Apologies for absence were received from Councillors R Abbey and M McLaughlin.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda no later than when the item is reached.

Members are reminded that they should also declare whether they are subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered at this meeting and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

No declarations of interest were received.

To approve the accuracy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 January 2014 and the Minutes of the Special meetings of the Committee held on 5 and 27 February 2014.  (Attached)

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 15 January 2014 be confirmed as a correct record;

(2)  the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 5 February 2014 be confirmed as a correct record; and

(3)  subject to 2014 being amended to 2013 in the second paragraph of the Summary of Cabinet Member, Councillor Tony Smith, the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27 February 2014 be confirmed as a correct record.

The following Notice of Motion was submitted for the Council meeting held on 10 March 2014 in accordance with Standing Order No. 7(1).  The Mayor having considered this motion, in accordance with Standing Order No. 7(4) referred it to this Committee.

Proposed by Councillor Phil Davies

Seconded by Councillor Ann McLachlan

Council congratulates the Labour Administration on its prudent financial management of the Council which has enabled Council Tax to be frozen for the next 2 years.

At the same time, Labour has delivered a new house-building programme, help for the unemployed through the Reachout programme and financial assistance for community groups under the ‘Love Wirral’ initiative together with many other progressive policies.

This has been achieved despite the Government’s draconian cuts to Wirral’s budget.

The following Notice of Motion had been submitted for the Council meeting held on 10 March 2014 in accordance with Standing Order No. 7(1).  The Mayor had considered this motion, in accordance with Standing Order No. 7(4) and referred it to the Committee.

Proposed by Councillor Phil Davies

Seconded by Councillor Ann McLachlan

Council congratulates the Labour Administration on its prudent financial management of the Council which has enabled Council Tax to be frozen for the next 2 years.

At the same time, Labour has delivered a new house-building programme, help for the unemployed through the Reachout Programme and financial assistance for community groups under the ‘Love Wirral’ initiative together with many other progressive policies.

This has been achieved despite the Government’s draconian cuts to Wirral’s budget.

RESOLVED:

That the Motion set out above be noted.

Report of the Head of Communications and Community Engagement. 

The Principal Economic Officer presented a report by the Head of Communications and Community Engagement which updated the Committee on the Council’s Public Service Transformation initiative. Members were asked to comment on the latest developments and proposed activity as the project work streams moved into implementation from April 2014.

The report informed of the Council’s role in the Public Service Transformation (PST) Network.  The Committee noted that Public Service Transformation aimed to build on the opportunities created by Community Budgets around the country, leading to more joint working and shared services and a new way for local public service providers to work together to meet local needs. The Community Budgets Pilots, initially launched in 2011, aimed to encourage public service partners to share budgets, improving outcomes for local people and reducing duplication and waste in order to:

·  make better use of their resources by establishing joint budgets and sharing local knowledge, community assets and voluntary effort;

·  flex central rules and regulations so local partners could provide better services that suit their area;

·  give people greater control over their local public services; and

·  establish local partnership and governance arrangements to create a unified approach.

The Committee was informed that during 2012, four areas in England (Cheshire West, Essex, Greater Manchester, and in London the Tri-borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster) had begun piloting Community Budgets as a mechanism for tackling some of their biggest local challenges, from domestic violence to skills and employment. In each of those four localities, public services, business and the voluntary sector had been working together to develop new joint responses to those challenges.

The Committee was also informed that building on this approach, in July 2013, the Government had announced that Wirral was one of the nine new areas that had been selected to be part of the Public Services Transformation Network as set out below:

·  Bath and North East Somerset

·  Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset

·  Hampshire

·  Lewisham, Lambeth and Southwark

·  Sheffield

·  Surrey

·  Swindon

·  the West London Alliance (Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and

Hounslow)

·  Wirral

Members noted that the Council’s broad approach to the Public Sector Transformation initiative was set out within the Joint Statement of Intent (JSI), attached to the report as Appendix 1.  Members also noted that Wirral’s Public Service Board (PSB) was providing the overarching direction for Public Sector Transformation activity, and partners had now developed a number of work streams as part of this.

A key point to note was that the PST initiative was one strand within a number of wider transformational initiatives for Wirral.  Members noted that the work stream projects outlined in the report would have a very specific focus on one strand of activity, but clearly there was also a range of related projects and delivery taking place across all public service agencies.

The Committee noted that Wirral’s JSI set out a focus on a number of priority themes, each with a specific work stream focus.  Each work stream had a project lead and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report of the Head of Business Processes.

A report by the Head of Business Process updated Members on the latest information on the introduction of Universal Credit in Wirral and nationally as part of the Government’s Welfare Reform Programme.

The Head of Business Process informed that roll-outs to date had been confined to limited eligibility criteria claimants. This had been new claimants who were Single, Fit for work with no children, without housing costs and without savings in excess of £6,000.

Members asked the Head of Business Process if he was anticipating any problems.  He responded that the (DWP) for Works and Pensions had learnt from issues of the past when implementing major change using pilots.  It was being careful as it moved people and benefits together.  However, the sheer volume may bring with it its own problems.

Members raised concerns that there were people who were socially isolated in their own homes with no access to IT.  They anticipated that there would be difficulties and it was expected that the most vulnerable people would suffer.  Therefore, Members informed that they intended to keep a close eye on the situation.

People could access IT in the One Stop Shops and the Head of Business Process informed that he intended to discuss the level of support the Council was expected to provide with colleagues at the DWP.  The level of support provided would depend on what the DWP’s expectations and the funding it agreed to provide.  The voluntary sector would also have a role to play by providing advice etc.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance.

A report by the Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance outlined the process currently being undertaken to develop a Joint Health Scrutiny Protocol/Arrangements covering the Cheshire and Merseyside area pursuant to The Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013 (”Regulations”). 

A copy of the draft protocol was attached to the report at Appendix 1 for Members’ information.  The Protocol responded to a requirement set out in Regulations and provided a vehicle for establishing Joint Health Scrutiny Committees with the other authorities in the Cheshire and Merseyside area as the need arose.

The requisite changes required to the Council’s Constitution were attached to the report at Appendix 2 for Members’ information.

Additional clarifications in respect of the Protocol for the establishment of joint health scrutiny arrangements for Cheshire and Merseyside were attached to the report at Appendix 3 for Members’ information.

It was reported that since the publication of the committee papers, the protocol had been subject to a final amendment, prior to approval by all nine Cheshire and Merseyside authorities as follows:

A Joint Committee would be composed of Councillors from each of the participating authorities within Cheshire and Merseyside in the following ways:

·  where four or more local authorities deem the proposed change to be substantial, each authority will nominate two elected Members

·  where three or less local authorities deem the proposed change to be substantial, then each participating authority will nominate three elected Members.

(Note: In making their nominations, each participating authority would be asked to ensure that their representatives had the experience and expertise to contribute effectively to a health scrutiny process.)

Councillor P Glasman declared a non pecuniary interest in this item of business by virtue of her being on the Board of the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

The Committee discussed its need to maintain its own independent view and referred to Clatterbridge Hospital as an example as it was in the Council’s administrative area.  The Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance informed that the Council would still have its arrangements in place to review issues at the local level.

The Head of Legal and Member Services informed the Committee that it was not expected that there would be any more changes to the Protocol at this time whilst the nine participating authorities were going through the process of agreeing it.  However, it would be kept under regular review and there could be future amendments to ensure that it was working effectively.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the draft Protocol for the Establishment of Joint Health Scrutiny arrangements for Cheshire and Merseyside set out in Appendix 1 to the report be endorsed;

(2)  the Protocol for the Establishment of Joint Health Scrutiny Arrangements for Cheshire and Merseyside set out Appendix 1 to the report be recommended to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

Report of the Director of Public Health and Head of Policy and Performance.

A report (Appendix 1) by the Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance updated Members on the current performance of the Council against the delivery of the Corporate Plan (as at 28 February 2014).  The report translated the priorities set out in the Corporate Plan into a coherent and measurable set of performance outcome measures and targets. Of these there were 5 measures where the outcome metric was under design or due to report at the end of the year.  A commentary was provided against these. Members were requested to consider the details of the report and highlight any issues.

Attached to the Director’s report for Members’ information were:

·  Appendix 2 – Percentage of Adult Care Packages supported by Direct Debit

·  Appendix 3 – Exception reports/Action Plans for Permanent admissions of older people (aged 65 and over) to residential and nursing care homes, per 100,000 population.

Of the 24 measures that were RAG rated, 19 were rated green, 3 were rated amber and 2 were rated red.  The 2 measures rated red had action plans (Appendix 2 and 3) which refer to:

·  Permanent admissions of older people (aged 65 and over) to residential and nursing care homes, per 100,000 population

·    Percentage Adult Care Packages supported by Direct Debit

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the information contained in the report be used to inform the Committee’s future Work Programme; and

(2)  the Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance be requested to provide all Members of the Committee with written explanation of the first sentence on page 94 on the agenda.

Report of the Strategic Director – Transformation and Resources.  This report was considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 13 March 2014.

A Report by the Director of Resources detailed the Monitoring position for Month 10 (ending 31 January 2014).  Appended to the report were the Revenue Monitoring and Capital Monitoring reports for the same period.

The Committee noted, in particular, that Month 10 shows a projected General Fund under spend of £966,000 (compared to the month 9 position of a £982,000 under spend).  A number of departmental under spends had been earmarked against ongoing or emerging financial issues.  An allocation of £1.6 million against the £2 million savings profiling account (page 7 of the Budget Book and Forecasts 2013-16) was assumed.

A Member queried whether a contribution to the £250,000 cost to the Council of clearing up and making repairs to the infrastructure, following exceptional weather conditions experienced in Wirral in December 2014 had been received from the Government.  The Head of Business Process informed that he would look in to this and circulate the relevant information on this to all Members of the Committee after the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet’s recommendations as set out in the two reports be noted.

[Following the meeting Members were informed that the Council had received a £20,000 Government grant to support businesses but was not eligible for any funding from the Environment Agency for coast protection works or the Department for Communities and Local Government for highways infrastructure costs.]

Report of the Director of Public Health/Head of Policy and Performance.

A report by the Head of Policy and Performance/Director of Public Health set out a number of potential work themes for Task and Finish work for the Committee to consider.  This was in response to a request at the last meeting of the Committee and followed a recommendation from a Task and Finish Group convened in Autumn 2013, for the Committee to consider practical pieces of work that could be delivered to support the wider Scrutiny Work Programme.

There were a number of areas where Members of the Committee could undertake pieces of work to support the wider Scrutiny Work Programme and assist in the continued improvement of the Council’s scrutiny function.  These were as follows:

·  Review the content of the wider Scrutiny Work Programme. 

This could be undertaken to ensure that the programme aligned with the Council’s Corporate Plan to determine if there were any obvious gaps.  There would also be an opportunity to consider topical issues to ensure the programme reflected current public concerns.  On a practical level, there would also be an opportunity to review the availability and use of Member and Officer capacity to best prioritise the items proposed for the Work Programme.

·  Undertake Quality Assurance of the Reviews completed by all Policy and Performance Committees. 

This would provide a means to highlight and promote good practice with a view to this being replicated consistently for future pieces of work.  This would provide an opportunity to explore the best approaches to gathering evidence, engaging stakeholders and the public as well as bench-marking activity against other local authorities.

·  Review the consistency of developing recommendations. 

This would provide an opportunity to look at standardising the format of scrutiny review recommendations so they were specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely (SMART).  This would support improvement through more effective monitoring of the impact of scrutiny, demonstrating the value added.

·  Review how Constituency Committee decision-making is scrutinised. 

As more decision-making was devolved to Constituency Committees, there would need to be appropriate checks and balances to ensure robust processes were in place.  A task and finish group could be established to examine how the relationship between scrutiny and Constituency Committees should be developed.

The Vice-Chair reported that certain Members had worked extremely hard during the year and had undertaken a tremendous amount of scrutiny work.  He thanked the Members and Officers who had put the time and effort in and drew attention to the fact that all the recommendations put forward by the Committee had been taken on board by the Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

That Members be requested to consider the Task and Finish work themes set out above for potential inclusion in the Committee’s work programme in the new Municipal Year.

Report of the Chair attached.

A report by the Chair of the Committee updated Members on progress made in delivering its Work Programme and the wider Scrutiny Work Programme including the activities of the other three Policy and Performance Committees.  The report also included a section on tracking recommendations from previous Scrutiny Reviews in line with Members’ requesting a framework for regular monitoring and reporting.

The Work Programme for the Committee had been included as Appendix 1 to the report and set out a summary of the progress made.  Other Appendices attached to the report included:

·  Appendix 2 – Work Programme of Families and Wellbeing Committee

·  Appendix 3 – Work Programme of Regeneration and Environment Committee

·  Appendix 4 – Work Programme of Transformation and Resources Committees

·  Appendix 5 – Note from progress review meeting with the Policy and Performance Committee Chairs / Vice Chairs.

The Vice-Chair informed that he considered that the Scrutiny function had improved in the last year and this had been helped by the cross party work that had been carried out in Task and Finish Groups.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the progress in delivering the Work Programme of this Committee and that of the other three Policy and Performance Committees be reviewed; and

(2)  the Committee consider the note from the meeting of the Policy and Performance Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs and make any relevant observations and recommendations to inform the development of the Scrutiny Work Programme in the new Municipal Year.

The Chair reminded Members that this was the last meeting of this Committee in the 2013/14 Municipal Year.  He thanked Members and Officers for their continued support which he greatly appreciated.