Agenda and minutes

Councillor Douglas Auld replaced Councillor Tony Owen and Councillor Ian Dunn replaced Councillor Peter Fookes. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Russell Mellor and Samaris Huntington-Thresher.

There were no declarations of interest.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th November 2014 (excluding exempt information) be confirmed.

Report CSD15001

The Committee received a summary of matters arising from previous meetings.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan of Key and Private Executive decisions as published on 16^th December 2014.

The Committee received the Contracts Register for (a) Resources Portfolio contracts over £50k and (b) contracts across all departments with a value in excess of £200k. A Member asked about the Adecco contract for agency worker provision; it was confirmed that all costs under this contract were recharged to departmental budgets.

No questions had been received.

The Resources Portfolio Holder, Councillor Graham Arthur, attended the meeting to give an update on his work and answer questions from the Committee. He began by commenting on the new arrangements for individual voter registration, where there had been some teething problems, and on postal votes, which were expected to rise to 25 - 30% for the coming general election.

The commissioning programme was now gathering pace, and all PDS Committees would be receiving reports on services. Although this was a time of uncertainty for many staff, some staff who had already transferred to contractors had reported that the move had been very positive. Although CIPFA had stated that about 40% of Councils would be unable to balance their budgets in two years, this would definitely not include Bromley.   He felt that at the recent public meetings people had been more informed about the financial pressure on the Council and accepted the need for a measured Council Tax increase and for people to do more to help themselves, as long as there remained a safety net for those unable to help themselves.

The Council had separated capital and revenue spending and was debt-free. Reserves were used to increase expenditure to support frontline services – due to careful investment an additional £1.15m interest would be earned in the current year. Collection of Council Tax was exceeding the stretch target and fears that the new Council Tax support arrangements would reduce collection rates had not materialised. However there were new burdens such as the restrictions on parking enforcement which would result in lost income of about £1m. The Portfolio Holder urged all Councillors to lobby M.P.s on such issues. The Council seemed to be penalised for being efficient, but difficult decisions would not be avoided and the budget would be balanced.

The Chairman commented that it was important that the Council developed sources of income within its own control and invited Members to put questions to the Portfolio Holder.  Responding to a question about how contractors were assessed and reviewed, the Portfolio Holder stated that the Council had been a contracting organisation for more than 20 years and a range of monitoring methods were used. However, he felt that it was important to base each contract on outcomes and for Members to monitor closely, listening to what their residents said about services. In particular he advised Members to visit the Customer Contact Centre and to take the opportunity to listen in on calls.

A Member asked whether, with the increasing proportion of postal votes, there was scope for savings from combining polling stations and reducing staff where there were two or more stations in the same building. Other than for local Council elections, costs were reimbursed by central government.             

The Chairman commented that it was important to communicate with residents and explain the Council’s actions. The Portfolio Holder stated that the development of the customer portal was a huge opportunity to develop dialogue with residents.

A Member asked whether there would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

The Resources Portfolio Holder to present scheduled reports for pre-decision scrutiny on matters where he is minded to make decisions.

The Committee considered the following reports for pre-decision scrutiny where the Resources Portfolio Holder was minded to take a decision.

Cray Valley East Ward

Report FSD14083

On 26^th November 2014 the Executive had received the second quarterly monitoring report for 2014/15 and agreed a revised capital programme for the four year period 2014/15 to 2017/18.

RESOLVED that the proposal to note and confirm the changes to the Resources Capital Programme made by the Executive in November be supported.  

Report CSD15002

The Committee considered the following reports on the part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 14^th January 2015.

(5)  Draft 2015/16 Budget and Update on the Council’s Financial Strategy 2016/17 to 2018/19

Report FSD15001

The report set out the initial draft budget for 2015/16 and indicated actions to reduce the Council’s medium term “budget gap.” The report set out potential savings to be considered by the Executive, but there were still outstanding issues and areas of uncertainty remaining. All PDS committees would be asked for their views before the Executive made its final recommendations to Council. 

The Committee commented on a number of issues as follows –

·  A Member commented that he found it unusual that the Council had three separate long term insurance policies expiring at different times, and that it would be better to approach insurers now and move towards a common renewal date, packaging these risks together.

·  It was noted that the recent Working Group on the Effectiveness of Children’s Centres had recommended 10% savings from the 2015/16 and 2016/17 budgets.

·  It was noted that a strategic decision was being taken to charge Renewal Team and some Strategic Property costs to the Economic Development Fund and the Investment Fund respectively.

·  A Member queried why the central contingency for the street cleansing contract could be reduced from £200k to £60k. It was explained that the context was that a saving of £1m had been made on the contract and a large contingency had been needed in case this saving could not be delivered; as no problems had been encountered it was possible to substantially reduce the provision.

·  There was a £1m reduction in parking enforcement income; the Portfolio Holder had already been lobbying government on this issue.

The Chairman concluded that costs must continue to be contained.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(6)  Invest to Save

Report RES14078

At the September meeting of the Executive the Resources Portfolio Holder had asked for a report on the overall progress on Invest to Save schemes, including the amounts paid back so far. Many schemes had already repaid the amounts taken from the Invest to Save Fund, but there were also a few schemes where the anticipated savings had not yet been achieved, and this was having an impact on the projected budget overspend. Feedback on individual schemes had already been provided to the relevant PDS Committees and they were encouraged to focus on schemes where there was major under-achievement. 

An additional table summarising the financial implications was tabled.

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, as Chairman of the Environment PDS Committee, commented that the Green Garden Waste and Textile collection service was not intended as an invest to save project – rather, it was a service that had to cover its costs. 

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(7)  Gateway Review of Housing IT Systems

Report CS14106

The Council’s contracts for Housing Systems software suppliers, currently held by Northgate and Home Connections, expired in March 2016.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.

Report CSD14167

The report summarised information on the performance of the Customer Services contract provided by Liberata up to 30^th November 2014. A letter from Liberata’s Contract Director was also considered, and representatives from Liberata attended the meeting to answer questions.

A Member commented that there appeared to be no clear pattern on the success of channel shift; officers suggested that this would need to be judged over a longer period.

A Member asked whether the customer satisfaction surveys referred to in the report were conducted by an independent organisation. It was confirmed that the surveys were carried out by Liberata staff, but not those employed on the Bromley contract, and that Council officers approved the surveys. Liberata offered to send more detailed feedback to Members. The launch of the Web Portal would be key for this contract and further surveys would be carried out with early adopters.

A Member  asked about the training issues mentioned in the letter from Liberata. Liberata had identified a skills gap when the Customer Service Centre had transferred to them and some key staff had been lost, but a programme of training had been put in place.

A Member asked about progress with the customer contact health check on School Admissions. Information was awaited from the service department, after which any proposals would go to the Commissioning Board. Progress would be reported in the next contract and budget monitoring reports.

RESOLVED that the information in the report and the letter from Liberata be noted.

The Winter Health Project ran from December 2012 to March 2013 as part of the implementation of the Department of Health’s Cold Weather Plan, following a successful bid to the Department’s Warm Homes Healthy People Fund for a one-off grant to address Excess Winter Deaths in Bromley in 2012/13.  The Committee had previously considered the project in June 2013 and requested a further report after another year.

The objectives of the Project were to raise awareness of winter health issues and work with stakeholders. Partners included Age Concern and the Council’s Home Improvement Team. The reasons for Bromley having higher than expected deaths in winter compared to London or England were complex. Members requested further information about the numbers of deaths and the context for this, but full data was still awaited from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Although the Project and the funding had ceased in 2013 officers were trying to ensure that the work became part of core business and a working group had been established to bring stakeholders together. Volunteer Health Champions had been trained and these would continue to be supported. Further work was needed with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to influence the contract with GPs and reach community pharmacists.

A more detailed report on the Excess Winter Deaths was available to Members.

RESOLVED that the progress made following the completion of the Winter Health project in April 2013 and the recommendations for 2015/16 be noted.

Report FSD14087

The Committee considered a report produced by LG Futures comparing unit costs for local authorities in England using budgeted expenditure from councils’ revenue account returns for 2014/15. The report was intended to act as an initial guide for further investigation into areas where unit costs differed to those of similar authorities and where there might be scope for savings.

Members commented that although there was potential in the report, in practice there was not sufficient context or assurance that accurate comparisons were being made. It was accepted that the baseline reviews were a better starting point for reviewing services and budgets.  

RESOLVED that the findings in the report be noted.

Report CSD15003

Updates were received from PDS Chairmen regarding the Renewal and Recreation PDS Committee on 16^th November 2014 and the Public Protection and Safety PDS Committee on 2^nd December 2014.

CSD15004

The Committee reviewed its work programme. The Chairman requested a report on Invest to Save Projects and Contracts for the meeting on 12^th March. It was noted that the Care Services PDS Budget Sub-Committee was currently on hold, and that Councillor Mellor should be added to the membership list for the New Technology Working Group.  

The Chairman to move that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters

involving exempt information

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 19^th November 2014 were confirmed.

The Committee scrutinised a report on the Executive’s part 2 agenda for the meeting on 14^th January 2015 concerning the Award of Contracts for Capital Schemes at Parish CE Primary School and St Paul’s Cray CE Primary School.

The Vice-Chairman, Councillor Will Harmer, was leaving the Committee as he had been appointed as Executive Assistant to the Leader. The Chairman thanked him for his service on the Committee.