Decision – That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel held on 10 October 2019 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To receive and consider the report of the Director (Policy and Governance).

The Chair, Councillor John Walker, welcomed Chris Sinnott, Director (Policy & Governance) and Councillor Peter Wilson, Deputy Leader and Executive Member (Resources), to the meeting.

Rebecca Aziz-Brook, Transformation Programme Co-Ordinator, presented the report which provided contextual information with regards to the overall Directorate summary, the budget position and the key performance summary and key project update for 2019/20. The data within the report reflected the position in quarter two.

The directorate budget was currently underspending by just under £82k, creating a 1.7% variance against the original cash budget. The biggest underspend was in staffing due to an underspend of £50k as a result of sharing the Chief Executive post with South Ribble and an underspend of £40k from Shared Financial Services as a result of the vacant posts following the senior management restructure and review of the service. With regards to key performance information, overall of the 40 indicators 31 (78%) were performing on or above target, 3 (8%) were performing worse than target but within the threshold and 6 (14%) were performing below target.

It was noted that the Policy and Governance directorate will be responsible for some high-profile projects as part of next year’s corporate strategy delivery including renovation works at Astley Hall, the refresh of the Council’s website, delivering Shared Services, and delivery of sustainable public services and the green agenda, and Councillor Wilson praised officers leading on those projects.

Members queried where Shared Services was up to. It was noted that appointments to shared posts were made before Christmas which would go live from 1 April but were currently working in shadow form. Also from 1 April, staff would be transferred between South Ribble and Chorley, with the Finance, Transformation and Partnerships teams being employed by Chorley, and Communications and Visitor Economy, Democratic and Legal Services being employed by South Ribble.

In general, the employing Council would be the base for that team, however some site-dependent roles (e.g. Democratic Services) would transfer to South Ribble as their employer but would not move physically. Members were concerned that communication with officers would change and it was noted that this was likely; although staff from each team would be available at both sites, appointments might replace drop-in meetings.

Officers were currently concentrating on seating arrangements and ensuring access to systems, but a larger piece of work was underway to align terms and conditions and it was noted that a full reviews of services and likely restructures would take place after 1 April. In response to Members’ queries regarding the TUPE protection period, it was noted that no protection period is needed until there is significant business reason to change terms and conditions and only one intended measure was being implemented at this stage; a change in date for salary payments.

With regards to involvement of the unions, Members noted that officers had been meeting on a monthly basis with South Ribble’s Unison branch and that Chorley’s Unison branch had recently agreed to re-engage with the process. Pay scales were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.OSP.27

To consider and receive the report of the Director (Policy and Governance).

The Performance Panel considered a monitoring report from the Director (Policy and Governance) which was presented at the Executive Cabinet on 14 November 2019. Rebecca Aziz-Brook, Transformation Programme Co-Ordinator, advised that the report set out the performance against the delivery of the Corporate Strategy and key performance indicators during the second quarter of 2019/20, 1 July to 30 September 2019.

Overall, performance of key projects was excellent, with 11 (92%) of the projects rated as green or complete and one (8%) project currently rated as amber with the action plan for this project contained within the report. In response to Members’ queries, it was noted that the outline proposal for Shady Lane was being reconsidered but progress was expected this year.

Performance of the Corporate Strategy indicators and key service delivery measures was also excellent with 100% of Corporate Strategy measures and 88% of key service delivery measures performing on or above target or within the 5% threshold. It was noted that those indicators performing below target had action plans outlined with measures to improve performance.

Members queried the missed bin performance, and it was noted this was largely down to the changes to the collection rounds and use of agency staff. Financial deductions were now being made from FCC’s monthly contract payments for failing to meet agreed standards, and FCC were recruiting more permanent staff. In response to Members’ questions it was advised that a missed bin collection reported on non-collection day would not count in these figures, and that technology to confirm whether a bin had been put out was now in place and would be used once the issues with existing rounds had been resolved.

Members discussed the 2019 Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) update released by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government. It was noted that the overall message for Chorley was positive with the borough now less deprived than it was in 2015, but that Chorley North East and Coppull did not follow this trend and were more deprived. Members queried how this was being addressed and it was noted that the issues were very complex and, as they were difficult to address directly, more emphasis was being placed on prioritising these areas when planning community engagement.

Decision – That the report be noted.