Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 November.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 November 2017 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

To receive apologies for absence and note any substitutions.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sam Pritchard. Councillor Nabeel Nasir attended as a substitute.

To receive from Members declarations of interests in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting, in accordance with Waverley’s Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no declarations of interests in connection with items on the agenda.

This report outlines the latest General Fund Budget position for 2018/19.  Members are reminded of the need to achieve savings throughout the three-year period covered by the Medium Term Financial Plan.  Information is provided on the details of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2018/19 and the Council’s financial position following this.

Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee is requested, in the light of the significant budget shortfall in the medium term, to consider all of the proposals identified in this report and make any observations for consideration by the Executive.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee

1.         in the light of the significant budget shortfall, considers the proposals to balance Waverley’s General Fund budget in 2018/19 as set out in this report and makes any observations to pass to the Executive; and

2.         considers the draft capital programme and fees and charges and passes any comments and observations to the Executive.

Peter Vickers, the Head of Finance, introduced the report setting out the General Fund Budget for 2018/19. He explained that the Council was faced with a Budget shortfall of £2.7m over three years however Heads of Service had worked through the detailed budget with their Portfolio Holders and officers were now in a position to present a balanced budget for 2018/19. Key changes from the original projection for 2018/19 included a transitional arrangement with SCC on recycling income, new income from property investments and some changes to fees and charges.

The Government had made changes to the criteria for New Homes Bonus. While this had an impact on income, officers advised that the Council did not rely on this to balance the budget. Instead, the funds were used for invest to save schemes, specifically property investment.

Peter Vickers also reported that the Council had been corresponding with the Government regarding the negative grant. The Chancellor would be undertaking a ‘fair funding review’ in the Spring which would set new baseline allocations for local authorities based on relative needs and resources.

In addition to the 2018/19 budget, some measures were set out which would help to achieve a balanced budget to 2021. These included procurement savings, property income, and efficiency savings.

Members noted that there were some proposed increased to fees and charges, but commented that without knowing how frequently a service was used, it was difficult to quantify how much income would be generated. Peter Vickers, Head of Finance, responded that there was information available about how much income was generated from these services, and that this would be made available shortly for members to review.

Questions were raised around the new approach in benefits which was called “systems thinking”. Officers advised that this was a new approach in the way that it worked focusing on the customer. This had produced a number of savings and was a good way forward.

The Chairman raised the budget pressures facing the Council and that it needed the support from members of the public in highlighting this to the Government. He talked about how the Council had to make difficult decisions in order to balance the budget and any support they could receive would help a lot, particularly from the residents.

The Committee thanked officers and Portfolio Holders for their hard work in delivering a balanced budget for 2018/19 and looked forward to continuing to work with officers to deal with the budget challenges for coming years.

The Council currently operates a Service Level Agreement funding arrangement with 12 voluntary sector organisations.  All Agreements expire on 31 March 2018 and organisations will sign new three year Agreements for 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021.  The purpose of this report is to consider the proposed levels of Service Level Agreement funding to the voluntary sector organisations, taking into account the observations made by the Community Wellbeing Sub-group, and to pass comments on the proposed funding levels to the Executive.  

The report proposes to continue to protect the Council’s overall level of discretionary funding allocated at £687,105 to the voluntary sector despite significant reductions in Waverley’s government funding.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee considers the funding proposals for the Service Level Agreements to voluntary organisations and, after taking account of the comments of the Sub-group, passes observations (if any) to the Executive on the level of funding for each organisation. 

The Committee received a report on funding services for the voluntary sector organisations which were subject to service level agreements from 2018-2021. Members were advised that all agreements would expire on 31 March 2018. The purpose of the report was to consider the proposed levels of SLA funding. The report proposed to continue to protect the Councils overall level of discretionary funding allocated at £687,105 to the voluntary sector despite significant reductions in Waverley’s Government funding.

A number of comments were raised about the future of services at Haslewey following the withdrawal of the Orchard Club. Members wanted assurance that they helped them in insuring some kind of service was maintained for the community.

In conclusion the Committee thanked the Executive for managing to maintain the budget at the same level as the previous year. The Committee agreed that they should help Hasleway to continue to support older peoples services following the changes with the Orchard Club. A comment was also made that when they looked at grants again, to ensure that there was a fair balance across the Borough.  

This report presents the draft Service Plans for the new financial year 2018-2019 for the service areas under the remit of this Committee.

Members will receive short presentations from each Head of Service regarding the main features and priorities of their plan and are asked to make any observations on the plans to the Executive.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Community Wellbeing Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

1.    Considers the draft Service Plans for 2018/19 and makes any observations to the Executive; and

2.    Recommends that the Heads of Services review their Service Plans for 2018/19 once the new Corporate Strategy is agreed.

The Committee received a detailed report outlining the draft service plans for the new financial year 2018-19 for the service areas under the remit of the Committee.

Questions were asked about whether or not live streaming of events could be provided at places such as sheltered housing where they had communal areas. It was noted from officers that although this might be possible, the conditions of the licence was that there was a limited number of venues/places that they could provide this service.

Following the publication of the report by the Jo Cox Commission into loneliness and the appointment of a new ministerial lead to tackle the problems raised by the Commission, the Committee agreed that it would like to make the following recommendation: that the Head of Communities and Major Projects brought forward proposals in his Service Plan to identify the issues of loneliness and isolation experienced by Waverley residents.

The report provides an analysis of the Council’s performance in the second quarter of 2017/18 in the service area of Community Services. Annexe 1 to the report details performance against key indicators.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Community Wellbeing Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

1.    Considers the performance figures for Quarter 2 and agrees any observations or recommendations about the performance and progress towards target it wishes to make to the Executive.

2.    Considers the change of target for the indicator CS2 (the number of visits to Farnham Leisure Centre), and makes its recommendations to the Executive.

3.    Agrees a review of Leisure Centre indicators.

The Committee received the performance management report for July to September 2017. The report provided an analysis on the Council’s performance in the second quarter of 2017/18 in the service area of Community Services.

Members were reminded that at the last meeting it was agreed that performance indicators would be reported on an exception basis only. Consequently, the report would only focus on those PIs where performance was above or below target by more than 5 % or where those PIs without a target were notable.

In considering the PI’s members were asked whether there could be a change of target for the indicator CS2 (the number of visits to Farnham Leisure Centre) The attendance in the second quarter was always lower as could be observed in previous years, however this indicator had been showing a downward trend since July 2016 (Q2 2016/17), with only 1 quarter out of 5 meeting the target of 140,000. Farnham Leisure Centre had now 17 competitors within a 4 mile radius. This was an unprecedented amount and had grown significantly in the past year. It had an impact on the centre, as residents had more choice and lower cost options including free parking.

Due to the changes to the local market, it was proposed to lower the target from 140,000 to 130,000 visits per quarter for this leisure centre starting from Q1 2018/19.

Waverley and Places for People were working in partnership to maximise the use of centre and expand the services. This would include health and well-being initiatives and plans to install a new soft play and indoor climbing provision to upgrade the centre and attract new visitors.

The Committee also agreed that the proposal to reduce the target of 140,000 to 130,000 for PI CS2 be included in an overall review of leisure centre performance indicators to be reported back to the March meeting.

This report proposes the adoption of a new Prevent Policy, in line with the recently adopted Safeguarding Policy for Children and Adults at Risk.  The Policy summarises the Council’s Prevent responsibilities and provides an overview on the delivery of Prevent in Waverley and Surrey.

Recommendation

That the Community Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee scrutinise the proposed Prevent Policy and Implementation Plan and recommends their adoption to the Executive.

The Committee received a report proposing the adoption of a new Prevent Policy, in line with the recently adopted safeguarding Policy for Children and adults at Risk. The Policy summarised the Council’s Prevent responsibilities and proceed an overview on the deliver of Prevent in Waverley and Surrey.

The Prevent Policy set out how the Council would meet its obligations to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. It applied to staff, agency workers, volunteers, and contractors employed by the Council. It was also applicable to Councillors undertaking official duties on behalf of the Council. The policy complemented and supported the Waverley Borough Council Safeguarding Policy for Children and Adults at Risk. It was vital for successful Safeguarding that the procedures in this Policy were understood and applied consistently at an individual, managerial and organisational level. The essential elements of the Policy were awareness of the Council’s responsibilities for Prevent and how to make a referral should a concern be raised. Once the Policy was adopted there would be awareness training for all staff, including how to make a referral if there was a concern.

The Committee welcomed the Strategy and endorsed its adoption to the Executive. Members also recommended that training should be organised for all Councillors on Prevent, including how to approach it and what to do in the event they are concerned.

To receive an update from the Chairman of the Health Inequalities Working Group.

The Committee was advised that the Health Inequalities Working Group had met with the Councils planners about what they could do for health and wellbeing and the local plan. They would be meeting again in February with the final report and recommendations coming to the meeting in March.

The Community and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, is responsible for managing its work programme.

The work programme (attached) includes items discussed at the O&S Co-ordinating Board and takes account of items identified on the latest Executive Forward Programme (Annexe 2) as due to come forward for decision.

A Scrutiny Tracker has been produced to assist the Committee in monitoring the recommendations that have been agreed at its meetings. The Tracker details the latest position on the implementation of these recommendations and is attached as Part C of the work programme.

Recommendation

Members are invited to consider their work programme and make any comments and/or amendments they consider necessary, including suggestions for any additional topics that the Committee may wish to add to its work programme.

The committee work programme was noted and it was agreed to add a Memorial Hall update and Stroke and Ambulance Service relocation.