Agenda and draft minutes
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Contact: Huma Younis
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies had been received from Richard Walsh and Wyatt Ramsdale. Peter Szanto and Barbara Thomson substituted for both Members.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (6 December 2017)
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting. Minutes: These were agreed as a true 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 none. |
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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 (28 February 2018). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (27 February 2018). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Minutes: There were none.
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RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE
At the 6 December 2017 Corporate Services Select Committee meeting it was agreed that any key comments raised by the Committee on the Orbis business plan and the Orbis Public Law business plan would be reported to the Cabinet Member for Property and Business Services. A letter from the Chairman was sent to the Cabinet Member on 8 January 2018. A response from the Cabinet Member was received on 19 February 2018. Please find both letters attached. Additional documents: Minutes: Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Chairman explained that key comments raised by the Committee on the Orbis business plan and the Orbis Public Law business plan had been reported to the Cabinet Member for Property and Business Services. A letter had been sent from the Chairman to the Cabinet Member. The letter along with a response had been included in the agenda. 2. The Chairman queried how officers were progressing with producing a draft dashboard of performance data for each business plan as stated in the Cabinet Members response letter. The Cabinet Member explained that this work was in progress and a dashboard would be presented to Orbis and Orbis Public Law joint committees at their next respective meetings due to take place in April 2018. 3. The Vice-Chairman queried the back-charging of property and legal costs to individual services and asked if this was something the Cabinet Member would be supporting going forward. The Cabinet Member stated that a great amount of progress had been made with Orbis Public Law with a detailed timetable for integration. With regards to back-charging, it was explained that work was being done to understand the true costs of legal services being provided to various services. This information would then be shared with services to ensure transparency of costs. The introduction of cross charging would then be considered in due course.
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FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND RECOMMENDATIONS TRACKER
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: Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Chairman informed the Committee that she had spoken with the Chairman of the Overview and Budget Scrutiny Committee to consider the inclusion of the digital strategy on the Committee's forward work programme. It was agreed that the implementation of the digital strategy was within the remit of the Committee. The Chairman proposed for this to be added to the Committee's forward work programme for June. 2. The Cabinet Member explained that he had met with the Head of Strategy and Engagement and Chief Information Officer to consider what the next practical steps were for increased digitalisation across services within the county. The Chairman added that how digitalisation translates into the betterment of front line services interacting with the public would be of particular interest to the Committee. 3. The Cabinet Member stated that by June officers would be able to set out the vision for the digital strategy and a road map of work that has been completed to date. 4. A Member queried where the county was in relation to other authorities in terms of digitalisation. The Cabinet Member stated that Surrey was ahead of many other authorities including East Sussex and Brighton and Hove. It was further added that the Pensions service had introduced a robot to support processing work. 5. It was agreed to include an update on the Orbis business plan and Orbis Public Law business plan to the forward work programme. 6. The Chairman agreed that temporary staff appointments would be reviewed as part of the agency staffing item scheduled for June 2018. This would be clarified in the forward work programme. 7. A Member of the Committee stated the importance of Members having the opportunity to review emergency plans in emergency incidents. The Chairman explained that a training exercise had been organised with the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) on 15 May which would enable members an opportunity to witness emergency plans first hand. 8. It was queried if an update from Property Services could be included on the Committee's forward work programme. The Chairman explained that two property workshops had been organised. At these workshops it had been agreed that divisional property lists would be shared with Members. Members would then have the opportunity to comment on these lists. The Cabinet Member stated that property lists were ready to be sent out to Members. The roll-out of the lists would be phased by district and borough so feedback could be managed appropriately. Members were asked to check lists for accuracy and also give feedback on the usage of buildings. The Cabinet Member was of the view that by the summer the service would be in a position to feedback on what had been achieved. The Chairman further added that it would also be helpful to receive an update on the People and Places Strategy and how this links with the transformation agenda. It was agreed that a property report would tentatively be added to the forward ... view the full minutes text for item 15. |
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EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND LOCAL RESILIENCE
The report outlines the current progress and issues relating to recent incidents and the requirement to learn and improve the response by Surrey County Council in coordination with our partners to support the needs of residents. This report is in response to the action from the meeting of the Corporate Services Select Committee in October 2017. Minutes: Declarations of interest:
None
Witnesses:
Ian Good, Head of Emergency Management Steve Owen-Hughes, Assistant Chief Fire Officer
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The item was briefly introduced by the Head of Emergency Management. 2. In reference to Appendix 2, it was queried if the Surrey County Council led plans were supported and co-ordinated with the Surrey Local Resilience Forum (LRF). The Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained that the LRF would co-ordinate the local response in any emergency with various partners. The LRF was chaired by the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. 3. The Chairman queried how local preparedness was managed by the emergency management team. The Head of Emergency Management drew the Committee's attention to page 19 of the report, stating that as a result of past emergencies, work had been undertaken by the Surrey County Council Partnership Manager to identify locally based community and volunteer groups whose engagement would be of value during an emergency incident. Work was undertaken with these groups to understand local risks and how these could be mitigated. 4. A short update on the work of Team Rubicon was provided to the Committee. It was agreed that the work of Team Rubicon allowed emergency plans to be shared methodically and with clarity to volunteer groups. It was stated that the support received from Team Rubicon was of great value to the authority. 5. A Member of the Committee queried who should members of the public contact in the event of an emergency. The Member referred to the flooding events in 2013-2014 when there were communication issues which created public confusion. The Head of Emergency Management explained that as a result of the flooding incidents, the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP)[1] group was now responsible for considering where tactical operational groups should be based during an emergency. 6. A key issue identified as a result of the flooding incidents were that individuals without the authority to make decisions were attending tactical decision meetings. 7. The plan to deploy the army brigade to support the flooding incidents was well co-ordinated between partners. 8. Officers confirmed that they were happy to advise district and boroughs on emergency plans and work being undertaken by the LRF. The Head of Emergency Management explained that the work of the LRF and future planned activities would be shared at Local Committee meetings. A meeting with the Mole Valley Local Committee had been organised for the summer. 9. A Member of the Committee asked officers to clarify who Members should contact in the event of an emergency. The Head of Emergency Management stated that if there was a danger to life then 999 should be called. There was also a designated Member’s contact telephone number that went directly to the council's Contact Centre which should be utilised by Members. Any incidents reported in this way would be forwarded to the emergency management team. Finally there was an emergency response email account to which Members could email any concerns. |
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HUMAN RESOURCES AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
This reports sets out the organisational context in which the HR & OD service delivers services. The report includes the aims and measures of the HR & OD strategy and information on key workforce management issues including training, appraisal, wellbeing, attendance and workforce planning.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of interest:
None
Witnesses:
Ken Akers, Head of HR/OD Abid Dar, Senior Equality Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Head of HR/OD confirmed that the People, Performance and Development Committee (PPDC) had considered and commented on the HR &OD strategy but did not approve it as was alluded to in paragraph 4 of the report. It was further added that it was standard protocol for PPDC to consider HR related strategies. 2. The Chairman commented that workforce planning did not seem to be aligned with the business planning cycle and financial cycle. The Head of HR/OD was asked to clarify what this meant for the workforce in the present. The Head of HR/OD stated that there were challenges with workforce planning due to inaccuracy of data. The lack of accurate data meant that HR processes had been developed in disconnect with financial processes. 3. The Head of HR/OD stated that he was confident that these data issues would be corrected by April 2018. 4. There was an agreement that with the authority embarking on the transformation of services with the appointment of a new Chief Executive, accurate workforce data was critical. 5. A Member of the Committee queried why the set out guided distribution for appraisal ratings were so restrictive. The Head of HR/OD explained that the previous appraisal process saw over 20% of staff across the organisation being rated ‘exceptional’. The service wanted to ensure that going forward, those who were rated as exceptional were in practice performing at that level. 6. It was clarified that with the new pay and reward strategy, only those rated as exceptional would receive a bonus that would be payed to them monthly. 7. Concern was raised around the number of appraisals not completed and what was being done to tackle this. The Head of HR/OD was in agreement that non completion was a concern. A system had been introduced which meant that appraisals within the management structure had to be completed or those who achieved exceptional within that structure would not receive their pay and reward. Non completion figures were also presented to Strategic Directors for their attention. 8. The Chairman queried why the non-completion of appraisals within the E&I directorate and CSF directorate was high. The Head of HR/OD confirmed that these figures also included bank workers who were on zero hour contracts. It had historically been difficult to schedule appraisals with these workers due to working hours. 9. A Member of the Committee queried the costs for learning and development training courses especially in those cases were there was non-attendance. The Head of HR/OD confirmed that he would need to clarify the detailed costs of training courses. 10. There were issues around non-attendance to training with operational issues being the main reason for non-attendance. The Head of HR/OD explained that there was an expectation that managers approve training but currently they were not part of the automated approval process in place. 11. The ... view the full minutes text for item 17. |
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CORPORATE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACTION PLAN 2017- 18
The Select Committee is asked to review the 2017–18 Health and Safety Action Plan and support the development of the 2018-19 Action Plan.
Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of interest:
None
Witnesses:
Ken Akers, Head of HR/OD Abid Dar, Senior Equality Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager Paul Booker, Senior Health and Safety Manager
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Chairman queried if officers believed there was a prevention culture in place within the organisation. The Senior Health and Safety Manager confirmed that he believed that there was a health and safety prevention culture in place with supporting processes. 2. In regards to slips, trips and falls, Members queried what was being done in relation to preventing these. The Senior Health and Safety Manager explained that a campaign was undertaken last year to promote the prevention of these on the S-net. Managers had also been asked to disseminate advice amongst their staff. A manager’s guidance note has been produced and published in the health and safety manual to support this. 3. The Head of HR/OD added that the service recognised that there was a high number of slips, trips and falls within schools. Work was being undertaken to benchmark this data with other councils' schools. The Head of HR/OD also added that there would be an opportunity to work with the health and safety team in children’s services to promote a child centered campaign to reduce the number of incidents. 4. The Chairman queried what liability the authority had in relation to slips, trips and falls in schools. It was explained that there would be no liability in relation to academies but officers would need to check the legislation in relation to other types of schools. 5. In regards to the health and safety action plan for 2017-18, a Member commented that it would be good to have more timelines in the action plan around when actions would be completed. 6. In relation to preventing abuse, violence and threats in the workplace it was queried if the workshops set up to address these issues had been completed. The Equality Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager explained that workshops had been completed in the following critical areas of Adult Social Care facilities, libraries and children’s residential services. 7. It was explained that a ‘toolkit’ as a result of the workshops would be developed with each service leading on how they deliver these. The Equality Inclusion & Wellbeing Manager stated that the ‘toolkit’ would be finalised by the end of Quarter two, as it had been pushed back due to the late delivery of workshops. 8. A Member of the Committee queried if officers agreed that a health and safety culture was being promoted by the leadership team of the County Council. The Head of HR/OD explained that a health and safety dashboard with KPIs was shared quarterly with CEDR. Updates on the delivery of the health and safety plan was also shared with CEDR. It was further added that for the first time senior managers were provided with health and safety training from a barrister which going forward would also be offered to Members. 9. It was explained that an online health and ... view the full minutes text for item 18. |
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Committee will be held at 10:00am on 13 June 2018. Minutes: The next meeting of the Select Committee will be held on 13 June 2018 at 10.00am. |