Meeting documents
Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Wednesday, 19th September 2007
Present
Chair
Mrs CM Meaden
Councillors
L Fraser, D Hawkins, CM Teggin, Mrs K Wood
Deputy
A Taylor (for Cllr PM Southwood)
Cabinet member
SA Holbrook
Apologies
IM Moon
Index to Minutes
- Minute 12 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
- Minute 13 - MINUTES
- Minute 14 - COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2007-08
- Minute 15 - PRESENTATION ON COMMUNICATIONS
- Minute 16 - FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE MONITORING REPORT - APRIL/JUNE 2007-2008
- Minute 17 - CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT - FINANCIAL MONITORING
- Minute 18 - CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT - CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING
- Minute 19 - PROPOSED SAVINGS
Minute 12 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Minute Text :
Members of the Committee were requested to declare any interest they had, either personal or prejudicial, in any of the items on the agenda. No such declarations were made.
Minute 13 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
Members were requested to receive the minutes of the meting held on 6 June 2007, which had been received or approved by the Council on 16 July 2007. Members referred to the decision of the Committee (minute 11 (Coroner's Service) refers), which requested that a further more detailed report be presented to a future meeting with regard to expenditure on the Coroner's Service. The Director indicated that the overspend was referred to in his First Quarter Performance Monitoring Report (see minute 16 post) and he assured Members that the report requested would be presented to the next meeting of the Committee.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 June 2007, having been received by the Council on 16 July, 2007, be received.
Minute 14 - COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2007-08
Minute Text :
Further to minute 5 (6 June 2007), the Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Services reported that officers had discussed how the Committee's work programme might better be developed and implemented. He set out areas the Committee may wish to focus upon within Communications, Staff Retention and Accommodation Strategy and Asset Management.
Members expressed their support with regard to the issues to be focused upon under each general heading. However, with regard to staff retention, members expressed the view that the work programme should also include issues in relation to the effects on staff arising from sickness related absence. In response to a comment from a member with regard to the loss of key staff to other employers following The Open Championship, the Head of Tourism and Marketing reported that a number of employees had retired since The Open, but she was not aware of a loss of staff to other employers. However, there had been some collaborative work undertaken with Sefton MBC in relation to next years Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, which would benefit Wirral and allow marketing opportunities.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the amended work programme be agreed, subject to the Accommodation Strategy and Asset Management being brought forward to the next meeting, with Staff Retention to meeting thereafter.
(2) That a sub-group of party spokespersons be convened to consider priority issues, in relation to the Accommodation Strategy and Asset Management, prior to the next meeting of the Committee.
Minute 15 - PRESENTATION ON COMMUNICATIONS
Minute Text :
In accordance with the work programme agreed by the Committee, the Head of Tourism and Marketing gave a presentation in relation to Communications, and with particular emphasis on the work and function of the Tourism and Marketing Division. She referred to the corporate objectives and to the emphasis placed on communication of the Council's key priorities. Key to effective communication was media relations and she commented that the Press Office managed that relationship by way of a 24 hour service, clearance of press releases, statements and comments, and the targeting of positive stories at specific media on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Although Members were not subject to the requirements placed on staff, she set out the merits of the briefing service provided by the Press Office that was available to Members who had media contact. The Press Office had been awarded third place in the LGA reputation awards in 2006, and in order to ensure that its high standards were maintained, performance was continually monitored.
She referred also to corporate branding guidelines that had been distributed to all departments and outlined current activity to ensure that the brand was applied appropriately. Work had been undertaken with departmental management teams to more effectively programme and prioritise marketing activity and an Internal Communications Strategy was being developed with HR in order to better engage with staff. Although future challenges would be largely influenced by resource issues, she stressed that the challenge could be met through smarter and more targeted use of existing resources, and spend being based on Council priorities. Key to effective use of resources was the centralisation of marketing budgets and staff, and the creation through restructure of a central marketing team. She commented also that improved, co-ordinated communications combined with Member and senior management support would contribute to improved services and to improved CPA scores. In response to comments from Members, the Head of Tourism and Marketing referred also to the marketing activities currently being undertaken to encourage visitors to Wirral, including recent successes in attracting visitors from visiting cruise ships.
The Cabinet Member supported the centralisation of marketing, and commented that consideration should also be given to the centralisation of other functions across the authority, including Human Resources, which could benefit from being brought to the corporate centre.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the Head of Tourism and Marketing be thanked for her detailed presentation.
(2) That a more detailed report on the centralisation of the marketing function be presented to the next meeting of the Committee.
Minute 16 - FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE MONITORING REPORT - APRIL/JUNE 2007-2008
Minute Text :
The Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Services provided members with an overview of performance, at the first quarter, of those indicators that were reported for the Corporate Policy, Human Resources, Legal & Member Services and Transformational Change sections of the Corporate Services Department. He set out also summary financial information and commented that his report was intended to draw attention to areas of over/under performance, by exception.
A member referred to the overspend in the Coroner's Service budget as a result of an increase in the number of post mortems being undertaken, and the effect of the overspend on the Corporate Services budget. Clarification was also sought with regard to increases in insurance and pay, and a view was expressed that the Coroner should be answerable to the Committee in certain respects. The Director indicated that the reason for the overspend by the Coroner's Service was beyond the Council's control, and the service was currently costing more than the available budget, which had not kept up with inflation.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That performance at the first quarter be noted.
(2) That a further, more detailed report be presented to the next meeting of the Committee setting out Wirral's expenditure on a Coroner's Service in context with other authorities' expenditure around the country and providing also a detailed breakdown of expenditure and funding requirements.
Minute 17 - CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT - FINANCIAL MONITORING
Minute Text :
The Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Services reported upon the financial performance of the Corporate Services Department. A net underspend in 2006/2007 of £545,545 within Corporate Services was mainly attributable to the underspend of £437,300 on the Deferred Charges budget held within Strategic Development. However, there was a corresponding budget held elsewhere within the Council, which produced a neutral effect overall. He commented also that the Coroner’s Service overspend of £113,791 was contained within the overall Corporate Services budget due to corresponding savings made elsewhere within the budget.
The approved Corporate Services budget for 2007/2008 was £6,131,000 and the Director set out progress on the implementation of policy options, the delivery of savings, and the delivery of service re-engineering savings. The areas of the budget that had been identified as key risks in delivering the objectives of the department within the available resources were in relation to the disposal of land element of the Asset Management budget and Coroner's Service, both of which were subject to closer monitoring.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report be noted.
(2) That a further report be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.
Minute 18 - CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT - CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING
Minute Text :
The Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Services reported upon progress in relation to the Corporate Services Capital Programme, which was formulated and planned on a three year basis within the Council's Capital Strategy. He provided details of the outturn for 2006/2007, which, due in part to slippage, had resulted in an underspend of £1,646,745. The revised programme for 2007/2008 was £3,933,055 and the Director reported upon progress and set out the current three year forecast.
The Corporate Services Capital Programme was based upon resources expected from Central Government, the use of reserves and assumed the use of capital receipts generated from the sale of assets. Chief Officers were responsible for ensuring that their expenditure had been incurred on projects within the approved capital programme, and the Director confirmed that all expenditure detailed in his report was approved. Chief Officers, in consultation with the Director of Finance, were responsible for reporting all variations on capital schemes to the Cabinet, and the Director was not currently aware of any likely overspend or underspend.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the report be noted.
(2) That a further report be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.
Minute 19 - PROPOSED SAVINGS
Minute Text :
The Deputy Chief Executive/Director of Corporate Services submitted minute 203 (Cabinet - 6 September 2007), which proposed a number of savings for consideration by the Council in October. The Leader of the Council had requested that the savings be considered by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee prior to the Council.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the savings proposed by the Cabinet falling within the remit of this Committee be endorsed.
(Minutes Published: 26 September 2007)