Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mark Anderson, Claire Bath, Malcolm Farrell, and Sue Spittle.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – where members of the Committee are unable to attend they may nominate a substitute member from the same Shadow Authority group to attend in their absence by contacting the proper officer in writing, prior to the meeting, using the contact details on this agenda.

Councillors Philip Stanley-Watts and Ann Stribley were substitute members for Councillors Mark Anderson and Malcolm Farrell for this meeting of the Committee.

Councillors are required to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 regarding disclosable pecuniary interests. Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interests or other interests.

a.       To confirm the record of decisions from the meeting held on 7 February 2019 circulated at 4a.

b.       To consider the Committee’s action sheet, circulated at 4b.

a.       The record of decisions of the meeting held on 9 January 2019 was confirmed as an accurate record.

b.       The Committee’s action sheet was noted, and the Chairman advised that any further information available in respect of item 40 from 1 November 2018 would be circulated to the Committee electronically.

To receive any public questions or statements submitted in accordance with the Constitution.  Further information on the requirements for submitting questions and statements is available to view at the following link:-

https://bcpshadowauthority.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/public-participation-e28093-extract-from-the-constitution.pdf

The deadline for the submission of public questions is 10.00 am on Thursday 28 February 2019.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is 12.00 noon on Tuesday 5 March 2019

There were no public questions or statements received for this meeting.

To consider an update from officers on the progress of the LGR Programme.

Note: The Shadow Executive report on this item will be published on 4 March 2019 at the following address:

https://moderngov.bcpshadowauthority.com/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=138&MId=121&Ver=4

The LGR Programme Director introduced a report which provided the Committee with an update on activity within the programme since last reported in February.

The Chief Executive reported that the programme remained on track with the plan agreed by the BCP Joint Committee. Risks associated with the programme were now reducing to a minimum. There were a number of unresolved issues which were being addressed and he was confident that services would be in a position to deliver ‘business as usual’ from 1 April 2019.

The LGR Programme Director paid tribute to the work of elected Members and officers from preceding authorities for their achievement in delivering Phases 1 and 2 of the programme over the last 14 months. He explained that it was now necessary for the Shadow Executive to make some decisions to ensure that the programme continued to progress well into Phase 3 during the election period for elected Members. The report set out the required changes to the BCP programme governance architecture and accompanying delegations, including the transfer of future leadership, management and oversight of the programme to the new BCP Management Team with effect from 1 April 2019.

The report also outlined the next steps and required delegations to facilitate the procurement of a supplier to support the design stage of Phase 3 of the programme with immediate effect. The draft specification for the design and business case had been developed by the Organisational Design and Development Task and Finish Group and was attached at Appendix 1 of the report. The LGR Programme Director explained the rationale for not confirming a financial limit or estimated value of the contract at this stage. He referred to the current budget monitoring statement at Appendix 2 which confirmed that the programme remained within established resources. Due to the financial performance of the programme it was highly likely that the cost of the procurement for the Phase 3 design could be accommodated within these existing resources.

The LGR Programme Director responded to questions and comments from Members on the report, including the following main points:

• The remaining budget shown in Appendix 2 would be carried forward as earmarked reserves with effect from 1 April 2019
• The anticipated position was that any resources committed in the budget after 1 April 2019 would be the responsibility of BCP Council.
• The potential savings contained in the original submission to the Secretary of State prepared by Price Waterhouse Cooper two years ago were acknowledged to be at the ambitious end of the spectrum. This had been a joint submission, with the potential savings intended to cover the whole of the Dorset area not just BCP. It was now for the BCP Council to determine the extent of its ambition without being prejudiced by previous indications.

DECISION MADE:

That the update provided on the BCP LGR Programme and the recommendations in the report to the Shadow Executive Committee on 12 March be noted.

To consider verbal update reports from named rapporteurs on the strategic activity taking place under Service Delivery Boards and any risks identified.

The Committee considered verbal updates from its appointed rapporteurs on strategic activity taking place under the four Service Delivery Boards, since last reported to the Committee in February:

Children’s – Councillors Bobbie Dove and Chris Wakefield

Councillor Wakefield reported that the main areas for scrutiny were progressing well in accordance with the agreed programme. He explained that the concerns relating to MOSAIC had now been resolved. There had been a successful recruitment of staff in children’s social care, providing a mix of permanent and agency staff to ensure caseload was manageable. Preparations were being made for the smooth transfer of casework from Dorset including arrangements for introductions and shadowing. He also provided an update on fostering issues. He thanked all teams in children’s services across the BCP area for their work to ensure that vulnerable children continued to receive the services they required.

Place/Environment & Economy (E&E) – Councillors Claire Bath, Marion Pope and Sue Spittle

Councillor Pope provided an update on a number of areas following recent dialogue with the Executive Lead Member, Councillor Broadhead, including:

• Dorset Waste Partnership – a vehicle fleet procurement at the cost of £1.2 million was expected to be approved imminently, to ensure that BCP waste collections could operate across the full BCP area from April 2020.
• Assurance that recruitment was underway to ensure that Home to School Transport services for SEND would be ready for Day One
• IT issues across libraries in BCP area now resolved
• Budget on target with no risks flagged as red

Adults – Councillors David d’Orton-Gibson and Lisle Smith

Councillor Smith gave an update on one of the previously identified areas of risk relating to the implementation of the new IT system, MOSAIC. She reported that the issues regarding payments which had arisen in February had now been resolved. Assurance was provided that payments would be back in line by the end of March.

Corporate – Councillors Ian Clark and Lawrence Williams

Councillor Clark reported that all items arising from the Corporate Delivery Board were on track and flagged as green, with the exception of MOSAIC as detailed by Cllr Smith in her update. He had received similar assurance that the system would be running as it should in time for 1 April.

The Chairman thanked all rapporteurs for their role in keeping the Committee abreast of the main issues and risks within their Delivery Board areas over the last eight months. Although there were no further scheduled meetings of the O&S Committee he encouraged the rapporteurs to continue in their roles, to maintain dialogue with executive service leads during the important period of transition and provide feedback to Committee Members as appropriate.

DECISION MADE:

That the updates from rapporteurs be noted.

To consider a report on current scrutiny priorities based on information provided by all O&S bodies across the BCP area - circulated at 8.

The Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Specialist introduced a report which  gave an overview of the current and recent scrutiny priorities across the BCP area. The Committee had requested each of the O&S bodies of the preceding authorities to provide a report on activity within their own area of work. These reports were set out in Appendices 1a – 1j.

The O&S Specialist explained that the Committee’s role was to co-ordinate the information provided by the O&S bodies and pass this to the new BCP O&S function to inform its work programming and training plan. There was an opportunity for Members to comment on what they considered to be immediate priorities for the new O&S function. The O&S Specialist highlighted a number of issues for the Committee’s consideration, including its own ‘long list’ of items, and the specific list of reports and associated timescales for children’s and adult services. There were a number of recurring themes which featured in different appendices and Members may wish to consider whether these should be prioritised. The Committee was referred in particular to the statutory crime and disorder scrutiny function, the budget/Medium Term Financial Plan (including training needs), corporate asset investment and management, and housing related strategies. Members might also wish to consider recommending a risk focussed approach to setting future scrutiny priorities, in light of the Committee’s successful use of this tool in agreeing its own programme of work.

Members highlighted the following points for further  consideration during a comprehensive discussion on the report:

• The future of adult social care funding would continue to be a key issue for scrutiny.
• An early piece of work for BCP Council which was not included on the priority list was the proposed review of governance arrangements for the virtual school. It was noted that the revised arrangements had to be implemented by Autumn 2019.
• The importance of support for carers - but in particular the support services provided for young carers and the opportunities to bring together examples of best practice under the new BCP Council.
• The need to maintain awareness of the changing landscape for health services (CSR) and its impact on children and young people, especially in mental health provision.
• The need to ensure that items currently dealt with through different mechanisms in preceding authorities (e.g. corporate governance) were assigned to the most  appropriate function in the BCP Council. Members understanding of the different roles played by O&S and Audit, and the need to avoid duplication of work across these bodies was raised.
• The role of the Council in supporting foster carers to navigate HMRC’s Making Tax Digital programme.
• The new O&S function may wish to prioritise scrutiny items which could achieve ‘quick wins’ and give local residents a degree of confidence in BCP Council, such as the items already suggested in the headline reports on customer services and the formation of one Local Plan.
• An alternative view was that priority should be given to high  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

The Committee is asked to consider and approve its forward plan – circulated at 9.

In their considerations, Members will also be asked to take account of any additions to the Shadow Executive Forward Plan of Key Decisions, and whether scrutiny is required.  This is available to view at the following link:

https://moderngov.bcpshadowauthority.com/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=138&RD=0&bcr=1

The Overview and Scrutiny Specialist advised the Committee that a copy of its Forward Plan would be passed to the new O&S Board, to ensure that any remaining items were not lost during transition. She reiterated the Chairman’s comments regarding the ongoing role of the rapporteurs in keeping up momentum between now and the first meetings of the new O&S bodies in June.

The Chairman closed the meeting by offering his sincere thanks to all Members and officers across the BCP area who had been involved in supporting the work of the O&S Committee during its lifespan.

The meeting finished at 7.25pm.