Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2019/149

Contact: Steven Fairhurst Jones, Corporate Performance & Risk Manager Tel: 07932 318890/Hannah Doney, Strategic Finance Manager (Assurance & Reporting) Tel: 07584 174654

Report by Corporate Director Customers & Organisational Development and Director of Finance (CA8).

This report sets out Oxfordshire County Council's (OCC's) progress towards Corporate Plan priorities and provides an update on the delivery of the Medium Term Financial Plan, at 31 December. A summary of overall performance and description of change is contained within the report. The report contains three annexes:

·         Annex A shows our current performance against targets and summarises progress towards overall outcomes set out in our Corporate Plan.

·         Annex B sets out the Leadership Risk Register which has been developed as part of the Council’s work to strengthen risk and opportunities management

·         Annex C sets out the current financial position, providing detailed explanations of significant budget variations and an update on the Medium-Term Financial Plan including the delivery of savings agreed by Council in February 2019 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)       note the contents of this report; and

(b)       note the virements set out in Annex C – 2b.

Cabinet had before them a report that set out Oxfordshire County Council's (OCC's) progress towards Corporate Plan priorities and that provided an update on the delivery of the Medium-Term Financial Plan, at 31 December 2019.

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance highlighted the following areas which had moved from green to amber.:

·         Funding secured through planning obligations which requires a minimum of 70% of S106 agreements are completed with 6 months of District Committee resolutions - Councillor Phillips was satisfied with the commentary so, this was not an area of concern for her.

·         The amount of household waste which is recycled, composted and reused - Councillor Phillips noted that the commentary referred to the change in behaviour and asked what the change was.

·         The level of educational attainment was also of concern (maths was at red) and Councillor Phillips asked for an explanation for this statistic?

·         The percentage of completed Education, Health and Care Plans in December was referred to as an anomaly and Councillor Phillips questioned what the anomaly was and sought an explanation for the monthly variations.

Councillor Phillips noted that on page 63 under performance highlights it was acknowledged that the rate of conversion from existing street lights to LED lanterns was not enough to deliver the energy saving financial commitments required and a greater rate of conversion was now being planned. She asked for further information.

Councillor Phillips referred to the red indicator - the ‘Number of people delayed leaving hospital awaiting social care’ and queried when the promised improvement would be delivered. Linked to this issue Councillor Phillips queried why reablement was the preferred pathway out of hospital for people needing care when the service was performing below contract levels and other more successful areas had found more effective methods to address it.

Councillor Phillips commented on the financial aspects of the report noting that Children’s Services continued to be a red indicator with a £2.8m overspend because of an increase in demand for higher cost placements impacting the Corporate Parenting budget this year. She noted the analysis taking place but thought it would be useful to see a Business Case as to whether the Council could provide in-house care for this small number of children with significant and specialised needs.

Finally, Councillor Phillips asked whether information about the Public Health Grant had been received?

Cabinet Members responded to the comments made:

·         The changes in behaviour impacting on household waste recycling were explained. Weight was a determining factor and people were using much less paper and plastic and that affected weight. In addition, District Councils were responsible for collecting waste and for example West Oxfordshire was now charging for garden waste. She noted that the County was still a leader in recycling and outlined some of the current initiatives.

·         Maths attainment was impacted by the chronic shortage of maths teachers. It was a priority area.

·         The reason for the anomaly in the percentage of completed Education, Health and Care Plans was being investigated. The expectation was that the trend would be improving.

·         Work continued on delayed transfers of care but there was no quick win and progress would be reported in a subsequent report.

·         On the overspend in children’s services due to increase in demand for higher cost placements impacting the Corporate Parenting budget the context was that a child with complex needs, including a 2:1 staff ratio and 24-hour care could cost up to £10,500/week. A few such cases could have a huge impact on budgets. Looking at this was high on the Council agenda but there were no easy answers. All aspects were being looked at in the round.

·         Information on the Public Health grant was still awaited.

Councillor Judith Heathcoat, Deputy Leader of the Council introduced the performance and risk elements of the report. She highlighted a number of successes including the large numbers of vulnerable adults and children that continued to be supported by a range of activities from electric blanket testing to Junior Friends of Scams (an initiative which aims to prevent people from becoming victims of scams). The Council was not complacent and understood the challenges faced. The report was somewhat retrospective, and she expected that many indicators would be green by the end of the last quarter.

Councillor David Bartholomew, Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the finance elements of the report.

During discussion Councillor Steve Harrod, Shadow Cabinet Member for Children & Family Services acknowledged the negative comments surrounding the CEF overspend but repeated Councillor Bartholomew’s comments that there was a full review being carried out on children’s placements. Councillor Harrod went on to highlight a number of positives in Children’s Services including a reduction in the number of child protection cases and the positive impact likely from the implementation of the Family Safeguarding Plus model.

RESOLVED:            to:

(a)       note the contents of this report; and

(b)       note the virements set out in Annex C – 2b.