Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Items
No. Item

1.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

In relation to the financial matters on the agenda (Minutes 6 and 7) Councillor Riaz declared in the interest of transparency, that he was a director of a care home in the Bradford district.

 

ACTION: City Solicitor

 

2.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meetings held on 14 March, 21 March and 11 April 2019 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

 

Minutes:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 14 and 21 March 2019 be signed as a correct record.

 

ACTION: City Solicitor

 

3.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

 

Minutes:

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

 

4.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

The following referrals have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda.

 

The Committee is asked to note the referrals listed above and decide how it wishes to proceed, for example by incorporating the item into the work programme, requesting that it be subject to more detailed examination, or refer it to an appropriate Working Group/Committee.

 

Minutes:

There were no referrals made to the Committee.

 

5.

FULL-YEAR PERFORMANCE REPORT pdf icon PDF 883 KB

The Chief Executive will submit a report (Document “A”) which provides a summary of the council’s performance against its key performance indicators.  This report also proposes a set of measures and targets for the 2019/2020 municipal year.

 

The report is also being considered by the Executive at its meeting held on 9 July 2019.

 

Recommended –

 

That the progress against performance metrics outlined in the report be considered.

 

 (Laura Copley - 01274 437381)

Minutes:

The Chief Executive submitted a report (Document “A”) which provided a summary of the council’s performance against its key performance indicators.  The report also proposed a set of measures and targets for the 2019/2020 municipal year.

 

The report had also been considered by the Executive at its meeting on 9 July 2019.

 

The Head of Policy and Performance stated that despite the challenging circumstances facing the Council, there had been a number of achievements in respect of growing the local economy and enabling people to lead independent lives.  Earnings had improved to a level above the target alongside a reduction in the local gender pay gap.  In addition there had been a sharp increase in the numbers of those with learning disabilities being enabled to live independently from a care home setting.  However a number of challenges remained and these were set out in the report.

 

During the discussion Members asked a number of questions. The questions together with the responses are detailed below.  All Strategic Directors and a number of other senior officers were present at the meeting to respond to service specific questions around performance.

 

A Member questioned why the Markets Service was designated with Museums and Libraries cultural attractions, when it should be an economic indicator. In response the Head of Policy and Performance acknowledged that this could be amended in readiness for the mid year performance reporting.

 

In response to a question regarding skills, it was mentioned that the offer to young people should be enhanced to encourage better take up of vocational courses such as NVQ Level 3.  The Member stated that schools continued to focus on ‘A’ Levels and that this was the advice given to young people at 16 as a route into University, and it was therefore important that careers advice was more varied to ensure that all options to post 16 education and training were considered.  The Strategic Director Children’s Services acknowledged that this was a key area of challenge and there was a concerted effort to engage with schools on a ‘broad offer’ and not just to promote the academic studies route.

 

A Member stated that excess weight in children at primary age was still an issue and the direction of travel in this area had changed little over the years.  In response the Manager for commissioning stated that a new contract had been commissioned to start in August, which would incorporate more grassroots work to be undertaken in conjunction with the Council’s Partners, with a view to making people in the district more active and having a more family centred approach to tackling levels of obesity.

 

A Member commented that the Better Health, Better Lives, Active Adults indicator did not allude to activities outside of organised sports activities  and there needed to be a broader outlook, inclusivity and encouragement of other activities, if the Council was to make real inroads.

 

In response it was acknowledged that other more casual activities such as walking and gardening were being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

FINANCE POSITION STATEMENT FOR 2018-19 pdf icon PDF 745 KB

The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “B”) which provides Members with an overview of the financial position of the Council for 2018-19.

 

It shows the revenue and capital financial position of the Council at the 31st March 2019. The report provides an update on;

 

           The year end position of the Council’s revenue budget.

           The delivery of 2018-19 approved budget savings plans.

           A statement on the Council’s reserves including movements            since the        4th quarter report.

           An update on the Capital Investment Plan.

           An update on Council Tax and Business Rates collection

 

The report is also being considered by the Executive at its meeting held on 9 July 2019.

 

Recommended –

 

That the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee review and comment on the Finance Position Statement for 2018-19.

 

(Andrew Cross - 01274 436823)  

Minutes:

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “B”) which provided Members with an overview of the financial position of the Council for 2018-19.

 

It showed the revenue and capital financial position of the Council at the 31st March 2019. The report also provided an update on;

 

           The year end position of the Council’s revenue budget.

           The delivery of 2018-19 approved budget savings plans.

           A statement on the Council’s reserves including movements            since the        4th quarter report.

           An update on the Capital Investment Plan.

           An update on Council Tax and Business Rates collection

 

The report had also been considered by the Executive at its meeting on 9 July 2019.

 

It was stated that the Council underspent the £358.1m net budget by £1.7m in 2018/2019, however there were a number of significant variances with overspends posted in the Departments of Health and Wellbeing, Children’s and Place, which were detailed in the report.

 

During the discussion Members asked a number of questions which are detailed below:

 

A Member ascertained the position with regards to the use of agency staff and associated costs, in particular the use of agency social workers in Children’s Services.  In response it was pointed out that the use of agency social workers was as a result of the number of vacancies the Council was currently carrying and that efforts were on going to bring the number of social workers back up to full compliment, but that this was proving to be a challenging proposition and one which mirrored the national picture.  In addition in the light of the Ofsted judgement the Council had earmarked extra resources to address the issues that had been identified.

 

A Member questioned if the Service was getting the best out of its social workers in the context of a number of issues facing the Service.  In response it was stated that the preferred position would be not to use agency staff and rely on a permanent workforce.  To this end social worker pay was being evaluated together with training and developmental opportunities in order that retention levels improved.  In addition it was mentioned Bradford did attract a lot of newly qualified social workers, and that they considered Bradford to be a good place to work.

 

In relation to a question on the £0.4m spend on the Great Exhibition of the North, it was stated that a decision had been taken to make this spend following other funding received from the Arts Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and that it was considered that this was the right thing to do given the profile of the event.

 

In response to a number of questions on the failure to make the identified savings in the area of school travel assistance, it was stressed that although this had been an ambition over a number of years, the savings had failed to materialised given the complexities involved in undertaking the assessments.  In the light of this the savings amount  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

QTR. 1 FINANCE POSITION STATEMENT FOR 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 232 KB

The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “C”) which provides Members with an overview of the forecast financial position of the Council for 2019-20.

 

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 held on 9 July 2019.

 

Recommended -

 

That the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee review and comment on the Qtr 1 Finance Position Statement for 2019-20.

 

(Andrew Cross - 01274 436823)

Minutes:

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “C”) which provided Members with an overview of the forecast financial position of the Council for 2019-20.

 

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 had also been considered by the Executive at its meeting on 9 July 2019.

 

It was reported that based on a projection at 31 May 2019, the Council was forecasted to overspend the £359.9m net revenue budget by £1.9m.  The principal overspends were in the areas of Children’s and Adults Social care, particularly as a result of the projected increase in the numbers of Looked After Children.

 

During the discussion a Member questioned that given the steady increase in the numbers of Looked After Children, why was it such a big surprise that this increase had not already anticipated.  In response it was explained that the increase mirrored the national picture and that the numbers had also gone up exponentially since the Ofsted judgement.  In addition the projection was that the LAC figure would be in region of 1400 by 2020, before levelling off.

 

Members acknowledged that it was difficult to budget for the increase in the numbers of Looked After Children and that it was important that the most vulnerable children received the appropriate level of care.  The importance of developing the Early Help offer was also crucial in stemming the numbers of LAC going forward and the Service was proactively developing this.

 

In relation to the overspend in waste management, it was stressed that measures were now in place to deal with the overspend and that spend in this area should be on target going forward.

 

Resolved –

 

That officers be thanked for attending the meeting, submitting a detailed report and for providing detailed responses to Members’ questions.

 

NO ACTION

8.

CORPORATE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - DRAFT WORK PROGRAMME 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 73 KB

items for the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee DRAFT work programme for 2019/20.  The Committee is asked to consider which items it wishes to include in the work programme.

 

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a report (Document “D”) which sets out the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee DRAFT work programme for 2019/20.  The Committee is asked to consider which items it wishes to include in the work programme.

 

Recommended –

 

(1)       That members consider and comment on the areas of work to be          carried forward into this municipal year.

 

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

 

(3)       That the work plan for the committee be approved.

 

(Mustansir Butt - 01274 432574

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee submit a report (Document “D”) which set out the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee draft work programme for 2019/20.  The Committee was asked to consider which items it wished to include in the work programme.

 

Resolved –

 

That the work plan be approved and that Members communicate any suggestions on the work plan to the Overview and Scrutiny Lead.

 

ACTION: Overview and Scrutiny Lead