Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Nigel Carter, Cllr Christopher Devine, Cllr Nick Fogg and Cllr Ricky Rogers.

No substitutions were received.

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management and Resources Select Committee held on 21 January 2010.

Cllr Caswill requested that a note was made to record that regular updates should be received by the Select Committees from the newly formed Liaison Board under item 39 – Role of a Future Management and Co-ordination Body.

With the above note made the minutes were approved as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of personal or prejudicial interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

No declarations of interest were received.

(1)       The Chairman welcomed the Chief Executive and his senior staff to the Committee.

(2)       The issue of the new in-house ICT service implementation was raised, as approved by Cabinet on Tuesday 23 March and announced in the Hot Wire release on Wednesday 24 March.  The Chairman felt that the Committee should take an interest in the level of service provided in the period up to the termination of the Steria contract on 13 January 2011 and the structures put in place to implement the new in-house arrangements.  ICT services would be added to the forward work programme accordingly.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting.  Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.  The Chairman will, however, exercise his discretion in order to ensure that members of the public have the opportunity to contribute.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question should give written notice (including details of any question) to the officer named above by 12:00 noon on 23 March 2010.

There was no public participation.

Membership: Cllr Roy While (Chairman)

                        Cllr Jonathon Seed

                        Cllr Chris Caswill

                        Cllr Desna Allen

                        Cllr Jane Burton

                        Cllr Chris Humphries

                        Cllr Peter Colmer

The Partnerships Task Group met on Tuesday 16 March to scope it’s work programme. Following the election of Cllr Roy While to the Chair, the group held a detailed discussion about which partnership area to review first, using the Local Agreement for Wiltshire and the February Key Performance update report to facilitate this discussion.

The topic identified by the group to 'kick-off' the review was the Community Safety Delivery Partnership, which is one of the 8 thematic delivery partnerships charged with ensuring the 'Family of Partners' realises its 6 key ambitions.

The Task Group will meet again on April where it will receive an overview of the work taking place within community safety, with special attention towards the governance arrangements and effectiveness of joint working.

The Partnerships Task Group held it’s first meeting on 16 March to agree it’s work programme.  The Community Safety Delivery Partnership was chosen as the topic for the first review.

The Committee would meet again in April to scope the review with an invitation extended to partners (i.e. police, health authority) thereafter for their contribution.

Resolved:

To note the update.

Membership: Cllr Tony Deane (Chairman)

                        Cllr Jeff Osborn

                        Cllr Mollie Groom

                        Cllr Rosemary Brown

                        Cllr Carole Soden

                        Cllr Jon Hubbard

                        Cllr Mike Hewitt

                        Cllr Pip Ridout

At the last meeting held on 9 February the Task Group received the Capital and Revenue Budget Monitoring updates (covering the period up to 30 November) along with updates on the second round of Fact Finding meetings.

As requested the Chief Finance Officer presented a report and options were discussed for presenting budget monitoring data in graphical form in the new financial year.

The Task Group was informed that a health check audit report on certain accountancy elements of SAP would be submitted to the Audit Committee on 24 March and would also be available for scrutiny’s consideration at a future meeting.

A report on the creation of the O&S Management and Coordination Liaison Board and dissolution of the Budget & Performance Task Group (as agreed at the last Committee meeting) was considered.  This gave rise to a number of concerns.

A report outlining the representations of the Budget & Performance Task Group following the decisions on restructuring is attached for the Committee’s consideration.

(1)       Following the update provided with the agenda, the Chairman of the Budget and Performance Task Group confirmed that the next meeting of the Task Group was scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30March where one of the items for discussion would be the Business Management Programme (SAP) independent audit.

(2)       The Committee then considered the report by Ian Gibbons, Service Director Legal and Democratic Services, which requested that the committee consider the representations of the Budget and Performance Task Group following the decisions on restructuring taken at the last meeting of the committee in January 2010. 

At the meeting held in January 2010 it was resolved that an over-arching body (the Overview and Scrutiny Management and Co-ordination Liaison Board) would be established. As a consequence the management of the overview and scrutiny function would be removed from the Management and Resources Select Committee (it now being the responsibility of the Liaison Board with the Budget and Performance Task Group dissolved.

Following the decision some members of the Task Group expressed concerns on the consultation process undertaken and that the removal of the Task Group would result in a loss of knowledge brought together from the four existing Select Committees.

Resolved:

To rescind the previous decision and reinstate the Budget & Performance Task Group.

Membership: Cllr Richard Britton (Chairman)

                        Cllr Ricky Rogers

                        Cllr Nigel Carter

                        Cllr Judy Rooke

                        Cllr Roy While

The Task Group met on 1 February to review the Logica Contract which provides the SAP system for Wiltshire Council. Councillors were reassured by the robustness and security of the system and contract which limits the amount of risk to the authority. In addition to this members of the task group were satisfied of the savings made through the implementation of SAP and how this contributes to the long term sustainability and development of services.

Councillors considered that monitoring and auditing is key to any development of SAP, for which a recommendation to the Audit Committee would be made. This would suggest that information is provided on the technical overview of SAP abilities and the plan for development along with any proposed savings.

The contracts register incorporating ex-district information has been revised and key information requested by the Scrutiny Team for consideration by the relevant task groups.

This Task Group will review the contract performance in 12 months time. The next meeting is scheduled for the 28 April to review Jarvis who are responsible for office accommodation at the Monkton Park hub in Chippenham.

The update included details on the review of the Logica Contract and that the next meeting on 28 April 2010 would review Jarvis (responsible for office accommodation at the Monkton Park hub in Chippenham).

Resolved:

To note the update.

Membership: Cllr Philip Brown (Chairman)

                        Cllr Nigel Carter

                        Cllr Charles Howard

                        Cllr Judy Rooke

                        Cllr Jonathan Seed

                        Cllr Jeff Osborn

At the last meeting held on 17 February the Task Group received a presentation on the Workplace Transformation Programme Management Structure and a brief overview of the various work streams within the programme.

The Task Group was also invited to consider and comment on the Programme Risk Register which outlined a scope of the main strategic risks identified within the programme, current control measures and risk rating scores.  The Task Group agreed to receive an updated Risk Register at every future meeting.

At the next meeting on 22 March the Service Director for Business Transformation and ICT will provide the Task Group with an introduction to the Business Transformation work stream and the services that have so far undergone lean/systems thinking transformation or are currently in the process.

A presentation on the Melksham Campus work stream will also be received from the Workplace Transformation Programme Director.

The Task Group met on 22 March 2010 when the Service Director for Business Transformation and ICT gave an introduction to the work stream and the services that had so far undergone lean/systems thinking transformation or were in the process.

Cllr Jonathon Seed, as a member on the Task Group, also provided details on the workplace transformation campus project.  Cllr Seed confirmed that the project would review the number of sites owned by Wiltshire Council with a view to reducing assets and costs without a reduction in service delivery. 

Ensuing discussion included the need for clarification over the role of the Task Group in scrutinising the Programme.  Future meetings of the Task Group would endeavour to get a handle on the budgetary dimension of the overall project and it's component parts.  Cllr Rooke confirmed that the role of the Task Group would be discussed at it's next meeting

Resolved:

To note the update.

Membership: Cllr Desna Allen (Chairman)

                        Cllr Roy While

                        Cllr Bill Roberts

                        Cllr Bill Douglas

                        Cllr Howard Marshall

On 16 March the Task Group met to consider the Area Boards – Leader’s Review Report. The Task Group will have one further meeting in May to agree its final report before it is submitted to this Committee for approval.

The Chairman of the Task Group will present a summary report on the views expressed at the 16 March meeting to Cabinet at its meeting on 23 March. The report will also be circulated for the Committee’s consideration (to follow).

At the last Committee meeting councillors raised concerns about the consultation arrangements for the review and how the views expressed would be reflected in the final report. On that basis the Committee asked to receive the report along with the views of the Task Group to its next meeting and to invite representation from the Executive (copy attached).

The Leader, Deputy Leader and Service Director will be present from 11.00am to respond to questions from the Committee.

The meeting on 16 March considered the Area Boards – Leader’s Review Report.   A summary report (considered by Cabinet on 23 March) expressing the views of the Task Group on the report was also circulated.

Cllr Bill Roberts as a member on the Task Group provided further information on the content of the summary report and concluded that the Task Group were supportive of all 24 recommendations made as a way of seeking improvement to the operation of Area Boards. 

Ensuing discussion included acknowledgement that there had been an increase in attendance at area boards since their commencement although it was understood that some confusion still remained over the powers granted and the differing responsibilities between the Area Boards, Parish and Town Councils.   An overlap also existed between the area boards and other bodies, such as Chippenham Vision.  Clarification was provided by the Leader of the Council that the focus of the Chippenham Vision board was to engage residents in the economic development of the town but that this should not deter those residents involvement in area boards on other matters.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Communities and Libraries clarified that as a new structure for this Council Area Boards were still evolving and necessitated Councillors and officers as a whole working together to promote their existence and to ensure appropriate issues were raised through the members for each board. 

Resulting discussion drew attention to how issues raised were subsequently handled with clarification that a process was in place to ensure these were logged.  Community Area Managers were responsible for logging the issues and ensuring the due process was followed.  No issues could be closed without approval of the individual area board.

It was reported that the area board handbook provided general policies on how the boards should be run, including details of the ‘issue log’.  Each area board also had the flexibility to allow a focus on community issues relevant to their individual areas.

Further response was provided that the reference to public scrutiny within the report did not refer to the statutory OS function exercised by the select committees and that details of the funding allocation provided to date would be circulated.

Resolved:

1)                 To note the matters considered by the Task Group and it’s overall support for the recommendations in the report submitted to Cabinet on 23 March 2010.

2)                 To agree that Overview and Scrutiny should be involved in the further review of the Area Boards in 12 months time.

A copy of the draft Corporate Plan for report to Cabinet on 23 March is attached.  The decision of Cabinet will be reported.  The Plan will be approved by Council in May following consultation.

The Leader, Chief Executive and Director Policy and Communications will attend the meeting to answer any questions arising from the Plan.

The Committee is asked to consider the content of the Plan and submit it’s views to Council.

A copy of the draft Corporate Plan approved by Cabinet on 23^rd March for wider communication was considered by the Committee so that it’s views could be taken into account in preparing the final version.

The Leader, Chief Executive and Director of Policy and Communications attended the meeting to answer questions.

The Chief Executive explained that the objective of becoming the ‘best local authority in the UK’ was to ensure high aspirations were maintained whilst providing the best service to the community who would ultimately decide how ‘best’ was defined.  All plans would be developed to ensure the organisation maintained a clear view on how it shaped itself to deliver the best service to the community as the authority continued to mature.

The Chairman acknowledged that the Corporate Plan would be the building block to provide the Business Plan and individual Departmental Delivery Plans and confirmed that the select committees would look to monitor all elements as they progressed. 

In order to assist with future scrutiny, the Committee requested greater clarity around some of the targets (to include cross-referencing to LAA, CAA and benchmarks where appropriate) outlined in the Corporate Plan. 

The Leader of the Council confirmed that the Corporate Plan would be submitted to Cabinet again in April and Council in May for final approval and that the final document would be easily accessible to the public who should also be able to access the related documentation behind the plan as and when completed.

Clarification was also provided that although the nine priorities set out within the Plan did not reflect the order of priority, Cabinet had already made comment that customer focus should always appear first and foremost. 

Ensuing discussion included the current economic climate, the benefit implications of partnership working and what benchmarking would be in place to monitor progress and evaluate completion.

The Medium Term Financial Plan and Business Plan were highlighted as documents to provide further information on how the business would cope with less funding during the current economic climate.  It was also noted that  Wiltshire Council was already considered by the Government Office South West and central government as one of the best authorities in the south west in terms of working together with partners to support individuals, young people and businesses through the current climate.

‘High quality, low cost’ services and how these would be achieved was also raised with the Corporate Director for Resources clarifying that the principle had already been applied to parts of the Resource Service and had resulted in a stronger service with reduced costs.

Further discussion included harmonisation of youth services and whether the allocation of funding was considered a fair apportionment, the procurement strategy and how this would support localised suppliers and the involvement of area boards in influencing the Corporate Plan. Educational attainment at key stage 2 was also acknowledged to be an area of concern with the Chief Executive confirming that a complex programme on intervention was being drawn up to tackle the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

In order to comply with Council Financial and Contract Regulations relating to contracts with a value greater than £1m, a competitive tender exercise under the European Union ‘Restricted Tender’ provisions for the future supply of Temporary Agency Staff was required. 

To ensure a prompt retendering of this complex service, a Project Board was established to consider the framework required.  The Board, at it’s meeting in December 2009, approved a preferred option for the provision of Agency Staff and a report was subsequently considered by Cabinet at it’s meeting on 23 February 2010.  A copy of the Cabinet report is attached for consideration.

Cllr Jonathan Seed was appointed by this Committee as the Scrutiny representative on the Board and will provide an update on the outcome of the Cabinet report.

The Committee is asked to note the update and comment as appropriate.

In order to comply with Council Financial and Contract Regulations relating to contracts with a value great than £1m and European Union ‘Restricted Tender’ Provision, a competitive tender exercise for the future supply of Temporary Agency Staff was required.

A Project Board was established to consider the framework required and, as a result, a preferred option for the provision of Agency Staff was considered by Cabinet at it’s meeting on 23 February 2010.  A copy of the Cabinet report and a response from Cllr Jonathon Seed, the appointed Scrutiny representative on the Board, were circulated.

Cllr Seed reported that issues with employment and accountability of agency and contract staff were evident including difficulty in monitoring due to lack of transparency.  However, Cllr Seed concluded that both officers and the Cabinet Member had responded positively to the problem.  All agency and contract staff would now be declared through a neutral vendor managed service monitored through the SAP system.

Cllr Seed also reported that Wiltshire Council was considering partnership working with Bath and North East Somerset Council as a way to share agency resource and to reduce costs in the future.

Clarification was provided by the Corporate Director for Resources that approximately 20% of staff were agency and consultants but that this figure was anticipated to reduce within the next 12 to 18 months as services were harmonised.  The SAP system would continue to monitor over this period.

Resolved:

1)                 To note the update provided and the decision of Cabinet to approve the commencement of the competitive tendering process.

2)                 To receive a further update report in July 2010 being aware that a new contract arrangement should be in place by 1 November 2010.

As councillors will recall at the last meeting, the Committee took a decision to create an (informal) Management and Co-ordination Liaison Board. This meant that the management of the overview and scrutiny function would move from this Committee to the new Liaison Board leaving a Resources only function for the Committee. The suggestion in the report was that the Committee would be referred to as the “Resources Select Committee”. During discussion it was recognised that resources was more than the scrutiny of the executive activities associated with the Resources Department eg. Finance, HR. SST, ICT, Business Transformation, Performance, Governance etc. It would also retain and cover scrutiny of corporate and organisational affairs such as the Corporate Plan, Workplace Transformation, Area Boards development, Customer Focus Programme, Corporate Communications, One Council benefits etc.    

The Committee was keen to see these responsibilities reflected in its title in order to give greater visibility and clarity to its work. The Service Director for Legal and Democratic Services was asked to consider the views of councillors and recommend an appropriate title for approval at this meeting. The options put forward are:

(i)         Corporate and Resources Select Committee

(ii)        Organisational Management and Resources Select Committee

Councillors are asked to decide on the preferred name for the Committee either from the above options or from any other suggests that might emerge from debate.  The Chairman and Vice-Chairman have been consulted and have expressed a preference for the first option of ‘Corporate Resources Select Committee’. Any decision would be implemented immediately (as there are no significant constitutional implications) and be reported to Council at its next meeting in May.

It was reported that the Committee, at it’s meeting in January 2010, took a decision to create an (informal) Liaison Board resulting in the management of the overview and scrutiny function moving from the Committee to the Liaison Board subsequently leaving the Committee with a Resource only function.

As part of this function is was recognised that resources included more than the scrutiny of the executive activities associated with the Resources Department but that it would also retain and cover scrutiny of corporate and organisational affairs. 

The Committee was keen to see this responsibility reflected in it’s title in order to give clear visibility and clarity to it’s work.  As a result the following options were suggested:

(i)                 Corporate and Resources Select Committee

(ii)               Organisational Management and Resources Select Committee

Ensuing discussion concluded that neither proposal was felt to represent the Committee’s responsibilities accurately so alternatives were offered by members.

Resolved:

That the title for the Committee will be ‘Organisation and Resources Select Committee’.

As the Committee is aware, the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Scrutiny Manager have been meeting with the Resources services directors on an individual basis in order to get a better understanding of the way in which the services are delivered and funded, and the priorities, developments and pressures that exist. Previously meetings have been held with Deborah Farrow (Business Transformation, ICT and Information Management), Barry Pirrie (HR and Organisational Development) and Jacqui White (Shared Services and Customer Care). The outcome of these were previously reported to the Committee and where appropriate topics added to the work programme.

A similar meeting was held with Ian Gibbons (Legal and Democratic Services) on 11 March. The following issues were cover in discussion:

Legal

·        The extent of involvement of Legal Services during the transition to One Council

·        The initial difficulty in populating the new Legal Services staffing structure – linked to the number of staff transferring from the districts, job evaluation process, grades and location

·        Market supplements for lawyers

·        Internal trading account arrangements

·        Section 106 process

·        Degree of involvement in major contracts

·        Desire to undertake a lean systems review of Child Care legal services

Democratic Services

• Working relationship with the Community Area Managers
• Level of members support being given in the locality
• Constitutional review (via the Standards Committee)

Governance

• Targets now set for complaints including a traffic light system
• Inherited a districts and parishes backlog
• High number of cases allowed for investigation
• Possible change in arrangements after the general election
• Cultural Programme – leading on code of conduct including member/officer protocol

At the end of the discussion the Chairman and Vice-Chairman asked for staffing structures to be supplied, further details on the market supplements scheme, and reviews of Section 106 agreements and members support in the locality to be added to the Committee’s future work programme.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman now plan to meet with Laurie Bell in respect of Policy and Communications and will report on the outcome to the next meeting of the Committee.

It was reported that the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Scrutiny Manager had been meeting with Resources Service Directors to gain a better understanding on service delivery, funding, priorities, departmental developments and pressures applying to each.

Meetings had already taken place with Deborah Farrow (Business Transformation, ICT and Information Management), Barry Pirrie (HR and Organisational Development) and Jacqui White (Shared Services and Customer Care) and the outcomes reported to the Committee.

A similar meeting was held with Ian Gibbons (Legal and Democratic Services) on 11 March where several issues, as outlined in the agenda, were discussed.  The Chairman and Vice-Chairman, following this discussion, asked for staffing structures to be supplied and further details on the market supplements scheme and considered that reviews of Section 106 agreements and members support in the locality should be added to the Committee’s future work plan.

Resolved:

1)                 To agree that a Task Group be established to consider the responsibilities and pressures of S106 agreements with membership to be determined by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman subject to report to the next meeting.

2)                 To agree that a Task Group be established to consider the level of local support provided to Councillors and how it is organised and managed with the membership to be determined by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman subject to report to the next meeting.

A copy of the draft Forward Work Plan is attached for consideration, together with items of interest from the draft Cabinet Forward Work Plan from April to July 2010 inclusive.

The Committee is asked to note the Plans and comment as appropriate.

The Committee noted the Forward Work Plan provided and the changes to be made as a consequence of decisions taken at today’s meeting.

27 May 2010.

27 May 2010 to be held at County Hall, Trowbridge.