Venue: Council Chamber, Fourth Floor, Easthampstead House, Bracknell
Contact: Katharine Simpson 01344 352308
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Apologies for Absence/Substitute Members To receive apologies for absence and to note the attendance of any substitute members. Minutes: The Commission noted the attendance of the following substitute member:
Councillor Mrs McCracken for Councillor Baily |
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Minutes and Matters Arising PDF 97 KB To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 5 September 2013. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission held on 5 September 2013 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Matters Arising
· Collection of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 payments were monitored by Corporate Finance. Once CIL payments had been implemented the Council had a statutory duty to publish an annual report detailing its collection · A report on work to brand Bracknell as a place to do business had been delayed because of timing issues. The report on Public Participation in Overview and Scrutiny had been delayed due to a desire to gain wider member input into the review |
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Declarations of Interest and Party Whip Members are requested to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interest, including the existence and nature of the Party Whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.
Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an affected interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.
Minutes: Councillor Mrs Birch declared a personal interest in that she was the spouse of the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing
Councillor Mrs McCracken declared a personal interest in that she was the spouse of the Executive Member for Culture, Corporate Services and Public Protection. |
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Urgent Items of Business Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman decides are urgent. Minutes: There were no urgent items of business. |
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Public Participation To receive submissions from members of the public which have been submitted in advance in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny. Minutes: There were no representations submitted under the public participation scheme. |
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Customer and Contact Channel Strategy PDF 175 KB To receive an update on progress in delivering the Council’s Customer and Contact Channel Strategy. Bobby Mulheir, Chief Officer: Customer Services, will be present. Minutes: Bobby Mulheir, Chief Officer: Customer Services, presented a report providing an update on the progress being made to implement the Customer Contact and Channel Strategy. The report included a summary of key achievements, future plans and development areas.
It was reported that the redevelopment of the Council’s website been well received and it was one of only a handful of Council websites nationally to achieve a SOCITIM four star rating. The website had also received accreditation for its accessibility from the Shaw Trust for a second year. There were on average 34,000 unique visits made to the website on a weekly basis. Regular surveys of visitors to the site were conducted and 46% of those using it were local residents, a figure that was 10% higher than that achieved by other local authority websites.
Work was taking place to replace the Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) system. Once replaced the Council would have the ability to enable the residents to create customer accounts so that they could log and track their own cases on-line. Work was also taking place to facilitate and improve online booking facilities for a range of Council services.
Arising from Members’ questions and comments the following points were noted:
The Commission thanked Bobby Mulheir for her update.
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Information and Communications Technology Strategy PDF 276 KB To receive an update on the implementation of the Information and Communications Technology Strategy. Pat Keane, Chief Information Officer, will be present. Minutes: The Chief Information Officer presented a report providing an update on the implementation of the ICT Strategy Action Plan.
It was reported that in July 2013, the Government had placed an obligation on all local authorities to comply with the Public Service Network Code of Connection (PSNCoCo) and this had had a significant impact on the resources of the IT Services Team as they worked to ensure that the Council’s networks were fully compliant. It had also necessitated the issuing of secure Council laptops to those Home Flex staff who currently accessed the network using their own equipment. Arising from members’ questions and comments the following points were noted:
The Commission thanked Pat Keane for his update.
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Office Accommodation Strategy PDF 86 KB To receive an update on the progress in delivering the Office Accommodation Strategy. Joan Lindsay, Project Manager, will be present. Minutes: The Executive Member for Transformation and Finance presented a report providing an update on the work taking place to implement the Office Accommodation Strategy. The report outlined the progress made against the 2011 Strategy recommendations and an overview of the current status of the changes to services, working practices and the building estate.
Work to improve Time Square, to accommodate 170 additional staff, was running to schedule and was on budget. Anecdotal evidence suggested that all staff who were benefitting from the refurbished offices were satisfied with the moving process and were happy with the updated facilities. It was clarified that the final desk ratio for flexible staff of 5:4 was the ratio that would be achieved once all the moves had been completed and this would be monitored to ensure that the ratio remained.
Members commended the work of officers overseeing the implementation of the Strategy.
The Commission noted the report. |
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Review of Delegated Authorities PDF 50 KB To consider the Executive’s response to the report of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission’s Working Group which reviewed the scheme of delegation and the extent of powers delegated to officers. Additional documents: Minutes: The Commission received a report setting out the Executive’s response to the Review of Delegated Authorities carried out by a Working Group of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission.
The Commission was informed that the Working Group had concluded that the Council had sound, well understood arrangements in place for delegated authorities. Arrangements which achieved an appropriate balance between the Executive taking responsibility and empowering officers to carry out their duties. It was reported that Executive had agreed all the recommendations proposed by the Working Group.
The Working Group’s Lead Member and the Executive member for Corporate services and public Protection thanked all the members and officers who had been involved with the review for their input and support.
The Commission noted the report. |
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Executive Forward Plan PDF 59 KB Forthcoming items on the Executive Forward Plan of a corporate nature are attached for consideration. Additional documents: Minutes: The Commission received, and noted, a report summarising the Executive Key and Non-Key decisions relating to corporate issues. |
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Corporate Performance Overview Report 2013/14 PDF 1 MB To consider the Chief Executive’s Corporate Performance Overview Report for the first quarter (April to June) of 2013/14.
The Chairman has asked that any detailed questions arising from the report should be referred to the Assistant Chief Executive or the relevant departmental staff in advance and only raised in the meeting if you consider the issue requires wider discussion. Minutes: The Commission considered the Corporate Performance Overview Report detailing Council performance during the first quarter of the 2013/14 financial year (April to June 2013). Arising from Member’s questions and comments the following points were noted:
The Commission noted the report. |
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Quarterly Service Reports 2013/14 PDF 319 KB To consider the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the Quarterly Service Reports for the second quarter (July to September) of 2013/14 relating to:
· The Chief Executive’s Office · The Corporate Services Department
Please bring the previously circulated Quarterly Service Reports to the meeting. Copies are available on request and attached to this agenda if viewed online.
The Chairman has asked that any questions arising from the reports should be referred to either the Assistant Chief Executive or Director of Corporate Services in advance and only raised in the meeting if you consider the issue requires wider discussion.
Additional documents: Minutes: The Commission considered the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the Quarterly Service Reports for the second quarter of 2013/14 (July to September) relating to the Chief Executive’s Office and the Corporate Services Department and the following points were noted:
Chief Executive’s Office
Corporate Services
The Commission noted the report. |
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Work Programme Update and Panel Activity Update PDF 41 KB To note the progress against the Overview and Scrutiny work programme for 2013-14, and the reports of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairmen on each Panel’s progress against the work programme. Minutes: The Commission received a report providing an update on Overview and Scrutiny activity contained within the work programme since its last meeting.
It was noted that the Health Panel’s Working Group on the Francis Report had just completed its review and the report and recommendations would be going through the appropriate approvals process in due course.
It was acknowledged that it would be useful for all Commission Members to receive more in-depth updates on the work of the various Overview and Scrutiny Panels and it was suggested that web-links to Panel minutes be included in future reports. |