MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE AUDIT AND PERFORMANCE COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON TUESDAY, 16 JANUARY 2007 COMMENCING AT 6.00 PM

Present:

Cllrs Anne Bishop (Chairman), Ivan Bulwer, Mike Cunningham, Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond, Barbara Foster, Susan Scoccia

Also in attendance:

Cllrs Barry Abraham, George Brown, Dawn Cousins, Tim Hunter-Henderson, Geoff Lumley, Erica Oulton, Andy Sutton, Ian Ward, Colin West, Jilly Wood

Officers Present:

Steve Beynon, Chris Bentley, Julia Corkey, Stuart Love, Heidi Marshall, Sarah Mitchell, Ged Richardson, Derek Rowell, Claire Shand, Bob Streets, April West, Paul Wilkinson

51. MINUTES

RESOLVED :

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2006 be confirmed.

52. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

53. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

There were no public questions.

54. QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REPORT – SECOND QUARTER

The Committee had deferred this item from the last meeting in order to suggest some revisions to the format of the information provided by the CorVu system.

The Chief Financial Officer provided some background information regarding Service Boards, which informed the budget setting process. Members were advised that the total projected overspend at year end was £199,000.

The committee conducted a rigorous and detailed investigation of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), inviting Cabinet Members and Directors to respond to queries raised.

Cllr Barry Abraham, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities and Fire and Rescue Modernisation

Members raised concerns about the violent crimes target and were advised that this was currently under negotiation. Members also questioned the forecast for criminal damage and the Youth Justice System. The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that there

was a data capture problem with both of these issues, although the year end target was considered acceptable.

The Committee noted that number of False Alarms for the Fire Service was high, although it was anticipated that this would be reduced in the future. Members noted that the Fire Service could impose a charge for false alarms, but such a measure might result in alarms being switched off, which was an unacceptable risk.

Cllr Dawn Cousins, Cabinet Member for Island Health and Community Wellbeing

The Cabinet Member was questioned about the high cost and number of Looked After Children in agency and residential placements. The Committee was advised that a capacity issue existed on the Island, which meant that the majority of Looked After Children were placed on the mainland.

Members noted that whilst figures for homelessness had fallen significantly, and staff should be congratulated for their efforts, there was always more work to be done due to housing pressures on the Island.

The Committee raised concerns about the number of delayed discharges from hospital, which had exceeded target. The Cabinet Member advised that weekly meetings were held with health partners to discuss difficulties, and additional social workers had been recruited to deal with the unexpected high level of admissions just after Christmas.

Members were also asked to note that there had been a significant reduction in the Safeguarding Children grant, and a reluctance of some of the Council’s partners to contribute.

Cllr Ian Ward, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport

The Cabinet Member was questioned about the nil return on enforcement actions during August and September 2006. The Committee was advised that an enforcement protocol with timescales was currently being developed with the Head of Planning Services. It was noted that the KPI only referred to legal enforcement issues and there were no further enforcement indicators.

Members raised concerns about the number of affordable housing units provided by the private sector during the year and were informed that some sites were below the qualifying threshold of 14 units. Following discussion about the data provided, the Committee suggested that future reports should only include sites of over 14 units which would enable a direct comparison of sites and the number of affordable housing units provided. Members were also advised that the new Cabinet Member responsible for Housing, Cllr George Brown, was currently developing a new Housing Strategy.

With regard to the number of bus journeys made Members asked what proportion had been undertaken by Wightbus. The Cabinet Member offered to collate and circulate this information.

The Committee also asked for more information about the criteria of for the urgent repairs to the Highways indicator and the Cabinet Member agreed to obtain the information and circulate to Members. It was also suggested that more indicators should be included in future reports regarding Category A and B roads and pavements.

Members noted that the Island was one of the leading authorities in the country for diverting waste from landfill and also congratulated the Cabinet Member on the levels of parking income.

Cllr Jilly Wood, Cabinet Member for Resources and Town/Parish Council Empowerment

Members noted that although the Corporate Performance Assessment had raised concerns about the Council’s control measures, no data was shown. The Cabinet Member advised that significant progress had been made and data would be included on the next report.

The sickness absence KPI’s were discussed and because this was a priority issue for the Council, Members suggested that additional comment should be included where unusual or special circumstances existed. The Cabinet Member agreed to address this for the next report.

With regard to the data collected on correspondence response times, the Committee suggested that information regarding the Island’s MP should be streamlined. Concerns were also raised about the number of outstanding complaints to the Council, which were not resolved at stage one and two.

Members noted that the contingency for Land Charges Income was no longer required, but had been used to fund other expenditure pressures. Following a query about the reasons behind the contingency fund, the Committee was advised that a declining trend of income had been identified over a two year period at the time the budget was set. It was therefore considered prudent to establish a contingency against a continuing trend.

Members noted delays in payment on new RA claims and heard that this was due to a resource issue, which enabled only one cheque run each week.

Cllr Patrick Joyce, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Learning and Deputy Leader

The Director responded to the Committee’s questions in the Cabinet Member’s absence.

Members questioned the number of authorised absences from secondary schools and were advised that this was currently under investigation with Head-teachers and School Governing bodies. No change had been made by Government regarding exclusions and the Committee was informed that the Council’s powers would be used to issue warnings to governing bodies where necessary.

The Committee asked whether the indicators were the most valid for measuring improvement in the service and Members were advised that a number of indicators measuring the performance of schools would be added to future reports.

Cllr Tim Hunter-Henderson, Cabinet Member for The Economy, The Customer, Communications, Leisure and Tourism

The Committee asked for an explanation of the Business Transformation Unit and following discussion requested that the number of ‘spend to save’ efficiency savings be identified in future reports.

Issues surrounding the Council’s media coverage were discussed and Members were advised that the current indicators and targets were currently being streamlined. The Committee was advised that media coverage had a huge impact on the Council’s funding streams and it was therefore important that the Council’s reputation with residents was improved. The Committee was informed that work was currently being undertaken with the County Press to improve local media coverage.

Concerns were raised about the target for ICT Service up time and whether sufficient capacity existed to support realistic targets.

Members discussed the value of on online bookings achieved for the new accommodation system and were advised that it was anticipated that almost all accommodation suppliers would sign up eventually, resulting in a system that would be self-financing.

RESOLVED:

(a) THAT housing issues be attributed to Cllr George Brown on future reports.

(b) THAT a copy of the planning enforcement protocol be circulated to the Committee when it was finalised.

(c) THAT statistics for affordable housing only include sites of 14 units or more on future reports.

(d) THAT information regarding the proportion of bus journeys carried out by Wightbus be circulated to the Committee.

(e) THAT the criteria for calculating urgent repairs on highways be circulated to the Committee.

(f) THAT KPI’s for category A and B roads and pavement repairs were included in future reports.

(g) THAT sickness absence reports should provide more comment as background information on the next report.

(h) THAT the amount of indicators for the MP’s correspondence be streamlined for future reports.

(i) THAT KPI’s referring to school performance be added to the next report.

(j) THAT the proportion of ‘spend to save’ efficiency savings are shown under the Business Transformation Unit information.

(k) THAT the KPI’s for media coverage are reviewed and reduced in number.

(l) THAT the remainder of the report be noted.

55. MEMBERS QUESTION TIME

There were no questions presented.

CHAIRMAN