Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Committee, Councillor Anthony Finn welcomed all attendants to the meeting. The Chairman also welcomed Councillor Jess Byrne who replaced Councillor Anne Hutton as Member of this Committee, following adoption of the Committee Memberships at Annual Council.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 February 2016 be agreed as a correct record.

Apologies for absence were received from:

·         Councillor Rohit Grover who was substituted by Councillor Gabriel Rozenberg and

·         Councillor Geof Cooke who was substituted by Councillor Barry Rawlings.

The following interests were declared at the meeting:

None.

The Committee noted the details of the received public questions and the public answers which were published ahead of the meeting. Responses to the public questions were given at the meeting and one additional question was answered outside of the meeting directly to the questioner.

There were no public comments.

None.

The Chairman introduced the report which provides an update on the refresh of the Council’s key business plans and the 2016/17 addendums to the Corporate Plan and Commissioning Plans.

Tom Pike, Strategic Lead, Programmes and Performance presented the item and informed the Committee about the new strategic indicators which have been incorporated in the Corporate Plan. Mr Pike also noted that the addendums to the Corporate Plan and Commissioning Plan for 2016/17 were approved by Full Council and the Theme Committees during March and April 2016.

Following a query from the Committee about the Public Health indicators for excess weight in 4-5 and 10-11year olds (p28), it was noted that the targets were developed in line with the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-2020 which was informed by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2015-2020. Mr Pike noted that clarification will be asked from the Director of Public Health about the procedure for developing the targets and the number of Public Health indicators included in the Corporate Plan 2015-2020. (ACTION)

Following discussion, it was unanimously RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee noted the 2016/17 addendums to the Corporate Plan (Appendix A) and Commissioning Plans (found at www.barnet.gov.uk/citizen-home/counciland-democracy/policy-and-performance/corporate-plan-and-performance)

2.    That the Committee reviewed the benchmarking report (Appendix B) and considered whether other tailored reports should be added to the forward plan each financial year.

The Chairman introduced the report which sets out the end of year (Q4) position for 2015/16 against the strategic priorities in the Corporate Plan 2015/16.

Councillor Rawlings moved a motion to request an officer report on key themes of the following issues to be considered at a future meeting of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee on status of social work practices and quality, agency and recruitment, increasing demand and overall budget.

The motion was seconded and having been put to the vote was declared carried and became the substantive motion.

Councillor John Marshall requested clarification in relation to p.112, Ref AC/S21, around the wording “The final outturn for carers' assessments is only three fewer than in 2014/15 (946 against 949 in 2014/15) though a substantial fall on the 1948 carried out in 2013/14.”  Mathew Kendall, Adults and Communities Director stated that an explanation will be provided to the Chairman and Councillor John Marshall about the wording ‘only three fewer than’. (ACTION)

In response to a comment from the Committee, Mr Pike noted that an update will be provided to Councillor Mittra about the costs per call pertaining to Reference CR013 in the Contract Variations Log on p178 of the agenda. (ACTION)

The Chairman thanked the Committee for the comments and it was unanimously RESOLVED that:

1.    The Committee scrutinised the performance of services (via Delivery Units and Contractors) against the Corporate Plan and (if necessary) makes recommendations to other committees on the policy and commissioning implications.

2.    The Committee noted the final 2015/16 revenue and capital outturn, as detailed in paragraphs 1.20 to 1.28.

3.    The Committee noted the additions and deletions and approved the accelerations and slippages in the capital programme, as detailed in Appendix D.

4.    The Committee noted the savings delivered in 2015/16, as detailed in paragraph 1.25.

5.    The Committee noted the agency costs for Quarter 4 2015/16, as detailed in paragraph 1.29.

6.    The Committee noted the treasury position outlined in paragraphs 1.32 to 1.34.

7. The Committee requested that an officer report on the key themes of; status of social work practices and quality, agency and recruitment, increasing demand and overall budget issues be considered at a future meeting of the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee.

The Chairman introduced the item and welcomed Kari Manovitch, Head of Customer Strategy & Programmes and Chris Melia, Customer Experience Manager, Capita Local Government to the meeting. Ms Manovitch presented the report and informed the Committee that due to the improvement works over the last eight months, customer satisfaction ratings have increased from 42% in Q1 to 45% in Q4, 2015/16. She also noted that the aim is to achieve 54% of good ratings by the end of 2015/16 as set out in the Corporate Plan.

In response to a comment from the Committee about monitoring future improvement, Stephen Evans, Interim Chief Operating Officer suggested that an update report be brought to the PC&MC in November 2016 informing of the transformation work and in-year review of the improvement achieved against the set targets. (ACTION) 

Mr Evans briefed the Committee about the works undertaken to improve and refresh the most frequently visited webpages, which includes web-editing meetings with officers and issuing of instructions and guidance.

It was unanimously RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the progress being made and endorsed the plans for further improvement.

The Chairman indicated that the issues raised in the report which was referred by the Audit Committee for consideration, would be discussed under agenda item 11 ‘IT Operations’.

It was unanimously RESOLVED:

That the Performance and Contract Management Committee considered the matter referred by the Audit Committee.

The Chairman invited Jenny Obee, Head of Information Management and Brett Holtom, Barnet IT Account Director, Capita who presented the report to the Committee.

The Committee noted that the limited assurance audits on IT Disaster Recovery and IT Change Management were referred from the Audit Committee for consideration at the Performance and Contract Management Committee. Ms Obee informed the Committee about the recommendations as set out in the audit reports which have been implemented and scheduled. It was also noted that an audit will be undertaken and reported to Members later in the year, with further details about the improvements as set out in the report.

Mr Holtom briefed the Committee about the incident which occurred on 3^rd March 2016 involving Vubis, the library management system and the arrangements that have been put in place to bring the services back into live operation which included testing of the systems prior to the launch.

In addition, Mr Holtom stated that the system is operational and that the review showed that were data gaps prior to the crash occurring which is in the process of being re-populated.

Following a comment from the Comment about future arrangements, Mr Holtom informed the Committee about the efforts undertaken to put effective measures in place to provide robust IT services to all stakeholders. The Committee also heard that the contractual issues raised will be included within the three year review of the CSG contract which is included on the Forward Work Programme of this Committee.

The Chairman thanked the Committee for the discussion and it was unanimously RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee considered the content of this report.

That the Committee noted the Council intends to present information on the assurance of IT systems in the First Quarter Customer Support Group performance report, to be presented to the Performance and Contract Management Committee on 6 September 2016.

The Chairman introduced the report which was noted by the Committee. The Committee noted the spelling correction in the recommendation from ‘Contact’ to ‘Contract’. A motion was moved, seconded and agreed by the Committee to amend the wording of the recommendation. It was therefore RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the clienting and contract management arrangements in place in respect of the CSG contract and requested to receive an update report at a future meeting for the purposes of monitoring the arrangements.

The Chairman introduced the report. The Committee noted the importance of feedback being discussed through the working group of the Committee which was established previously and for the outcomes of the review to be reported back to this Committee.

It was unanimously RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee noted the content of the report.

2.    That the Committee endorsed the project brief and the approach being taken by the Member Working Group.

Val White, Programme Director, Education and Learning and Deborah Hinde Project Lead, Commercial Services were welcomed and joined the meeting for this item. Ms White presented the report to the Committee and briefed the Committee about the key elements of the contract. She noted that the overall performance will be measured against a set of KPI’s, such as the Strategic KPI’s and the Operational KPI’s. It was noted that the Committee will receive regular update reports and within 6-9 months on performance against the KPI’s. (ACTION)

Following discussion, it was unanimously RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the report.

The Chairman introduced the standing item on the agenda which lists the 2016/17 Forward Work Programme.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee considered on the items included in the 2016- 17 work programme in Appendix A.

None.