Agenda item

Purpose of the report:  Scrutiny of Services

To review the Management Action Plan produced as a result of an internal audit review of:

- Manpower Agency Contract

- UNiCORN

- Grants to Voluntary Bodies 2014/15

Agency Staff Contract

Witnesses:

Carmel Millar, Head of HR

Ken Akers, HR Relationship Manager

Keith Coleman, Category Manager

Penny McKinnon, Area Head of Service

Amy Bailey, Strategic Change and Efficiency Manager

Sue Lewry-Jones, Chief Internal Auditor

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Chief Internal Auditor informed the Committee that the Internal Audit on Agency Staff Contracts had resulted in the opinion of ‘significant improvement needed’.  As a result of this two high priority recommendations were identified, which included the delay in signing the contract which should have been in place by 1 April 2014 but instead was not signed until August 2014.  The second high priority recommendation was regarding targets for Children’s Services and reliance on agency staff within teams.

2.    The late signing of the contract was considered unacceptable by both Internal Audit and the accountable officers.  Officers explained that measures had been put in place to ensure it did not occur again.  Officers noted that there were many factors leading to the contract not being signed, including a lack of focus on the transition to the new contract.  A contract management system had now been put in place which would highlight any areas of slippage.  It was added that at this stage it was not possible to quantify the cost to the Council as a result of the delay , and it was agreed that officers would come back to the Committee with an with this information.

3.    The Committee was informed that a new role within the Directorate was being introduced for ‘Head of Workforce’ adding to the ‘Strategic Relationship Managers’. These roles would ensure a strong leadership team with responsibility for tracking progress every week, as well as identifying and mitigating against future issues.  It was added instead of one person being responsible for the Manpower contract; a strong team would surround it in the future.

4.    The Committee was informed that work was underway to improve recruitment and retention of social workers, which was a problem at a national level.  It was added that three major projects were underway  including the Social Work Reform project which looked at retention and recruitment schemes, a specific recruitment project about applicant experience and new strategies that had been recognised nationally for example the Social Work Academy and growing in-house social workers.

5.    The Committee was informed that robust plans for the implementation of the new MSTAR contract with Manpower had been agreed and the new rates were being worked towards.  It was added that more flexible arrangements were put in place and would be completed by the end of October 2014.

6.    Members noted that the current contract only ran until March 2015 and queried whether there was a timetable agreed for re-signing or procuring a new contract.  It was agreed that the financial information relating to the contract and the process for awarding the contract be shared with the Committee.

7.    The Committee were reminded that a follow up audit on this would take place as it had received a judgement of ‘Significant Improvement Needed’, and this would be reported back to Members through the regular process. 

Unicorn

Witnesses:

Sue Lewry-Jones, Chief Internal Auditor

Robin Carter, Contract Manager

Key Points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Committee was informed that there were two high priority recommendations in the report.  The first was a back log of outstanding change control notes (CCN’s) relating to work undertaken, officers noted that at the time of audit the service was in migration mode and things were changing fast.  It was added that extensive activity to document this work was planned for October 2014 and the Committee was assured that the timescales set out in the recommendation would be met.

2.    Officers explained that the second issue was the lack of a risk and issues log, this was due to the status still being in project implementation mode.  It was noted that the service now had a business as usual log in place and circulated to key stakeholders.

3.    The Committee was informed that these recommendations were on track and complete and if all was not completed by December 2014 then the service would report back to Committee.

Grants to Voluntary Bodies

Witnesses:

Sue Lewry-Jones, Chief Internal Auditor

Nikki O’Connor, Finance Manager (Assets & Accounting)

Kevin Kilburn, Deputy Chief Finance Officer

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Committee was informed that two high priority recommendations were highlighted regarding Children’s Services.  The service had been contacted and Auditors were informed that both recommendations had been completed.  It was noted that officers would come back to Committee at a later date with further information about the Intend system but Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) had been agreed, a questionnaire sent out and the grant agreement had been sent to Legal Services for comment.

2.    It was noted that payments would be managed by being made when the grant agreement was signed and at the beginning of the year, it would be ensured that grants were not automatically rolled over. 

3.    It was concluded that there was confidence this would be completed but if the issue was not resolved then would come back to the Committee.

  Actions/Further Information to be Provided:

Manpower

Officers would report back to the Committee on the cost to the Council of the delay in signing the new contract with Manpower for the supply of agency staff.

·         The process for awarding the future agency staff contract to be shared with the Committee

RESOLVED:

The Committee

·         thanked the Audit & Governance Committee for directing the Internal Audit reports to their attention

·         noted the unacceptability of the Agency Staffing contract not being signed

·         noted the arrangements put in place by the Service as a result of the Internal Audit report

·         requested that officers report back to the Committee if any of the high priority recommendations would not be achieved by the agreed management action date

Committee next steps:

None.