Meeting documents
Finance and Best Value Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Thursday, 17th January 2008
Present
Chair
CM Teggin
Councillors
SA Brown, FM Doyle, DM Elderton, J Hale, AER Jones, ED Prout
Index to Minutes
- Minute 51 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
- Minute 52 - MINUTES
- Minute 53 - FINANCIAL MONITORING STATEMENT
- Minute 54 - MONITORING REPORTS
- Minute 55 - FINANCIAL MONITORING SUMMARY
- Minute 56 - CAPITAL MONITORING SUMMARY
- Minute 57 - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING SUMMARY
- Minute 58 - DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
- Minute 59 - COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT - BENEFITS
- Minute 60 - PROJECTED BUDGET
- Minute 61 - LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE
Minute 51 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
Minute Text :
Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were. Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.
The Chair, Councillor Chris Teggin declared his prejudicial interest in agenda item 10 (Local Housing Allowance) by virtue of him being a private sector landlord (see minute 61 post).
Minute 52 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
The Chair referred to minute 36 (2) (Projected Budget 2008/2011 - 13 November 2007) and indicated that it had been the wish of the Committee that Chief Officers be requested to identify Service Re-engineering efficiency savings as a matter of urgency, in order for them to be fully considered by Overview and Scrutiny Committees in the 2008 cycle of meetings, prior to their consideration by the Cabinet.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That, subject to the comments of the Chair, the minutes of the meetings held on 13 November and 11 December 2007, having been received or approved by the Council, be received.
Minute 53 - FINANCIAL MONITORING STATEMENT
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance provided a summary in tabular format of the current position of the Authority revenue accounts and General Fund balances as at 30 November 2007. The monitoring statement was based upon the information provided within the departmental financial monitoring reports and was updated and submitted to each meeting of the Committee. It included the composition of the original 2007/2008 budget by department including agreed Service Re-Engineering (SRE) savings, other savings and policy options; monitoring against the 2007/2008 budget including the financial implications of any decisions by Cabinet; anticipated variance against the original budget; and an explanation of variances and areas identified as requiring further attention.
He reported that the effect of decisions taken by the Cabinet had been to increase the projected balances at 31 March 2008 from £4.5m to £7m. He reported that departmental financial projections indicated an overspend of £1.2m, which would reduce balances from £7m to £5.8m. He commented also that the Director of Adult Social Services, following discussions with the Primary Care Trust (PCT) reported to this Committee on 11 December 2007, now anticipated that the departmental overspend projections could be reduced by around £1.3m. A meeting was to be held with the PCT to establish the extent of the contribution to costs. The Director commented also that a further more detailed report would be presented to the Audit and Risk Management Committee in relation to out of area PCT debt.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the contents of the financial monitoring statement be noted.
(2) That a further update be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.
Minute 54 - MONITORING REPORTS
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance presented monitoring reports in relation to : -
(a) General Financial Matters - information on the money market key indicators, current interest rates, the Council cash position, the position regarding Council Tax, National Non Domestic Rate, general debt and cash income collection and the payment of Benefits. In response to a comment from a member with regard to the total amount of outstanding sundry debtors, the Director indicated that the amount of £21,189,137 at 30 November 2007 was largely attributable to increased Adult Social Services billing that had not yet been paid.
(b) Finance Department Financial Monitoring - one of a series of reports submitted throughout the year to highlight the financial performance of the Finance Department.
(c) Treasury Management Financial Monitoring - one of a series of reports submitted throughout the year to highlight the financial performance of Treasury Management. In response to a question from a member, the Director outlined the budget variations, which had resulted in an underspend of £2.1m in 2007/2008.
(d) Corporate Risk and Insurance Management - information on progress made in corporate risk and insurance management against the objectives for those services, and anticipated developments in the coming months.
(e) Finance Department Second Quarter 2007/2008 Performance Monitoring - In response to a comment from a member on the need to ensure that invoices for goods and services were paid within 30 days of being received by the Authority, the Director confirmed that underperformance was largely attributable to schools. A letter had been sent to schools reminding them of their obligation, including during school holidays, and would in future be sent earlier to mitigate any possible impact.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the monitoring reports be noted.
Minute 55 - FINANCIAL MONITORING SUMMARY
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance presented one of a series of reports submitted throughout the year, which presented an overview of the financial performance of the Council. He provided details of the Current Budget, which reflected decisions of the Council and variations to reflect the final levies and the re-allocation of central and departmental recharges to reflect the agreed savings in departmental budgets. Each Chief Officer had provided a financial monitoring report, which set out progress on the implementation of policy options, the delivery of savings and the delivery of service re-engineering (SRE) savings. More detailed reports had been presented to relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees. The Director reported the impact of Cabinet decisions and highlighted the issues in those areas of the budget that were identified as key risks in delivering the objectives of Departments within the available resources. All were subject to closer monitoring because of the volatile nature of either demand or cost, or because in recent years there had been pressures in keeping to the agreed budget. In response to a comment from a member in relation to the Regeneration Department outstanding SRE balance of £594,000, the Director confirmed that an external consultants' report regarding Cultural Services provision was still awaited.
The Director provided a summary of the overall implications for the General Fund and he commented that the General Fund balances at 31 March 2008, based upon the latest projections and having regard to an anticipated payment from the Primary Care Trust (PCT), were £7.1m. He reported also that the Director of Adult Social Services had subsequently reported that the overspend of £3.3m may be reduced to below £2m following discussions with the PCT. He commented that efforts continued to be made to contain the projected variances within the approved budget and the Projected Budget 2008/2011 assumed this to be the case.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 56 - CAPITAL MONITORING SUMMARY
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance provided an update on the progress being made in delivering the capital programme for 2007/2008. He outlined the impact of Cabinet decisions and indicated that the latest forecast position was £78,950,000 compared to an originally approved programme of £79,474,000. However, it did not currently reflect the equal pay capitalisation directive that Wirral was granted by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 28 September 2007, which would be incorporated into the programme along with its associated funding when final costs were known.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 57 - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING SUMMARY
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance provided members with an update on the progress being made by Chief Officers in achieving the total service re-engineering savings of £5,350,000 contained within the budget for 2007/2008. Of this, £1.6m had still to be identified and whilst those for Children & Young People were likely to be met from ‘one-off’ measures, those for Adult Social Services and Regeneration were unlikely to be achieved according to the relevant Chief Officers. The Director indicated that of the total sum, £1.2m represented an allocation for re-investment into services and, of that, £90,000 was still to be allocated.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That Members note that the recommendation presented to the Cabinet on 10 January 2008 was that the outstanding savings target of £1.6 million be identified.
(2) That Chief Officers be requested to identify outstanding Service Re-engineering savings as a matter of urgency.
Minute 58 - DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported upon the extension of functionality to the Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) system, Documentum, which had been selected by Fujitsu Services as their solution during the core IT Systems procurement exercise in respect of the Council's requirement for an Electronic Social Care Records (ESCR) solution, web site publishing and the foundation of the generic document store and EDRM system. The Director outlined the new functionality of the system and indicated that the cost of the software modules and licenses of £133,000 plus annual charges of £25,200 would be financed from the IT Reserve and IT budget
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the extension of functionality to the Electronic Document Management (EDRM) system, Documentum, by the purchase of additional software modules and licenses at a cost of £133,000 be noted.
Minute 59 - COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT - BENEFITS
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported that since 2002, as a part of the CPA process, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) had undertaken improvement reporting on the Housing and Council Tax Benefit Service on an annual basis, the aim being to identify changes in service delivery since the initial assessment and assess current levels of performance. He outlined the 'Performance Standards' used by the BFI and commented that for the first three years the Benefits Service secured the top CPA score of 4 "excellent". However, last year the service was assessed as “good” and scored 3, solely due to the area of Appeals handling timescales on Supporting People issues, which affected overall response times in this area of the service. He commented that there had been significant changes to the Performance Measures, each essentially applying a ‘harder test’ in several areas, which the Authority had met.
The Director indicated that the result of the 2007 review against the standards was a combined overall score of 4 "excellent", which showed that the service achieved a top score of 4 in all four measured areas of Claims Administration, Security, User Focus and Resource Management. The Director referred to the challenges for Wirral in the 2007/2008 assessment, particularly in relation to low returns nationally in relation to one of the measures, PM10 - the number of downward changes identified. Nevertheless, he proposed to ensure, as much as was possible, that performance in other areas was maintained at previous levels to reflect the ongoing high service standards.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report be noted.
(2) That the congratulations and appreciation of the Committee be accorded to all staff concerned with the improved Benefits Service CPA score.
Minute 60 - PROJECTED BUDGET
Minute Text :
In response to a question from a member in relation to the projected budget 2007/2008, the Director of Finance indicated that although additional resources of £3m had been identified in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, there remained a shortfall of approximately £3m, which was required in order to balance the budget. He commented that a further more detailed report would be presented to the next meeting of the Cabinet.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 61 - LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported that following a two year evaluation of pilots in some 18 local authorities nationwide, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had announced its intention to roll out the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to all authorities, effectively from 7 April 2008. He provided details of the LHA, which was a new way of calculating and paying Housing Benefit (HB) applicable only to tenants of private sector landlords which, significantly, would be paid directly to the tenant, unless the Authority was satisfied that the tenant was ‘vulnerable’, or where the tenant had arrears of more than eight weeks. In response to a question from a member as to the definition of 'vulnerable', the Director indicated that although detailed guidance was awaited from the DWP, it was expected that the definition would include both persons with learning difficulties as well as those people who were simply unable to cope with their own finances. Although the eight week rule in relation to arrears still applied, he confirmed that any debt owed in relation to the first eight weeks would be owed to the landlord by the tenant.
The ethos behind the scheme was to offer tenants more choice and to develop financial and budgeting skills and as such it had strong links to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Welfare to Work Campaign. Although the DWP had determined that the scheme would be introduced to all authorities from April 2008, it would be implemented on a ‘phased’ basis and run alongside the existing HB scheme. In practical terms this meant that Benefits processing staff would have to work with two different sets of rules and regulations for some time.
A dedicated project manager had been appointed who was working closely with other HB managers and staff and the Director outlined the planning and preparation work that had started in September, which would continue over the months leading to implementation. The LHA presented significant administrative challenges, particularly in relation to the question of 'vulnerability' and dealing with the potentially high volumes of requests to pay the landlord directly. The LHA was fundamentally different from the current HB scheme and would also present challenges to service users and landlords as each familiarised themselves with the new scheme. He commented also that although the introduction of LHA was initially on a phased basis it was likely at some point that the DWP would want authorities to move remaining claims to the new scheme. However, no clear indication had yet been given with regard to timescales so it was difficult to accurately predict how the changes would impact on staff either from a complexity of duties view point or resource requirements. Nevertheless, there was a clear requirement for staff to be trained in both the legislation and the system changes and the Director outlined the arrangements that had been put in place. He reported that an administration grant would be paid to assist local authorities with initial implementation, which would largely be based on caseload and caseload makeup. Wirral's allocation was £306,090 and would allow the recruitment and training of new starters and provide the resource to adequately train current staff in the tight timescale provided. It would also be used for the cost of forms being changed and publicity. In response to a further comment from a member, the Director agreed to provide a briefing note for all members of the Council on the effects of the introduction of the LHA.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That Members note the major change to service delivery and be prepared for the increased constituent activity that this is likely to generate.
(2) That a briefing note be provided for all members of the Council on the effects of the introduction of the LHA.
Footnote :
Councillor C Teggin declared his prejudicial interest in this item, by virtue of him being a private sector landlord, and he left the room during its consideration. Vice-Chair Councillor F Doyle in the Chair.
(Minutes Published: 29 January 2008)