There were no apologies for absence.

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 declarations of interest were declared.

To consider the Minutes of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 28 January 2015.

That the Minutes of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 28 January 2015 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 20 March 2015.

No public questions were received.

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is Friday 20 March 2015.

No questions were received from Members.

The Performance Manager will present the Quarter 3 Performance Report, attached.

The Performance Manager drew Members’ attention to the report detailing the Quarter 3 performance and gave a PowerPoint presentation to highlight the key messages captured by the technical performance dashboards using infographic images.  A copy of the presentation slides is included with the formal record of the meeting.  The Performance Manager added that there could be value in scrutiny looking in more detail at the detail behind the images.

The Committee noted that the detailed intelligence that informed the Quarter 3 performance report, was being monitored based on the four technical dashboards developed following work with Scrutiny members and Portfolio Holders during the Performance Management Rapid Action Group in January – February 2014, namely:

·         ‘Your money’ Outcome Dashboard (‘Feel financially secure and to believe in a positive future for myself and my family’)

·         ‘Your Environment’ Outcome (‘Live in an attractive, vibrant and safe environment, in a place that is right for me’)

·         ‘Your life’ Outcome (‘Feel valued as an individual and to live my life, with my choices respected and with as few compromises as possible’)

·         ‘Your health’ Outcome (‘Live a long, enjoyable and healthy life’)

Members considered each of the presentation slides in turn.  Slide 1 illustrated 4 key images from the ‘Your money’ outcome dashboard, images 7, 8, 9 and 10 and showed a positive picture for Shropshire schools and pupils standing up well in comparison with other areas and nationally in terms of outcomes.  The Performance Manager suggested that areas of good practice in other areas could be identified and used by Shropshire in future.

Slide 2 illustrated the number of referrals to Children’s Social Care and the proportion of children with a Child Protection Plan.  Members noted the significant variation throughout the year of those receiving a new Protection Plan and those stopping having a Plan; this point may merit further scrutiny by the appropriate Committee.  The Performance Manager commented that, in this case, a smaller number was better as long as the safety of the children came first.

The Committee considered slide 3 that illustrated the number of looked after children [LAC].  It was noted that the number of LAC had steadily increased following the trend in increasing demand e.g. through referrals to children’s social care services.  These results showed a plateau from September 2014.  The Chairman of the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee commented that the Committee monitored the situation and would continue so to do.  Members considered that the plateau in the figures showed that the situation was settling and portrayed a positive picture. Early intervention was understood to be key and it was recognised that the budget reduction in 2015/16 needed to be carefully monitored by scrutiny.

Members considered that the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee may wish to seek  further information at a future meeting on the content of slide 4 relating to higher than average results for mothers smoking at the time of delivery and a lower prevalence of breast feeding at 6-8 weeks after birth, below the national  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

To consider the Quarter 3 Revenue Monitoring Report [as reported to Cabinet on 11 February 2015].  The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance will provide a verbal update on any changes that have occurred since that time.

The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance drew attention to the Quarter 3 Revenue Monitoring report that had been agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 11 February 2015 that identified a projected overspend of £370K by the end of the financial year. The Committee noted the projected overspend of £0.371m by the end of the financial year that reduced the Council’s General Fund balance to an estimated £14.535m.  The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance reported that the risk assessed level of General Fund balance would be adequate at £15.5m.

Referring to table 1 on page 26 of the report, Members noted the information relating to the 2014/15 projected budget variations analysed by service area.  It was particularly noted that Adult Services presented the greatest risk.  However, table 2 provided the Committee with an update on the delivery of the 2014/15 savings proposals demonstrating the use of one off savings in 2014/15 but, over the year, with plans identified for delivery of these or alternative savings proposals, the level of savings moved further on target for each service area.

It was acknowledged that scrutiny would have a role in the development of the next Medium Term Financial Plan and how this involvement could be taken forward and developed in future work programming.

To consider the scoping document on mobile and flexible working including the role of I.T., mobile telephony and staff skills and behaviour.  This work area was identified by the Committee at its meeting held on 21 January 2015.

The Performance Manager drew the Committee’s attention to the draft terms of reference for the Mobile and Flexible Working Task and Finish Group; this work area had been identified by the Committee at its meeting on 21 January 2015.

Members considered that the following additional areas should be included as part of the work of this Task and Finish Group:

·         Consideration of ways of measuring the efficacy and efficiency of this style of working

·         The impact of this style of working on the Council’s customers to include comparison of data from other authorities

·         The impact on the lives of staff working in this way to include consideration of whether the authority was structured correctly to be able to work in this way

·         The need to ensure that this style of working can be operated throughout the county in an equitable manner [Broadband, IT issues in certain parts of the county]

The Committee Chairman suggested an approximate timescale of 6 weeks to complete this work.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the addition of comments made by the Committee [as above], the scoping document for the Mobile and Flexible Working Task and Finish Group be approved.

To consider the scoping document for the Discretionary Housing Payments [DHP] Task and Finish Group. TO FOLLOW

The Performance Manager drew Members’ attention to the draft terms of reference for the Discretionary Housing Payments [DHP] Task and Finish Group.  It was noted that the main focus of the Group would be to respond to the draft policy and procedures currently subject to a period of consultation.

RESOLVED:

That the DHP Task and Finish Group be reconvened to develop a response to the draft DHP Policy and procedures to ensure scrutiny’s continued influence in the development of the Policy.

The Committee is scheduled to next meet at 2.30pm on Wednesday 17 June 2015.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled to be held at 2.30pm on Wednesday 17 June 2015.