members were informed that there was a great deal of partnership working was being undertaken including that with adult social care commissioned housing related support.  Members were assured that using Bed and Breakfast was only resorted to when no other option was available or when it was not safe to place those individuals into alternative supported accommodation.

Members were assured that actions taken by Peterborough to place individuals who were homeless in Doncaster was not in relation to costs but around supply and the authority meeting their statutory duty.  Members were also informed that there had been no impact on SLDH in that they had not been able to place an individual in the borough (due to the additional numbers of those placed by that of Peterborough).

Performance measure of households maintaining or established independent living (within tolerance – amber); It was explained that this indicator was taken as a snapshot at the end of Quarter 1, when there were 41 households supported to maintain or establish independent living against a target of 46.  It was explained that a staff vacancy in the team during Quarter 1 had presented a capacity challenge.  The vacancy had been since filled and the figure behind the indicator had now risen to 52.

Performance Measures: Scheduled repairs, percentage of promises kept (within tolerance – amber) – Members heard how performance during Quarter 1 continued the improving trend from the previous year, with 99.46% of promises kept against a target of 100%.

Performance Measure: Percentage of Invoices paid within 30 days (within tolerance – amber) -Performance for Q1 was 94.35% against a target of 96.5%  It was explained that a large proportion of relatively few invoices paid late were with a small number of suppliers and work was being undertaken to improve this. 

Performance Measure: Percentage of Local Expenditure (below target – red);It was clarified that this indicator did not take into account the money spent on the number of staff, and £10million nearly of capital work.  It was explained that at the end of Quarter 1, this percentage was down to 40.6%, a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee considered the Scrutiny Work Plan, noted the current position and work to be undertaken by the Committee and Panel’s for the remainder of the 2018/19 Civic Year.

RESOLVED that;

•           The 2018/2019 work programme be approved.

•           The report and verbal update be noted