Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted from Lindsay Ferris, Clive Jones, Ian Pittock and Bill Soane.

Rachelle Shepherd-Dubey attended the meeting as a substitute.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

The Committee appointed a Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED: That Malcolm Richards be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the remainder of the 2018/19 Municipal Year.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 16 January 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 January 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To answer any public questions.

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this Committee.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any Member questions.

There were no Member questions.

Following the Scrutiny Review of the Grounds Maintenance Service in 2018, to consider an update on preparations and the action plan for the 2019 grass cutting season.

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 11 to 34, which gave details of the grass cutting delivery plan for 2019.

Councillor Graham Howe (Deputy Executive Member for Environment, Leisure and Libraries), Peter Baveystock (Service Manager, Cleaner, Greener and Reactive Highway Services), and Emma Pilgrim (Specialist – Place Clienting) attended the meeting to present the report and answer Member questions.

Nigel Payne (Regional Director) and Peter Fry (Area Manager) attended the meeting as representatives of the Council’s contractor, Tivoli.

The Committee had requested the report as a follow up to its Scrutiny review of the Council’s Grounds Maintenance service in 2018. The Scrutiny review had included 12 recommendations which were approved by the Executive in January 2019. The recommendations focussed on measures to ensure that the Council’s contractor (Tivoli) had sufficient resources in place (staff, supervisors and machinery) to enable the grass cutting service to be delivered effectively. Appended to the report was a schedule containing Officer comments and actions relating to the 12 Scrutiny recommendations.

The report stated that an action plan had been developed with the contractor which identified key risks and mitigating actions put in place. These included:

·           early recruitment and training of contractor staff;

·           a focus on ensuring readiness of new and existing machinery;

·           a clear two-way communications plan which enabled early warning of emerging issues;

·           contingency arrangements in the event of delays in the grass cutting programme.

Members were informed that work on the action plan had commenced in January 2019 and that good progress had been made. This included staff recruitment, the procurement of new machinery and maintenance of existing machinery. Current key performance indicators (KPIs) had been reviewed and new KPIs added in order to make targets more realistic and penalties more appropriate.

The report stated that progress in delivering the action plan would be monitored during the year and would be discussed at regular review meetings between the Council’s client team and Tivoli. Further update reports would be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as the grass cutting season progressed.

During the ensuing discussion Member raised the following points:

In relation to the Risk Matrix attached to the report, what actions had beentaken to address the risk relating to lack of WBC monitoring resource? It was confirmed that the Council’s new Locality Services team would provide increased resilience to contractual arrangements by engaging with local stakeholders and providing feedback on emerging service issues.

How was the Council addressing the problems caused by hedge encroachments onto footpaths? It was confirmed that this was more of a street cleansing/highways issue. Specific issues would be investigated and addressed.

In relation to Winnersh Meadows, there were major problems in 2018 when the grass was up to four feet high which attracted ticks and fleas. What improvements were planned for 2019? It was confirmed that a management plan would be developed for Winnersh Meadows in consultation with the Council’s biodiversity experts and local Members.

As the weather was currently very mild were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 82.

To consider the Quarter 3 Council Plan Performance Management report.

The Committee considered a report, set out at Agenda pages 35 to 82, which gave details of the Quarter 3 2018/19 Council Plan Performance Monitoring.

Louise Griffin (Performance and Programme Management Specialist) attended the meeting to present the report and answer Member questions.

The report gave details of responses to questions posed by the Committee at its meeting in November 2018. It also provided a service narrative for the Q3 measures falling short of the specified targets (Red).

For Quarter 3 of 2018/19, 75% of the performance measures were reported as meeting the assigned targets (Green); 14% were marginally off target (Amber) and 11% were reported as Red.

The targets assigned to each indicator were SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. They took into account historic trend information to assess the direction of travel and benchmarking data which showed how the Borough compared with regional or national performance.

The indicators with a Red rating were:

·           EA1iii: Percentage of Wokingham borough state-funded special schools with a current Ofsted rating of Good or better;

·           EA3: Percentage of early years settings in Wokingham borough with an Ofsted rating of Good or better;

·           EA7: Percentage of infants who received a 6-8 week review within 8 weeks;

·           EA11: 12-month rolling voluntary turnover of qualified Social Worker within Children’s Social Care and Early Intervention Service;

·           VP1iv: Non-elective admissions;

·           VP7: Percentage of children leaving care who achieved permanence;

·           VP8: Percentage of child protection visits due in the period which were completed on time (within 10 days of the previous visit);

·           VP11: Percentage of formal homelessness decisions made within 45 working days.

Appended to the report was a summary of the performance measures currently supporting the Council Plan Key Actions for 2018/19 (Appendix A) and supplementary performance information for each performance measure (Appendix B).

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points:

VP8: Percentage of child protection visits due in the period which were completed on time (within 10 days of the previous visit).

Members noted that this indicator had been reported as “Red” for the previous six quarters and sought clarification on the reasons given for not achieving the target. It was confirmed that the 10 day target had been set locally. The statutory target for this indicator was 42 days. Members queried whether this local target was “SMART”, i.e. achievable and asked for an update on the implications of not meeting the target and the measures being put in place to achieve it.

EA2: Percentage of children who attend a Wokingham Borough state funded school (Primary, Secondary or Special) which is Ofsted rated Good or Outstanding.

What were the implications of the new tougher Ofsted inspection regime for the achievement of the target? How was the service responding to the new challenges? As this indicator was linked to the performance of individual schools, what was the Council’s contribution towards achieving the target – in that sense, was it a SMART target? In relation to the Northern House School, what progress was being made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

To consider the current published version of the Executive Forward Programme and the Individual Executive Member Decision Forward Programme.

The Committee considered a copy of the Executive Forward Programme and Individual Executive Member Forward Programme as set out on Agenda pages 83 to 92.

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points:

Cemetery Regulations – Members requested an update on the provision of burial space across the Borough.

Parking Strategy – it was confirmed that an update would be submitted to the Community and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting in March 2019.

RESOLVED That:

1)     the Executive and Individual Executive Member Decision Forward Programmes be noted;

2)     the items raised by Members be considered as part of the development of Overview and Scrutiny work programmes for 2019/20.

To discuss the work programme of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

The Committee considered its forward work programme and that of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees as set out on Agenda pages 93 to 98.

Members noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programmes for 2019/20 would be considered at the Committee’s meeting on 20 March 2019.

The Chairman highlighted a potential Scrutiny item for 2019/20 relating to the development of 55 apartments at the Carnival Pool regeneration site.

Ken Miall confirmed that the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee scheduled for 19 February had been moved to 25 March 2019.

RESOLVED That:

1)     the Overview and Scrutiny work programmes for 2108/19 be noted;

2)     the development of 55 apartments at the Carnival Pool site be added to the list of potential work programme items for 2019/20;

3)     Members submit any potential Scrutiny items for 2019/20 to Neil Carr in Democratic Services.

For the Chairman or nominated Member of the Committee to report back in its activities including any requests to undertake reviews.

The Chairman invited members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees to provide an update on the issues considered at recent meetings.

RESOLVED: That the updates from the Overview and Scrutiny Committees be noted.