Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all those present to this meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee; he extended a particular welcome to representatives of Llais Ni (Anglesey Youth Council) and the Citizens’ Panel who were present to observe part of the meeting.

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 submit the minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the following dates –

4^th September, 2017

Arising thereon –

Item 7:  Annual Report 2016/17 – Listening and Learning from Complaints.

To present a verbal update on the feasibility of monitoring Social Worker turnover in relation to children who are looked after.

2^nd October, 2017 (extraordinary)

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the 4th September and 2 October, 2017 were presented and were confirmed as correct.

Arising on the minutes of the 4th September, 2017 meeting –

Item 7: Annual Report 2016/7 – Listening and Learning from Complaints

The Chief Executive updated the Committee on the feasibility of monitoring Social Worker turnover in relation to children in care following a suggestion made by the Committee that changes in Looked After Children’s Social Workers should be monitored for the potential impact they may have on the child. The Chief Executive explained that following the recent introduction to Anglesey of the WCCIS integrated information system, the arrangements for collating information within Social Services have changed. The Social Services are currently adapting to the new system and consequently it is premature and impractical at this time to try to utilise the system to generate this specific information. The information could be produced on a manual basis but that would entail checking each case file which is a labour intensive task and places additional pressure on Children’s Services. He suggested that the matter be deferred for the present and that it be revisited when the new system is embedded and the information that the Service is able to present to the Committee is the most current and up to date.

It was resolved to defer the matter in accordance with the Officer’s recommendation.

To present the report of the Head of Corporate Transformation.

The report of the Head of Corporate Transformation incorporating a proposed plan for conducting the public consultation process on the 2018/19 Budget during the period from the week commencing 6th November to 29th December, 2017 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Portfolio Member for Corporate Services reported that the initial internal stage of the Budget consultation process i.e. with Elected Members and Officers within the Council has been completed. The second stage which involves consulting with the citizens of Anglesey on the resulting proposals must be as far-reaching, inclusive and thorough as possible and needs to cover the whole Island. The process follows the pattern set in recent years in drawing on a range of channels to reach as many citizens as possible including the press, town and community councils, stakeholder workshops, the internet, social media, the citizens’ panel and children and young people’s workshops. The Portfolio Member said that he anticipated that social media would feature prominently in this and next year’s consultation as a means of presenting citizens’ comments. However, one of the key objectives is to ensure that the process engages with the more vulnerable groups within the community and that their views are heard.

The Head of Corporate Transformation said that a great deal of work has been done by the Corporate Engagement and Consultation Board to review the process following last year’s public consultation exercise and to ensure that the Council is aware of, and makes use of new ways of engagement and consultation with Anglesey’s citizens at all levels.

The Committee considered the proposed Financial Proposals Consultation/ Communication Plan and made the following points –

•           The Committee sought clarification of how the Council monitors and remains up to date with comments made via Facebook and Twitter.

The Head of Corporate Transformation said that responding to comments made via social media channels is an integral part of the work of the Council’s Communications Unit. As regards the financial proposals, the intention is to ask a range of questions which respondents will be asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree thereby enabling the Council to obtain a better gist of what citizens feel about particular proposals. This element of the consultation is therefore fairly easy to track and collate. The Communications Unit is also used to dealing as part of its day to day work, with more lengthy responses to Council matters and such responses to the financial proposals will be dealt with in the normal way.

•           The Committee noted that the Council had conducted a review of last year’s budget consultation process to see what worked and what could be improved. The Committee sought clarification of the conclusions arrived at and the improvements implemented as a result of the review exercise.

The Programme and Business Planning Manager said that in considering this year’s Budget consultation plan at its meeting on 12 September, 2017, the Engagement and Consultation Board noted that engagement with and responses by the Council’s partners could be improved.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the report of the Finance Scrutiny Panel.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager providing a progress update on the matters considered by the Finance Scrutiny Panel at its meetings held on 17 August and 29 September, 2017 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer reported that the Panel was established to enable a group of Scrutiny Members to delve into financial matters in greater depth than the parent Committee’s schedule and work programme are able to allow, and to thereby develop a better understanding of the narrative behind the budgetary and financial data that is presented. The Panel has met on three occasions hitherto and whilst it is still early in terms of this process, the panel is seen as a positive step forward in developing scrutiny work.

Councillor Dafydd Roberts, a Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee representative on the Finance Scrutiny Panel said that the Panel has concentrated on Budget monitoring and, having analysed the 2017/18 Quarter 1 report on the Revenue Budget, it has flagged up the overspends in Children’s Services and the Learning Service as areas of concern and has asked the respective Heads of Service to provide an explanation of the mitigation measures that are being taken to address the situation. The Panel has also scrutinised the Medium Term Financial Plan, in particular the principles and assumptions underlying the plan for the next three years. At its most recent meeting held on 25th October, the Panel looked at the annual budget setting process including scrutinising in detail the initial budget proposals.

The Committee noted the report back provided by the Finance Scrutiny Panel and noted also that the Panel is following through on the concern it has expressed with regard to aspects of budget management in Children’s Services and the Learning Service. The Committee referred to the Council’s annual energy consumption and energy expenditure and asked whether any work was being done in this area. The Committee noted that this could be a productive area for scrutiny especially in terms of the potential for efficiency savings, energy being one of the largest controllable overheads in the Council’s buildings.

The Head of Corporate Transformation said that the Council does have a recently adopted Energy Management Strategy which is regularly reported upon to the Corporate Land and Building Assets Group to ensure progress against the energy efficiency plan is made and that energy efficiency is a key consideration in planning for future assets.

The Chair said that he would endeavour to ensure the matter is given consideration as the Committee’s Forward Work Programme allows.

It was resolved –

•           To note the progress made to date with the work of the Finance Scrutiny Panel.

•           To note that processes pertaining to budget monitoring for 2017/18 and budget setting for 2018/19 appear to be on track.

•           To note the concern expressed by the Panel regarding the

overspend in Children’s Services and the Learning Service and to endorse the follow-up action taken by the Panel to establish what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider adopting the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test”.

The Committee considered adopting the following provision:

“Under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the Public Interest Test presented.”

The Head of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer advised that the discretion whether or not to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the initial 2018/19 Budget proposals is a matter for the Committee. The report on the initial Budget proposals has not yet been published and it is recommended by Officers that it is not published for the purpose of this meeting of the Committee nor should the discussion on the matter take place in public at this point. The Officer said that in applying the Public Interest Test, there are two elements to be considered, namely –

•           Whether the contents of the report contains any statutory grounds on which there should be an exclusion. As the Public Interest Test indicates there are two statutory grounds on which the Committee can consider whether or not to exclude the press and public in this instance, viz. statutory ground 15 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 which means the report contains information which refers to employment matters which could result in consultations or negotiations or contemplated negotiations or consultations regarding labour relation matters, and statutory ground 13 which refers to information within the report which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual. The report refers to discussions which may have an impact on two groups of individual staff members if the Council was to go ahead with the proposals. The groups are relatively small and are therefore identifiable and hence fall into category 13. Should the Full Council take forward the recommendations in the report then there would have to be consultation/

negotiation with the two affected groups of staff.

•           The public interest in disclosing the information bearing in mind the two factors above. The final decision will need to be discussed with staff before the proposal is published for discussion. At this stage the proposals are consultative only and those relating to staff may not be part of the proposed proposals. It therefore follows that individual groups of staff should not be put to concern over these proposals unless or until they become an integral feature of the final budget. The budget proposals will be disclosed in due course and by then the individuals concerned will have had an opportunity for consultation. It is important that staff learn of any such proposals from the Council itself and not from the media. Also, Members will be able to explore and discuss the options and proposals in a more free and open way in a closed session than they otherwise would if the public was present.

Having regard to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager and the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager outlining the context to the 2018/19 budget setting process was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report incorporated at Appendix 1, the report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer on the initial proposals for the 2018/19 budget. The paper provided a position statement on the following matters –

•           The Executive’s initial budget proposals

•           Welsh Government’s initial settlement for Local Government

•           Council Tax

•           The reserves and general balances position

•           Savings proposals

•           Budget pressures and priorities

•           Risks

•           Impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the report above brings to a close the first stage of the budget setting process which has been an internal process conducted within the Council. This has involved significant input by Officers and Elected Members in service review and budget workshop meetings where every savings proposal has been scrutinised, discussed and challenged. This preparatory work has not been easy especially as there remains a funding shortfall of approximately £2m on the standstill budget taking into account all the various financial pressures the Council is facing in relation to pay inflation, general inflation, the national living wage increase; reduction in grant funding and energy costs inflation. The schedule of savings proposals, whilst considerable does offer options, and thereby affords an element of flexibility as regards the decisions that have to be made.

The Council is required to present a balanced budget for 2018/19; this is also important in terms of ensuring the Council remains resilient to the financial challenges in the subsequent years. The initial budget work reflected in the Medium Term Financial Plan approved in September, 2017 estimated that the total savings required over the period from 2018/19 to 2020/21 would be £8.6m. It was also projected that the funding gap in 2018/19 would be £4m requiring services to identify budget savings of 4%. Consequently, Heads of Service identified potential savings of £3.296m.

The provisional local government settlement announced by Welsh Government on 10th October, 2017 although better than expected still represents a 0.1% reduction on the sum allocated to Anglesey the previous year. Having regard to all the known changes in the budget including staff pay increments, inflation, pay award, grants and new responsibilities, the funding needed to maintain a standstill budget has increased from £126m in 2017/18 to £132m for 2018/19. The written statement made by the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government also made reference to the provision within the settlement of an additional £100m on an all Wales basis for the school and social care elements of the settlement (£62m and £42m respectively). However, it is not explained how these figures have been arrived at nor the sum apportioned to Anglesey. It is clear from the figures that the stated additional provision has not as yet translated into additional cash funding for local authorities.

The Council therefore will itself have to meet all the additional pressures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.