Agenda and minutes

Venue: Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BG

Contact: Salar Rida 020 8359 7113 Email: salar.rida@barnet.gov.uk 

Note: Public Questions and Comments must be submitted by 10am on the third working day before the meeting. The deadline for this meeting is 10am on Thursday 7 September. 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 90 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman, Councillor Anthony Finn opened the meeting.

 

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4th July 2017, be agreed as a correct record.

2.

Absence of Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Jess Brayne who was substituted by Councillor Paul Edwards.

3.

Declarations of Members Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Minutes:

The following interests were declared at the meeting:

 

Councillor

Agenda item(s)

Interests declared

John Marshall

7, 10

Non-pecuniary interest

by virtue of being a

Council appointed

Director for Barnet

Group, Your Choice

2 Barnet and Barnet

Homes.

Sury Khatri

7

Non-pecuniary interest by virtue of being a Trustee of NW7 Hub which runs the Mill Hill Partnership Library.

Arjun Mittra

7, 10

Non-pecuniary interest by virtue of being tenant of Barnet Homes, currently working for the GLA and as a relative (his mother) owned a pre-school nursery which received funding through Barnet Council.

 

4.

Report of the Monitoring Officer (if any)

Minutes:

None.

5.

Public Questions and Comments (if any) pdf icon PDF 47 KB

Minutes:

The Committee noted the responses to the Public Questions which were published and circulated prior to the meeting. During the meeting, the Committee also received a number of supplementary questions from Mr John Dix which were responded to verbally by Officers.

6.

Members' Items (if any)

Minutes:

There were none.

7.

Quarter 1 2017/18 Performance Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced the report. The Committee noted the new format of the performance monitoring report as adopted at its previous meeting.

 

Following a query from the Committee, Mr James Mass Assistant Director Community Wellbeing joined the table. Mr Mass provided an update on the challenges around finding suitable care packages in the community and the ongoing programme of work to address this.

 

In connection with the Corporate Indicator CPI AC/S25 (p. 37) it was agreed that the Questionnaire would be circulated to the Committee. (Action)

 

The Committee asked what measures have been taken in response to the fine which was issued for non-completion of the 2016 pension scheme return.

 

The Director of Resources, Anisa Darr informed the Committee about the actions taken to improve the administration of the scheme. She noted that the action plan has been reported to the Local Pension Board on 11 September 2017 and will be monitored on an ongoing basis.

 

It was noted that lessons learnt will be applied to other areas within the organisation. Ms Darr further explained that measures will be taken to ensure that generic email addresses will be used which can be monitored more easily in line with a list of deadlines for submission of various documents.

 

The Committee requested that the Benchmarking data be obtained and analysis to be completed to differentiate between inner and outer London Boroughs, in connection with the data used for CP Indicator CG/S12 (RPS – Biannual, p.75). It was noted that this would in turn provide a more balanced comparison. (Action)

 

Officers noted the request from the Committee to provide information about the Council Tax collection from empty properties, both as a figure and as a percentage. (Action) 

 

In relation to financial data and figures, the Committee requested that data be rounded up to the nearest pound. (Action)

 

The Committee requested that the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee consider two issues in respect of Family Services. (Action)

·         How the quality of the social work practice is being monitored rather than the process (page 49) and

·         What is being done to manage the performance regarding children in care with three children or more placements moves indicator (page 51)

 

In respect of agency staff within Adults and Communities, the Committee requested that the General Functions Committee consider the below. (Action)

·         Recruitment and retention of staff related to strategic risk, STR001 (p. 109) and in light of the potential impact of Brexit.

 

It was RESOLVED that:

 

1.    The Committee scrutinised the overall performance of the council, in relation to: the Corporate Plan; Theme Committee Commissioning Plans and Contracts; and (if necessary) made recommendations to other relevant committees on the policy and commissioning implications.

2.    The Committee noted the Q1 2017/18 revenue position, as detailed in paragraph A.12-A.13 and in Appendix B.

3.    The Committee noted the additions and deletions (which include virements) and accelerations and slippages in the capital programme, as detailed in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Performance of the contract for Specialist Information Advice and Advocacy pdf icon PDF 267 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed and introduced the report which was requested by the Committee at its previous meeting.

 

Mr James Mass, Assistant Director Adults and Communities and Mr Sam Raffell, Care Quality Service Manager joined the table. Mr Raffell presented the report which sets out an overview of the performance of the Specialist Information Advice and Advocacy service contract provided by the Barnet CAB.

 

It was RESOLVED:

 

That the Committee noted the quality of performance of the Specialist Information and Advice service provided by Barnet Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

 

9.

Procurement - reviewing changes to wider procurement procedures pdf icon PDF 292 KB

Minutes:

Mr Chris Dawson, Procurement transformation lead (CSG) joined the meeting and presented this item to the Committee. The Committee highlighted the importance of engagement with providers, particularly in respect of transformation of data prior to contract end dates.

 

The Chairman moved a motion, which was seconded and agreed, to amend the wording of the second recommendation to read as follows:

The Committee is asked to note that officers will ensure the implementation of the improvements that will be made to wider procurement procedures as set out under section 4 of this report.

 

It was therefore RESOLVED that:

 

1.    The Performance and Contract Management Committee noted the outcome of the procurement review.

2.    The Committee noted that officers will ensure the implementation of the improvements that will be made to wider procurement procedures as set out under section 4 of this report.

 

 

10.

The Barnet Group Annual Report 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 309 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed the annual report of The Barnet Group for 2016/17. Mr Troy Henshall, Chief Executive and Mr Mike Gerrard, Finance Director joined the table and presented the report.

 

Following a request from the Committee, Mr Gerrard stated that the introductory paragraph of the annual report will be amended to reflect the accurate position of the pension statement. (Action)

 

RESOLVED that:

 

The Performance and Contract Management Committee noted The Barnet Group Annual Report 2016/17.

 

11.

Committee Forward Work Programme pdf icon PDF 235 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee noted the standing item on the agenda which lists the business items for 2017-2018.

 

The Committee agreed to consider removing the 16th January 2018 and moving the standing item on Business Planning to the 27th February 2018 meeting. (Action)

 

 

RESOLVED:

That the Committee considered and commented as above on the items included in the 2017- 2018 work programme in Appendix A.

 

12.

Any Other Items that the Chairman Decides are Urgent

Minutes:

None.