Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all the Members and Officers present at the meeting. He extended a particular welcome to Councillor Trefor Lloyd Hughes, MBE after a period of ill health.

The Chair congratulated Mrs Anwen Davies on her appointment as Scrutiny Manager.

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

No declaration of interest was received.

To present the minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the following dates:

·         26^th June, 2017

·         11^th  July, 2017 (extraordinary)

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the dates noted below were presented and were confirmed as correct –

•           26th June, 2017

•           11th  July, 2017 (extraordinary meeting)

To present the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 1 2017/18.

The Committee considered the information presented with regard to performance at the end of Quarter 1 of the new 2017/18 financial year and it made the following points –

•           The Committee noted that one new indicator within the Housing Service – PAM/015: the average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) is showing as Red on the scorecard for Q1 having performed at 221.7 days against a target of 200. The Committee sought an explanation for the underperformance; it queried whether the target of 200 days was realistic and whether it was locally or nationally derived and it sought clarification of the Service’s performance compared with that of other local authorities in this area.

The Housing Officers said that the Disabled Facilities Grant application and delivery process can be complex involving as it does input by a number of other parties which can cause delay in the time taken from the initial contact with the Council until such time as the work has been signed off as complete. Both Housing and Social Services acknowledge that the DFG process requires review with the aim of reducing the time taken to deliver the grant. There is no single common factor in the application process that explains the delays; rather it is a combination of factors which has at its root the complexity of the process. The position with regard to other local authorities’ performance will become clear once the national data is published.

•           The Committee noted that there had been a marked decline in the percentage of Return to Work interviews held within timescale in Quarter 1 (67% against a target of 80%) and that the total RTW interviews held was low at 85% compared to a target of 95%. The Committee sought assurance that the underperformance represents a temporary reversal and does not signify the start of a downward trend.

The Chief Executive said that the performance with regard to RTW interviews at Quarter 1 was disappointing and could not be satisfactorily explained. This performance will be challenged by the Senior Leadership Team and by the performance challenge panels to ensure improvement by Quarter 2. However, whilst the downturn in the performance of RTW interviews is concerning, conversely the significant improvement in performance with regard to Attendance Review Meetings (ARM) – up from 57% in Quarter 4 2016/17 to 78% in Quarter 1 2017/18 as well as in the quality of the ARMs conducted by services – is reassuring given that Attendance Review Meetings are a significant component of the sickness absence management process.

•           The Committee noted with regard to financial management for Quarter 1 that whilst the budget was £33m, the forecasted actual expenditure was £34m with a forecasted variance of minus 29.64% at this stage. The Committee sought clarification of whether any measures were being considered to bring the position back into line.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer said that the actual forecast variance is an overspend  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the Council Plan for 2017 to 2022.

The report of the Head of Corporate Transformation incorporating the draft Council Plan for the period from 2017 to 2022 was presented for the Committee’s consideration and comment.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Services reported that the Council Plan is a key strategic document which sets out the aims and objectives of the Isle of Anglesey County Council for the next five year period. The document will be the major driver behind the Council’s decisions during this period including how it shapes its budget, how it develops its strategies and how it plans its services.

The Chief Executive said that the document outlines the Council’s priorities for the coming five years; the Plan will be an integral tool in managing and in evaluating the Council’s performance including ensuring that the Council remains accountable for the work that it does. The Committee might wish to consider whether the Plan gives a clear direction to the Council’s work for the period it covers; whether it is sufficiently specific in the priorities it puts forward and whether it provides a clear and strong framework for reviewing the Council’s performance over the course of the five years. In developing the Council Plan, consideration was given to the cost implications of realising the Council’s priorities and in ensuring that they are aligned to the development of the Medium Term Financial Plan. The Senior Leadership Team has also set out specific objectives over three years which will help achieve the overall Plan.

The Committee considered and accepted the Plan with the proviso that it be monitored to ensure it remains on course; it was proposed and seconded that it be re-presented to the Scrutiny Committee for review within a year. An amendment was proposed and seconded that the Council Plan be reviewed within 6 months especially from a financial perspective and on the basis that to wait 12 months might mean a missed opportunity to identify and to rectify any potential slippage.

The Chief Executive said that a review after 12 months is likely to afford a clearer, more composite picture of how the Plan’s implementation is evolving. From a financial point of view it is not thought that there are any significant budget implications to the Plan at this point in time.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer said that the Plan is made up of a combination of projects which are to be funded from existing revenue budgets. Should it transpire as implementation of the Plan progresses that additional revenue funding is required, then that will be built into the annual budget or if mid-year will be addressed via the usual democratic process requiring the Executive’s approval. In the case of any capital projects feeding into the capital programme, then the capital programme is also subject to regular quarterly monitoring via the Executive. With regard to HRA related projects there is a HRA business plan which is monitored by the Housing Services Board; the HRA budget is also monitored by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

·        To present a report on progress against the Children’s Services’ Improvement Plan.

·        To present a report from the Children’s Services Improvement Panel.

5.1       The report of the Interim Head of Children’s Services setting out the progress to date against the revised Children’s Services Improvement Plan which incorporated the recommendations of the CSSIW Inspection report was presented for the Committee’s consideration and comment.

The Portfolio Member for Social Services reported that the recommendations made by CSSIW are in the process of being implemented with staffing matters currently the focus of the work including restructuring the practice teams, launching a new supervision policy and putting a Workforce Strategy into effect. This is intended to reinforce staff recruitment and retention arrangements. The Children’s Services Improvement Panel has met on two occasions and has given consideration to establishing a programme of work over the coming months.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Governance and Business Process Transformation) said    that ensuring workforce stability is essential if the service is to deliver both on its legislative obligations and on the recommendations of the CSSIW inspection given that an unstable workforce in recent years has been identified as a weakness in the service. Addressing this is a key element of the Service Improvement Plan and the report describes the elements which have been the focus of attention in recent months. These encompass restructuring; supervision, staff recruitment and retention and developing and implementing the Workforce Strategy. As part of the restructuring, new Service Managers and Practice Leads have been appointed and are due to commence in their new roles in early September. Recruitment is however ongoing with the aim of reducing the service’s dependence on agency staff. Other changes in relation to working with partners, quality assurance and services for children, young people and families are also being put into effect.

The Interim Head of Children’s Services elaborated on the new staff structure involving smaller Practice Groups across early intervention and intensive intervention headed by a Practice Leader responsible for three or four Social Workers and a much reduced caseload.

5.2       A progress report by the Scrutiny Manager on the work of the Children’s Services Improvement Panel to date was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

Councillor Richard Griffiths, the Committee’s representative on the Children’s Services Improvement Panel and the Children in Care Champion updated the Committee on the issues discussed by the Panel at its initial two meetings in July and August, 2017 as summarised in section 3.2 of the report. He confirmed that all work streams pertaining to the Service Improvement Plan appear to be on target thus far and that there are no matters at this point that need to be escalated by the Panel for consideration by the Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee considered the information presented and made the following points –

•           In light of the re-structuring and the commitment made to reduce reliance on agency staff, the Committee sought clarification of the current position with regard to the deployment of agency staff in Children’s Services, the ratio to permanent staff and the costs involved. The Interim Head of Children’s Services said that there were 11 agency staff  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The Corporate Scrutiny Committee’s updated Forward Work Programme to April, 2018 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The Committee accepted and noted the Forward Work Programme as presented.

NO ADDITIONAL ACTION WAS PROPOSED

To present for the Committee’s information, the Social Services’ Complaints Procedure Annual Report for 2016/17.

The Social Services Representations and Complaints Procedure Annual Report for 2016/17 was presented for the Committee’s information. The report set out the way in which the Social Services’ Representations and Complaints Procedure was implemented within Adults’ and Children’s Services during 2016/17.

The Committee noted that an analysis of the complaints to Children’s Services shows that one of the themes found in Stage 1 complaints were numerous changes in social worker. The Committee sought clarification of whether the Service monitors the frequency of changes in looked after children’s social workers. The Committee further noted that the percentage of looked after children who have experienced one or more changes of school during periods of being looked after is monitored via the Corporate Scorecard because of the potential impact such change might have on the child, and it suggested that the same standard should apply to changes in social workers. 

The Officers confirmed that whilst changes in social workers is not currently an aspect of performance that is tracked and monitored the introduction of a new IT system might make that more feasible. Staff turnover and recruitment and retention issues can lead to such changes; however the re-structuring of practice teams and the implementation of a Workforce Strategy which covers recruitment, retention and support issues are expected to lead to more stability, consistency of practice and therefore less changes and less complaints to the Service in future.

The Committee noted the annual report for information purposes including –

•           The views of service users received during 2016/17 regarding the services provided by Social Services;

•           The performance of Social Services in implementing the Representations and Complaints procedure and dealing with complaints;

•           The Action Plan for developing the arrangements for dealing effectively with representations and complaints received for service users and their representatives.

ADDITIONAL ACTION PROPOSED: Officers to examine the feasibility of monitoring systematically the frequency of changes in looked after children’s social workers and to report back to the Committee’s next meeting.