Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all those present to this meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee; he extended a particular welcome to Mr Paul Goodlad, Wales Audit Office who was present as an observer. The Chair also congratulated Mr Fôn Roberts, Interim Children’s Services Manager on his appointment as Head of Children and Families Services at the Council, and Shan Lloyd Williams, Head of Housing Services on her appointment as Chief Executive of Grwp Cynefin. He wished both officers well in their new posts.

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

No declaration of interest was received.

To present the minutes of the previous meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on 31 October, 2017.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the 31st October, 2017 were presented and were confirmed as correct.

To present the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 2 2017/18.

The report of the Head of Corporate Transformation incorporating the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 2 2017/18 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report portrayed the Council’s position against its operational objectives as set out and agreed collaboratively between the Senior Leadership Team, the Executive and the Shadow Executive.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Services reported that performance at the end of Quarter 2 is generally good with the majority of indicators performing well against their targets with the exception of 3 indicators (one in Adults’ Services and two in Children’s Services) where performance is presenting as either Amber or Red. These are elaborated upon in the report and the remedial measures to improve performance in these specific areas are outlined. With regard to People Management, the sickness absence rate at the end of Quarter 2 was 4.25 which is an improvement on the performance of 4.89 for the same period in 2016/17. However, further work needs to be done to embed Return to Work (RTW) interviews and Attendance Review Meetings (ARM) across the Council’s services. While 72% of the RTW interviews were held within timescale by the end of Q2 which is an improvement on the Q1 figure of 67%, this performance continues to be below the target of 80%. The ARM figures for Q2 at 59% have declined on the 78% seen in Q1 (not inclusive of schools). Although improvements can still be made in terms of adhering to the Absence Management Policy by conducting the RTW interviews and ARMs as a matter of practice, it is encouraging to note that the overall sickness target has been achieved for the 4th consecutive quarter. If this trend continues, the projected end of year sickness level would equate to 9.9 days per FTE (based on a 3 year average).

In relation to customer complaints management, the main area of underperformance relates to late responses by Children’s Services due mainly to a failure to send written responses within timescale. Notwithstanding the service did hold a discussion with the complainant within timescale in 22 of the 25 complaints received.

In relation to financial management, although the position has improved from that reported in Quarter 1, there remain significant budgetary pressures on Children’s and Families Services and on the Learning Service. The Heads of Service are aware of the issues and are working to reduce the level of overspending which is within their control at year end.

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

•           The Committee noted that the Housing Services’ indicator in relation to the days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which showed as Red in Quarter 1 was now ragged Green with a performance of 196 days against a target of 200. The Committee noted the turnaround and sought clarification of the measures put in place to secure the improvement and whether those could be transferred as good practice to other services within the Council.

The Head of Housing Services said that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the report of the Head of Learning.

The report of the Head of Learning incorporating a proposed draft Library Service Strategy for 2017 to 2022 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Education, Libraries, Youth & Culture reported that that the draft Library Service Strategy proposes a three-tier approach to the future provision of library services on Anglesey thereby aiming to lay firm sustainable foundations that will enable the service to meet residents’ needs as well as fulfilling the statutory requirements over the coming years. The three tiers consist of Area Libraries (Holyhead and Llangefni Libraries) at Tier 1, Council led Community Libraries with elements of community support (Amlwch, Benllech and Menai Bridge Libraries) at Tier 2, and Council led Community Supported libraries (Beaumaris and Rhosneigr Libraries) at Tier 3. In addition to the above, the Mobile Service including the mobile libraries and housebound service will remain part of the Anglesey Library Service provision subject to review as regards the model and routes to be adopted. The public consultation on the draft strategy which was authorised by the Executive in February, 2017 took place over a period of 12 weeks during the summer of 2017; the results of the consultation can be found in Appendix 2. A substantial amount of work has been undertaken to develop a revised library provision model over the past few years; the Committee is asked to endorse the resulting strategy and to provide a view on the 3 options for implementing staffing structure savings.

The Committee considered the draft strategy document and made the following points –

•           The Committee sought clarification of the approach taken to the public consultation process in order to garner as many views as possible from across all affected groups.

The Head of Learning said that there were 2,000 respondents to the initial public and stakeholder consultation held in October 2015 which was undertaken to gather views on the options identified by the Library Service Review and to invite any alternative ideas. With regard to the proposed draft Strategy, the consultation online and offline questionnaire (the consultation survey) attracted a significant response – 450 full responses and 28 incomplete responses. In addition, 748 responses were received from meetings attended by the Council as part of the consultation engagement activities. Section 2 of the consultation report provides a breakdown of the data collecting methodologies used. The options are the best the service is able to provide in order to meet the commitments made in the Corporate Plan 2013-17 to reduce the overall costs of leisure, culture and library services by 60% over the period of the plan and to achieve the target savings for the library service whilst at the same time maintaining a viable service. The three options put forward for realising savings from the staffing budget represent the minimum level of savings (Option A £50k savings); the maximum level of savings (Option B £72k savings) and the median level of savings (Option C £57k savings)

•           The Committee noted that the Officer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To present the report of the Head of Housing Services.

The report of the Head of Housing Services incorporating a draft Housing Revenue Account Asset Management Strategy (AMS) for 2018 to 2023 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Housing Technical Services Manager reported that the strategy defines the Housing Service’s approach to managing the Housing Revenue Account assets; one of its main aims is to support the service’s annual business plan. The strategy is focused on three key themes in relation to stock investment in order to continue to meet the requirements of the Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS); active asset management in order to improve the performance of properties which may have poor social, economic or environmental performance and supporting wider objectives in order to contribute to corporate priorities.

The Committee considered the strategy and made the following points –

•           The Committee sought clarification of whether the Housing Service is maximising opportunities with regard to major repairs loans. The Housing Technical Services Manager confirmed that the allowance has been claimed in full at the end of Quarter 2 and that expenditure totalling in excess of £2.6m had occurred during Quarter 1 and Quarter 2. The service has regular meetings with Welsh Government officials to monitor how the grant is spent.

•           The Committee sought clarification of the Housing Services’ approach to tenants who refuse to have improvement work done to their homes especially if the work is considered essential.

The Housing Technical Services Manager said that the WHQS allows tenants to refuse work to be done on their homes in certain circumstances e.g. if they are happy with their current kitchen and do not want an upgrade. Whilst all authorities respect tenants’ right to make decisions about their homes this must be balanced with the need to meet health and safety requirements. The service does contact tenants who have previously refused to have upgrade work done to establish whether or not they have changed their minds and are now agreeable to the work being carried out. Any outstanding WHQS work e.g. kitchens, bathrooms, re-wires etc. is carried out automatically as a matter of policy at the end of a tenancy and prior to re-letting. It is often older tenants who have refused to have work done on their homes mainly because of the upheaval it sometimes entails, but many have since had a change of heart. The service reports to the Housing Services Board on the strategy for reducing the number of refusals.

•           The Committee noted that tenants are sometimes reluctant for their homes to undergo a full re-wire; the Committee sought clarification whether any of the refusals which the service knows about fall into this category.

The Housing Technical Services Manager said that although some tenants have refused a full re-wire, the Council as landlord insists that it be allowed to undertake the minimum work necessary both to fulfil health and safety requirements and to meet current standards e. g. replacing electrical distribution boards

•           The Committee sought clarification whether the Service has documentary evidence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

·        To present a progress update from the Children’s Services Improvement Panel

·        To present a progress report by the Statutory Director of Social Services

•           A report by the Scrutiny Manager incorporating a progress update on the work of the Children’s Services Improvement Panel was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report provided a summary of the matters which have received the Panel’s attention over the past two months.

Councillor Richard Griffiths confirmed that all work-streams pertaining to the Service Improvement Plan appear to be on target thus far. However, the Panel wishes to bring the Corporate Scrutiny’s attention to the fact that although good progress has been made on implementing the revised staffing structure, posts remain vacant. This needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

•           The report of the Interim Head of Children’s Services setting out the progress to date on implementing the Children’ s Service Improvement Plan was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report outlined the focus of the work thus far in relation to the following aspects –

•           Service Re-structure

•           Recruitment

•           Workforce Strategy Supervision

•           Quality Assurance Framework

The Committee considered the information presented with regard to the progress of improvement within the service and, in line with the recommendation made by the Children’s Services Improvement Panel which had highlighted continuing vacant posts as an issue, it sought clarification of the service on its approach to recruitment with particular reference to the following points –

•           Whether the service is confident it will be able to fill the posts that are vacant without undue delay

•           Whether the Service has considered taking a more proactive approach to recruitment by promoting social work as a career directly with schools and in careers fairs.

•           Additionally, whether the service has considered intensifying the recruitment approach by marketing the Council directly to universities as a supportive employer and a positive place to work for new and experienced social workers.

•           Given the complexity of Children’s Social Work as an area, the measures the service has taken to provide staff with the necessary support to help them deal with the challenges which the work brings and to develop professionally.

•           The balance between experienced and inexperienced social workers within the service.

The Officers said that the service is running an ongoing advertisement for children and families social workers and that in the meantime, agency social workers are providing cover where necessary. Recruiting social workers remains a challenge for local authorities regionally. The work in relation to implementing the Workforce Strategy is continuing regardless and this will help with future recruitment. As well as actively recruiting from external sources, the service is also developing a “grow your own” approach to recruitment with the aim of ensuring a sustainable workforce over time. To this end the service has employed newly qualified staff as well as staff who are expected to qualify imminently. They will initially be working with reduced caseloads to help them settle into the work. Another element of the recruitment plan is to upskill support workers so that they are able to take on more responsibility. The service works  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The Committee’s Forward Work Programme to June, 2018 was presented for consideration and review. The Committee noted the Work Programme as presented without further comment.