Agendas, Minutes and Reports

Minutes

of the Meeting of the

Community Services Policy

and Scrutiny Panel

Tuesday, 1st December 2009

held at the Town Hall, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Meeting Commenced: 2.30 p.m. Meeting Concluded: 4:10 p.m.

Councillors:

P Andy Cole (Chairman)

P Alan McMurray (Vice-Chairman)

A Bob Bateman	P Steve Edwards
P Jill Iles	P Mike Kellaway-Marriott (substitute for Howard Roberts
P Tom Leimdorfer	P Ami Patel
A Howard Roberts

P: Present

A: Apologies for absence submitted

Officers in attendance: Alun Davies (Adult Social Services and Housing), Derek Carter (Development and Environment), Philippa McKiernan, Janet Wood (Corporate Services Unit)

COM

Declarations of Interest by Members

None declared (but see Minute COM 30)

COM

Minutes of the Meeting held on 3rd November 2009 (Agenda Item 4.1)

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting be approved as a correct record.

COM

Single Equality Scheme (Minute EXE 27 refers) (Agenda Item 5.1 and 5.1A)

The Panel received a reference from the Executive of 28th July 2009 which sought the views of all Policy/Overview and Scrutiny Panels on priorities within their remits that should be included in the new Single Equality Scheme. The Single Equality Scheme will replace the Council’s existing Corporate Equality Policy, Disability Equality Scheme, Gender Equality Scheme and Race Equality Scheme. The representative of the Director of Adult Social Services and Housing presented a complementary report which detailed five strategic equality objectives identified. The Panel was requested to consider whether these were the right strategic objectives and to propose any amendments or additional objectives. The Panel was also asked to identify priorities in terms of equality and diversity for the area of policy under the Panel’s responsibility. Individual Members of Council were also welcome to contribute any comments on the full scheme before the close of the engagement/consultation process on 31st January 2010. The representative of the Director of Adult Social Services and Housing confirmed that the intention at this stage was to have a small number of focussed and deliverable actions which would be met within existing or already identified resources.

Comments raised relating to aspects of the draft policy within the Panel’s remit included:

§ What more can be done to improve the Council’s approach to engagement with diverse communities. The “Your North Somerset” event would take place in January 2010. The event, supported by the Council and partners such as the police, had grown in popularity and support over the six years since its inception.

§ The need to make all elected members aware of community events taking place;

§ How to encourage the reporting of race hate incidents;

§ How the Council can improve access to employment for disabled people and how to monitor those occasions when a disabled person had not been appointed.

§ Remedying previous staff survey outcomes highlighting staff dissatisfaction. The Panel were advised that the Chief Executive Officer took a keen interest in staff survey results and had offered to meet disabled staff on a one to one basis, in confidence, to identify issues of concern. A number of staff had such meetings and the issues have been taken up and resolved. The relationship with managers was also a key factor. The results of this year’s survey were not yet available.

COM

Budget Scrutiny Working Group (Agenda Item 6.1)

The Chairman commented on the report of the working group presented to Council on the 17th November. The group would next meet on 17th December 2009. He added that most areas within the Panel’s remit had been the subject of review by the relevant executive members. In discussing the update to the Medium Term Financial Plan 2010 to 2012, some members of the Panel expressed dissatisfaction with the current arrangements for budget scrutiny. Members further identified areas for potential scrutiny following sight of more detailed information relating to proposed or estimated savings arising from re-commissioning of service provision for The Playhouse and dual use centres (directorate reference D&E S6, S13 and S15), leisure centres (D&E S12), and progress of plans for the museum service (D&E S14). More information was requested as to the impact on these services in their practical application.

The Panel also made reference to the current Senior Management Review in the Development and Environment directorate and the proposed revised senior management structure. The restructure aimed to deliver significant financial savings this financial year and the capacity to deliver transformational change in accordance with the council’s financial strategy and vision to re-commission services where appropriate.

Concluded:

(1) That a written, detailed report providing information on the background to the proposed budget savings be provided to the January meeting of the Panel; to detail the effect the savings will have on the services.

(2) That appropriate officers be in attendance in relation to directorate references D&E S6, S12, S14, S15 in the updated Medium Term Financial Plan reported to Council on 17th November 2009;

COM

Performance issues under the Local Area Agreement stretch targets (Agenda Item 6.2)

Councillor Jill Iles, chairman of the Domestic Violence Working Group gave a short oral report following an initial meeting of the group. The group received an in-depth briefing on the complexities and processes involved in responding to domestic abuse and an understanding of the current delivery of domestic violence services. The working group was set up in order to respond to the potential loss of the reward element of stretch target funding. The data recording processes for the performance targets had been explained together with an explanation of how recording errors had occurred, which in turn had resulted in an under-counting of the proportion of repeat crimes and an under-estimation of the baseline calculation. The Council was three-quarters of the way towards achieving 100% of target over the next three months. Options currently under consideration in the event of failure to achieve 100% of target were either to achieve 60% which would provide an equivalent shared funding proportion or, to declare the target as inoperable which would again result in approximately 60% achievement. The Director of Development and Environment's representative explained that the additional activity required over current provision to ensure the stretch target was achieved was probably unrealistic in the short time left, particularly as the service came under additional pressure around Christmas time. He further reported that discussions with partnership agencies were taking place with a view to securing joint funding in order to sustain the current service provision and response to domestic violence. However, these discussions were proving difficult in the current financial environment and little firm commitment had been achieved.

During discussions, Councillor Dr Kellaway-Marriott declared a personal interest as a director of a domestic abuse charity.

The working group intended to submit a report with recommendations to the next meeting of the Panel for its consideration and endorsement and ultimate referral to the Executive.

Concluded: that the report be noted.

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Chairman

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