Agenda and minutes
PDF 178 KBVenue: Members Conference Room, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DN
Contact: Ross Pike
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies were received from Steve Cosser, Bob Gardner and Colin Kemp. Eber Kington, as Vice-Chairman, chaired this meeting. |
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 14 DECEMBER 2016
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting. Minutes: The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter (i) Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or (ii) Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting NOTES: · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest · As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner) · Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.
Minutes: There were no declarations of interest made. |
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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 (Thursday 12 January 2017). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (Wednesday 11 January 2017). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Minutes: There were no questions or petitions submitted to the Board. |
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RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SCRUTINY BOARD
There are no responses to report. Minutes: No issues were referred to the Cabinet by the Board at its last meeting. |
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RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
The Scrutiny Board is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings, and to review its Forward Work Programme. Additional documents: Minutes: Key points of discussion:
Recommendations Tracker:
1. Recommendation reference A7/2016. The Board were notified that scrutiny of the Shareholder Board and the Surrey Choices business plan was scheduled for COB’s next meeting on 1 February 2017.
2. Recommendation reference A9/2016. The Board were informed that this recommendation was being addressed as part of the ongoing work of the Scrutiny in a New Environment task group.
3. Recommendation reference R12/2016. The Board noted that an item detailing the success of the investment strategy had been requested for COB’s meeting on 1 March 2017.
Forward Work Programme:
1. The Board were informed that the planned update from the Scrutiny in a New Environment task group had been deferred. It was explained that the group had met three times so far and were in the process of drafting some conclusions and recommendations. It was evident, however, that the group would benefit from more meetings and were also keen to engage with the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council post-Budget, therefore it was decided that this report would be scheduled for 1 March 2017 meeting.
2. The Board noted the terms of reference for the Agency Staffing Task Group on pages 19-21 of the agenda, and the Vice-Chairman explained that the task group were due to meet in the coming weeks to investigate the agency staff spend within IT & Digital.
3. The Board were informed that an update on the 3SC devolution bid had been agreed and would be on the agenda for 1 March 2017 meeting. |
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FINAL BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS
This report provides a brief context to the budget scrutiny work undertaken by the Scrutiny Boards Minutes: Declarations of interest:
None
Witnesses:
Mel Few, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence Kevin Kilburn, Deputy Chief Finance Officer David Harmer, Chairman, Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board Mark Brett-Warburton, Chairman, Education and Skills Board Bill Chapman, Chairman, Wellbeing and Health Scrutiny Board Keith Witham, Chairman, Social Care Services Board
Key points raised during the discussions:
1. The Vice-Chairman agreed for the meeting to be taken into Part 2 to discuss this item.
RESOLVED: That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the relevant information under the relevant paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
Denise Saliagopoulos entered the meeting at 10:26am.
Keith Witham and Michael Gosling left the meeting at 12:00pm
Recommendations:
Savings a) That there is a major reduction in paper based public communications issued by the central communications team and individual services including an end to the production of Surrey Matters and annual reports. Documentation should still be available to the public digitally.
b) That there is a review of the necessity of everything the Communication Service does. Ask the question ‘do we need to do this and, if so do we need do this in that way”? with a target cut in head count or % financial savings
c) That there is a review of the necessity of everything the Policy & Performance Team does. Ask the question ‘do we need to do this and, if so do we need do this in that way”? With a target cut in head count or % financial savings
d) That a continued review of staffing roles and levels and salaries across the council should take place, particularly at senior level
e) That there is a continued drive to review vacant property with a view to disposal, cost reduction and income generation
f) That a review be undertaken of the financial and operational benefits of reducing four main council buildings to three
g) That there is a reduction of the spend on agency staff across all services
h) That there is a review of Member responsibility allowances
i) That there is a review of major IT projects, to cover the costs and added value and the use of agency staff to deliver these projects
j) That there is investment in key-worker housing, as per the motion to Council on 6 December 2016, to facilitate staff retention and a reduced reliance of agency staff
Process
k) A revision in the way that accounts are reported to enable better monitoring of expenditure through the identification of areas of spend on frontline and back office staff. The Board agreed to this recommendation by a vote carried by eight votes to three.
l) That regular Rapid Improvement Events are revived as an instrument for identifying efficiencies
m) That the information that details the Council’s unit costs ... view the full minutes text for item 7/17 |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Board will be held at 10:00am on Wednesday 1 February 2017. Minutes: The next meeting of the Board will take place on Wednesday 1 February 2017 at 10:00 am. |