Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Michael Waine.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on (CA3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2010 were approved and signed.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am on the working day before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet’s delegated powers.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Councillor Fooks had given notice of the following question to the Deputy Leader:

“Now that a new phone system has been installed in County Hall, can we be updated

with the improvements or otherwise to customer service at the reception area? Has the

number of calls dropped been logged to compare with previous statistics? Are the staff

now better equipped with team numbers to help them find a staff member on request?”

Councillor Robertson:

“The receptionists now have five information sources to help them direct customers currently –

·              The intranet

·              MyConnections staff directory

·              Avaya phone user listing

·              A local phone directory they can add their own numbers to

·              A list of frequently used numbers such as district councils, key teams like Access, Admissions etc.

These latter four sources are available directly in the new console, so they can look up a number and transfer the call.

MyConnections is maintained by individual members of staff. We have put frequent reminders on the intranet news page to get people to update their own details, and to remind colleagues to do likewise. The vast majority of people have updated their details, so this information is more current than the directory they had on the old console.

The console gets a copy of MyConnections every day, so it’s currency really depends on people taking responsibility for updating their own details.

Current reporting situation

We can now produce reports on how many calls are coming in, how many are abandoned, and the length of time before they are abandoned.

The new console has a message for callers queuing (activates after 30 seconds) saying reception are busy, and asking people to hold or to look at the website for information.

Future Plans

In the future this switchboard number will be developed and supported with a new knowledge management  system and performance reporting, so that  more queries can be answered rather than transferred and improved call handling data will be available. There will also be a larger number of staff taking central ownership for MyConnections – encouraging colleagues to make sure that their profiles on the staff database are up to date, which includes their team contact details, for when transfers are necessary.

Supplementary question:

Councillor Fooks stated that all the sources of information took time to look up. She was concerned that calls were being lost as those being called were on voice mail. She asked whether the Cabinet Member would consider having someone to observe the receptionists so that he could see the conflicting demands made on them.

Councillor Robertson replied that the additional method of information had been available for two years. People would be reminded again about the need for photos and to update information. He agreed that voice mail was frustrating and that he would arrange for instructions to be given to staff. Monitoring of the switchboard happened on a regular basis.

This is the ninth financial monitoring report for the 2009/10 financial year and covers the period up to the end of December 2009.  It includes projections for revenue, balances, reserves and capital monitoring.

The report sets out explanations where the forecast revenue outturn is significantly different from the budget along with proposals to recover the position where appropriate.

The in – year Directorate forecast is an overspend of £4.305m.  In addition the Council elements of the Older People, Physical Disabilities and Equipment Pooled Budget within Social and Community Services are forecast to overspend by £2.588m, whilst the Learning Disabilities Pooled Budget is forecast to overspend by £0.901m.

The current position for general balances is set out in Annex 5 and shows a forecast of £11.063m after taking account of agreed and proposed requests for supplementary estimates.  After taking into account the forecast Directorate overspend, the consolidated revenue balances forecast is £6.758m.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)              note the report;

(b)              approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a;

(c)               approve the proposed new music service charges as set out in Annex 8;

(d)              note the addition to the Older People & Physical Disabilities Pooled Budget of £0.320m extra residential and Fairer Charging income in 2009/10;

(e)              approve the supplementary estimate request of £0.300m for costs relating to the Southwark Judgement as set out in paragraph 11 and Annex 2f;

(f)                agree to recommend Council to approve the supplementary estimate request of £2.250m for ICT as set out in paragraph 57 and Annex 2f, at their meeting on 6 April 2010; and

(g)              approve the write off of the bad debt of £13,000 as set out in paragraph 71.

Cabinet received the ninth financial monitoring report for the 2009/10 financial year and covers the period up to the end of December 2009.  It included projections for revenue, balances, reserves and capital.

The in – year Directorate forecast was an overspend of £4.305m. 

The current position for general balances as set out in the addenda showed a forecast of £11.063m after taking account of agreed and proposed requests for supplementary estimates.  After taking into account the forecast Directorate overspend, adjusted for the supplementary estimates for ICT and Southwark Judgement requested in this report, the consolidated revenue balances forecast was £9.308m.

The Leader highlighted continuing pressures relating to young unaccompanied asylum seekers, children’s placements and pooled budgets. A supplementary estimate would address the ICT overspend. He commended the transport budget that was on track. The capital programme was also on track. Cabinet noted the action being taken as detailed by individual Cabinet Members.

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)               note the report;

(b)               approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a;

(c)               approve the proposed new music service charges as set out in Annex 8;

(d)               note the addition to the Older People & Physical Disabilities Pooled Budget of £0.320m extra residential and Fairer Charging income in 2009/10;

(e)               approve the supplementary estimate request of £0.300m for costs relating to the Southwark Judgement as set out in paragraph 11 and Annex 2f;

(f)                 agree to recommend Council to approve the supplementary estimate request of £2.250m for ICT as set out in paragraph 57 and Annex 2f, at their meeting on 6 April 2010; and

(g)               approve the write off of the bad debt of £13,000 as set out in paragraph 71.

Each district in Oxfordshire has a local strategic partnership (LSP) and has a duty to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS).

The Cherwell LSP has recently produced its Sustainable Community Strategy. The county council is a key partner in the Cherwell LSP and was involved in the development of the strategy and consultation on its priorities.

Cabinet endorsed the other four district strategies last year.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to endorse the Cherwell sustainable community strategy and commit its support to delivery of the priorities identified.

Cabinet considered the Cherwell Sustainable Community Strategy, Our District, Our Future. The county council was a key partner in the Cherwell LSP and was involved in the development of the strategy and consultation on its priorities. Cabinet had endorsed the other four district strategies last year.

RESOLVED:                        to endorse the Cherwell sustainable community strategy and commit its support to delivery of the priorities identified.

To review the working of the Transport Decisions Committee now it has been operating for six months, and to consider future arrangements including any necessary changes to the delegation to the relevant Cabinet Members.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)              note the Leader of the Council’s decision that the Cabinet Member for Transport Implementation be re-designated as Cabinet Member for Transport;

(b)              note the Leader of the Council’s decision to wind up the Transport Decisions Committee with effect from 1 March 2010 and to authorise the discharge of its functions to be exercised by the Cabinet Members for Transport and Growth & Infrastructure as set out in their respective portfolios; and

(c)               authorise the Assistant Head of Legal & Democratic Services to take all necessary steps to bring the arrangement at (b) into effect from that date, including:

(i)                 the setting of provisional dates and venues for delegated decision sessions for the Cabinet Member for Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and the Director for Environment & Economy; and

(ii)               making the arrangements known to other members and to officers.

Cabinet considered a report  reviewing the working of the Transport Decisions Committee now it had been operating for six months, and to consider future arrangements including any necessary changes to the delegation to the relevant Cabinet Members.

RESOLVED:                to:

(a)        note the Leader of the Council’s decision that the Cabinet Member for Transport Implementation be re-designated as Cabinet Member for Transport;

(b)        note the Leader of the Council’s decision to wind up the Transport Decisions Committee with effect from 1 March 2010 and to authorise the discharge of its functions to be exercised by the Cabinet Members for Transport and Growth & Infrastructure as set out in their respective portfolios; and

(c)         authorise the Assistant Head of Legal & Democratic Services to take all necessary steps to bring the arrangement at (b) into effect from that date, including:

(i)                 the setting of provisional dates and venues for delegated decision sessions for the Cabinet Member for Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and the Director for Environment & Economy; and

(ii)               making the arrangements known to other members and to officers.

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Sue Whitehead, Committee Services Manager (01865 810262)

The Cabinet Procedure Rules provide that the business of each meeting at the Cabinet is to include “updating of the Forward Plan and proposals for business to be conducted at the following meeting”.   Items from the Forward Plan for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet appear in the Schedule at CA9.  This includes any updated information relating to the business for those meetings that has already been identified for inclusion in the next Forward Plan update.

The Schedule is for noting, but Cabinet Members may also wish to take this opportunity to identify any further changes they would wish to be incorporated in the next Forward Plan update.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.

The Cabinet considered a list of items for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet together with changes and additions set out in the schedule of addenda.

RESOLVED:          to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.