Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 9th October 2018.

The minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 9th October 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

Councillor Fryer declared a personal interest in item 7 – Lightbulb Service Model as a member of Leicestershire County Council.

No declarations of the existence of the Party Whip were made.

No questions submitted.

No questions had been submitted.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support providing performance information for the second quarter of 2018-19 in respect of the Corporate Plan objectives and key  performance indicators.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support providing performance information for the second quarter of 2018-2019 in respect of the Corporate Plan objectives and key performance indicators was submitted (item 6 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Corporate Improvement and Policy Officer and Head of Strategic Support attended to assist the Panel with the consideration of the item.  At the invitation of the Panel the relevant Cabinet Lead Members and Officers also attended to assist the Panel.

The Cabinet Lead Member for Whole Council, Strategic Partnerships and communications sent his apologies.

Key Performance Indicators

The Panel considered amber and red key performance indicators.

With respect to amber key performance indicator SLE2 – PR (complete the milestones in the Local Development Scheme 2018-2021 for the preparation of the local plan), in response to issues raised by the Panel, the Head of Planning and Regeneration explained that the slippage in the delivery of the draft local plan milestone of October 2018 was expected to have minimal impact on the overall project programme. The Local Development Scheme milestones were reviewed and considered by the Cabinet annually and the timetable would be re-profiled in the review of the Local Development Scheme in March 2019   The delay to the preparation of the local plan was partly due to the project officer having a period of long term absence and existing resources being diverted to support the Development Management function.

With respect to red key performance indicator ERM5 SS/ BP14 (Undertake regular satisfaction surveys with members of the public to ensure improvement in the web service they receive), it was noted that this matter would be considered in further detail in a report later on the agenda.

With respect to amber key performance indicator ERM1 – RS1 (as part of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme undertake two actions – complete a minimum of 95% of high risk (Ratings A-C’s) Food Safety Inspections) in response to issues raised by the Panel the Corporate Improvement and Policy Officer explained that the indicator was amber despite having achieved 57% of inspections.  It was an annual target and the indicator was assessed quarterly by the Head of Service.

With respect to amber key performance indicator ERM5 – CIS (2) (undertake regular satisfaction surveys with members of the public to ensure improvement in those services that use Govmetric and the Contact/Customer Service Centre – face to face & telephone), in response to questions, the Head of Customer Experience stated that the Service would consider refresher training for customer services if this was identified as an issue through analysis of the feedback by members of the public. The issue was believed to be caused by regular customers being asked to repeatedly undertake the same satisfaction survey so the Service were looking at ways to refresh how the Service monitored satisfaction to re-engage customers.

With respect to amber key performance indicator DES3- PROG (Deliver the Customer Service Programme, in line with the project milestones), in response to issues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

A report of the Head of Strategic and Private Housing Sector Housing providing an update on the delivery of the Service Lightbulb Model in Charnwood.

A report of the Head of Strategic and Private Housing Sector Housing regarding the implementation of the lightbulb project was submitted (item 7 on the agenda, filed with these minutes).

The Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and the Head of Strategic and Private Sector Housing attended the meeting to assist the Panel with its consideration of the item and noted that the Council had reduced the waiting time from 26 weeks to 15 weeks for the completion of its Disabled Facilities Grants.

In response to issues raised by the Panel, the Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and the Head of Strategic and Private Sector Housing stated that the Housing Support Coordinators arranged for equipment to be installed, but major adaptations were taken through the routine DFG process.  The oldest case on the waiting list was from August and officers were contacting people on the list to see if they still required assistance in addition Charnwood were working qwith the Lightbulb Central Hub team to reduce the waiting list.  Referrals could be made for carers assessments.

RESOLVED that the update of the delivery of the Lightbulb Service Model be noted.

Reason

The Panel were satisfied with the information provided.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support regarding to KI10 (the number of working days / shifts lost to the local authority due to sickness absence) providing sickness data at Directorate level.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support regarding KI10 (the number of working days / shifts lost to the local authority due to sickness absence) reporting sickness absence data by Directorate was submitted, (item 8 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Head of Strategic Support attended to assist the Panel with its consideration of the item.  The Cabinet Lead Member for Equalities, Member and Strategic Services gave his apologies.

In response to issues raised by the Panel, the Head of Strategic Support explained that there were variations between directorates which could be linked to the different job roles within each directorate.  He noted that Heads of Service received monthly reports which highlighted if staff members had triggered the absence management policy criteria.

A Member of the Panel noted that the numbers of long term sick had decreased from 21 in quarter 1 to 14 in quarter 2 which indicated that Human Resources policies were effective.

RESOLVED that the directorate sickness data be noted.

Reason

The Panel were satisfied with the information provided.

A report by the Head of Strategic Support regarding ERM5 SS (undertake regular satisfaction surveys with members of the public to ensure improvement in the web service they receive).

A report by Head of Strategic Support regarding ERM5 SS (undertake regular satisfaction surveys with members of the public to ensure improvement in the web service they receive) was submitted (item 9 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Communications Manager attended the meeting to assist the Panel with its consideration of the item.  The Cabinet Lead Member for Strategic Partnerships and Communication gave his apologies.

In response to issues raised by the Panel, the Communications Manager stated that the GovMetric questions had been amended so that more detail could be sought to aid the communications team with resolving issues and that the team would be reviewing the pages which received the most negative ratings; for example the contacts page.  In response to a question he noted that it was possible to introduce live web chat but there were resource implications to consider if the service was provided over 24 hours, 7 days a week.

RESOLVED that the information be noted.

Reason

The Panel were satisfied with the information provided.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support, enabling the Panel to consider its Work Programme, to propose to Scrutiny Management Board any additions, deletions or amendments as appropriate.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support was submitted to enable the Panel to consider its work programme and to propose to the Scrutiny Management Board any additions, deletions and amendments as appropriate (item 10 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Inward Investment and Tourism Strategy, the Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Head of Strategic Support assisted the Panel with the consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Inward Investment and Tourism Strategy and the Head of Planning and Regeneration explained that the Council had minimal control over the number of houses built and it was reliant on developers providing this information annually.  It was complex to calculate the five year housing supply and would be challenging to identify meaningful actions that could be put in place to return the five year housing supply to a satisfactory level if it fell below 5.5 years as the local planning authority had very little control over housing developers.  It was possible to provide an indication of the direction of travel for the five year housing supply status and this could be shared as part of the quarterly planning training.

The Head of Strategic Support drew the Panel’s attention to the additional information provided by the Head of Landlord Services.

The Head of Strategic and Private Sector Housing asked the Panel to consider if it wished to receive a six monthly update of the Homeless Strategy.

RESOLVED

1.             that the response of the Scrutiny Management Board with respect to the Zero Waste Strategy item be noted;

2.             that the decision of the Scrutiny Management Board to request the Policy Scrutiny Group scrutinises the Customer Services Strategy and the Housing Acquisition Strategy be noted;

3.             that the decision by the Scrutiny Management Board that if the Council’s housing land supply falls below 5.5 years, a quarterly report to be provided to the Panel and the Lead Member to attend to explain what actions are in place to return the five year housing supply to a satisfactory level be noted;

4.             to note the recommendation to the Cabinet that the following Key Performance Indicators for the 5 year housing supply be added to the Council’s Business Plan from 2019 / 20:

·         The five year housing supply figure

·         The various deadlines by which planning applications of different types should be determined

5.             that the Customer Engagement Strategy is not added to the Panel’s Work Programme for scrutiny;

6.             that a six monthly update of the Homeless Strategy be added to the Panel’s work programme for its meeting on 22nd January 2019;

7.             To note the current position with the Panel’s Work Programme.

Reasons

1.             The Panel agreed with the decision of the Board that the scrutiny of the Zero Waste Strategy should be added to the work programme of the Policy Scrutiny Group for scrutiny after the publication of the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy.            

2.             The Panel agreed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.