Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: online

Contact: Alison Spall/Alyson Grice  Overview and Scrutiny Officers

Media

Items
No. Item

289.

Apologies and Welcome

Minutes:

The Chairman reported on a change to the membership of the Panel. He welcomed Councillor Liz Tucker who was joining the Panel, having been appointed to the role of Vice-Chairman.  Councillor Mary Rayner was no longer a member of the Panel. The Chairman thanked her for her support and the very positive and helpful contribution she made to the work of the Panel.

 

Apologies were received from Councillors Mr K D Daisley and Ms C M Stalker.

290.

Declarations of Interest and of any Party Whip

Minutes:

None

291.

Public Participation

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance 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 17 November 2020).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

Minutes:

None

292.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 September 2020 were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

293.

Performance, In-Year Budget Monitoring and 2021-22 Budget Scrutiny pdf icon PDF 234 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received details on the performance and financial information for services relating to Corporate and Communities for Quarter 2 (July to Sept 2020). In addition, details of emerging pressures and challenges for services, as identified by the Directorates for the 2021/22 Budget, were set out for Members consideration. The Strategic Director advised that in a few limited cases the figures included in the report had been for Quarter 1 rather than Quarter 2, due to pressures on staff and timing issues.

 

Performance Indicators

 

Sickness rates and trends

 

The Assistant Director of HR, OD and Engagement (Assistant Director) had been invited to provide an update on sickness figures and trends within the Council, and how these had had altered during the pandemic.  The Assistant Director gave a brief presentation (attached to these minutes) of the key figures relating to attendance management at work for Quarter 2 which showed that the total sickness level predicted at year end, based on quarter 2 figures, would be an average of 6.44 days per employee. This compared favourably to last year’s figure of 8.1 days.

 

The impact of COVID-19 would have had some impact on the movement of these figures, but the improvement had been very much part of an improving trend over the past few years. Three years ago, a target of 7 days per year was set and was now an achievable goal. The measures that had been put in place to achieve this were been based around a fundamental change to the approach for attendance management. Human Resources Managers had an increasingly proactive and preventative role and had made effective use of early intervention measures.

 

The Panel was informed that at the start of the pandemic the Council had received advice that up to 21% of the workforce could be affected by COVID-19 at any one time. The Assistant Director was pleased to report that this had not been the case due to the fact that the large majority of staff were able to work from home and for those who did need to work in Council premises, the buildings had been made COVID secure.

 

The Assistant Director reported that there had been regular communication with staff during the pandemic via briefings and updates from the Chief Executive, the Director of Public Health and himself. A dedicated Human Resources Guidance Team had dealt with day to day queries from employees and managers. Weekly update sessions had also taken place with the trade unions.

 

The most vulnerable staff had been identified at an early stage and following a detailed risk assessment had been given the extra support they needed. Mental health and well-being had been a key focus with a dedicated area on ‘Our Space’ with training and one to one counselling being provided where required.

 

Members raised a number of issues which the Assistant Director responded to:

·           In terms of remote working, staff had been supported with the provision of equipment to enable them to be able to work at home  ...  view the full minutes text for item 293.

294.

Update on Here2Help in response to COVID-19 pdf icon PDF 294 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel was provided with an update on the Council’s Here2Help response as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Assistant Director for Communities reminded the Panel that Here2Help was launched at the onset of the pandemic as a One Worcestershire community action response to support residents.  The service was designed to capture and co-ordinate offers of help from individuals and companies to help meet the demand from those having to self-isolate and/or who had additional needs as a result of the pandemic, which could not be met by family, friends or neighbours.

 

Originally, the demand on the service was very high, but during the summer as lockdown restrictions eased, plans were put in place to keep the Here2Help service operating at a lower level.  From 1 September, the Customer Service Contact Centre took over responsibility for telephone and case work and there was a period of transition, which included a team of 4 Well-being Advisers being seconded form Community First, bringing specialist knowledge with them. With the second lockdown commencing in early November, demand had sharply risen again with the requests for help in November equalling those received in August, September and October as a whole. The Panel was informed that library staff had been swiftly redeployed again to help with this additional demand. Offers of help from members of the public were still being received. Many volunteers had been utilised to help with food deliveries and to help administer flu clinics in GP surgeries, though some volunteers had yet to be deployed.

 

The Assistant Director advised that the Here2Help service had proved a valuable learning experience as to how communities and partners could work together to support residents across a range of areas of need. She explained that the experience and knowledge gained would be used to provide a foundation for an  Integrated Health and Well-being Hub Programme. The Hub Programme was to be developed with partners to develop positive outcomes for residents, with regards to their health and well-being needs. Members offered their praise and support for the service and expressed their hope that it could be taken forward in a positive way for the future. The CMR for Communities stressed the crucial importance of working closely with partners. She was currently working with other Cabinet Members in terms of how the service could be taken forward.

 

Members raised a number of issues as follows:

 

·           In response to a query regarding a lack of availability of supermarket online delivery slots for vulnerable residents, the Assistant Director advised that it was understood that this issue only related to one supermarket and that reassurance had been obtained that the matter was being resolved.

·           The Assistant Director explained that the Here2Help scheme was a multi-layered structure of partnerships, with offers of help being directed according to where a volunteer was able to offer support. For instance, if a volunteer wanted to work within a particular District Council area, then their details were forwarded to that Council for matching with local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 294.

295.

Corporate Redesign Programme Update pdf icon PDF 198 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received a report which provided an update on developments relating to the Corporate Redesign Programme. The Strategic Director reminded the Panel that a major reorganisation of the Council was commenced last year, with a strategic long-term view in mind and key aspects including restructuring, centralisation, digitalisation and the establishment of One Worcestershire. The work was to be largely managed internally to ensure that costs were kept to a minimum. Work on the Programme was in progress, for instance a new Director for People had been appointed and a number of Assistant Directors roles had been filled. With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in March, most of the corporate change activity had been paused to allow the Council to focus attention on its response on the day to day challenges of the pandemic.

 

The Assistant Director for Transformation and Commercial advised that since August, the Transformation Programmes Team had been able to focus on how small-scale changes to the following five initiatives could be taken forward to enhance efficiency, effectiveness and capability, without the need for major structural change:

 

·      Creation of a Centralised Transformation and Programmes Team

·      Development of a Category Led Commercial Team

·      Creation of a Centralised Business Support Function

·      Redesign of Human Resource (HR) services/operating model

·      People Directorate Operating Model Review

 

The Panel was informed that the projects were being led and delivered in-house using the resource and expertise available within the Transformation and Programmes function.

 

Members raised a number of issues which were responded to by the Strategic Director and the Assistant Director:

 

In terms of what had been achieved in response to the pandemic, the Panel was informed that having a single, significant challenge for the whole organisation to focus on and respond to, had changed working practices and removed many of the obstacles that might have come into play during ‘normal’ times. The strategic way of organising work environments and the use of online meetings had been crucial.

 

With the refocus and restarting of the work, the Strategic Director advised that the uncertainty and false starts had not helped matters, but that there had been a lot of work carried out on new ways of working. This all needed to be carefully managed and there was a clear understanding that working from home was not a viable option for some staff in the long run. The Assistant Director highlighted that the results of the recent staff survey were feeding into the workforce and property strategy. With regard to property, focus would be on not just the numbers of buildings, but also how the space within those buildings would be most effectively used. The Assistant Director added that the gold and silver command structure had worked well and encouraged the Chief Officer Group to establish quick wins, but also to be more ambitious supporting strategic long-term goals. The Chairman was pleased to learn of this agile working, with Officers feeling empowered to deliver increased productivity with a reduced level of bureaucracy. He hoped this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 295.

296.

Work Programme 2020-21 pdf icon PDF 132 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel reviewed its current work programme. The updates on Here2Help and the Corporate Redesign Programme, referred to earlier in the meeting, would be added to the programme.