Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Martins. 

Apologies had also been received from Councillor Dhindsa, Chair of Budget Panel and Councillor Counter, Chair of the Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel.

Councillor Hastrick informed the Scrutiny Committee that with reference to minute number 49, she was on Watford Community Housing Trust’s Board.  During the meeting, minute reference 43, she advised that she was on the Board of the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2013 to be submitted and signed. (All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2013 were submitted and signed.

To consider any Executive decisions which have been called in by the requisite number of Members.

No Executive decisions had been called in.

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the outstanding actions and questions from previous meetings.

The Scrutiny Committee received updates on questions and actions raised at previous meetings.

WP 8 – Provision of drug treatment in the Borough, all-Member briefing

Councillor Khan, Chair of the Community Safety Partnership Task Group, informed the Scrutiny Committee that the briefing had taken place the previous evening.  It had been a very good session with excellent speakers.  A breakdown of services provided in Watford had been explained to those present.  He said that it showed there was a good opportunity for partnership working.  Councillor Aron stated that she was aware that Spectrum approached local GP surgeries to work in partnership with them.

The Chair commented that Spectrum had been asked whether they could provide an information sheet.  Councillor Bell asked that the information was circulated to Members.

PR 7 – Update on Watford Muslim Community Project

Councillor Bell asked why Mr Yaqoob from the Watford Muslim Community Project had not been invited to the meeting.

The Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services informed the Scrutiny Committee that the organisation no longer existed.  Officers had contacted Mr Yaqoob after the report in the Watford Observer, as it contained a number of discrepancies from the information originally given.  No response had been received.  She advised Members that if they were aware of people having difficulty accessing their required services, Members should inform officers who would be able to indicate the appropriate support agency.  She added that within the latest update from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), residents from Pakistan were within the top five nationalities served by the organisation.  She believed the organisation had sufficient resources available within it to respond to residents’ enquiries.

In response to a further question from Councillor Bell, the Head of Corporate Strategy and Client Services advised that the Muslim Community Project had provided a premium service that catered for a specific part of the community.  The CAB, which provided services for the whole community, had increased its resources and additional rooms were available.  The number of ‘turnaways’ had reduced by 50%.  There was no evidence to indicate that there was a significant problem whereby people were unable to access services at the CAB.

Councillor Khan commented that there had been an increase in his own casework from West Watford residents.  He was aware that there had been a rush of people who had wanted help in order to meet the changes in citizenship rules at the end of October.  He understood that some people had approached an organisation in Vicarage Road who had charged £300 for advice and support.  It was possible to pay £50 to access a County Council-run immigration checking service.  He was able to report that the Muslim Community Project used to be able to give this type of advice to people.  The County Council had provided an excellent service at its Hatfield Office.  It had increased its capacity in order to meet the need.  He advised Members that the Muslim Community Project provided advice to all communities and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Report of the Director of Finance

This report provides an update on the revenues and benefits service and the current performance of the benefits service.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report of the Shared Director of Finance including the latest update on the performance of the benefits service.  The Shared Director of Finance advised that the report had originally been provided to Budget Panel in October, but had been updated for this meeting.

In response to a question about staff morale, the Portfolio Holder for Shared Services, Councillor Watkin, advised that the previous day he had visited the team.  He had felt there was a sense of building the team and there had been positive responses from those present.

Councillor Bell stated he had attended the Shared Services Joint Committee on 18 November where the Interim Head of Service had described the service as “fragile”.

The Interim Head of Revenues and Benefits again acknowledged that the service did not have full resilience.  The aim was for staff to be able to do the complete job and not just sections of it.  Once staff were able to carry out the full role they would be able to cover for members of the team who were away from the office.  There was training to be carried out.  Communication between teams was improving.  They discussed problems together.  He advised that his intention was to put the building blocks in place to make the service sustainable. 

Following further comments from Councillor Bell, the Interim Head of Revenues and Benefits explained that using off-site contractors was commonly used by local authorities during difficult periods.  It enabled staff to do their day to day work and Managers were able to think ahead and consider how to use their teams to their full advantage. 

The Interim Head of Revenues and Benefits stated that he was unable to comment on the situation prior to starting in the service in October.  He explained about local authority errors.  He said that local authority errors were an inevitable consequence from a complex system, but the service’s error rate had been too high.  The error rate had gone down within the last two weeks.

It was noted that in October the service had reached the target of 15 days for processing change in circumstance and had also achieved the target rate for processing new claims.

Councillor Khan referred to the overpayments, which were still outstanding from the previous three years. 

The Shared Director of Finance explained that all overpayments were passed to the Income Team and were classed as debtors to the Council.  The overpayment could either be recovered through ongoing benefit payments or other recovery methods, which included attachment of earnings.  Unless the overpayment was written off, it was expected the debt would be recovered over time.

Councillor Khan asked whether it was possible to identify the number of individuals who were required to repay benefit overpayments due to local authority error.  He also enquired whether it was possible to discover the impact on people who had been overpaid benefits.

The Shared Director of Finance explained that the Council did not monitor overpayments in that way  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head

This report presents an update on the council’s performance indicators at the end of quarter 2 (July-September) 2013/14.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head setting out the Council’s performance indicators and measures up to the end of quarter 2 2013/14.

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head commented that the report was smaller than in previous months due to a number of indicators being transferred to Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel.  She suggested that Members might wish to have an in depth look at some of the indicators.  It might also be possible to look at other information collected and consider whether the Scrutiny Committee wanted to receive more indicators.  She highlighted some of the under performing indicators.

CCS7 – Number of private sector units secured for use under Homelet

In response to a question from Councillor Greenslade, the Partnerships and Performance Section Head explained that the Housing Team was finding it hard to access private accommodation as the private rental sector was booming.  Landlords were able to pick who they wanted to let their property to.  The Team was working hard to secure private properties, however the accommodation was not always the type wanted by people as many preferred social housing.

HR1 – Sickness absence (working days lost)

Councillor Bell commented that Three Rivers District Council had the best sickness record in the county. 

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head informed the Scrutiny Committee that Watford Borough Council had a strict sickness reporting procedure.  In response to a question from Councillor Khan, the Partnerships and Performance Section Head advised that Human Resources were carrying out work to look at the reasons people were away from work.

CCS9 – CSC service levels – 80% calls answered in 20 seconds

Councillor Bell enquired whether the new voice activated system had made a difference to the service.

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head said that she was not aware of many complaints.  The response speed had increased.

Following comments about accuracy, the Committee and Scrutiny Officer suggested that if Members experienced any problems they should report them to the Customer Service Section Head.  She explained that it was possible to review calls to the Town Hall and hear the exact information requested by the caller.  The system could be adjusted to avoid the same problem re-occurring in the future. 

Councillor Johnson asked if officers could find out whether the average speed of response was recorded.

CS12 – Complaints resolved at stage one

Councillor Johnson referred to the number of complaints resolved at stage one of the process. 

It was suggested that it might be useful for the Scrutiny Committee to understand the complaints procedure.

The Scrutiny Committee agreed to review some of the performance data in more depth. 

RESOLVED –

1.      that the performance of the council’s performance measures for 2013/14 at the end of quarter 2 be noted.

2.      that the Scrutiny Committee’s comments be noted and additional information be prepared for future meetings.

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 received the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report 2013/14.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer informed Members that two items had been deleted from the list as the matters had been delayed for the foreseeable future. 

RESOLVED –

that the report be noted.

Councillor Martins, the Council’s appointed representative to the County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee to provide an update.

The Chair asked the Committee and Scrutiny Officer to contact Councillor Martins and request a short update for Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as he was not present at this meeting.

The report sets out the Task Group’s original recommendations, Cabinet’s response and an update provided by officers on the recommendations.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report setting out the Task Group’s original recommendations, Cabinet’s response and the latest update from officers.  Members noted that all recommendations had been implemented.

RESOLVED –

that the review update be noted.

The report sets out the Task Group’s original recommendations and Watford Community Housing Trust’s response.

The Scrutiny Committee received a report of the Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer including the initial response from the Chief Executive of the Watford Community Housing Trust.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer reminded Members that the Chief Executive would be attending the January meeting to provide a formal response and answer Members’ questions.  It was noted that the report would be presented to the Council’s Cabinet on 2 December 2013.

Councillor Khan, who had chaired the Task Group, said that this group had worked very well together.  He noted the Chief Executive’s comments but in his view there were still key problems.  There were still significant delays in answering telephone calls.

The Scrutiny Committee agreed to prepare some questions that would be put to the Chief Executive when she visited Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January.

RESOLVED –

1.      that Watford Community Housing Trust’s comments be noted.

2.      that Overview and Scrutiny Committee prepare questions for Watford Community Housing Trust’s Chief Executive’s visit to Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January.

Since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Budget Panel has met on the following occasion –

·               Tuesday 29 October 2013

The minutes are available on the Council’s website – www.watford.gov.uk/budgetscrutiny

The Chair of Budget Panel to provide an update to the Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Dhindsa, the Chair of Budget Panel, had provided a written update of the Scrutiny Panel’s meeting on Tuesday 26 November 2013.

The Scrutiny Committee noted the discussion that had taken place about the parking permit charges for 2014/15.  Members requested that the comparative data about the cost of permits, previously presented to Budget Panel, be circulated to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

It was noted that the minutes were available on the Council’s website and had been circulated separately to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel met on the following occasion –

·               Tuesday 19 November 2013

The minutes will be available on the Council’s website - http://watford.moderngov.co.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=223

The Chair of Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel to provide an update to the Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Counter, the Chair of Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel, had provided a written update of the Scrutiny Panel’s meeting on Tuesday 19 September 2013.

Members said that they were concerned whether the Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel was able to manage the workload.  They questioned whether there were sufficient meetings scheduled.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer reminded Members that if the Panel felt that additional meetings were required the Chair could approach Democratic Services and ask for an additional meeting.  There was also concern that the Panel comprised insufficient Members to carry out its work.  The Scrutiny Committee was advised that any changes to the Scrutiny Panel could be discussed by the Constitution Working Party.  The first step would be to inform the Head of Democracy and Governance of the Scrutiny Committee’s concerns.

It was noted that the minutes were available on the Council’s website and had been circulated separately to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Community Safety Partnership Task Group has met on the following occasion –

·               Monday 30 September 2013

The minutes are available on the Council’s website - http://watford.moderngov.co.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=209

The Chair of the Community Safety Partnership Task Group to provide an update to the Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Khan, the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership Task Group, referred members to the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 30 September 2013.

It was noted that the minutes were available on the Council’s website and had been circulated separately to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

·               Thursday 19 December 2013 (For call-in only)

·               Wednesday 22 January 2014

·               Thursday 6 February 2014 (For call-in only)

·               Thursday 19 December 2013 (For call-in only)

·               Wednesday 22 January 2014

·               Thursday 6 February 2014 (For call-in only)