Issue - meetings

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

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/094

Contact: Louise Tustian, Head of Insight & Corporate Programmes Tel: 07741 607452/Hannah Doney, Head of Corporate Finance Tel: 07584 174654

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

This report sets out Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC’s) progress towards

Corporate Plan priorities for 2020/21 - September 2020.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note this month’s business management and monitoring report.

Recommendations agreed.

Cabinet considered a report that set out Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC’s) progress towards Corporate Plan priorities for 2020/21 - September 2020.

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Chairman of Performance Scrutiny Committee advised that at their recent meeting the Committee had looked at various issues with the Business management & Monitoring report.  Councillor Brighouse commented that part of it was around our response to covid 19  and she had been impressed with the way in which staff had stepped up to ensure that services were provided for our residents and expressed her gratitude to them all. Councillor Brighouse noted that some data was missing in the report because it was difficult to collect during this time. The Committee had commented on:

·       The track and trace grant, wanting to know and understand how it was shared and spent;

·       Their wish to continue to look at the projected overspend in relation to EHCPs;

·       Their hope that issues around the high needs block would be taken up by the Education Scrutiny Committee;

·       The Committee’s concern that they did not have the cycling/pedestrian analysis and the hope that this could be prioritised, especially in relation to the active travel work;

·       Their wish to understand more fully the new system for delayed transfers of care in place since September;

·       The figures in relation to fix my street where improvements were needed;

·       Outcomes for care services to support independent living and why these have not been assessed;

·       The use of consultants questioning whether the Council sought to make use of our own staff in the first instance.

Councillor Hudspeth, Leader of the Council, agreed with Councillor Brighouse’s comments thanking staff. On the last point he noted that staff were overworked and that although in the first instance the Council would seek to use our own staff where there was insufficient capacity there was the need to get in additional resources.

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, commented that whilst covid was taking up all the time for significant numbers of staff business as usual continued with a focus for instance on meeting the carbon reduction target and a renewed focus on inclusion and equality. The demand for adult and children’s social care continued to rise and was a real challenge. These were the highest risks on the risk register and had been so for many months.

Councillor Phillips referred to the performance indicators commenting:

·       That she was disappointed to see that the LED replacement of street lighting had been reprofiled to be completed by September 2025. The original timing would have saved money earlier on maintenance costs and contributed to the Council’s carbon reduction target earlier.

·       That it was disappointing that the percentage of waste sent to landfill was expected to rise, although no figures or explanation was contained in the report.

·       On the trees surveyed which were above target. However, she noted that the figures referred to 79 out of 84 parishes being completed and queried how the target was set for Oxford as the majority of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 101