Agenda and minutes

There was one change of membership for this meeting: Councillor Jeffree replaced Councillor Stiff.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2023 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2023 were submitted and signed.

The following scrutiny committees and task groups have met since the last meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee

·      8 March 2023 – Finance Scrutiny Committee

Finance Scrutiny Committee had met on 8 March, the Chair, Councillor Turmaine provided an update to the committee. He reported that the committee had reviewed the final period of the year and the headlines were in line with what had been reported at Council. There had been some use of reserves for the revenue account and the capital accounts continued to be monitored.

Report of the Associate Director of Customer and Corporate Service, EPMO Coordinator, Executive Head of Human Resources and Business Intelligence Manager

The scrutiny committee received a report of the of the Associate Director of Customer and Corporate Service, EPMO Coordinator, Executive Head of Human Resources and Business Intelligence Manager.

The Director of Performance made a presentation to the committee providing key updates on the Council Plan, Delivery Plan and Organisational Development Strategy. 

Members discussed the following areas, with actions recorded as requested:

·            The council was disappointed not to have been successful in its bid to the Levelling Up Fund. It had been a lengthy and demanding piece of work and the process had been disappointing for Watford, and many other councils. The feedback from government on Watford’s submission had been very positive and there was a possibility of bidding in a third round; the council was waiting for guidance on government.

·            Certain services areas in local government faced recruitment difficulties, including planning and environmental health, but Watford remained in a strong position in terms of vacancies without significant gaps. Watford was an attractive place to work and there was an approach to grow talent internally, which was reflected in the forthcoming People Strategy.

·            Working with foodbanks on the cost of living crisis had highlighted that donations were down. They were entrepreneurial organisations who worked with businesses (such as supermarkets) to pick up and use unwanted food and goods.  Some had paid staff to help as well as volunteers but many were finding volunteers was becoming challenging. Foodbanks were being funded through the Watford allocation of Household Support Fund from central government and this was becoming increasingly important to their budgets.

·            There was not yet a communications plan aligned to the Customer Experience Strategy to enable residents to have appropriate expectations.  Officers agreed to provide an update.

The Business Intelligence Manager presented the Q3 performance indicators and details of the KPI review to the committee, identifying highlights and key areas of focus.

Members discussed the following areas, with actions recorded as requested:

·            The parking service was not concerned about the decrease in the number of penalty charge notices as it was within the normal range and was affected by a variety of factors. Officers agreed to confirm whether there had been any changes in staffing levels.

·            The number of outstanding invoices over 12 months had been outside the target due to three members of staff being on sickness absence. The staff members had returned and the backlog had been addressed so that the level of outstanding invoices had reduced to 8.25%, which was within target.

·            The write-off of outstanding invoices was a strict process requiring sign off from the S151 officer.

·            The percentage of staff who had undertaken their performance development review had been reviewed and was now 75.9%. This excluded staff who were not eligible for PDRs due to being temporary staff or on maternity leave. 

·            While the percentage of return-to-work interviews that had been completed remained below target, a change was being introduced to increase visibility of this indicator and it was hoped this would improve the figures. 

·            The percentage  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report and consider whether any further information is required.

The scrutiny committee was invited to review the current Executive Decision Progress Report for 2022/23 and consider whether any further information was required.

RESOLVED –

that the current 2022/23 Executive Decision Progress report be noted.

The committee to receive an update on the County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Osborn provided an update on the latest meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee. There had been two substantial items:

·               A positive update on maternity services at Lister hospital following an inadequate grading from the CQC grade.

·               A less encouraging update on A&E performance; while some statistics were improving there was a limited basis for comparison outside the local area.

RESOLVED –

that the update be noted.

The scrutiny committee is asked to review the current version of the work programme and consider any additional areas councillors wish to scrutinise in the forthcoming municipal year.

The committee reviewed the latest version of the work programme.  The committee were asked to contact officers with any suggestions for the new municipal year.

RESOLVED –

that the work programme be noted.

The Chair expressed his thanks to the committee for their work this year.