Minutes for Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, Sep 3 2009, 10.00AM official page

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, Councillors Williams, Watson and Hughes declared personal interests in agenda number 5 (Prioritisation of Early Activities – Operation of Concessionary Fares Scheme) because they were each in receipt of concessionary fares on public bus transport, and withdrew from the meeting for the duration of the debate.

It was moved by Councillor Keeling, seconded by Councillor Biggs, and

  RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 July 2009 were correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

An opportunity for members of the public to ask a question or make a statement to the Committee.  (A period of ten minutes is allocated this purpose.)  Questions and statements to be received by the Monitoring Officer by 12.00 noon on Friday 28 August 2009.

No public questions or statements had been received in advance of this meeting.

Presentations:

• Budget Scrutiny Framework
• Communications
• Operation of the Concessionary Fares Scheme
• Enterprise Resource Planning & Shared Services

The Chairman reported that, on 24 September 2009, the Improvement and Development Agency had arranged a Work Programming day for all the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.  However, as it was considered this delayed the work of the Committee, the following four presentations provided Members with a example of future work.

·  Enterprise Resource Planning

·  Budget Scrutiny Framework

·  Communications Service

·  Concessionary Fares

The Corporate Director Corporate Support gave a presentation on the Transformation Programme – Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services.  The presentation included:

• What is an Enterprise Resource Planning system and why do we need one?
• What are “Shared Services”?
• Why do we need to implement Shared Services?
• Why should we implement Shared Services and Enterprise Resource Planning simultaneously?
• Linkage with Customer Services
• Indicative costs and benefits
• Indicative cost/benefit profile
• Funding options
• Decisions and plans
• Stakeholder engagement
• Governance
• Undertaking this Programme will require determination, energy, commitment, investment, strong leadership, tough decision making and rigorous programme management.

The Chairman thanked the Corporate Director for his presentation.  It was concluded that a Select Committee/Inquiry Day be arranged for Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members to feed fully into this issue, and it was agreed this was arranged for Friday 25 September 2009.

In general the Members supported the concept of Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services.  During the discussion, various issues were raised, including:

·  Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services was probably one of the most important issues for consideration over the next four years;

·  The Inquiry Day gave Members the opportunity to ask searching questions; and

• Concern was expressed over the impact this had for companies the Council currently procured goods/services from, if these were provided more competitively by other companies.  The Council needed to support the companies who had provided the goods/services in the past.

The Corporate Director considered Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services gave the Council the method of procuring goods/services successfully and re-assured Members that when the Procurement Team considered existing procurement within Departments, they attempted to encourage a consortia approach that enabled local businesses to compete.  He added that an element of Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services was to embrace more flexible working, such as working from home on some processes.

The Chairman suggested that Members forward their specific questions on Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services ahead of the Inquiry Day on 25 September 2009 to enable officers to prepare responses. 

It was moved by Councillor Keeling, seconded by Councillor Biggs, and

  RESOLVED that this Committee commissions a Select Committee/Inquiry Day to help inform recommendations regarding Enterprise Resource Planning and Shared Services.  A report of the outcomes to be brought back to the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee for further consideration and recommendations.

The Head of Finance gave a presentation about the 2010/11 Budget Process, which included:

• Financial Outlook;
• Principles Underpinning Scrutiny;
• Reasons for a Moderated Scrutiny Process for 2010/11;
• 2010/11 Corporate Business Plan Process for August/September, October/November and December onwards;
• Scrutiny’s role for the 2010/11 process;
• Scrutiny’s role in future years.

The Chairman thanked the Head of Finance for her presentation, and informed the Members that the Budget Framework outlined had been essentially Member led.  During the discussion, various issues were raised, including:

• There was a concern over the current economic climate and the impact of the poor weather during the summer had on income from, for example, car parks;

·  Inefficient processes that had been transferred from the former District Councils;

• The importance for Members to be given the opportunity to scrutinise the budget and make suggestions, and generally engage in the process.

The Head of Finance reported that officers hoped to set the 2010/11 budget earlier than in previous years, for example during January 2010, although there was leeway for this to slip to February if necessary.

It was moved by Councillor Keeling, seconded by Councillor Eva, and

  RESOLVED that this Committee notes and approves the Budget Scrutiny Framework to enable a robust and appropriate method of scrutiny mechanism to be in place to support financial arrangements.

The Head of Communications opened the presentation by giving an explanation of the officers’ roles within the Communications Service and the Service’s priorities.  The Media Relations Officer followed with some key facts about Media Relations and those objectives.  The Corporate Communications Manager for Internal Communications summarised the facts and objectives for internal communications, with the Corporate Reputation and Marketing Manager outlining the facts for Corporate reputation and marketing, with their objectives.  Finally, the External Communications Manager provided the facts and objectives for External Communications.  The Head of Communications concluded that there were three key areas for this Committee to consider, Internal communications, how to communicate with Members and Social Media.

The Chairman thanked the Communications Officers for their presentation.  He asked that a report be brought back to a future meeting of the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee covering the three key areas identified by the Head of Communications during her conclusion.

During the discussion, various issues were raised, including:

• A webpage for Members was requested, but needed to be supported with adequate training;

·  Correction was needed for the telephone directory removing the indication that some officers “Did not take direct calls”;

·  Work to personalise the website was necessary to enable people to access information specific to, for example, their area using the post code or their particular interests;

·  Further investigation was necessary to establish whether links could be provided to local planning decisions, enabling people to register to find out about specific planning decisions;

·  Further work was necessary regarding printing facilities and reducing costs, such as printing in black and white only and reducing the amount of paper used, e.g. for presentations;

·  Issuing key officers’ mobile numbers to Members was requested to enable contact when officers were away from their desks; and

• The emails Members received advising them of and linking them to Committee agendas was discussed, and it was agreed that the standard email linking to agendas needed to advise that hard copies of the papers were also being sent in the post.

It was moved by Councillor Keeling, seconded by Councillor Biggs, and

  RESOLVED that a further report be brought back to this Committee covering the following three key areas:

1. Internal communications;
2. How to communicate with Members; and
3. Social Media.

The Group Accountant – Forward Planning gave a presentation on the background to the Concessionary Fares scheme.  The presentation included:

• Background to the Scheme;
• Arrangements in Cornwall;
• Costs and Funding, including 2008/09 figures; and
• Points to consider.

The Chairman thanked the Group Accountant for the presentation, and added that the subsidies were proving to be value for money, although the Local Government Association was investigating the issue of concessionary fares nationally.  He asked for a report back on the Council’s response to the Local Government Association report.

The general consensus was that the Scheme was effective, and during the discussion, various issues were raised, including:

• There was concern about occasions when those in receipt of concessionary fares had been counted on a bus, but then asked to leave due to a lack of space for, for example, students, resulting in the bus company receiving funding for that untaken concessionary seat;

·  The Local Government Association appeared to be supportive of the scheme, especially with regard to its social impact;

·  There had been occasions when the bus companies had restricted certain services as a result of congestion issues – an issue that needed to be balanced in rural areas where there was the possibility of a reduction in the number of bus services should concessionary fares be removed;

·  The scheme had had some positive outcomes, such as some older people had sold their cars in favour of public transport, therefore, from an environmental perspective this was considered a good scheme;

·  However, there were issues where, for example, some small buses were difficult for those with restricted mobility to access, and, in some areas, the service had proved inadequate, therefore, excluding some people from the scheme; and

• In response to queries over whether the service was value for money, the Principal Public Transport Officer acknowledged there were occasions when the companies were being overpaid, however, generally the bus companies were investing profits back into the fleet, were extending services or buying new buses.  It was anticipated that, by 2015, all local buses in Cornwall would be accessible to everyone.

It was moved by Councillor Keeling, seconded by Councillor Biggs, and

  RESOLVED that the Council’s response to the Local Government Association report on the concessionary fares be brought back to this Committee in due course.

The Chairman observed that the resources issue of Affordable Housing featured in the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee Terms of Reference (Corporate Support).  However, the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee was holding a Joint Scrutiny Inquiry Day into the Affordable Housing PFI Bid on 14 September 2009, to which Members of this Committee had been invited.

The Policy Officer suggested the issue of the Affordable Housing PFI be reported to the Informal Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.  However, this was an item that could be included in the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s future work programme.  The Chairman agreed that PFI was an important issue for this Committee.

It was moved by Councillor Lugg, seconded by Councillor Eva, and

  RESOLVED that, subject to the outcome of the proposed Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee Affordable Housing PFI Bid Joint Scrutiny Inquiry Day and subsequent Cabinet meeting, the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee registers the possibility of incorporating relevant aspects of the above subject within its work programme either working independently or collaboratively as appropriate.

Report to follow.

Members are requested to bring their 12 August 2009 Cabinet papers for reference.

The Senior Policy Officer (Performance) reported on this item, which had been received by Cabinet on 12 August 2009, that identified the new Cornwall Council’s Revenue Budget position for the 2009/2010 financial year.  The Council’s Performance Management Framework was being revised, with this Committee’s core element being the Council’s performance management arrangements to scrutinise the effectiveness of the Cabinet’s responses to performance reports.  Scrutiny was also suggested to identify additional points of interest in monitoring reports to investigate, which was not required by the Cabinet.

The Head of Finance provided the summary of the overall budgetary position.  The main variations from the overall budget were identified as:

• Adult Care and Support: Learning Disabilities - £5.014m overspend;

·  Children, Schools and Families: Safeguarding & Specialist - £1.710m overspend; and

• Environment, Planning and Economy: Newquay Airport - £1m overspend.

The Head of Finance added that the Corporate Leadership Team was keen to ensure a balanced budget at the year end, and action plans were in place with robust action taken should no savings be made.

It was moved by Councillor Keeling, seconded by Councillor Biggs, and

  RESOLVED that the Council’s revised Performance Management Framework be received at the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee next meeting, for the purposes of providing input into the process of its revision.