No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meetings held on 29 September and 6 October 2016 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Yusuf Patel – 01274 434579)

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meetings held on 29 September and 6 October 2016 be signed as a correct record.

ACTION: City Solicitor

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

There were no referrals made to this Committee at the time of the publication of this agenda.

                                                                                    (Yusuf Patel – 01274 434579)

Resolved –

There were no referrals made to the Committee.

The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “U”) which provides Members with an overview of the forecast financial position of the Council for 2016-17 and a mid year performance report.

It examines the latest spend against revenue and capital budgets and forecasts the financial position at the year end. It states the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasts school balances for the year. 

The report is also being considered by the Executive at its meeting on 8 November 2016.

Recommended –

That the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee  review and comment on the Mid Year Financial Position Statement and Performance Report for 2016-17.

                                                                        (Andrew Cross – 01274 436823)

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “U”) which provided Members with an overview of the forecast financial position of the Council for 2016-17 and a mid year performance report.  It examined the latest spend against revenue and capital budgets and forecasted the financial position at the year end. It stated the Council’s current balances and reserves and forecasted school balances for the year. 

The report was also being considered by the Executive at its meeting on 8 November 2016.

The Director of Finance stated that the report was a combination of service performance coupled with financial performance.

In relation to service performance, the Interim Assistant Director Policy, Programmes and Change drew Members’ attention to the recently approved District and Council Plan documents which in essence would herald a new set of indicator sets based on priority outcomes that the Council, its partners and the community will be working together to achieved around:

·        Better Skills, more good jobs and a growing economy;

·        A great start and good schools for all our children;

·        Better health, better lives;

·        Decent homes that people can afford to live in and

·        Safe clean and active communities

In relation to current service performance the details were not comprehensive at this mid year stage, however more detailed and comprehensive data would be available at the end of the financial year, which will also highlight areas of improvement.  Where there were concerns regarding performance, robust performance management measures were in place and portfolio holders had been privy to the discussions.

Overall current performance information identified that performance in many key areas was improving and remained on target although there continued to be areas where the district faced significant challenges and where performance was either deteriorating or not improving quickly enough and these were detailed in the report.

In relation to financial performance the Director of Finance stated that the Council was forecasting a £6m overspend above the approved budget of £378m and that although this had not materialised, it was a particular issue within Adult Services which was forecasting an overspend of £5.2m, primarily as a result of the overspend on purchased care and learning disability purchased care.  Within Children’s Services, a £3.1m forecasted overspend was predicted, primarily as a result of an increase in the number and cost of Looked After Children.

In relation to the £45.6m budgeted savings the Director reported that there were risks associated with the underachievement of a number of plans and it was forecasted that £9.0m of savings will not be delivered as intended, primarily linked to service areas dealing with Transport Assistant, Looked After Children, Older Residential Care, and Waste Disposal.

Reserves stood at £13.8m, which continued to be seen as potentially inadequate, in the context of reduced Government funding and savings to be achieved in future years.  A position that had been confirmed by the Council’s External Auditors.

Finally the Director drew attention to the Council Tax and Business Rates Collection rates,  and although Council Tax collection  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

The Assistant Director Environment and Sport will submit a report (Document “W”) which gives details of the Bradford District Safer and Stronger Communities Partnership Performance Report for Quarter One April – June 2016 and the revised Bradford District Safer and Stronger Communities Plan 2016-19.

Recommended –

That the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers and comments on the iQuanta data and progress reports set out in this report.

The Assistant Director Environment and Sport submitted a report (Document “W”) which gave details of the Bradford District Safer and Stronger Communities Partnership Performance Report for Quarter One April – June 2016 and the revised Bradford District Safer and Stronger Communities Plan 2016-19.

A Superintendent from West Yorkshire Police responsible for an initiative to tackle perceived bad driving in the district named ‘Operation Streerside’ was present at the meeting to give an overview of the initiative and respond to Member’s question.  During a detailed PowerPoint presentation the following aspects of the initiative were highlighted:

Chronology of headlines:

·        STOP THE DANGER DRIVERS: Police admit driving standards in Bradford are a cause for concern.

·        STOP THE DANGER DRIVERS: Councillor backs T&A campaign as police hunt hit-and-run driver who fled scene of three car crash.

·        Heaton campaigners unveil new road safety banner and back T&A campaign.

·        STOP THE DANGER DRIVERS: Police in Bradford mount covert patrols to catch motoring menaces.

·        Police and Crime Commissioner backs the T&A's campaign to stop dangerous driving.

·        Bradford Police draw up list of areas with worst driving as they back Telegraph & Argus campaign.

·        Major police crackdown on Bradford's danger drivers starts - and 21 motorists are caught on first day.

Method: Studies show Killed or Seriously Injured collisions mainly result from:

·        Not wearing seatbelt (anyone)

·        Inappropriate speed

·        Drink / Drug driving

·        Using mobile phone whilst driving

Seatbelts:The sort of driver who does not wear a seatbelt is twice as likely to have a collision in the first place.  Then, on having the collision – they are twice as likely to die.

Inappropriate speed (not just exceeding a limit) is responsible for:

10% of all injury Road Traffic Accidents

13% of all serious Road Traffic Collisions’

24% of all fatal RTC’s

In 2014 – 1775 deaths.  282 involved exceeding the speed limit, another 126 involved travelling too fast for the conditions

If we focus on the “fatal four”, we can have significant effect on KSI prevention.

Operation Steerside – action taken:

·        Analysis of previous incidents gave top 5 areas.

·        Dedicated patrols within these areas with officers targeting “Fatal 4”.

·        Engage with the press (route to public) and social media to inform and educate via anecdotal stories.  Photos speak a thousand words.

·        Officers tasked with patrol in identified areas together with live time intel sent from dedicated phone voicemail, reports to police and officer knowledge of areas.

·        Utilising equipment as trained (IE. Speed gun, fingerprint device, in-car CCTV)

·        Officers are briefed on goals of the operation and expectations placed on them working it (number of offenders dealt with).  Expectation of minimum of 10 processes per shift.

·        Where possible obtain photos for use with social media and press.

Operation Steerside – results Feb-Oct 2016:

o   Speed – 1894 incidents

o   Phone – 544 incidents

o   Seatbelt – 1835 incidents

o   Other – 659 incidents

o   Insurance – 437 incidents

o   Total – 5372 incidents

o   Vehicle seized – 447 incidents

Operation Steerside – results:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “V”) which provides Members with details of the main sources of income from fees and charges that funds the Council’s annual gross expenditure.

Recommended –

It is recommended that Corporate Overview and Scrutiny consider and comment on the contents of this report.

                                                                        (Tom Caselton - 01274 434472)

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “V”) which provided Members with details of the main sources of income from fees and charges that funded the Council’s annual gross expenditure.

During the discussion a Member questioned the rationale behind retaining the service relating to the income received and generated from trading with schools.  In response the Director of Finance stated trading with schools was cost effective and that schools trusted the Council as a supplier of services and the economies of scales it provided.

A Member acknowledged that in relation to trading services, schools still wanted to retain certain links with the Council.

A Member commended officers for providing a detailed report which highlighted all the key issues in relation to the Council’s income streams and suggested that future reports should contain information pertaining to internal recharging, income portfolio and tax liabilities.

No resolution was passed on this item.

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a report (Document “X”) which includes 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 “X”) which included 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)