Quality &Performance Scrutiny Committee 26th January 2004

Action Sheet

Present

Members: Councillors Dawson (Chair),Jolley, Boyd, Hincks, Memory, B. Lea, Dobbs, E. Burgoyne, and Garrido.

Officers: Russell Bernstein, Peter Kidd.

Apologies: Councillor Slater.

ITEM / ACTION REQUIRED / RESPONSIBLE
MEMBER / OFFICER / TIMESCALE
Action Sheet & matters arising / The timing of the meeting and the listing on the remembrancer, should be reconciled.
The lack of progress of the e-surgeries pilot which was due to start in January was raised this was to be followed up by Scrutiny Support.
Professor Stephen Leach was introduced to the meeting he is carrying out a piece of work for the Council evaluation the Overview and Scrutiny function. This will be reported back to members for information on completion. / Peter Kidd
Peter Kidd
Peter Kidd / Done
Done
To be timetabled
Forward Plan / Several comments were made about the quality of information on the Forward Plan. These were sufficient to request the presence of the monitoring officer in March to discuss the issues raised, a fuller brief will be prepared based on comments to facilitate a response.
Councillor Boyd raised a query on debt write-off, the rising number of absconders and the potential double impact of arrears and the reduction in RSG from the loss to population. He asked whether the Lead Member is aware and whether there are any underlying causes, further information was requested.
Members requested further information on the use of agency staff and associated costs. Russell informed the Committee a Management Support project looking at this issue had begun and its outcome will be fed back to this committee. / Peter Kidd /
Alan Eastwood
Peter Kidd / Geoff Topping
Peter Kidd / 22nd March meeting
Done
To be scheduled
Commercial Rent Debt a report presented by Geoff Topping / Follows on from a report in October 2003 when Members highlighted Commercial rent debt as an area of concern. The report analysed debt from September 2000 to Oct 2003 and confirmed outstanding debt was the lowest recorded (£81,000 less than the same time last year) since the Financial Support Group was established, The target reduction of 10% was exceeded by 2.5% and comparisons with other Greater Manchester Authorities of debt less than 30days old revealed Salford is near the best performer.
It was also pointed out that blocked accounts did not mean the recovery process had halted, but was continuing.
A query was raised as to whether the Council should consider charging interest on outstanding debt after a certain time.
Also if the Lead Member’s attention could be drawn at an early stage to single debtors above a threshold of say £20,000 and kept abreast of action taken. Scrutiny Support to follow up and report back. / Geoff Topping /
Alan Westwood.
Peter Kidd / As soon as possible report back outside the meeting
Local Public Sector Agreements a monitoring report presented by Lyndsey Priestley / An update on progress against Salford’s LPSA targets 5 are on track, 6 under performing and 1 is unable to be measured yet and is therefore unknown. Further actions were identified and set out in the report.
Members suggested a clearer reporting format might include a red amber green approach to target progress Members recognised the importance of these targets as they have significant financial implications. / Lyndsey Priestley / Further reports to be timetabled
Scrutiny of Services relating to Equalities, Community Cohesion and Social Inclusion. Presented by David Horsler. / Following on from the presentation in December 2003 David brought Hints and Tips for Scrutiny and Overview. This is a part of the work required for Salford to reach Level 1 (and eventually levels 2 & 3) of the Equality Standard for Local Government.
To progress against the Standard the Authority needs to mainstream issues of equality, cohesion and inclusion. In an attempt to devise a methodology to address any issue, which may affect disadvantaged groups adversely, these hints and tips are a start and contain questions that may help to decide any impact and whether more detailed questioning and specialist assistance would be needed.
Members appreciated this approach and observed it would be helpful to share this with community committees as well as Cabinet.
Demographic information by ward will also be very useful to assist with these issues. David will find out how this information is produced and when it will be completed.
The key to the progression is appropriate training for members which is being looked at and developed and will be included in the Training Strategy which will be reported back.
Also it would be appropriate to raise this issue with Scrutiny Chairs with a view as to how to ensure all Scrutiny Committees can adopt the methodology effectively. / David Horsler / Russell Bernstein / February / March
Mobile Phones –presented by Russell Bernstein / Russell gave a presentation on the background, progress and achievements of this committee with regard to mobile phones. Few authorities have looked at the issue in detail and none we are aware of have a corporate policy. All Directorates confirmed they are using the policy and Councillor Burgoyne will raise the adoption of criteria with New Prospect Housing.
Members asked to be kept informed by way of an annual update, which will link with the tendering process timetable. Members also asked if Scrutiny Support would check that the purchasing section were aware of the flexible reporting options that providers can deliver. This would allow for robust data collection and monitoring. / Russell Bernstein / Peter Kidd / To schedule annual report into workplan and share information with purchasing
Work programme / Members agreed this. - With the additions as follows
The rescheduling of the Quality of Life Survey and attempt to get the consultants to attend the appropriate meeting.
The March Pre-meeting Briefing to include updates on Job Evaluation and Car allowances.
Audit sub group action sheet to be available for February meeting. / Peter Kidd /
Russell Bernstein / To schedule

Chairman

/

Cllr J. Dawson

Assistant Director

/

Russell Bernstein

/ 0161 793 3530

Scrutiny Support Officer

/

Peter Kidd

/ 0161 793 3322

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Peter Kidd.

Date of next meeting: 23rd February 2004

1