The following disclosures of interest were received:

(i)            Councillors Cooke and Sunderland declared a prejudicial interest on the item relating to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region as they were both members of the Combined Authority and they left the meeting during consideration of the item.

(ii)           

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2016 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Yusuf Patel – 01274 434579)

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2016 be signed as a correct record.

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

There have been no referrals made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda.

                                                                        (Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

There were no referrals made to this Committee.

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee received the First Quarter Financial Position Statement for 2016-17 at its meeting on the 20July 2016. The Committee requested for an interim report and the report from the Strategic Director Children’s Services (Document “K”)  explains the reasons for the budget pressures in the current year and steps being taken to address them.

Recommended -

(1)       The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee to note the      legislative context and pressures impacting on plans to deliver         the required budget savings.

(2)       The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the           programme and plans in places to track required changes and savings whilst ensuring statutory responsibilities are delivered. 

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee received the First

Quarter Financial Position Statement for 2016-17 at its meeting on the

20 July 2016. The Committee requested for an interim report and the

report from the Strategic Director Children’s Services (Document “K”)

explained the reasons for the budget pressures in the current year and

steps being taken to address them.

The Strategic Director and the Assistant Director Social Care gave a brief presentation setting out the ‘journey of a child’ and the related expenditure incurred by Children’s Services, to give Members an understanding and context to the spend and the budget pressures within the Service.

During a detailed presentation the following information was alluded to:

·        That Bradford was the fourth largest metropolitan district area in the country.

·        That Bradford had the fastest growing youth population in the UK which added to the budget pressures going forward.

·        That the provision of services was backed by a statutory, legislative obligation.

·        That the Council’s ambition for young people was stipulated in the Children Plan – ensuring every child reaches their full potential.

·        That the service employed 176 social workers and 415 unqualified social workers.

·        That the service received over 30,000 telephone calls a year, resulting in 5,700 actual referrals.

·        That 1,250 children had been identified as being in need to date, resulting in 525 requiring a child protection plan.

·        That the 890 looked after children was a key area of expenditure.

·        That the number of looked after children in Bradford mirrored the national average.

·        That looked after children needed accommodating in a myriad of placements which were governed by need and supply.

·        That children that required placement were either placed with family and friends or in foster care.

·        That some children had a degree of complexity and they could not be placed in a foster care setting and were paced in a residential setting, which cost in the region of £2,500 per child, per week.

·        That some children with complex needs were placed in Independent fostering arrangements at a cost of £1,400 per week, per child.

·        That some children had to be placed in external residential settings which could cost £3,500 per child, per week of which there were currently 48 children placed in such a setting.

·        In addition 4 children had been placed in secure accommodation, costing in the region of £5,000 per week.

·        A number of children were supported through a Special Guardianship Orders of which there were currently 279 children.

·        That 260 children who had been adopted were still being supported by the service in some capacity, given their needs.

·        That in the context of a growing young population at the current rate, it was expected that this would add an additional £1.3m spend to the annual expenditure of the Service.

·        That some additional pressures was being experienced from the newly arrived communities.

·        That tackling Child Sexual Exploitation was a key priority and the response to it was second to none.

·        That the district was being asked by Government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee received the First Quarter Financial Position Statement for 2016-17 on the 20July 2016. The report forecasted an over spend of £3.5 million in respect of Adult Social Care and the Committee resolved to receive a report from the Interim Strategic Director of Adults.

In response the Interim Strategic Director Adult and Community Services will submit a report (Document “L”) which explains the reasons for the budget pressures in the current year and the steps being made to address them.

Recommended –

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the report. 

(Bernard Lanigan – 01274 432900)

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee received the First

Quarter Financial Position Statement for 2016-17 on the 20 July 2016.

The report forecasted an over spend of £3.5 million in respect of Adult

Social Care and the Committee resolved to receive a report from the

Interim Strategic Director of Adults.

In response the Interim Strategic Director Adult and Community

Services submitted a report (Document “L”) which explained the reasons

for the budget pressures.  It was stressed that the risk in delivering the 2016/17 budget cuts forecasted to be £2.6m was linked primarily to reducing the numbers of older people placed into institutional settings and the cost of care for people with complex support need.

In an effort to try and reduce the overspend, the key focus was on reducing the time spent in residential / nursing care and give people more opportunities to stay in their own home.  In addition Bradford had been successful in ensuring no one was placed outside of the district.

A Member stated that the long term prognosis was that the people needing support would increase year on year and savings had to be made at the same and he ascertained what measures were in place to educate people about lifestyle changes.  In response the Interim Strategic Director stated that a lot of work was being done around early intervention work and lifestyle changes and encouraging people to stay active as well as take greater responsibility for their own care, which would reduce the need for care as people got older.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder also confirmed that these issues had also been discussed with our health partners around self care and closer working to achieve objectives.

The Interim Strategic Director stated that he was hopeful that the budget deficit would be reduced and brought back in line with the approved spend for the Service.

No resolution was passed on this item.

The Strategic Director Regeneration will submit a report (Document “M”) which sets out the progress, plans and performance for West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as it enters its second full year of operations. The report includes details on regeneration, transport, public service reform and governance. It also describes this work in relation to the priorities, challenges and opportunities for Bradford District.

This report focuses on the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) remit and the WYCA/LEP relationships with and support to Council policy, ambitions, priorities and resources. This report aims to provide an overview of WYCA/LEP and key issues for Committee and member consideration. It is not a fully comprehensive review of WYCA/LEP. Corporate O&S Committee previously considered WYCA/LEP at its meeting on 8 September 2015.

Recommended –

Members are asked to consider the report and comment on its content.

The Strategic Director Regeneration submitted a report (Document

“M”) which set out the progress, plans and performance for West

Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Region

Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as it entered its second full year of

operations. The report included details on regeneration, transport,

public service reform and governance. It also described this work in

relation to the priorities, challenges and opportunities for Bradford

District.

This report focused on the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny (O&S)

remit and the WYCA/LEP relationships with and support to Council

policy, ambitions, priorities and resources. This report aimed to provide

an overview of WYCA/LEP and key issues for Committee and member

consideration. It was not a fully comprehensive review of WYCA/LEP.

This Committee previously considered WYCA/LEP at its

meeting on 8 September 2015.

During the discussion a Member ascertained what the critical factors were between the WYCA and the LEP.  In response the Strategy and Engagement Officer explained that the work of the LEP had been brought into the work of the Combined Authority.

In relation to a question regarding staffing levels and work of the WYCA, it was stressed that the Combined Authority had inherited a number of functions and that it worked in close collaboration with Councils across the regions to ensure scheme delivery and that adequate staffing levels were in place.

The Leader stressed the need to remodel services so that they were area appropriate, particularly in the area of housing policy where a more focussed regional policy was required.

In response to a question on the impact on the work of the WYCA following the EU referendum, the Strategy and Engagement Officer stated that the LEP board had looked at the economic outlook for the area following the decision to leave the EU, as well as the key risks and challenges facing the region particularly in the sphere of European funding and business support.

The Strategy and Engagement Officer also stressed that the minutes of the WYCA meetings were now published with the Executive agenda papers.

Resolved –

That a progress report on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership be presented to this Committee in 6 months time.

ACTION:       Strategic Director Regeneration

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a report (Document “N”) which presents the Draft Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report for 2015-16.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Committee adopts the proposed Annual Report with any amendments it may choose to make.

(2)       That the Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report for 2015-16 be referred to Council for consideration.

                                                                        (Mustansir Butt – 01274 432574)

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee

submitted a report (Document “N”) which presented the Draft Annual

Overview and Scrutiny Report for 2015-16.

Members expressed their thanks to officers across the Council that had

submitted detailed reports to the respective Scrutiny Committees over the

year, and also for the detailed Scrutiny Reviews that had been undertaken in

a number of areas.

Resolved –

(1)       That the proposed Annual Report be adopted.

(2)       That the Annual Overview and Scrutiny Report for 2015-16 be referred to Council for consideration.

(3)       That officers be thanked for the work undertaken, especially relating to the Poverty and Flooding Scrutiny Reviews.

ACTION:       Overview and Scrutiny Lead/ City Solicitor (Resolution 2)

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a report (Document “O”) which sets out the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2016/17. 

Recommended –

(1)       That members consider and comment on the areas of work included in the work programme.

(2)       That members consider any detailed scrutiny reviews that they may wish to conduct.

                                                                        (Mustansir Butt – 01274 432574)

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee

submitted a report (Document “O”) which set out the Corporate

Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2016/17.

Resolved –

That the work programme 2016-17 continues to be reviewed regularly

during the year.

ACTION:       Overview and Scrutiny Lead      

                                                                        (Mustansir Butt - 01274 432574)