Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Nicholas Bennett J.P., Cllr Ian Dunn and Cllr Keith Onslow. Cllr Neil Reddin attended as alternate for Cllr Bennett.

Declarations were received from Cllr Simon Fawthrop (employed by BT), Cllr Ian Payne (daughter working in Care Services at L B Bromley) and Cllr Neil Reddin (governor related work at a school).

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Committee must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 12^th May 2017.

There were no questions to the Committee.

The minutes were agreed.

Members noted matters arising. In so doing the Chairman highlighted Minute 395 and a possible Member Working Group for 2017/18 to consider options for further income generation and tight spending controls.

The Chairman suggested a task and finish group to look at revenue generation and this was supported. Membership of the Group would include the Chairman and Cllr William Huntington-Thresher.

Other Members of the Committee were also encouraged to consider the opportunity and inform the Chairman by email should they wish to join the group.

The Forward Plan of Key and Private Executive Decisions, as published on 25th April 2017, was included within papers for the meeting.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Portfolio Holder must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 12^th May 2017.

A question to the Portfolio Holder for written reply had been received from Cllr Ian Dunn. Details of the question and reply are at Appendix A.

Report DRR17/025

BHAL sought formal consent to the creation of a new Operational Equipment Building at the airport designed to accommodate and protect an increasing amount of operational equipment purchased in recent years. Three operational departments would also be relocated to the new building having outgrown existing facilities due to ongoing recruitment of additional staff.

Under the terms of the lease between BHAL and the Council, BHAL were obliged to obtain Council consent which could not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.Consent documentation had been prepared which would be entered into upon approval.

It was noted that the Forward Plan (published 25^th April 2017) referred to a forthcoming Part 2 Executive decision related to BHAL and consent for construction works. It was explained that on subsequent reflection the matter was one for routine consent. Detailed plans for the new building were difficult to compress into the report and Members were advised of its location.

RESOLVED that the recommendation to the Portfolio Holder be supported.

Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 24^th May 2017.

The Committee looked at the following reports on the Part 1 agenda for the Executive meeting on 24^th May 2017.

(4)  Minutes of the Executive meeting held on 22^nd March 2017

Reference was made to Minute 198 of the Minutes of the Executive’s meeting held on 22^nd March 2017, in particular reference to Executive concern at the projected overspend of £124k on the Coroner’s Service, a statutory service managed by L B Croydon on behalf of four local authorities. The Council had an obligation to meet its share of the costs but Executive Members wanted reassurance that expenditure was being controlled and managed effectively.

No specific update could be provided to the Committee although it was necessary for the Coroner’s Service (South London) to leave the St Blaise building on the Civic Centre site in view of strategic plans for the site. The service had accordingly moved to a new building co-located with the Coroners Court and in so doing extra costs would have been incurred and details could be provided. There was however an obligation to pay the costs and this being the reason for the projected overspend assurance was given that such a level of expenditure would not be repeated in subsequent years. 

(6)  Update on Children’s Services

Report CS17130

A second update report to the Executive outlined progress on the Children’s Services Improvement agenda.

Concerning the appointment of three lawyers starting in June and July it was explained that one appointment was to cover a senior lawyer who would be retiring shortly; one was to cover a vacancy in the legal team; and one was an additional post in the team – the additional post being necessary to cover increased workload/cases.

It was also noted that of 236 actions needing to be started or completed between May 2016 and the end of March 2017, 15 had not progressed within the published timescale and RAG rated red. An enquiry was made on whether missing the deadline would have an impact and the Chairman asked for an officer response - it was not possible to advise at the meeting. Ultimately, it was suggested that of crucial importance was the forthcoming OFSTED assessment. For Appendix 1 to Report CS17130 it was also suggested that an update be provided to the Executive covering April 2017. Additionally, the Chairman was concerned that the reportprovided no financial commentary for monitoring purposes and asked for financial details to be included in the next update report.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

 (7)  Local Government Ombudsman Public Report

Report CS18004

Members considered a Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) report concerning a break in respite care for a young person, The Ombudsmen recommended the Council pay a sum equivalent to the cost of missed respite care and support amounting to £5,032.10. An additional award of £1,000 was made to the young person’s parents for distress and inconvenience caused by the service failure.

Having observed an increased level of LGO complaints in his ward,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report to follow

Report CSD17077

Members reviewed the performance of Adecco in 2016 and for the first quarter of 2017. Adecco representatives attended the meeting for the item.

As a Managed Service Provider for temporary workers, Adecco provided the following advantages beyond those of a Neutral Vendor service:

·  a single provider for staff, managing other agencies on Bromley’s behalf;

·  providing safeguarding and CV checking facilities to ensure staff have necessary DBS checks, right to work documentation, qualifications, etc.;

·  single point of contact for managers, with the possibility of an on-site or local office based account manager;

·  staff employer for employment and tax purposes.

A Framework (MStar) had been used for the contract securing best value for money. Although Adecco mainly supplied professional administrative staff, it had secured specialist agencies to support social worker recruitment. Adecco’s performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) was outlined in Report CSD17077. A letter from the Adecco Senior Account Manager detailed performance against KPIs for 2016 and Q1 2017 along with information related to future service improvements. Social and Healthcare services were the highest users of the contract.

Adecco had not met a 95-98% KPI target on fulfilling assignments in 2016 and the Chairman asked for an Improvement Plan. Reference was made to difficulties in supplying Children’s Social Care (CSC) workers and a number of initiatives were going forward with Adecco’s support. If targets are not met Adecco meet with HR and strategies are put in place. Performance was regularly monitored with a 95-98% target considered ambitious especially in relation to “hard to fill posts”. Administrative roles are easily filled but filling roles in CSC was also a difficulty faced nationally and by other boroughs hence the target for “hard to fill posts” is lower. A Member enquired how it was possible to demonstrate value for money from the contract with little detail on quality; he also asked how it was possible to judge the quality of staff provided.

The contract delivered cost savings to the Council and it was moving to the MStar2 Framework. Details of potential savings could be distributed to Members. The Director of HR had recently met with Adecco and the supply chain to increase the flow of agency staff. A number of quality CVs are received by the Council - Adecco then interview and staff are taken on. Attempts are made to permanently recruit good agency staff (including those working in CSC for six months) but it is difficult to retain them.

In view of the challenges faced in obtaining temporary CSC staff and the percentage of roles not filled in 2016 a Member asked how many vacancies that related to in order to understand the extent of the problem He also enquired of support provided to affected managers. In response it was highlighted that the position outlined related to 2016 and measures to improve matters were now provided for 2017. Dedicated support was now in place and additional resources had been provided given the number of staff needed. The speed of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Report CSD17001

Members noted the Committee’s Work Programme for 2017/18.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.

The Part 2 Minutes were agreed.

Members considered reports on the Part 2 agenda for the Executive’s meeting on 24^th May 2017.