Agenda item

The Chairman introduced the report which provides an overview of the council’s performance, risks and finance and summary of progress in delivering the Council’s Corporate Plan. The Chairman noted the achievements made in relation to residents’ perception which indicates that residents’ satisfaction with Barnet as a place to live remains high at 89% above the national average.

In relation to a query about agency staff, the Committee noted that the increase in agency expenditure was mainly due to the use of agency staff to cover permanent posts in Family Services and the Commissioning Group.

Jamie Masraff, Interim Strategic Lead Programmes & Performance informed the Committee about the initiatives to ensure that agency staff were being retained as permanent staff. There should therefore be a decline in agency expenditure as a result of the initiative.

The Committee requested information about whether any agency staff were employed under zero hour contracts. Officers noted that an update would be circulated to the Committee as confirmation that there are no Council employees on zero hour contracts. (Action)

The Interim Chief Operating Officer, Stephen Evans informed the Committee about the Strategic Risk Register which includes the strategic risks that come under the direct management of senior officers. It was further noted that the service level Risk Registers are being updated and will be reported as part of the Q2 Performance Reports for 2016/17 at the next Committee meeting.

Following a request from the Committee, Mr Masraff noted that explanatory notes will be added to the next Q2 Report about the methodology for risks and process for identification of controls. (Action)

The Chairman welcomed the Adults and Communities Director, Mathew Kendall who briefed the Committee about overspend within Adults and Communities. He noted the factors that have contributed to the reported overspend which included continued service pressure and complexity of care arrangements as well as a loss of grant funding since 2014/15.

Mr Kendall further explained that priority arrangements have been implemented to ensure that the right care is in place and that available community sources are utilised.

Following a query from the Committee about the incentives offered to private landlords, the Chief Executive for Barnet Group, Troy Henshall explained that in comparison to costs incurred associated with temporary accommodation, offering incentives provides an overall net saving to the Council.

Councillor Mittra requested that benchmarking data from other Local Authorities is included in relation to the Service Performance Indicator R/3 on p.99 of the Agenda (Percentage of deaths registered within 5 working days of request). (Action)  

It was RESOLVED that:

1.    The Committee scrutinised the performance and risk of services, especially in relation to delivering the Corporate Plan, and (if necessary) made no further recommendations to other committees on the policy and commissioning implications.

2.    The Committee noted the agency costs for Quarter 1 2016/17, as detailed in paragraph 1.6.

3.    The Committee noted the Quarter 1 2016/17 revenue budget and forecast position, as detailed in paragraph 1.9.

4.    The Committee noted the additions and deletions and approved the accelerations and slippages in the capital programme, as detailed in paragraph 1.10.

5.    The Committee noted the savings delivered in Q1 2016/17, as detailed in paragraph 1.11.

6.    The Committee noted the treasury position outlined in paragraph 1.25.