The Interim Strategic Director for Corporate Resources will submit a report (Document “A”) which provides members an insight into the Council’s overall finance and performance position at the end of the 2017-18 financial year.

The report is also being considered by the Executive at its meeting on 10 July 2018.

Recommended –

That the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee review and comment on the 2017-18 Annual Finance and Performance Report.

(Andrew Cross / Philip Witcherley – 01274 436823 / 1241)

The Interim Strategic Director for Corporate Resources submitted a report (Document “A”) which provided members with an insight into the Council’s overall finance and performance position at the end of the 2017-18 financial year.

The report was also considered by the Executive at its meeting on 10 July 2018.

In relation to Performance, the Head of Policy and Performance summarised the Council’s overall performance over the last 12 months, the Council and the wider district had had a number of successes which had been validated by external sources and partners.  It was noted that performance against the Council Plan indicators was good, with most of the targets being met, notable successes were alluded to including the Care Quality Commission praising both the NHS and the Council for its strong and mature partnership working; the district being the fourth most improved area on education attainment; the district was also rated as the best place to start a business in the UK by Barclays as well as the Council being rated as one of the top 10 most productive Councils in England. 

In relation to the financial performance, the headline financial result showed that the Council underspent the £375.2m approved net budget by £0.3 million in line with previous forecasts.  Despite the overall underspend, there were a number of significant departmental budget variances, particularly in the area of Adults and Children’s Services.

During the discussion Members asked a number of questions, the questions together with the responses are detailed below:

In relation to a question on what was being done to address the low number of staff performance appraisals being undertaken, it was stated that current figures showed that only 15% of appraisals were recorded on the system.  In order to improve this situation, Human Resources had recently introduced a new Performance Management System, which will be mandatory and therefore this low uptake should be addressed as the programme is rolled out.

In relation to a question regarding the parameters of the £500k housing allocations, it was explained that this amount would go towards unlocking housing sites and work with developers to bring developments into fruition and stop the practice of land banking.

In relation to road accidents, a Member stated that it was important to track this further via the Area Committee framework. A Member added that dangerous driving and the running of red lights was a particular issue in parts of the district.  However Members acknowledged the success of ‘Operation Steerside’ in addressing dangerous driving.

A Member commented that the number of empty homes in the district was still very high and landlords should be compelled to rectify their properties.

In relation to the impact of fly tipping  and the costs associated with dealing with the problem, the Assistant Director Sport and Leisure agreed to provide Members with the costs involved outside of this meeting.

In relation to a question on the take up of 2 year old nursery places, it was explained by the Strategic Director Children’s Services that although in some wards the take up was extremely good and the overall average across the district was good, there were some huge disparities, and Members would be provided with a breakdown by ward, together with information around stakeholder involvement.

A Member raised an issue regards the number of permanent exclusions and the anecdotal evidence that some of this cohort were being advised to home school their children, and that she was concerned that this might no be in the best interest of the child. In response the Strategic Director stated that nationally there had been a rise in the number of exclusions as well as a rise in elective home schooling, and although he saw the positives in home schooling, this was not always the best option in some cases, particular in the context of poor attendance and vulnerable learners, and therefore a discussion had to take place on the issue.

A Member acknowledged the progress that had been made in Bradford in terms of educational attainment levels across the primary and secondary school sector and that this was admirable in what was a very challenging environment.

A Member questioned the impact on morale and the ability to deliver services following the budget reductions in SEND and Early Help.  In response the Strategic Director Children’s Services stated that on both these transformational programmes the Service was on track to deliver the savings, and although the morale of staff was always a big issue, he was confident that a more focussed service, around locality working would pay dividend.

A Member stated that although she acknowledged the effort of the street cleansing teams, she had observed a notable difference in street cleansing in the Keighley West area and this had to be addressed.

In relation to health targets and health inequalities, a Member stated that the KPIs set out in the report did not adequately address the issues and that he would go as far to suggest that they were the wrong targets.  In response the Strategic Director Health and Wellbeing stated that she acknowledged that there were a whole raft of indicators you could look at in the health sphere, however there were correlations such as that between health and wealth, ward inequalities and the increasing number of people living longer in poor health that needed to be measured.  However the correlation between obesity and developing a number of health conditions could not be ignored.  Members also suggested that a detailed analysis should be carried within GP practices in order to gauge and map out health inequalities across the district.

In relation to the overspend in Adults, the Strategic Director stressed that a shift from residential care to providing care within the home was paying dividend and this was not just about rationing hours, but about providing better quality services within a different delivery model.

In response to a question relating to a 10% increase in the cost of running the markets, it was explained that this was primarily as a result of a drop in the number of units being rented and the corresponding loss in business rates.

A Member raised the issue of the significant increase in the number of reported crimes, and the Head of Policy and Performance stated that he would let Members have figures on recent crime trends in the district.  In addition it was suggested that crime data divisible by Ward would be useful to analyse, and that that the Police Commander attends a future meeting to address Members questions on the issue.

Resolved –

(1)       That officers be thanked for submitting a detailed report and that          Members be provided with an update on performance appraisals    undertaken between June and August 2018 as well as a          breakdown on the take up of 2 year old nursery places by ward.

(2)       That this Committee requests that more detailed information      regarding the parameters of the £500k housing allocations be          considered by the Regeneration and Environment Overview and     Scrutiny Committee.

ACTION:       Head of Policy and Performance / Overview and Scrutiny                         Lead