Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Christie, seconded and it was:

RESOLVED: That Councillor Liz Brighouse be elected Chairman for the remainder of the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

It was proposed by Councillor Hannaby, seconded and it was:

RESOLVED: That Councillor Neil Fawcett be elected Deputy Chairman for the remainder of the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

To approve the minutes of the informal meeting held on 4 July 2013 (PSC5) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2013 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

Peter Clark, County Solicitor and Monitoring Officer introduced the contents of the report outlining options for the working relationship between this Committee and the Audit & Governance Committee. He advised that the report had already been considered at the Audit & Governance Committee where there had been discussion on the need for clarity over the roles and the potential for duplication of effort. He added that information should flow both ways with each being able to refer a matter to the other as necessary. In some respects the two Committees could consider the same issue but from different perspectives.

The Chairman commented that the suggestion for reciprocal invitations was useful and it was suggested that if necessary the Chairmen could meet if Committee timings were not appropriate.

RESOLVED:             to agree the options for closer working between the Audit & Governance Committee and the Performance Scrutiny Committee set out in paragraph 13 of the report, in the light of the resolution made by the Audit and Governance Committee summarised in paragraph 2. Namely:

(a)       to promote joint working planning between the two committees, on an as and when required basis to be agreed by the two Chairmen, but that no specific meetings be scheduled;  

(b)       reciprocal invitations be extended to the Chairmen of the Audit & Governance Committee and Performance Committee, or their nominees, to attend meetings.

Claire Phillips, Senior Policy and Performance Officer presented a paper outlining the Council’s performance for the first quarter of 2013/14..

Lucy Butler, Deputy Director Children’s Social Care & YOS and Sarah Livadeas, Deputy Director Joint Commissioning, attended during consideration of Social & Community Services. Sarah Livadeas referred to the reablement service and in acknowledging that they were below target gave assurance that the provider was improving and they were continuing to monitor closely. On the other issue highlighted in the report Lucy Butler commented that delayed transfers of care and care home placements was a complex issue dependent on a number of services. She briefly outlined how they were tackling it as part of a multi-agency team and referred to the additional funding awarded for winter pressures.

Responding to questions Sarah Livadeas explained that the target around reablement had been set quite recently as part of the procurement exercise so comparison with the previous situation was not possible. Lucy Butler

During discussion the Chairman commented that the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals were massive regional centres and it would be helpful if there was a different way of dealing with those people who did not need that specialist care. In response the Committee was advised that work had been carried out looking at hospital admissions and the role of the EMU which had been successful in Abingdon.

The Committee flagged up the need to ensure that the steps being taken were effective and also to review what was being done with the additional funding. Councillor Stratford as Chairman of the Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee indicated that this was a substantial piece of work for that Committee and he would be happy to keep this Committee informed.

Jim Leivers, Director for Children’s Services and Frances Craven, Deputy Director Education & Early Intervention introduced the report in relation to Children, Education & Families commenting in particular on keeping children safe, raising attainment and narrowing the gap.

During discussion the Committee highlighted the importance of tackling absence from schools and queried the role and responsibilities of the Council in relation to academies. In relation to safeguarding children there was reference to the flowchart. This highlighted the need to know what is happening throughout the pathway. There was a need to consider further the referrals to understand what was happening and what the figures meant. With regard to a question about social workers it was acknowledged that money had been invested in social workers but their workload was rising rapidly.

Huw Jones, Director for Environment & Economy, Graham Shaw. Deputy Director – OCS and Mark Kemp, Deputy Director, Commercial introduced the report in relation to Environment & Economy commenting in particular on highways defects and the customer service centre.

Questioned about the target for public satisfaction with services the Committee was advised that it was based on current performance, measured annually and that it compared favourably with other authorities. There was discussion of the way in which defects were managed and paid for and the Committee was advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13/13

Lucy Butler, Deputy Director Children’s Social Care & YOS and Sarah Livadeas, Deputy Director Joint Commissioning, attended and introduced the contents of the briefing note to Councillors. It highlighted the points made at the seminar and actions agreed.

During discussion Councillor Hannaby was reassured that the the part played by the Council in delayed discharges would be considered both though the relevant Scrutiny Committee and through consideration of performance indicators.

It was agreed that for ease of discussions Items 10, 11 and 12 be considered together.

Nathan Travis, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, presented the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Annual Report. Last year the service set 24 strategic performance indicators. The report details how the service performed against these indicators.

Members generally welcomed the report and during discussion considered the issue of recruitment and retention of firefighters.

The Performance Scrutiny Committee approve the publication of this Annual Report 2012/13.

Nathan Travis, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, presented a report outlining the service’s performance against locally set response standards for attending emergency incidents. The report also detailed the work carried out to mitigate both the actual and potential impacts on effective service delivery.

The Performance Scrutiny Committee noted the contents of this response standards annual report.

David Etheridge, Chief Fire Officer, presented the  report that proposed a number of projects to be included within the Fire Authority’s Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) draft action plan for the fiscal year 2014-15.

The Committee highlighted the challenges posed by the rural nature of the County.

The Committee was advised of the need for a Flood Management plan and the proposals in place.

Performance Scrutiny Committee endorsed the proposed projects to be included for further consultation in the draft CRMP Action Plan 2014-15.

1220

The information contained in the annex is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed category:

3 – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

It is considered that in this case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that such disclosure would distort the proper competitive dialogue process between the authority with another party for the purposes described and would prejudice the position of the authority in those negotiations and other negotiations of a similar nature in future.

Deputy Director Mark Kemp will present a report (PSC14) giving the background to the rationale behind the current property and facilities contract which commenced in July 2012, reflecting on the first year's performance and providing key performance indicator information.

The Performance Scrutiny Committee notes the performance of Carillion in the first year of the property and facilities contract and recognises both the successes and areas for improvement moving forward.

The Chairman announced that she was pleased that this item was to be considered in public.

Huw Jones, Director for Environment & Economy, Mark Kemp, Deputy Director, Commercial presented a report that gave the background to the rationale behind the current property and facilities contract which commenced in July 2012, reflecting on the first year's performance and providing key performance indicator information. Also in attendance was Mike Salter, Operations Manager (Carillion) and Councillor Carter, Cabinet Member for Business and Customer Services.

The Committee gave detailed consideration to the report content focussing on the need for careful monitoring going forward. There was discussion of the areas of services to schools and Mike Salter explained that in Year 2 a significant objective would be to grow services. In response to questions Mike Salter agreed the importance of people to their business and outlined how staff were being engaged and trained. Effective communications was seen as key. He also outlined the challenge of recruitment but stated that they were doing well. He accepted that there had been some problems around the call Centre and outlined the steps taken and how it was now getting positive feedback. In response to a query he explained how customer feedback was received.

The Performance Scrutiny Committee noted the performance of Carillion in the first year of the property and facilities contract and recognised both the successes and areas for improvement moving forward.