Issue - meetings

To receive performance management information on the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2016/17, updates on current projects and Financial Performance Monitoring Suite information including an update on the Commercial Investment Strategy.

i.  Considered and commented on progress made against Key Activities and Corporate Indicators in the Corporate Plan and current projects, as summarised in Appendix A and detailed in Appendices B and C of the submitted report;

ii.  Considered and commented on the Council’s financial performance at the end of September, as detailed in Appendices D and E of the submitted report; and

RECOMMENDS TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT GOVERNANCE BOARD:

iii.  Removal of the In Cab Systems Project from the list of current projects, as detailed in Appendix C of the submitted report.

The Cabinet considered a report by the Corporate Team Manager and Head of Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) and commented on progress against the Key Activities and Corporate Indicators listed in the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2016/18 for the period 1 July to 30 September 2016.  The report also incorporated progress on the current projects being undertaken at the Council and financial performance information as at the end of September.

Homelessness was noted as a key action with a red status.  In line with the national picture homelessness was increasing and Officers were delivering short, medium and long-term actions to try to increase the supply of suitable homes and to move homeless households into sustainable homes.

Another key action with a red status was the number of days lost per full time employee due to staff sickness. The target to reduce staff sickness absence was missed as a high level of long-term absence continued in Quarter 2. Managing sickness absence was a key priority for the Senior Management Team and as a result the absence triggers within the Sickness Absence and Attendance Procedure had been reviewed with the informal stage being removed from the Policy. There had been a significant amount of work invested to address this target and the Council remained committed at reducing sickness absence.  It was reported that the Management was confident that for the same reporting period next year there would be an improvement in the target.

It was noted that increased sickness absence was also an issue for the Police Authority who were experiencing a similar number of days lost per full time employee with regard to operational staff.

In referring to Appendix C – Project Performance and those projects with a red status, the Cabinet agreed that the In Cab Systems Project be removed from the list having been informed that the project was unlikely to come to fruition as there was no bespoke system available to replace the existing manual process for logging waste collection issues.  If the project remained on the list it would always be assigned a red status and it was therefore agreed that the project should be removed. 

The Cabinet were referred to Appendix D of the report which detailed the Financial Performance Monitoring Suite information, in particular the Revenue and Reserve Forecast table. It was explained that the yearend forecast outturn revenue position for 2016/17 resulted in a saving against budget of £851,000 and the Appendix also provided explanations for the main variances across all services.

At 7.16pm, Councillor D Brown entered the meeting.

Regarding miscellaneous income debt it was explained that although the 2015/16 debt position indicated a large outstanding amount the majority of the debt was being collected via direct debit and would be paid by the end of the current financial year.

With regards to the New Homes Bonus, at the end of the current reporting cycle the Council was 36 units ahead of the target of 541 completions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55

The Integrated Performance Report 2016/17 – Quarter 2 is to be presented to the Panel.

With the aid of a report by the Head of Resources and the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Integrated Performance Report 2016/17 Quarter 2 was presented to the Panel.

In response to a question regarding how does the Council want to be judged on homelessness, Members were informed that there are a number of targets that the Council are measured on in respect to homelessness with the emphasis on how effective the Council are in addressing the issue. The example given was that last year the Council achieved 250 aversions of homelessness.

The Panel were informed that in response to the time taken to complete minor Disabled Facilities Grants jobs a report by the Home Improvement Agency will be submitted to a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Communities and Environment) once the actions have been reviewed by the Executive Councillor for Planning Policy, Housing and Infrastructure and the Head of Development.

Following a question regarding the overspend in ICT, Members were informed that a review of the benefits of the ICT shared service had been undertaken as well as an impact assessment of service mergers. It is unknown whether the increase in cost is temporary or permanent however the review will be able to establish that.

The Panel was informed that the reduction of the Impressions direct debit line is due to a decrease in membership. The membership fee has been unbundled and a number of Impressions customers have moved to other packages. In addition the budget has been affected as a result of an increase in maintenance costs. The Maintenance supplied by the third party contractor was poor and as such the Council has now entered into a contract with another party.

Members were informed that One Leisure has experienced competition from other competitors who have offered introductory membership fees and as a result Membership at One Leisure has reduced. Members noted that some competitors open longer hours than One Leisure and could be attracting customers who work shifts.

In response to a question regarding placing of Mobile Homes at Alconbury and Wyton to help assist the homelessness problem, the Panel was informed that the Council are reviewing all options in finding suitable housing solutions for homeless people.

A concern was raised that housing developers are not fully developing sites in order to avoid building affordable housing, in response the Executive Councillor for Planning Policy, Housing and Infrastructure stated that the Council are reviewing the situation and a policy is in development.

Following a question on how closely does the Council work with the County Council in respect to housing unaccompanied children, the Panel were informed that this area is a County Council function however the Council does have dialogue with the County Council on where the unaccompanied children can be located.

In response to a question in regards to Key Action 11 on when and what Council owned assets are transferred to the community, the Panel  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32