1 Agenda Item No. 2 RESOURCES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
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Agenda Item No. 2 RESOURCES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE Minutes of the Resources Scrutiny Committee held in the Conference Room 1A, County Hall, Ruthin on Thursday, 2nd December, 2010 at 9.30 a.m. PRESENT Councillors H.Ll. Jones (Chair), J. Cahill, G.C. Evans, G. Green, R.L. Feeley, G.M. Kensler and D. Owens. Councillors M.Ll. Davies, E.W. Williams and J. Thompson-Hill attended as Observers. ALSO PRESENT Corporate Director: Governance and Efficiency, Head of Environmental Services, Head of Finance and Assets, Head of Customer Services, Head of Strategic Human Resources, Head of Revenues and Benefits, Principal Management Accountant, Corporate Improvement Manager, Democratic Services Manager, Audit Manager, Scrutiny Support Officer (R. Evans) and Administrative Officer (C.I. Williams). 1 APOLOGIES Councillors D. Lee and G. Williams. 2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST RESOLVED – that no Members declared any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. 3 URGENT MATTERS No items were raised which in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972. 4 MINUTES The Minutes of a meeting of the Resources Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 21st October, 2010 were submitted. Matters arising:- Page 2. item 8. Little Theatre, Rhyl – The Scrutiny Support Officer explained that she had contacted the Valuation and Property Manager regarding the Little Theatre, Rhyl and she was awaiting a response. Item 4, Review of the Policies Affecting the Operational Management Sustainability, Condition and Size of the Council’s Agricultural Estate – Councillor G.C. Evans expressed concern that Members had not been kept informed regarding the progress 1 and implementation of the policy and any other relevant matters relating to the Agricultural Estate, as tenants within his ward had contacted him with queries and concerns. The Principal Management Accountant advised that the intention was for the new Agricultural Estate Advisory Group to meet early in the new year. Councillor Evans informed the Committee that the issues that required resolving were urgent ones as the tenants concerned had deadlines to adhere to which were imminent. This point was emphasised to the Corporate Director: Governance and Efficiency when she joined the meeting. She advised that she was not aware of these issues but would therefore convene a meeting of the Group forthwith to deal with them. In response to concerns expressed by Councillor G.A. Green regarding a lack of consultation with the Scrutiny Committees and insufficient feedback from Cabinet in respect of recommendations made by the Scrutiny Committee, it was agreed that representations be made to Cabinet that they provide a response to issues raised within specified deadline e.g. seven days. Item 5. Scrutiny Work Programme - The Committee was informed by the Chair that a report in respect of the Corporate Risk Register would be available during the first quarter of 2011. He also confirmed that a report would be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee in January, 2011 in respect of Corporate Procurement. Item 6. Engagement of Consultants – The Chair informed Members that representations had been made to the Corporate Governance Committee requesting that they examine the timescales involved in approving changes to the Council’s Constitution and whether the procedure could be expedited. The Scrutiny Support Officer explained that the Corporate Governance Committee had met and a response was awaited. In reply to a request from Councillor M.Ll. Davies, it was agreed that, following the forthcoming staffing restructuring exercise, an organisational chart be circulated to all Members. RESOLVED – that, subject to the above, the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record. 5 SERVICE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL PLANS A copy of a joint report by the Heads of Services in the Governance and Efficiency Directorate, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting. The report sought the Scrutiny Committee’s observations on the draft Service Business Plans currently under development, or the position statements supplied in relation to the service planning process, by the services within the Governance and Efficiency Directorate and the Business Planning and Performance Service which lies within the Chief Executive’s Department. From April, 2010 onwards the focus on how the Council delivered its corporate priorities and achieved its strategic aim of being “a high performing council closer to the community” had been centered on the delivery of individual Services’ Business 2 Plans. Draft Business Plans were submitted to the respective scrutiny committees for comments as part of the budget setting process every December. It was explained that due to a number of service restructuring exercises, and budget uncertainties at present, the service plans for 2011/12 were not in as advanced a stage as they would normally be at this point in time. Consequently, the draft Plans circulated with the report had not been extensively populated, and some services had submitted position statements rather than draft Service Plans for Members consideration. Members were informed that the Internal Audit and Risk Management Service would not be preparing a separate Business Plan for 2011/12 onwards as its Internal Audit Strategy was effectively seen as the Service’s Business Plan for the year ahead. The Strategy outlined the audit projects which would be carried out during the year, as agreed by the Corporate Governance Committee in March of each year, and would contain performance measures and information on risks, all of which would be in line with Service Business Plans. It had recently been decided by the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group that the best approach would be for each Scrutiny Committee, when considering the Service Business Plans at their November/December meetings, to select a basket of indicators or outcomes which they would wish to monitor on a regular basis until the end of the current reporting year. Members had been requested to have regard to this proposal during the consideration of the draft Service Business Plans. It was confirmed that early consideration of the draft Service Business Plans/Position Statements would provide Members with an opportunity to contribute to the Business Planning Process with a view to ensuring that the Service Business Plans address identified risks and contributed to the effective delivery of the Council’s corporate priorities within constrained budgets. The identification of specific areas or outcomes measures for regular performance monitoring would assist the delivery of current service plans and the Council’s priorities and underpin the aims and objectives of future Business Plans. Draft Service Plans/Position Statements had been attached to the report and representatives from each of the respective services provided the following summaries:- Finance and Assets: Property Group (Appendix 1) and Finance (Appendix 2) The Principal Management Accountant provided a summary of the Business Plans for Finance and Property Services and explained that they had only recently assumed responsibility for Property Services, with a new manager having been appointed within the past two months, and were not in a position to provide detailed information. He referred to the restructuring process being undertaken within the Service, and the significant changes being undertaken as a result, and made reference to the relevance of the Asset Management Action Plan which reviewed the Council’s building management activities as part of a national review. 3 Reference was made to the major changes which would be occurring in Finance following the imminent departure of the Head of Finance and Assets. The Principal Management Accountant explained that the previous year’s template had been used to draft the Business Plan and he outlined the process to be adopted in producing the Business Plan for the delivery of the service at operational levels. He also highlighted the influence and importance of Finance in respect of the operation of other departments within the Authority. In response to a question from Councillor G.A. Green, the Principal Management Accountant explained that he was confident that changes arising from the restructuring process would be incorporated effectively and efficiently and expressed his confidence in the officers appointed to the posts in question. In reply to a request from the Chair, the Principal Management Accountant agreed that a copy of the Service Plan for the coming year would be provided by February, 2011, in a similar format to last year’s plan, for the Committee to consider. Members of the Committee thanked the Head of Finance and Assets for the work undertaken and the assistance provided and wished him well in his retirement. Revenues and Benefits (Appendix 3) The Head of Revenues and Benefits highlighted the difficulties encountered in producing the Business Plan as it was unclear which services Revenues and Benefits would be expected to deliver during the coming years. He referred to the introduction of Universal Credit by the Department for Work and Pensions and the lack of clarity relating to the provider of the service during the coming years, particular reference being made to the various aspects relating the provision of Housing Benefits and the costs pertaining to the new software equipment required to deliver the changing benefit service. The