Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations made at the meeting.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee held on 31 March, 2022, be approved as a 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 at the meeting.

The Committee received the 2021/22 Quarter 4 Finance and Improvement Report introduced by the Director of Corporate Resources, Debbie Hogg.

It was noted that moving into a new Financial Year; the Council continued to deliver services whilst faced with a challenging and uncertain environment. The cost of living was at its highest for over a decade and many people were faced with worries about rising costs and bills.  As a result of this, a decision had been taken to make a £100 payment in support along with another further £100.

The report also touched upon the recent decision to bring Doncaster Children’s Trust back into the Council in order to address the improvements needs and this would be a key feature of the performance reporting moving forward into 2022/23.

In terms of the financial position, there had been considerable volatility through 2021/22 and the budget planning had taken this into consideration and the financial position had been carefully monitored. The final outturn position was an underspend of £8.9 million, which presented an extremely positive year-end position in light of the financial pressures faced.

Following consideration of the report, Members of the Management Committee were invited to put any questions to officers on the areas of work.

Prosperous and Connected

Members queried how as a result of the cost of living crisis, the Council would support their residents, and what impact this crisis would have on the Council as a whole in terms of collection rates.  Members were assured that this had been considered and whilst it was a challenging environment, the Council would use its resources to support its residents as far as possible with a number of initiatives including free school meals, support from Citizens Advice Bureau, and various other areas of support.

It was noted, that there was significant budget difference from Quarter 3 to Quarter 4, and Members queried the reasoning behind this, and why there had not been more accurate forecasting in terms of this. It was reported that there had been volatility from Quarter 2 to 3, and a significant number of Managers from across the authority had risen to this challenge. However, moving forward, 2022/23 would be extremely challenging, and all Directorates across the authority would need to work together as a collective and choices would need to be made as to what were the Council’s main priorities.

The recent announcement of Doncaster’s City Status brought queries, with Members asking how this would attract business and funding into the area. It was recognised that there would be a number of challenges and demands that came with the status, but also many benefits, and would help to put Doncaster on the map, giving further confidence to businesses and the wider public as to Doncaster’s ability to deliver. It was hoped that this would attract more business, which would bring additional money into the local economy and help to push projects forward. Concerns were raised regarding the rising costs of inflation, and ability to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee received the Quarter 4 Performance and Delivery Update, which gave an opportunity to provide feedback to Members on performance success and challenges.

It was reported that eleven of the nineteen Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) had either been met or were within boundaries at the end of Quarter 4.  It was noted that with targets set out of a very high standard, the expectation that the services provided were of a high quality. It was commented that whilst eight remained off target, some improvements had been seen.

Overall, it was felt that St Leger Homes was proving a high quality service at a low cost and whilst there were still improvements that could and would be made, the evidence was there that they were performing well consistently

With regard to rent arrears, it was noted that good progress had been made since the last update, hitting ‘better than target’, although void rent loss was not meeting its target with the number of voids standing at 178.

Following consideration of the issues touched upon in the report, Members were invited to raise any concerns or questions to officers. One of the particular concerns voiced was that many families or individuals were being placed in temporary accommodation in bed and breakfasts, due to a lack of suitable other accommodation. This, it was reported, was down to a reduction of privately rented accommodation due to many landlords leaving the rental market. Communication had been increased with private landlords in an attempt to persuade many to offer their housing to St Leger Homes for rent, and it was hopeful that this picture would improve moving forward.

Queries were also raised with regard to the time taken to re-let properties and why had taken so long when there were many vacant properties to be filled. However, it was explained that this was down to a number of reasons including staff vacancies of trades staff, some properties requiring a review by occupational health, repairs ongoing, and the balancing of suitability of properties to the correct tenants.

Finally, the Committee touched upon Staff Sickness as a KPI, as this was not performing well. It was viewed that this could be partly due to Covid absence not being counted into sick rates last year.  It was also noted that there was a continuing amount of muscular skeletal absences. Managers were encouraged to remain in contact with their staff regularly and pick up any triggers and trends as well as ensure that absence was genuine, in order to get people back into the workplaces as soon as possible.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the St Leger Homes of Doncaster performance outcomes and the contribution SLHD makes to supporting Doncaster Council’s Strategic Priorities.

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee considered the work plan for the 2022/23 Municipal Year, which aimed to support an outcome focussed scrutiny function based on meaningful scrutiny and  transparent recommendations.

OSMC and its Panels had held work planning sessions throughout June 2022in order to identify review topics for the coming year and a copy of the latest work plan was attached as an appendix to the report.

Additionally, the Panel considered the Council’s Forward Plan, which outlined all key decisions, to be taken by the Mayor and Cabinet in the next four-month period and Members were invited to raise any queries they had.

Finally, the Committee was asked to note the appointment of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire)

In a query raised regarding Localities, Members were reassured that all Panels would touch upon these issues throughout the year and dates would be programmed in when more information was available to share. However, it was anticipated that it would be considered in autumn by the Management committee, at which point there would be a meaningful update to provide.

            RESOLVED that:-

1)    Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee approve the 2022/23 Work plan attached at Appendix A to the repot;

2)    The Councils Forward Plan attached at Appendix B to the report be noted; and

3)    Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee note the appointment of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire)