Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J Barrow [Councillor P Mullock attended as substitute] and Councillor D Lloyd [Councillor B Williams attended as substitute].

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

No disclosable pecuniary interests were declared.

To consider the Minutes of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 5 November 2014.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 5 November 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions, statements or petitions from the public of which members of the public have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is Friday 21 November 2014.

No questions were received from members of the public.

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is Friday 21 November 2014.

The following question submitted Councillor R Evans was circulated at the meeting:

‘This meeting of the Scrutiny Committee is due to look at the Financial Strategy and Budget covering all aspects of the Council both for this year and the following three years.  I note the article in the Shrewsbury Chronicle, published on 20 November concerning Shropshire Council and Serco.

Given that Serco, as stated in the article, have a contract to manage five of the Council’s major leisure facilities until 2022, can the Performance Management Scrutiny be given some details of what is planned and also if there is any break clause in the original contract.  Any financial repercussions, extra costs or income could well affect an already very tight budget.  It is also noted that at the Cabinet meeting to be held on 10^th December fees and charges are to be discussed.  Given the contract that was signed with Serco are the discussions with them likely to affect the recommendations to be made’?

The following answer was provided:

‘Shropshire Council has a 10 year contract with Shropshire Community Leisure Trust who operate the 5 facilities on behalf of Shropshire Council. Serco Leisure are the managing agent and in effect provide ‘back office support’ to the Trust. Following the recent announcement from Serco that they intend to sell their leisure section of the business, officers have met to explore what this could mean. At this stage, it means very little - within the terms of the contract the Trust need to seek our consent to appoint an alternative agent,  and to date we have not been notified of any potential alternative managing agent. Officers will be meeting with representatives from Serco in the coming week to receive more up to date information.

Until any sale is progressed, Serco Leisure will continue to undertake their duties supporting Shropshire Community Leisure Trust, which will have no bearing on day to day operations, finances to the council or affect the fees and charges and any recommendations made’.  

Councillor Evans then requested supplementary information regarding the role of the Shropshire Community Leisure Trust, who employed Serco and queried the relationship between Serco/Shropshire Community Leisure Trust and Shropshire Council.  The Chairman advised that answers could not be provided at the meeting given that the appropriate Cabinet member or the appropriate Officer/s were present.  Councillor Evans expressed his disappointment that the appropriate Cabinet member and Officer were not present to address his additional points. The Portfolio Holder for Performance assured the Committee that answers would be provided.

The Performance Manager will provide an overview of the feedback from the scrutiny committees’ consideration of progress made in delivering the Council’s Financial Strategy:

Performance Management Scrutiny Committee 5 November 2014  

Enterprise and Growth Scrutiny Committee 6 November 2014

Environment and Services Scrutiny Committee 10 November 2014

Young People’s Scrutiny Committee 20 November 2014

Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee 24 November 2014

          The Performance Manager provided an overview of the feedback received from the Scrutiny Committees’ consideration of the progress made in delivering the Council’s Financial Strategy at the following meetings:

·         Performance Management Scrutiny Committee 5 November 2014

·         Enterprise and Growth Scrutiny Committee 6 November 2014

·         Environment and Services Scrutiny Committee 10 November 2014

·         Young People’s Scrutiny Committee 20 November 2014

·         Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee 24 November 2014

He explained that the Scrutiny Committee work programmes were directly linked to the Council’s Business Plan. He added that the Scrutiny Committees worked both proactively to support and inform change, and to also understand the impact of change on communities and people who use the services.

The Committee considered the summary of feedback received from each of the Scrutiny Committees in turn.

Referring to the Enterprise and Growth Scrutiny Committee, the Chairman of that Committee stressed the Committee’s high passion for developing economic growth in the county and considered investment in tourism as a means of bringing money into the county together with investment in business.  Members noted that a Task and Finish Group had recently been established to look at economic growth in the county.  

In answer to a Member’s concerns, the Chief Executive provided details of recent and forthcoming staff relocations and explained that the Assets Board was developing a new Asset Management Strategy that should be completed in January 2015; the Committee agreed that consideration of the development of this Strategy would feature as part of its future Work Programme.

The Portfolio Holder for Performance added that each of the Scrutiny Committees had considered the relevant performance dashboards according to their respective remits and the debates held had featured on performance rather than service cuts.  In answer to a Member’s query about the success of the Shrewsbury Music Hall, he stated that this could be looked at later but added that this was not the sole provision of this type in the county.  Members had noted that Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 had shown a higher attendance level resulting from the annual pantomime.

A Member was concerned that a number of one-odd savings did not appear to be achievable and stated that he would be interested to see the progress made illustrated in the Quarter 3 reports when they became available.  The Chief Executive stressed that this was a year of unprecedented savings, £40M, and further information on any savings and their status [Green, Amber or Red] could be made available to any Member on request.    The Committee Chairman commented that the Scrutiny Committees had been tasked with highlighting areas of concern.

Another Member queried the slippage in some areas and whether the outstanding savings would be achievable.  The Portfolio Holder for Performance explained that the savings had to be made but there may be some slippage as the Council may not get it ‘right first time’ in all areas.  He suggested that Officers should be congratulated on achieving significant savings and continuing to do so.  The Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The next calendared meeting dates for this Committee are 3 December 2014 and 28 January 2015.

The next calendared meeting dates for the Committee are 3 December 2014 and 28 January 2015.