Agenda item

Purpose of the report:For the Select Committee to receive an update from the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support and Cabinet Member for Finance on progress against their priorities and objectives.

Witnesses:

Dr Zully Grant-Duff, Cabinet Member for Corporate Support

Mr Mel Few, Cabinet Member for Finance

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Committee heard from the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, who provided Members with further information on work that had been completed since the last Committee meeting, as well as her ongoing projects.

2.    Discussing the implementation of the digital strategy, the Cabinet Member explained that she had hoped the strategy would be in place by October 2019 but that the delay was a result of the appointment of Rainmaker Solutions as partners in the design phase. As a result, the revised deadline was now February 2020.

3.    The Cabinet Member went on to talk about the preparation of the forward procurement plan for the next financial year. This was expected to come to Cabinet in December 2019, and an interim procurement plan had already been approved by Cabinet for Q3 and Q4. Both plans listed the intentions for strategic commissioning and had been drawn up in conjunction with all of the Council’s services.

4.    Members heard that the third piece of ongoing work was concerned with the improvement programme in business operations, with a particular emphasis on pensions administration. The service needed to be modernised and work had started but there was still much left to do.

5.    Referring to the design phase of the digital strategy, a Member questioned whether between two and three weeks was a enough time to get a realistic view of the thoughts of residents and partners. He also asked for further information regarding the dates associated with the Digital Business and Insights Programme. In response, the Cabinet Member explained that the digital strategy design phases were “proof of concept phases”, with the idea being to select around five of these cases so that there was a high-level sign of what needed to change. This would allow changes to be made in response to obstacles, issues that users have and matters relating to efficiency. The idea was to get feedback on those five proof of concept cases and develop the strategy within 15 weeks. With regards to the Digital Business and Insights Programme, the Cabinet Member informed the Committee that a paper was going to that month’s Cabinet meeting and would include an outline of the business plan and a request to proceed to the procurement stage. It was expected to come back to Cabinet with the responses to the tendering exercise, and approval would be sought to begin implementing a new system from April 2020.

6.    A Member asked about the improved online reporting for highways and asked for absolute numbers to be provided alongside the percentage changes, as this would better indicate to the Committee how big the problem still was. It was then agreed that the Cabinet Member would provide the Committee with a written response that included the required numbers relating to the percentage figures used in the report.

7.    Discussing the digital strategy, the Vice-Chairman asked for assurance that the February 2020 deadline would be met and that a completed version of the system would be able to be rolled out. In response, the Cabinet Member spoke about the three transformation programmes that were being worked on – digital, agile working and moving closer to residents – and explained that they were all interrelated and needed to be supported so that the expected outcomes could be achieved. She reiterated that they were working towards the February 2020 deadline being met.

8.    A Member asked for more information on the engagement that had taken place with user groups during the design phase of the online reporting for highways. The Cabinet Member explained that it was possible for users to engage with a member of the service through a web chat feature, which would allow them to raise any issues or complaints. Furthermore, customer service surveys were regularly undertaken by the service, as well as invitations to the public to give feedback, and these were used to monitor service satisfaction. It was agreed that a report would be shared with the Committee that explained the consultation that took place during the design phase.

9.    Referring to the Children’s Request for Support Team, a Member asked for assurance that non-urgent requests that went through the Contact Centre were as secure as those going through the Adults Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub. The Cabinet Member explained that every precaution was taken but recommended that the issue was considered by a task group so that in depth questions could be asked.

10.  Responding to a question about apprenticeships, the Cabinet Member informed the Committee that the Council was not doing as well as it should be. As a result, the service was looking at where the funding it received from levies was being spent and had ensured that an active piece of work was undertaken to push that forward. It was agreed that the number of apprenticeships in IT was to be provided to the Committee.

11.  A Member questioned whether, regarding the software being developed, there was a business plan in place for this to be sold to other authorities and organisations. The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that a team within the organisation was constantly monitoring and interacting with services about their needs and were integrating new applications into what the Council already had. There was a host of applications at any one time that were being integrated into the Council’s services, and it was not possible to ascertain whether these could be developed internally and then marketed outside of the Council.

12.  The Committee heard from the Cabinet Member for Finance, who explained the work that had been completed since the last meeting. He had been regularly meeting with Cabinet Members in order to understand where they were relative to their budget forecasts, and to identify any potential risks. The Cabinet Member went on to speak about the capital expenditure process and the work being done on the 2020/21 budget. Regarding property, which was now part of the his portfolio, the Cabinet Member had had numerous meetings with the Head of Property. Going forward, the Cabinet Member said it was important to make sure the revenue budget was balanced, and in period five it would be reported that the Council was £7.8m short.

13.  The Vice-Chairman queried the time lag relating to the interim management accounts and asked the Cabinet Member to comment. In response, the Cabinet Member said he believed good progress had been made and that they were working closely with both CLT and the services. Conversations were taking place regarding the format of reports and these were likely to be resolved shortly.

14.  Responding to a question about the differences between the Cabinet Member’s approach to the property portfolio and the one undertaken previously, the Cabinet Member explained that a new Head of Property had joined the Council on 1 October and this represented an opportunity for the service to start anew. The Chairman then informed the Committee that a property update paper was scheduled to be considered at the November Cabinet meeting and would be reviewed by the task group prior to that.

15.  A Member spoke about a statement made by the Leader at a previous Council meeting, where he announced that unused and empty properties would be offered to charities and organisations for vulnerable people. She asked how that strategy was coming along and was told by the Cabinet Member that there was currently a plan in place for two youth buildings to be used for this purpose.

16.  Responding to a question about what processes were in place to achieve clarity about the overall capital expenditure process, the Cabinet Member said he felt this was currently one of the weakest process areas. He went on to remind the Committee that he had previously said that in period four there was only £13m spent against the budget, and that in period five the figure stood at £45.7m. The capital budgeting process was currently a separate process to revenue budgets and the objective was for those to align. The format of reports was to be amended so that it would be clearer what had been committed to and approved.

17.  Returning to the issue of the management of the property portfolio over the past two years, a Member asked for the cost to be quantified. In response, the Cabinet Member said that he could report back to the Committee with an estimate.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.    The Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance is to provide the Committee with a written response that includes the absolute numbers relating to the percentage figures used in the online reporting for highways report.

2.    The Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance is to produce a report on the consultation that took place during the design phase of the online reporting for highways.

3.    The Cabinet Member for Corporate Finance is to provide the Committee with the number of apprenticeships currently working in IT.

4.    The Cabinet Member is to provide the Committee with an estimate on the cost relating to the management of the property portfolio over the past two years.

Recommendations:

The Committee is to receive further information on questions raised regarding the Cabinet Member Update papers.