Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Paul Cooper and Mary Dooley (Portfolio Holder for Partnerships and Transformation).

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a Customer Service and Transformation Scrutiny Committee held on 2^nd December 2019 be approved as a correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List of

Key Decisions for any further information.  NB: If Members wish to discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the meeting only).

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Rose Bowler

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document be noted.

Committee considered a report which provided the Quarter 3 outturns (October to December 2019) for the Corporate Plan 2019-2020, which sat under the ‘providing our customers with excellent service’ and ‘transforming our organisation’ aims as of 31^st December 2019.

Providing our Customers with Excellent Service

There were 10 targets in total under this Corporate Aim – 8 targets were on track and 2 were on alert.

The following 2 targets were on alert as they may not achieve their intended outcome by 31^st March 2020.               

C10 - Carry out 300 disability adaptations to Council houses each year. 200 welfare adaptations completed.  The report noted that works completed to date were larger, complex works i.e. wet rooms, ramps etc.   A large schedule of smaller works (grab rails/handrails etc.) were currently being ordered.   The demand for adaptations remained high and work planning would accommodate this.  The lead officer expected this target to be met by 31^st March 2020.

The Strategic Director – Place advised Members that there was a backlog due to the high demand for adaptations.  Funding came directly from Government and consideration was now being given to use residual money from 2019/20 to help DCC with the assessments and reduce the backlog.  In response to a Member’s query, the Strategic Director – Place confirmed that any residual money was not required to be given back to the Government)

A Member felt that the target should be in relation to timescale and not the number of adaptations carried out as this would make the target more measureable.  The Scrutiny & Elections Officer noted that it had been previously raised that customer satisfaction levels with works carried out could also be an alternative measure of success.  Members agreed that both of these areas should be targets.  The Strategic Director – Place agreed to implement these changes for the new targets in 2020-23.

C13 - Reduce average relet times of Council properties (not including sheltered accommodation) to 20 days by March 2020.  The outturn for this target was 25 days, which was the same in Quarter 2.  The standard was achieved in Q1 at 20 days.

Transforming our Organisation

One target in total which was on track.

Moved by Councillor Rose Bowler and seconded by Councillor Ray Heffer

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Committee considered a report which gave Scrutiny the opportunity to help develop a new performance framework to support the Council’s ambition statement for 2019 – 2023.

Committee suggested that the following additions, highlighted in bold below, be added to the Aims and Values;

Aims

We will focus on:

• Our Customers by providing excellent and accessible services.

Values

We:

·         Are proud, caring and compassionate and passionate about what we do

·         Will work with partners and as a team to provide quality services

Priorities - Customers:

·         Promoting equality and diversity and supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged people

·         Transforming services through the use of technology

A Member felt that these two priorities conflicted with each other as technology could leave vulnerable and disadvantaged people behind; he added that there were also those who did not want to embrace technology which was understandable.  The Information, Engagement and Performance Manager replied that this was where consultation with residents was key and assumptions tested; she added that technology was a solution for some but not for all and it was important that the Council offered choice to customers on a range of options for access to its services.

·         Improving health and wellbeing and increasing participation in sport and leisure activities

It was reported that there were no specific targets for this as Leisure Services received external funding for a lot of their activities and currently, it was uncertain what future funding they would be receiving.

·         Prepare a Customer Satisfaction Survey for members of the public attending Planning Committee for implementation by May 2020

The Strategic Director – Place, advised Members that this target was in relation to finding out customers views of the service in terms of levels of response, timescales for speaking at Planning Committee etc.  Members felt that any complaints in relation to these issues should be dealt with via the Compliments, Comments and Complaints system rather than surveys carried out.  The Strategic Director – Place would take Members’ views on this into consideration.

·         Ensure that at least 50% of transactions are made through digital channels by Dec 2024

This was a Government standard target.

·         To mobile enable 18 field workers by 31/03/2021

This was in relation to Environmental Health.

·         Monitor performance against the corporate equality objectives and publish information annually

This was in relation to consulting with equality groups.

·         Prevent homelessness for more than 50% of people who are facing homelessness each year

In response to a Member’s question, the Strategic Director – Place advised that this target covered a range of issues in relation to preventing homelessness.   The Council carried out a lot of work on homelessness prevention and the Strategic Housing Team had been put forward for an award regarding this. 

·         Reduce average relet times for standard voids (Council properties) to 20 calendar days by March 2021 and maintain thereafter

The Strategic Director – Place noted that void properties was a concern for Members and she reassured them that it was being looked at in detail.  She added that a piece  ...  view the full minutes text for item 605.

Committee considered an update report in relation to the Council’s Transformation Plan 2018.

The Transformation Plan 2018 had been approved by Executive in December 2018 and set out the vision of “A self-sustaining Council, delivering excellent services to the community, when and how they want them”.

Significant progress had been made on achieving the aims across all of the themes within the Transformation Programme and a report presented to Executive on 20^th January 2020, which was appended to the report, provided a detailed update on each of these.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESOLVED that (1) the report to Executive be noted,

(2) the Digital Transformation Strategy be noted.

The Head of Partnerships and Transformation left the meeting.

Committee considered their work programme 2019/20.

Members were reminded that the scheduled meeting on 11th May would now take place on 13th May at 2pm.

Moved by Councillor Rose Bowler and seconded by Councillor Ray Heffer

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2019/20 be noted.

To move:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.” [The category of exempt information is stated after each item].

Moved by Councillor Rose Bowler and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.

Following scrutiny of the Environmental Health & Licensing Service in 2018/19 the Customer Service & Transformation Scrutiny Committee recommended: -

·           The development and approval of a revised Service Level Agreement (SLA).

·           A review of the online ‘Report It’ system to ensure that customer engagement remains efficient and effective, with systems that are simple to use.

The Interim Head of Environmental Health provided Committee with a progress update in relation to the current review of the Environmental Health Service, which would further impact on delivery of the scrutiny review recommendations.

It was noted that progress had been made against both recommendations but due to the wider service review an extension was required to the agreed target dates, in order to fully implement the scrutiny recommendations as required.

Members were updated on the current position with the service and recent interventions/interim arrangements, and were briefed on a recent report submitted to Executive.

Members agreed to a further extension of the target date for the scrutiny review recommendations, with a report to be submitted to Committee early in the new municipal year.

Moved by Councillor Rose Bowler and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

The Interim Head of Environmental Health left the meeting.