Agenda and minutes
PDF 137 KBVenue: Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DN
Contact: Bryan Searle or Rianna Hanford
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies were received from Denise Saliagopoulos.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on Wednesday 2 July 2014. Minutes: The minutes were agreed as accurate records of the meetings. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.
Notes: · In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest. · Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests. · Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register. · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest. Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Friday 5 September 2014). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (Thursday 4 September 2014). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Minutes: No questions or petitions were received. |
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IMPROVING STAFF MORALE AND WELL-BEING
The purpose of this report is to share the feedback from the informal staff discussions held following the last meeting of the Committee, and to agree the next steps for the review of staff morale and wellbeing. Minutes: Witnesses: Denise Le Gal, Cabinet Member for Business Services Karen Archer-Burton, Organisational Development & Skills Lead
Key points raised during the discussion: 1. The Committee stressed that it was important that the outcomes of the staff workshops were communicated to staff and that the issues raised by staff were followed up . 2. It was noted that a ‘Better place to Work’ project was underway to talk to 10,000 members of staff across the County by the end of September 2014. The issues raised in the discussions held so far aligned with the findings of the Committee’s own workshops, although the Committee noted that the full data would not be available until the end of October 2014. It was agreed that HR should present a report to the Committee in November 2014 which draws together the outcomes of the two pieces of work and identifies the actions which will be put in place to address them. 3. Particular issues of concern raised in the Committee’s staff workshops related to IT and work pressures. It was agreed that the Head of IMT would be invited to the next meeting to give an update on the changes to IT, and the review in November would provide information regarding the processes for dealing with staff issues such as work pressures. The Committee also noted that a programme would be launched in October 2014 to ensure support for whole teams, and a Head of Workforce post was to be introduced which would target all issues raised by staff. Recommendations:
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That the Head of IMT be invited to attend the
meeting of the Committee in October 2014 to provide an update on
the Council's IT upgrade programme.
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That the outcomes from the Council's current Better
Place to Work consultation and the Committee's own staff workshop
discussions be combined in a joint report by HR.
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That the HR report on the key issues raised by
staff, and the actions planned to address them, be presented to the
Committee at its meeting in November 2014. ·
That
the Vice-Chairman write to the staff who
attended the Committee’s staff workshops to update them on
the outcomes from the discussion, making specific reference to the
concerns raised about work pressures. · That the forthcoming staff survey be used to seek views about the effectiveness of different methods of sharing information with staff.
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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION WITHIN SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL
Progress report for the past year. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Lucie Glenday, Chief Digital Officer
Key points raised during the discussion:
1.
The Chief Digital Officer introduced the report and informed the
Committee that the concept of the project was to look at ways that
technology could be used as a platform to improve the
Council’s own direct service delivery and to enable partners
to deliver certain services on our behalf. Effective customer engagement was key, as the
strategy needed to be bought into by stakeholders and adhere to the
principles of matrix management. 2. The intention was to produce a one-page set of principles for the project rather than a long policy document. The principles were still being determined, and the complexity of the project meant that new principles would emerge as the project developed. The principles agreed to date would be shared with the Committee. It was noted that staff were currently supportive as new systems would make jobs more effective, it was noted however that some resistance in the future was expected due to perceived negativity to change and the fact that the project was driving cost efficiencies and would therefore impact on jobs. The Chief Digital Officer was working with the Head of HR and Organisational Development to ensure that this would be fully mitigated against. 3. The Committee asked how key themes would be prioritised and noted that interoperability should be the primary focus to ensure opportunities for savings. The opportunities for deriving customer value would come from this, and information on usage was currently being collated. 4. Concern was raised about the increased opportunities for breaches of datasecurity where shared systems were used. It was noted that overall security would be the responsibility of IMT, and that compliance would be the responsibility of services.
Further information to be provided:
The principles to date to be shared with the Committee.
Recommendations: · That the Committee receive a further progress report on the digital transformation project in six months’ time.
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BUDGET MONITORING REPORT
Purpose of the report: This report presents the revenue and capital budget monitoring up-date for June 2014. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Kevin Kilburn, Deputy Chief Finance Officer
Key points raised during the discussion: 1. A report from the Committee’s Performance & Finance Sub-Group was tabled at the meeting. A copy of this report is included as an annex to these Minutes. 2. The Committee noted that although the risks of the Better Care Funding would not affect this year’s budget, this would potentially have an effect in the 2015/2016 financial year. The position in relation to the Better Care Fund was unlikely to be known before May 2015, and a secondary plan would need to be developed to ensure sustainability across all directorates. 3. It was noted that overall the Council’s unit costs for service delivery had shown a reduction compared to the previous year.
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SCRUTINY ANNUAL REPORT
Purpose of the report: Scrutiny of Services Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Helen Rankin, Scrutiny Manager
Key points raised during the discussion: 1. The Committee discussed the reference in the report to the creation of the Children and Education Select Committee, and comment was made that some Members had expressed the view that the remit of the merged Committee was too large. The Chairman of the Children & Education Committee reported on the process that had taken place to develop the work programme for the coming year and the new ways of working which were being introduced to ensure that the key issues were given proper consideration. Reconsideration of the decision to create a merged Children and Education Select Committee was requested but, following a vote, this was not supported. 2. It was expressed by the Committee that all Select Committees need to be prioritised by officers and support for the scrutiny process needed to be given by senior officers. It was agreed that the words ‘better supported by senior officers’ should be added to ‘The Challenge Ahead’ section on page 12 of the report. Resolved: That the report, as amended, be distributed to all Members, internal officers (via the S:Net) and stakeholders.
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SCHOOL GOVERNANCE TASK GROUP SCOPING DOCUMENT
Purpose of report: The Children & Education Select Committee has identified School Governance as a topic for a task and finish group. This scoping document is presented to the Council Overview & Scrutiny Committee to review.
Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: Zully Grant-Duff, Chairman of Children and Education Select Committee
Key points raised during the discussion: 1. The Committee agreed the implementation of a School Governance Task Group.
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RECOMMENDATION TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
The Committee is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings, and to review its Forward Work Programme. Additional documents: Minutes: The Committee noted the recommendations tracker. A forward work programme would be developed based on the outcomes from the Members workshop which took place before the Committee.
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.30am on 2 October 2014. Minutes: The date of the next Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be at 10.30am on Thursday 2 October. |