Agenda and minutes

a)            Meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 5 April 2016

b)         Meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 9 May 2016 (at the Conclusion of Annual Council)

(b)     Meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 5 April 2016

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 5 April 2016be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

(b)     Meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 9 May 2016

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Challenge and Improvement Committee held on 9 May 2016be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

Councillor Lesley Rollings declared a personal interest in report CAI.07 16/17 (Consideration of Scrutiny of Public Bodies – Issue of Youth Employment in West Lindsey) as she was employed by The Gainsborough Academy and through her employment worked closely with West Lindsey’s Employment and Skills Officer.

Setting out the current position of previously agreed actions as at 13 May 2016.

The Committee gave consideration to the Matters Arising Schedule, setting out the current position of previously agreed actions, as at 13 May 2016.

It was reported that all actions, with the exception of one, within the report were marked as completed since the previous meeting of the Committee.

With regard to the one green action, “invitation to Careers Services” Officers advised that a follow up e-mail would be sent within the week.

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising Schedule as at 13 May 2016 be received and noted.

Members gave consideration to a report which presented recommendations from the Progress and Delivery Working Group with regard to a revised format for the Council’s Progress and Delivery report for 2016/17, for recommendation on to the Policy Committee’s for formal adoption.

By way of context and background it was noted that the working group had been established in December 2015 to: -

a)    Review the measures reported in 2015/16 and determine their on-going appropriateness

b)    Consider how these measures provide a performance framework for the organisation that allows Members to monitor progress against the Corporate Plan, service delivery and project development

c)    Consider the reporting format for future reports

The working group had met on three occasions and its Members had reviewed the current reporting format and content, scrutinised the Council’s current Corporate Scorecard, had sight of a proposed set of measures to oversee delivery against the new Corporate Plan priorities and were introduced to the concept of a measure definition sheet to be used internally so as to ensure consistency of reporting.

As a result the Working Group had expressed overall satisfaction with the Progress and Delivery format and content, however they had suggested some improvements, namely: -

·         Direction of Travel indicators to be used in reporting

·         Consistent usage of explanations and rectification actions where appropriate

·         Corporate Measures that would give members a sense of how the overall organisation  was performing

As a result, the format of the P and D report had been modified to include the working groups suggestions and the revised report format now had the following six distinct sections:-

·         Executive Summary: Provides the reader with an overview of the reports context

·         Corporate Health measures: Key performance measures which give the reader a high-level view of the Council overall. Full performance is to be reported (red, amber and green) within this section.

·         Corporate Plan measures: Reporting against performance measures aligned to the themes and priorities of the Corporate Plan. Full performance is to be reported (red, amber and green). Please note that these measures will be included in the P&D report on a six-monthly basis

·         Commercial Plan measures: Reporting against the measures contained within the Commercial Plan. Please note that these measures will be included in the P&D report on a six-monthly basis. 

·         Programmes and Projects: Identification of Council programmes and projects that are not progressing as anticipated and identification of actions needed to improve.

·         Service measures: Performance of services areas on an exception basis; red or green measures

Debate ensued and in opening Members commented on what they considered a much improved format. Some Members were of the view that where penalties were likely for not achieving targets, then such potentialpenalties should be highlighted, the example cited being Carbon Management.

In responding to Members comments regarding the frequency of some reporting measures, the Director of Resources advised that it was only intended to report on the commercial measures every six months as it was likely there would be little progress to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Governance and Civic Officer presented a report setting out the items of business due to be considered through the committee system and asked Members to identify any reports that they wished to be brought before the Challenge and Improvement Committee for pre-scrutiny.

The following suggestions were made and agreements reached: -

Development Management – Outcomes of the Peer Review: - members requested that a report on this subject be brought forward.  It was noted however that the development management improvement plan was overseen by this Committee and was next due to be submitted in October 2106. It was therefore suggested that Officers could be requested to extend this report to include within it: -

·    Peer Review Outcomes

·    S106 arrangements and move to CIL payments

·    Enforcement

·    A General Update on the Service; and

·    Local Plan Progress

Members were agreeable to this suggestion and requested that all Members be made aware when the report was due for consideration.

Anglian Water Attendance: -  A Member requested that Anglian Water be invited to attend a future meeting as part of the Public Body Scrutiny Element, in light of the continued issues arising from flooding and limited responses to large planning applications.  The Director of Resources advised that the Committee had previously resolved to look into the matter of Youth Unemployment on a themed basis, inviting a raft of associated agencies throughout the year.  It was suggested this matter be held in abeyance and should the work plan allow later in the year, the matter be re-visited.  Members were again agreeable to this suggestion.

Attendance by Simon Outen: - A Member noted that Inspector Simon Outen was due to attend Committee in September to give his usual update.  It was requested that he be asked to provide details of crimes reported across the district and the response each received, as opposed to the more general update often given.  In response the Director of Resources advised of the intention to conduct Inspector Outen’s attendance at Committee in September slightly different and Committee at their next meeting would receive a briefing paper on the matter.  It was suggested that Members could feed specific issues into the question setting session next time around. Members were again agreeable to the suggestion.

     RESOLVED that:-

     (a)       the Forward Plan be noted; and

     (b)       the matters detailed above be actioned

The Work Plan for the business of the Challenge and Improvement Committee was presented.

In responding to the Chairman’s request to establish a Civic Working Group, Officers advised that the Committee, at its meeting on 22 February 2016, had received an update report from the Democracy Working Group (DWG).  This report had included revised terms of reference for the DWG which included, as a result of previous comments expressed, reference to the Group being “a sounding board for civic matters as and when referred to the Group”.  The terms of reference for the DWG had be confirmed and accepted at this meeting and as such this Group was now undertaking that function. The Chairman was accepting of that.

     RESOLVED that the Work Plan be noted.

To resolve that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

                  RESOLVED that under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Consideration of Scrutiny of Public Body – Issue of Youth Unemployment in West Lindsey and Proposed Questions for the Careers Service   

Members received a briefing paper which sought to inform Members of the Committee of the Career Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) support that was currently available to schools, with a view to them then being able to prepare a set of draft questions to pose to representatives from the Service.

Lengthy informal workshop style discussion ensued during which the following potential questions were identified: -

·         How “effective” are schools and Colleges at carrying out their statutory duty for Careers Guidance in terms of quality and impact as outlined by the Education Act 2011?

·         What Careers Advice and Guidance will the local authority be delivering from September and what support will young people be able to access?

·         More specifically, how will young people access Careers advice once they have left mainstream education and how will they be supported into training or employment.

·         How might the District Council in West Lindsey ensure that young people are getting access to independent and impartial careers advice?

·         NEETs.   Where does the responsibility fall for monitoring NEETS as this was traditionally measured and collated by Connexions?

RESOLVED that the proposed strategic questions to be posed to the Careers Service, be further considered and agreed at the next Chairman’s briefing meeting.