Apologies were received from Councillor Hastrick.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2018 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2018  were submitted and signed.

A report of the Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications providing the panel with performance indicators for Q2 2018/19.

The panel received a report of the Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications.  The report provided the results for the key performance indicators identified for Watford Borough Council’s outsourced services for Quarter 2, 2018/19.

The Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications introduced the report.  She referred members to page 3 of the document explaining that there were a total of 37 indicators contained within the report.  She discussed the ‘customer first’ indicators and explained the following in respect of the four indicators below target :

·        Levels of detritus (indicator 10) – replacement sweepers had been brought in to operation that would make a real difference.  An improvement was anticipated in quarter three.

·        Levels of fly posting (indicator 12) – the target was extremely challenging and there was a consistent use of fly posting by a variety of businesses.

·        Membership of Watford Leisure Centre (indicator 15) – a significant process of refurbishment was being undertaken.

·        Number of ticketed performances at the Watford Colosseum - there was a need to focus on quality rather than quantity.

She then discussed the financial indicators and advised that the target for the ‘collection of National Non-Domestic Rates’ (indicator 25) would likely be met in quarter three. 

The Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications discussed staff indicators, and explained that it was disappointing that the ‘return to work interview carried out on time’ target (indicator 31) had not been met. There was no apparent reason for this as all managers were aware of the target. 

The Head of Service Transformation added that given the figures were represented in percentage terms (and that quarter two  would be expected to have lower levels of sickness) the 13% failure to meet the target could relate to only two or three missed return to work interviews.  Additionally, the return to work interviews were prioritised by managers for longer and more serious periods of sickness absence; so it was unlikely that the missed interviews corresponded to instances of sickness that would require a phased return or modifications to working practices.

Members felt that conducting return to work interviews was an important matter and that simply showing raw percentages did not indicate the full picture.  The Head of Corporate Strategy and Communications undertook to find out why the target had not been met and to include absolute numbers in future KPI reports (in addition to the percentages).

The Head of Service Transformation discussed the ICT indicators (numbers 33 to 37).  He explained that seeking improvement in performance was built in to the Amicus contract and that the council was now in a very different place from when the contract was originally tendered.  The present indicators were somewhat out of date relative to the progress that had been made and they needed to be refreshed. He advised that the Council needed to start to measure service success rather than just measuring how well the service responded to things going wrong; which was how the current indicator set operated. An example of this would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

A report of the Leisure and Environmental Services Section Head enclosing the annual report from HQ Theatres.

The panel received a report from the Head of Community and Environmental Services, requesting that members review the End of Year 7 report of the Watford Colosseum contract.  The Leisure and Community Contract Monitoring Officer introduced the report.  She then invited Mr Hargreaves and Ms Ditch to deliver their presentation.

Mr Hargreaves began by explaining that the HQ Theatres company was the second largest venue operator in the UK.  It managed ten contracts; mainly in the south east of England, with an eclectic group of venues.  The most recent acquisition was the Churchill Theatre in Bromley – which was now profit making.  He outlined the organisation’s management structure and how the leadership team provided strategic support to venues.  Each venue was led by a director and all venues were relevant for their local area.  The local management team was responsible for the manner in which the venue operated.

Mr Hargreaves went on to discuss how health and safety issues were managed across the company; including the development of an innovative portal available to all venues.  He explained how health and safety training was managed centrally in the organisation.  He discussed ticketing issues and how each venue had its own website for these purposes. 

He emphasised the importance of customer service and how staff were trained in these matters under a ‘Four Pillar’ programme.  He concluded by explaining how the company engaged in networking activities.  For example, HQ Theatres was a member of the UK Theatre Group and was involved in a security partnership across the sector.  In the future, the company would be looking to assist at other theatre locations.

Ms Ditch then gave the presentation.  She provided an overview of the annual report – including how the Colosseum had been utilised during the past year.  She went on to discuss social value and community impact initiatives, environmental and sustainability issues, future plans, benchmarking and improvement (and venue comparison), how the annual events programme was determined, pricing considerations, marketing strategy and effectiveness, and how the needs of audiences and the local community were met. 

Members discussed the provision of community shows at the Colosseum and Ms Ditch clarified that these had included events involving local dance schools, Jewish celebration days and Bollywood events.  She confirmed that the number of ethnic minority events had increased.

Members discussed an event held recently at the venue that had led to a demonstration taking place outside of the theatre.  Ms Ditch explained the process for booking the performer and the steps taken to ensure a safe event. Mr Hargreaves explained that the company may have made a misjudgement on this occasion – the Chair added that it was apparent that the theatre did all that was reasonable but with hindsight it may have adopted a different approach.

The panel turned discussions to the number of dark days at the Colosseum and whether these could be made available to community groups.  Mr Hargreaves explained that a sustainable model had to be found and that some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

RESOLVED –

that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) of the Act for the reasons stated on the agenda in terms of Schedule 12A.

The panel received Appendix 2 to the End of Year 7 report from HQ theatres that contained commercially sensitive information.  Members discussed the appendix and Mr Hargreaves and Ms Ditch responded to questions and comments.

At the conclusion, the Chair thanked Mr Hargreaves and Ms Ditch for their contribution to the meeting.

RESOLVED  –

that Appendix 2 to the report be noted.

                                                             Chair

                                                             Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel

  The meeting started at 7.00 p.m.

  and finished at 9.00 p.m.