Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors David Bawn, Mary Murphy and Richard Wearmouth.

Minutes of the meetings of the Corporate Services and Economic Growth OSC held on 13^thMarch 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman. 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Services and Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13 March 2023, as circulated, be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To note the latest Forward Plan of key decisions.? Any further changes made to the Forward Plan will be reported to the Committee.? 

The Forward Plan of forthcoming Key Cabinet decisions was reported to the Committee.  (Report enclosed with the signed minutes as Appendix A). 

RESOLVED that the Forward Plan of key decisions be noted.

Cabinet considered this report on 14 March 2023 which provided it with an understanding of the resource requirements for BEST, formerly known as, the ‘Strategic Change Programme’ and made a recommendation for a key decision in relation to commencing an open procurement process to engage a delivery partner to support the design, delivery and implementation of projects included in the scope of the delivery of the Strategic Business Case (as agreed at Cabinet on 17th January 2023). This was considered to be a critical investment to maximise the realisation of benefits set out in the business case. 

Cabinet agreed to approve the commencement of the procurement process for the Council to secure a delivery partner to support the design, delivery, and implementation of the BEST ways of working. 

The Committee are therefore requested to consider the next steps in the process.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, Leader of the Council, introduced the report to the Committee which had been agreed at the Cabinet meeting on 11 April 2023. Kelly Gardner, Senior Service Director was also present to answer members questions. 

The detailed report outlined the resource needed to design, deliver and implement the BEST programme. The programme would ensure the Council worked in a way which was value for money. It was a whole Council approach and would listen to all staff from all levels. It was confirmed that there would be senior member representation on the board, and it was suggested that the portfolio holder for corporate services would take a lead on this.  

The following comments were made in response to members questions:- 

• It was confirmed that the Committee would receive regular updates regarding progress on the programme. Members would also be able to request deep dive reports should they want to examine particular aspects of the programme in greater detail. 
• Members were assured that all work streams in the programme had key performance indicators and project managers who would monitor them. It was acknowledged the importance of assessing financial and non-financial benefits from the programme.  
• There would be specific investments needed throughout the programme but all 39 projects had detailed business cases. The programme had been designed to be self-funding and therefore there was no reason to propose that the £9 million would not be sufficient. £2.4 million of the £9 million had been committed already which left £6.7 million to be used when necessary.  
• The need to work with all staff was recognised. Officers confirmed that the programme had already started to engage with staff to become ambassadors and had received a lot of interest. A soft launch of the programme was scheduled for Wednesday 19^th Aprils where staff would have the opportunity to engage with executives and project leads.  
• It was acknowledged that the project was a massive undertaking which was why it was important to source external consultants and partners to ensure the specialist knowledge needed to design, deliver and embed the programme was there. It was also confirmed that it was expected that staff would benefit from the consultant’s knowledge through working with the delivery partner as well as a learning and organisational development programme.  

RESOLVED that the programme continued to be monitored throughout its progress.

Cabinet considered this report on 14 March 2023 which set out current financial position for the Council against the Budget for 2022-23

The Cabinet approved:

(1)  net re-profiling to the Capital Programme of £48.698 million from 2022-23 to 2023-24 to reflect estimated expenditure levels in the current financial year.

(2)  the additional capital grant of £1.298 million to improve energy efficiency in schools as detailed in 11.7.  

(3)  the capital grant of £0.036 million received for the Family Hub as detailed in 11.9.

(4)  the new grants and amendments to existing grants at Appendix A and the required changes to the budgets.

(5)  the use of the Restructuring Reserve of £0.219 million for the Chief Executive’s exit package and note that the Council has received a refund of employers’ pension contributions of £0.035 million, and it is proposed to transfer this to the Restructuring Reserve.

(6)  the use of the Restructuring Reserve of £0.169 million for the voluntary redundancy of the Director of Transformation.

(7)  the transfer of the balance of £0.058 million relating to the Kerbside Food Waste collection trial into a new reserve. In 2022-23 commencement of this service was delayed by 5 months whilst awaiting delivery of specialist food waste collection vehicle.

(8)  the following delegated limits for approval of funds from the Transformation Fund Reserve:

·       Up to £50,000 – Service Director leading the BEST programme of work in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services

·       £50,001 - £250,000 – Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services

·       £250,000 and above – Cabinet

(9)  the release of £2.250 million from the Transformation Fund to recruit to a number of fixed term roles (£0.750 million per annum) to progress the BEST programme of work

(10)                 the release of £0.647 million from the Transformation Fund to fund backfill costs where core Council staff are being utilised to progress the BEST programme of work.

Cabinet also noted that:

(1)  the services projected overspend of £4.784 million and the assumptions outlined in this report.

(2)  the potential gross overspend of £6.742 million after accounting for anticipated energy inflation.

(3)  the net forecast overspend of £1.534 million following the utilisation of the Exceptional Inflation Reserve.

(4)  the progress on the delivery of the approved savings at Appendix B.

(5)  the use of the contingency shown at Appendix Q.

(6)  the use of reserves shown at Appendix R.

(7)  the virements requested by services shown at Appendix S.

The Committee are requested to review the current financial position.

Jan Willis, Executive Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer), was present to respond to member’s questions. The report outlined the position of the Council at the end of December 2022 against the budget for 2022-23. 

The following comments were made in response to members questions:- 

• It was confirmed that the overspend in adult social care was being closely monitored and the situation had started to stabilise.  
• Children’s Services was a demand led service and it was acknowledged that all local authorities were experiencing similar pressures due to inflation. Preliminary work had already been done through the BEST programme to contain those pressures. The new executive director for children’s services had also brought proposals forward to combat the pressures. 
• It was acknowledged that the Council usually predict an underspend in the budget however this year there would be an overspend. However, it was acknowledged that the overspend was minimal. The Council had experienced intense inflationary pressures from such things as energy prices and the pay award. 
• Recruitment and retention of staff was being examined through the BEST programme. There were several workstreams which were managing this. It was also acknowledged that the job market was improving and more people were returning to work. 
• It was agreed that Committee would receive details of the capital programme planning in the future as there was scope for improvement. 

RESOLVED  that the information was noted.

The Committee is asked to review the issues raised by the Committee over the last year and consider whether further examination of the issues listed is required in 2023/24.

The Committee received an update on its Work Programme for the 2022/23 council year.   

Members were reminded that the BEST programme would bring 6 monthly updates on the progress and they could request deep dives on any of the BEST programme projects. 

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? 

RESOLVED that this information was noted.

The Committee is invited to consider passing the following resolution:

(a)    That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the Agenda as it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the 1972 Act, and

(b)    That the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure for the following reasons:-

Agenda Items          Paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A

10                   3 - Contains information relating to business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)  

AND               The public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure because disclosure could adversely affect the business reputation or confidence in the person/ organisation and could adversely affect commercial revenue. 

The purpose of the report is to ensure that the Cabinet is informed of the current financial positions of its trading companies and of any relevant issues arising.

Jan Willis, Executive Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer), introduced the report to committee. The report gave committee an update on the current financial position of the trading companies 

A financial review and a shareholder governance review had been carried out in the hope to produce a sustainable long-term model. The outcomes and proposals from the review were due to be received the week commencing 17^th April 2023 and would undergo an appraisal through the shareholders committee. It was agreed that the proposals from the review would be brought to this Committee. It was also proposed that there would be a change to the reports, which would see a broader report that looked wholly at the company. This report would go through the shareholder committee rather than Cabinet.  

RESOLVED that the information be noted.