Agenda and minutes

Councillors Doolan Perry and Debono (lateness)

None

Declarations of interest

 If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)  Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f)   Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 September 2016 be confirmed as a correct record of the proceedings and that the Chair be authorised to sign them

Quarter 1 Performance Report – Minute 261

The Chair stated that he had not received the information requested on the number of calls handled by Contact Islington and it was stated that this would be provided to him as soon as possible

The Chair outlined the procedure for Public questions and filming and recording of meetings

A Member of the Public enquired whether the Chair was happy with Member attendance at scrutiny review committee meetings. The Chair stated that he has been encouraging scrutiny work in alternative ways, rather than just gathering evidence at Committee meetings, and that in his view attendance was satisfactory, as evidenced by the large number of Members attending the meeting that evening

Revised Time of Meetings

The Chair stated that, in order to finish meetings at an earlier time, no later than 10.00p.m., he was proposing to commence future meetings of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee at 7.00p.m., rather than at 7.30 p.m., as at present, with effect from the 20 December meeting

Members of the Committee concurred with this proposal and the Chair stated that he would make the necessary arrangements with the Chief Whip.

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety was present for discussion of this item and made a presentation to the Committee theron.

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         The Executive Member is responsible for  Finance, Resources, Democratic Services, Customer Services, Performance, Transformation and Community Safety

·         There was a balanced budget delivered for 2015/16 and the annual accounts were signed off with no qualification or issues

·         The 2016/17 budget was agreed delivering a further £24 million savings, as a result of Government cuts, meaning that the Council has now had to, in response,  reduce the budget by £174million since 2010

·         Developed the Council’s budget strategy through the medium term financial forecast

·         Revenues and Benefits – maintained Council and Business Tax collection rates, generating over £130m of revenue for the Council

·         Collected almost £1m since September 2015 in backdated debt, through target project. In addition, implemented Council Tax Support scheme

·         Continued to run one of the best performing Housing Benefit administration services in London

·         Continued to fund the Resident Support scheme, despite Government cuts to grants, to support the vulnerable in crisis or in need of additional support

·         Continued advice sector funding at the highest level in London

·         Continued to convene the Islington Debt coalition and retained Universal Support locally and maintained the cap on Council Tax support at 8.5%, despite the loss of Government support

·         Agreed a new Procurement Strategy and the Commissioning and the Procurement Board provide support and challenge all procurements to reduce costs and increase effectiveness

·         Training delivered on how to win Council business to local small and medium sized enterprises and the voluntary sector

·         Established a programme of work to generate £3m of additional income/savings through building rationalisation and increasing commercial lettings

·         Working with Housing and VCS colleagues to review the use of community centres to ensure optimal use

·         Restructured the property team and enhanced security at the Town Hall

·         Successful challenge to TfL’s plans to close Caledonian Road station for 8 months

·         Successful partnership with TfL to resist the application to judicially review the Archway Gyratory system

·         Assisted the Family Justice group in providing innovative ideas to help families and reduce the need for Care Proceedings

·         Dealing with in sourced litigated insurance work

·         Human Resources – new online recruitment system implemented, Voluntary Redundancy exercise implemented, successfully re-accredited by Timewise, Payroll Giving Quality Mark Award 2016 achieved, coaching capacity expanded, new Occupational Health provider procured, Inspiring Leadership programme for BME staff started to address under-representation at senior levels

·         Digital – New Council website launched in September 2016, making content and transactions easier to find. Digital Inclusion programme now underway and plans to use libraries as digital hubs

·         Introduced guest wi-fi in council buildings and improved remote working capabilities for council staff, established security arrangements to protect the Council’s networks, and progressed the shared ICT services with Camden and Haringey, with a new shared Head of IT

·         Democratic Services- implemented changes to increase public involvement in full Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 271.

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety was present together with Alan Layton, Director Financial Management

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         The Committee noted the General Fund anticipated forecast outturn position for 2016/17m, as at August 31, and that there will be a net overspend of £0.9m after a £3m drawdown from the contingency reserve

·         It was noted that the HRA is forecast to break even over the year

·         It was noted that the £116.5m of capital expenditure will be delivered in 2016/17

·         Concern was expressed at the overspends in certain departments, especially Environment and Regeneration, and that the savings envisaged were not being realised, especially in relation to the Village principle, which has still not been implemented

·         Councillor Hull stated that there had been problems in implementing the Village principle but these were being looked at and it was felt that these savings will eventually be realised. He stated that he would request the Director of Environment and Regeneration to inform Members of the detailed reasons for the delay

·         Reference was made to paragraph 4.6 of the report, the long standing structural issues in Environment and Regeneration, and the non-achievement of savings and delays in implementing service changes. Councillor Court, the Chair of Environment and Regeneration stated that the Director of Environment and Regeneration would be attending the next meeting of the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee and that the Committee would be questioning him on the reasons for the non- achievement of savings and the long standing structural issues that need to be resolved

·         Reference was made to the Data Circuit savings in paragraph 4.77 of the report and it was stated that this is in relation to selling wi-fi and that it will now benefit the HRA rather than the General Fund as most of the sites were on housing land

·         Councillor Hull referred to the fact that Islington was in a healthier financial position than a number of other Local Authorities and that L.B.Haringey were facing a £26m projected defecit in their budget, whereas the Council were projecting a £0.9m defecit, after the additional contingency funding

·         Reference was made to paragraphs 4.7.1 to 4.77 of the report and that the Director of Environment and Regeneration and Executive Member for Environment and Transport should provide an explanation of the reasons for the overspends/non-achievement of savings

·         Councillor Hull informed the Committee that there is additional funding being generated through the Parking account and the modelling used for future income generation is a realistic one

·         Councillor Hull stated ;that he felt that the lack of achievement of income generation savings only tended to be addressed at Budget time and that this needed to be dealt with in more detail in future years

·         Reference was made to the projected increased pupil numbers and that of children’s placements and that the Council needed to have improved demographic information  in order to plan and budget for these increases more effectively and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 272.

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety was present and outlined the report to the Committee.

Ian Adams, Director of Digital and Processing Services was also present.

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         It was noted that Appendix A to the report outlined the changes introduced in the Welfare and Work Act 2016, including a further reduction in the benefit cap, and the timetable for implementation of outstanding reforms

·         The proposed changes reinforced the Council’s decision to maintain a strong advice team and the Policy in Practice document identified opportunities and the implications of the reforms on Islington residents. There is also the opportunity for Policy and Practice to develop the work and report on the effects of the changes in 12 months

·         It was noted that some parts of the borough would be particularly adversely affected by the changes, such as Finsbury Park ward

·         Members expressed the view that a short briefing document should be prepared for Members and voluntary organisations and that a briefing meeting should also be held to inform them of the changes and implications that are coming into place that would affect residents

·         A Member expressed the view that it would be more difficult for Members to assist residents, as a result of the introduction of these Government changes, as they had been able to do on the Bedroom Tax

·         Reference was made to the fact that given the complexity of the changes the Government were proposing it will be difficult to help them understand the potential effects and the report showed that over 30,000 households could be affected

·         Discussion took place as to the implications for the private rented sector and the number of evictions and it was stated that whilst these figures could be looked at these would not be complete as the Council did not have all this information

·         Reference was made to the need to share the information across departments and the additional problems related as a result of the introduction of the Housing and Planning Bill  and Universal Credit and other changes. It was stated that data protection issues may well affect sharing of data with partners/other organisations, although some discussions were taking place with Help on Your Doorstep

·         Members expressed regret that the previous Coalition Government had introduced a number of these reforms that would adversely affect residents in the borough

RESOLVED:

(a)That the report be noted and the Director of Digital and Processing Services   be requested to arrange a briefing session and prepare a short briefing note for Members/Voluntary sector organisations, on the implications of the forthcoming legislation changes

 (b) That the report be noted

The Chair thanked Councillor Hull for attending

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted