Apologies were received from Councillor Peggy Mullock.  Councillor Roy Aldcroft substituted for Councillor Mullock

There were no declarations of interest made

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2023

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Transformation and Improvement Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 12 July 2023 be approved as a correct record.

To receive any questions from members of the public.  Deadline for notification is 5.00 pm on Tuesday 29 August 2023

There were no public questions

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification is 5.00 pm on Tuesday 29 August 2023.

There were no member questions

To scrutinise financial performance at quarter 1 and identify issues that may require further investigation by an overview and scrutiny committee, report attached

The meeting received the report of the Executive Director of Resources which set out the financial position to the end of quarter one.

The Executive Director – Resources advised Members that whilst the format of the report was similar to those previously published, the information contained within the report was more extensive than previously.  He informed members that at the end of the first quarter 89% of the expected savings had been delivered and that if rolled forward this would mean 67% of the expected savings delivered at the year end which was in line with previous years. Officers would be continuing work to address the remaining 33% of savings and that the current projection was that 90% of savings would be achieved.  He also advised members of increasing demand pressures within adults, children and temporary accommodation which officers were seeking to address.

The Executive Director – Resources informed members that Officers were working to build resilience into the process to ensure that there were alternative plans in place to ensure any pressures identified could be addressed.

A Member commented that there was a decrease in the adult care business support and development, an area which had previously been identified for investment.  The Assistant Director Finance and Technology stated that in some areas it had been possible to capitalise staff costs and reductions showing could be being charged elsewhere.

A Member stated that the NHS are responsible for the first six weeks care on a patient leaving hospital, and asked if they were paying for this?  The Executive Director of People advised that the local NHS had a pot of money for discharge but that there was a £4-6 million shortfall in funding, and the Council had made an application for further funding.  The Chair suggested that this was a topic for the Task and Finish Group to look to at in more detail.

A Member commented that there was £11.4 million of savings confirmed and asked for more details as to how these had been achieved.  The Executive Director of Resources stated that there were a series of spending reductions across the directorates which were fairly easy to deliver such as when a restructure resulted in a deleted post a saving could be accounted for immediately.  He added that there were elements of spending that could be capitalised which would then show as a saving. The Assistant Director Finance and Technology then gave some examples of specific savings made.

A Member commented that it appeared that savings were being made much earlier in the financial year through capitalising costs and that he had a worry that the overall situation had not changed and the required savings would not be made.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Resources stated that he was not complacent and that difficult decisions may need to be made.  He stated that he would welcome any suggestions for savings from any Councillor.

A Member welcomed the level of detail that was contained in the report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To scrutinise performance at quarter 1 and identify issues that may require further investigation by an overview and scrutiny committee, report attached

The meeting received the report of the Head of Service - Improvement which set out the Quarter 1 performance data.

The Executive Director Resources introduced the report which was the first that aligned to the Shropshire Plan and the objectives of the plan.  He stated that there was further work to bring all the information onto the portal.

The Head of Service – Improvement reminded the committee of the work carried out with Members and senior officers to identify key performance indicators. She added that there was still work to do to add all the data to the dashboard.

A Member commented that information on the dashboard could feed into the work of task and finish groups and conversely the findings of the groups would feed into the performance data.

A Member asked a number of questions with regard to the health KPIs.  The Chair advised him that a lot of the data was outside the Council and sat with the ICS and there was a lot of work required to collate this.  The Executive Director suggested that this should be raised at the Health and Wellbeing Board.

A Member commented that some of the KPIs did not have a target attached and asked how these could be given a RAG rating.  The Head of Service – Improvement advised that some of the data was from the previous year and that targets from last year had not been included.  Going forward targets would be added, she also confirmed that tolerances for the ratings would be different for each KPI.

A Member commented that that there were a number of subjects which sat outside the Shropshire Plan and commented that individual scrutiny meetings could feed in to identifying further KPIs.  The Chair commented that it may be better to wait until all the initial information is uploaded and then it could be considered by the individual committees. The Portfolio Holder for Culture and Digital commented that as time went on more information would become available.

RESOLVED

That the contents of the report be noted.

To consider proposals for the Committee’s work programme 2023 – 2024, attached

The report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer had been circulated.

The Chair advised that three task and finish groups had been proposed.

1.    Capital Strategy and Budget Task and Finish Group

2.    Costs and Benefits of System Working Task and Finish Group

3.    Transformation Task and Finish Group

The Statutory Scrutiny Officer took the meeting through the terms of reference and suggested topics to be covered by each of the groups.

The Chair suggested that possibly the Capital Strategy and Budget should be dealt with in separate groups.

It was agreed that the Budget and Transformation should be taken in 1 task and finish group.

The Chair commented that the outcomes of the Budget task and finish group would feed into the transformation task and finish group.