Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr A A J Adams and Mrs J A Brunner.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 29 January 2018).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

(previously circulated)

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 6 December 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Board was asked to consider the findings from the Overview and Scrutiny Panels' discussions of the 2018/19 Budget proposals and agree the comments for Cabinet to consider at its meeting on 8 February 2018. 

The Leader attended the Board on 4 October 2017 to outline the Cabinet's approach to the budget process for 2018/19.  Arising from this, the Board agreed to take a different approach to budget scrutiny to that used in recent years, when a Task Group had reviewed the emerging proposals.

This year, in November the Overview and Scrutiny Panels and the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) examined revised budget estimates for the current financial year to understand the challenges faced by services and identify where there may be issues for the draft budget for 2018/19. During the January meetings the Panels and HOSC then looked at the draft Budget.  The comments arising from these meetings were circulated with the Agenda.

Members said that they would like to put on record their gratitude to the Cabinet Members for their increased levels of engagement during the process and hoped that this would serve as a benchmark for future budget scrutiny exercises.

There was, however, concern that a substantial amount of the information presented to the Scrutiny Panels related to the overall Budget for the Council. The Panels wanted to look specifically at budget detail for 2018/19 alongside figures for 2017/18. This would have enabled some comparison and avoided some time spent during the meetings seeking clarification and explanation.

Moving forward, in light of these concerns, the Board wished to establish a continuous approach to Budget Scrutiny throughout the year and would:

1.     request quarterly reports on: budgeted spend to date; actual spend to date; variance to date on each budget head to enable each Panel to keep a track of its budget, retain their understanding building up competence and to become aware of any developing issues.

2.     like all Panels to have access to 8 items of data to carry out effective Scrutiny:

                              (i)        The Governments announcements (acknowledging that these changed)

                             (ii)        Headline assumptions

                            (iii)        Accounting methodologies

                           (iv)        Current forecast activity levels

                            (v)        Existing assumptions and reform plans

                           (vi)        The Budget Book

                          (vii)        The existing previous year's Medium Term Financial Plan

                        (viii)        Risk assessments

3. want a focus on outcomes.

The specific Panel comments which would be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration were:

(i)       Adult Care and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Panel andHealth Overview and Scrutiny Committee

It was agreed that given the overlap between the Adult Care and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Panel) and HOSC, Budget Scrutiny for these bodies would be carried out jointly.  The feedback from the Panel and HOSC Members who took part in these discussions was that it had worked well.

As a result of the discussions, the following comments were made: 

• The Panel and HOSC considered that every opportunity should be taken to communicate honestly with communities and all levels of Government about the challenges being faced in adult social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1018.

The Board was asked to consider a scrutiny proposal to look at the provision of overnight unit-based short breaks for children with disabilities.

At its meeting on 14 December 2017 Cabinet considered a report which sought agreement to the launch of a consultation with families, professionals and other stakeholders, on the future delivery of overnight unit-based short breaks in Worcestershire for overnight short break provision.

Cabinet agreed to the consultation and to delegate the final decision to the CMR for Children and Families to be implemented by the Director of Children, Families and Communities.

Since the decision, members of the public and Councillors had expressed concern about the proposals.  It was therefore proposed that a Scrutiny Task Group should be set up to look at the proposals in tandem with the consultation process to check that the decision being made using relevant information and can be seen to be transparent.

The Scrutiny would need to be carried out quickly as the Council's Consultation closed on 19 February.

The Board approved the proposal and agreed that the Task Group would be led by Councillor Oborski with the terms of reference to scrutinise the proposals for changes including the potential impact across all overnight short break provision for children with disabilities.  Through carrying out this exercise, Scrutiny may also comment on the consultation process.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for Children and Families would be looking to make the CMR decision in March.

Abbey Bridge

It was agreed that the Chairman (and couple of other Councillors) would carry out a short scrutiny looking at lessons learned from Evesham Abbey Bridge project delays ensuring that links were made with the Audit and Governance Committee to avoid duplication.

A scrutiny proposal confirming the terms of reference would be considered at the next Board meeting.

Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel

The Chairman of the Panel advised that in addition to the Scrutiny of overnight short breaks for children with disabilities the Panel would like to carry out a Scrutiny to look at the relationship between the Family Front Door and schools.

At its February meeting, the Panel were considering educational outcomes for 2017 and an update on Children's Centres.

The Chairmen of the Adult and Children's Panels were carrying out some Scrutiny looking at the transition service from children to adulthood and were now focusing on the experiences of those who attended mainstream schools.

Corporate and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel

The Chairman advised that at its March meeting the Panel would be looking at Councillor ICT which had been deferred from its November and January meetings.

Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC)

At its January meeting, the Committee received an update on the progress of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership and the CQC requirements for improvement.  The Committee were pleased to note that the Trust's recent inspection had shown signs of improvement. Quality of Acute Hospital Services was also discussed.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioners Proposal to take on Governance of Shropshire and Hereford & Worcestershire Fire and Rescue Services

It was noted that the results of the independent assessment of the proposal by Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) were awaited.