Present at the meeting:
- Councillor J Moodie (Chairman)
- Councillor N R Whittingham (Vice Chairman)
- Councillor N D Ash
- Councillor N A Bradbury
- Councillor Ms P L Holland
- Councillor B J Fagan
- Councillor J D O’Brien
- Councillor Mrs J Prescott
- Councillor C Rigby
- Councillor R Winkworth
Officers in attendance
- Peter Hassett – Principal Solicitor
- Gary Finch – Principal Officer – Scrutiny
- Michael Williamson – Committee Services Officer
Officers presenting reports
- Alison Hughes – Head of Organisational Development
- Sue Johnson – Deputy Chief Executive
- Paul McKevitt – Service Director Corporate Services
- Lesley O’Halloran – Customer and Compliance Manager
- David Smith – Executive Director Business Support Services
- Diane Taylor – Business Partner
60 Apologies for absence: Councillors P Thomson, P A Tushingham Mrs M J Whiteside and G Wilkes and Mr D Barber, Rev R Buckley, Rev Deacon R Moore and Mrs K A Stokes (Co-opted Members).
61 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 12 October 2009 were approved as a correct record.
62 Exclusion of the public - section 100a Local Government Act 1972: Resolved: The public is excluded from the meeting when the Committee discusses the following item for the reason set out below:-
| Agenda Item No |
Title of report |
Minute No. |
Description of exempt information by reference to the paragraph number in schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 |
| E1 |
Comprehensive Area Assessment |
77 |
3 (Information about the financial or business affairs of any person or organisation, including the Council) |
63 Whipping declarations: The Principal Solicitor, Peter Hassett reminded the Committee that government guidance expected Members of Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.
There were no declarations made.
64 Questions (if any) on the business of the Cabinet: There were none.
65 Questions (if any) on the business of the forward plan – monthly update: There were none.
66 Organisational Development strategy – six month update (Minute 9 refers): The Head of Organisation Development, Alison Hughes, presented a report, which informed Members of the progress in implementing the Council’s Organisational Development strategy. The strategy had been developed to assist the Council in its organisational change management programme.
Resolved: The Committee:
- notes the progress made in implementing the strategy;
- agrees to receive regular reports on the progress in delivering the strategy; and
- thanks the Head of Organisation Development for the report.
67 Customer Transformation strategy – six month update (Minute 25 refers): The Customer and Compliance Manager, Lesley O’Hallloran, presented a report, which informed Members of the progress in implementing the Council’s Customer Transformation strategy.
The vision for the customer services transformation was based on five key deliverables:-
- a unified call centre approach;
- a Hub and Spokes model of delivery;
- enhanced online access;
- IT system integration; and
- signposting support.
Members asked a number of questions, which included the following salient points:-
- how long would people accessing the new Contact Centre be expected to wait before their call was answered?
- what progress had been made on the Hub and Spoke programme?
- would new venues be built for the Spoke centres or would existing buildings be utilised?
- what progress had been made with the new Members Enquiry System?
The Committee was advised that Phase 1 of the Contact Centre would be completed by the end of December 2009, which would include the co-location of the existing Benefits Contact Centre, the Environmental Services Contact Centre, the Credit Card Hotline team and the Switchboard function. Staff would receive appropriate training to enable them to handle any enquiry. It was anticipated that 70% of all calls in a queue would be answered within 30 seconds.
In addition a new complaints database had been developed which was currently being tested in the Customer Relationship Management System. This new database was to be implemented by the end of December 2009.
The Committee was informed that Phase 1 of the Hub and Spoke programme would be completed by March 2010. Three possible locations had been identified to provide a generic universal customer access point, these were:-
- Marsh Green Life Centre
- Leigh Town Hall; and
- Platt Bridge Housing Office
The aim was to have three Life Centres open to the public by March 2010. Members were advised that the Life Centres would be situated in suitable buildings with some potentially co-locating with partner organisations which had buildings established in certain areas.
Development work on a new Member’s Enquiry System was currently ongoing, which would be ready for testing in December 2009.
Resolved: The Committee:
- notes the progress made in implementing the strategy;
- requests the Customer and Compliance Manager to submit a progress report in April 2010 on the implementation of the strategy; and
- thanks the Customer and Compliance Manager for the report.
(Councillor B J Fagan declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in this item as members of his family were employed within the Council’s Benefits Department.)
68 Council tax and national non domestic rates, benefit payments and collection of income departmental performance 2009/10: The Executive Director of Business Support Services, David Smith, presented a report, which updated Members on the Business Support Services performance in the collection of council tax and national non-domestic rates, benefit payments and the collection of income in 2009/10.
Members were advised that the report was the second in a series of four during this Municipal Year.
Resolved: The Committee
- notes the report; and
- thanks the Executive Director Business Support Services for the report.
69 Medium Term Financial Strategy and Financial outlook 2010/11 to 2012/13: The Service Director - Corporate Services, Paul McKevitt, presented a report, which detailed the financial projections for the Council over the next five years, with specific focus on the budget and Council Tax prospects for 2010/11.
The Cabinet would consider this report at its meeting on 17 December 2009.
Members asked a number of questions, which included the following salient points:-
- how would the cost of Building Schools for the Future be met?
- had any provision been made in relation to the potential short fall in pension provisions?
- Concern in relation to the predicted overspend in Looked after Children.
- what plans were proposed to address the issues identified at Leigh Sports Village?
- what savings were required should the Council receive a smaller than expected grant from the Government next financial year?
The Service Director – Corporate Services advised the Committee that budget provision had been made to cover the cost of the project team associated with Building Schools for the Future. The actual construction of the new schools was covered through Private Funding Initiative funding and therefore the Council would not need to allocate any of its budgets to cover construction costs.
The potential short fall in pension provision had been identified within the report and it had been anticipated that 1% of the Council’s budget would cover this gap. Further to this, the Executive Director of Business Support Services informed the Committee that Government was currently reviewing the rules of the pension scheme and it was anticipated that employees would be required to provide a greater contribution in the future.
The Service Director – Corporate Services advised that there was currently an internal review of Looked after Children being undertaken which would be concluded by the end of December 2009. This review would address the identified overspend.
In relation to the concerns raised around Leigh Sports Village, the Service Director – Corporate Services informed Members that the start up costs of the Leigh Sports Village had been built into the Council’s budget at the start of the development and therefore there were no further additional costs anticipated. The Executive Director of Business Support Services advised the Committee that the key aim of the development was to ensure that the site generated improved life chances for the people of the borough. Discussions had taken place with Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) to establish a bus service to the Village.
The Service Director – Corporate Services confirmed that the budget forecast did predict a reduction in revenue support grant from Government from 2011 onwards and that this had been factored into the financial projections for the Council over the next five years.
Resolved: The Committee
- notes the report; and
- thanks the Service Director – Corporate Services for the report.
(Councillor C Rigby declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in this item as he is a member of Greater Manchester Pension Fund.)
70 Business Support Services 2009/10 performance plan update – Quarter 2: The Executive Director of Business Support Services presented a report, which informed Members of the progress that had been made against the Business Support Services Performance Plan 2009/12.
The Plan detailed specific work streams and projects that would enable the Department to deliver against the following two objectives:-
- priority services; and
- organisational effectiveness.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes the report; and
- thanks the Executive Director Business Support Services for the report.
71 Chief Executive Services 2009/12 performance plan update – Quarter 2: The Deputy Chief Executive presented a report, which informed Members of the progress that had been made against the Chief Executive Services Performance Plan 2009/12.
The Plan detailed specific work streams and projects that would enable the Department to deliver against the following two objectives:-
- priority services; and
- organisational effectiveness.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes the report; and
- thanks the Deputy Chief Executive for the report.
72 Corporate Performance 2009/12 update – Quarter 2: The Deputy Chief Executive presented a report, which informed Members of the progress that had been made against the key performance indicators that the Council and its partners were accountable for, specifically through the National Indicator Set Local Area Agreement (LAA), and Corporate Strategy.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes the report.
- thanks the Deputy Chief Executive for the report.
73 Minutes of the Children, Young People and Families Scrutiny Committee: The minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Families Scrutiny Committee held on 12 November 2009, were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted.
74 Minutes of the Building Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee: The minutes of the meeting of the Building Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 16 November 2009, were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted.
75 Minutes of the Adult, Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee: The minutes of the meeting of the Adult, Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 17 November 2009, were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted.
76 Minutes of the Economy, Environment, Culture and Housing Scrutiny Committee: The minutes of the meeting of the Economy, Environment, Culture and Housing Scrutiny Committee held on 18 November 2009, were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted.
77 Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) update: The Business Partner Diane Taylor referred to the area assessment and organisational assessment results that had been informally announced in connection with the CAA. This item had previously been discussed by Cabinet (minute 134 refers). The Committee was advised that the official report would be published on 9 December 2009.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- notes the contents of the report; and
- thanks the Business Partner for the report.
