Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 May 2015 be agreed as a correct record.

There were none.

In relation to agenda item 7, the Quarter Four and Year End 2014/15 Monitoring report:

·                Councillor John Marshall declared a non-pecuniary interest by virtue of being a board member of Barnet Homes; and

·                Councillor Arjun Mittra declared a disclosable pecuniary interest by virtue of being a Barnet Homes tenant and a disclosable interest as a relative (his mother) owned a pre-school nursery which received funding through Barnet Council.

There were none.

Councillor Reema Patel presented a member item concerning the council’s key performance indicators.

Councillor Patel suggested a number of areas (housing, crime, waste collection, education/children/maternity services, adult social care, employee satisfaction) in which the spectrum of key performance indicators used could be broadened or amended and provided examples of the matters which could be monitored in those areas.

The Head of Programmes and Resources, Tom Pike, responded to explain that significant work had been undertaken with each commissioning committee to create a commissioning plan that identified the council’s top priorities across a five year profile. Those top priorities were underpinned by a greater number of broader measures. It was further explained that each commissioning committee received updates on relevant performance indicators.

Councillor Reema Patel MOVED the following motion which was seconded by Councillor Arjun Mittra:

“That the Performance and Contract Management Committee request each commissioning committee to review the key performance indicators relevant to its portfolio and to consider:

a)    the priority issues within the portfolio/commissioning area;

b)    how those priority issues can best be addressed; and

c)    which challenging and yet realistic performance indicators could be used to monitor the council’s performance in relation to those priority issues.”

The motion was put to the vote. Votes were declared as follows:

For: 5

Against: 5

Abstain: 0

The Chairman exercised his casting vote against the motion. The motion was declared to be lost.

Councillor Anthony Finn MOVED the following motion which was seconded by Councillor Sury Khatri:

“That the Performance and Contract Management Committee note the member’s item on key performance indicators and request the Head of Programmes and Resources to report on the matter at a future meeting.”

The motion was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED that the Performance and Contract Management Committee note the member’s item on key performance indicators and request the Head of Programmes and Resources to report on the matter at a future meeting.

Councillor Geof Cooke presented a member item concerning customer services performance and referenced a customer complaint (outlined in the committee report) to illustrate perceived deficiencies in the service provided by Capita. 

Councillor Geof Cooke asked questions about:

a)    the testing and subsequent operational use of the software implicated in providing the online ‘my account’ service to customers;

b)    the quality of the council’s response to a particular customer complaint; and

c)    the time it took for the council to respond to a customer complaint, together with the process employed to address the matter. 

The Commercial and Customer Services Director, Claire Symonds, responded to explain that the service went live with a soft launch in March 2014. Following the identification of some access issues encountered by users, further gateway testing ensued. The director confirmed that the particular complaint referred to had been resolved in accordance with the customer complaints process. The director profiled the number of software issues encountered in relation to council tax enrolments using the total figure of online enrolments as a comparator figure. 

RESOLVED that the Performance and Contract Management Committee note the member’s item on customer services performance.

At the invitation of the Chairman, officers addressed the committee to present the report on the delivery and financial performance of both contracted and non-contracted services.

The committee asked detailed questions of the officers and received responses.

Following discussion about the use of financial reserves to cover contingencies, the Assistant Director of Finance, Paul Thorogood, undertook to check the Children’s reserve figures quoted in table 10 on page 49 of the report and confirm his findings to the committee.

In addition to referring a detailed assessment of the 2015-16 savings for consideration by the Policy and Resources Committee, the committee was minded to recommend:

“That the Policy and Resources Committee consider a detailed assessment of the 2015/16 reserves, having a particular regard to those reserves which had already been allocated to a particular purpose.”

Noting the customer experience section of the performance report, the committee was keen to receive further detail on the processes and performance measures around member enquiries. The Commercial and Customer Services Director, Claire Symonds, undertook to provide a report (detailing both response rates and the resolution of enquiries) to a future committee meeting.

In response to a question about the delivery of affordable housing completions, the Head of Programmes and Resources undertook to confirm whether the figure quoted was a net figure. In addition the Head of Programmes and Resources agreed to provide the committee with information on the split between social, affordable and private housing..

Noting that the 90 per cent target for special needs statements completed within statutory timescales had not been met, the committee requested the Head of Programmes and Resources to ascertain the consequences of the council not complying with the statutory timescale. 

With regards to Assets, Regeneration and Growth, the committee noted that the development of an alternative depot was one of a number of key challenges in quarter four 2014/15 noting the tight timescales to deliver the new depot. There was discussion regarding the risks associated with the project and potential contingency options. The Head of Programmes and Resources, Tom Pike, responded to queries raised, referring to the report provided to Full Council on 14 April 2015 and assured the committee that there was a full and detailed project risk log in place.

Following discussion the committee resolved to recommend:

“That the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee note the risks of a challenging timescale to deliver the new depot and consider contingency options should the preferred options not proceed.”

In respect of the interpretation of key performance indicators, the committee requested that future reports referenced data in figures to give context to the percentages shown.

RESOLVED that the committee:

1.     Note that detailed reports on performance challenges outlined in this report have already been discussed at relevant committees, specifically:

·                     Funded 2 year old places was reported to the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee on the 20 April 2015

·                     Your Choice Barnet was discussed at the Adults and Safeguarding Committee on the 19 March and 23  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Chairman advised the committee that this item had been withdrawn from the agenda as it would be instead considered by the Audit Committee.

Being the final committee meeting of the municipal year, the committee did not consider the forward work programme as it would be the responsibility of next year’s committee to agree its work programme.

There were no urgent items of business.

The Vice Chairman, however, moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, Councillor Anthony Finn, for his chairing of the committee. Councillor Finn made suitable acknowledgement and thanked both members for their work and officers for their support.