Agenda and draft minutes

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any matters on the agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

There were no declarations of interest

Minnutes attached.

It was agreed:

That the Minutes of the meeting, held on 9 June 2015, be agreed as a correct record subject to the inclusion of Councillor D Bailey within the list of attendees.

A period of 30 minutes has been set aside for members of the public to ask questions on matters considered at the last meeting and set out in the minutes or on the agenda for tonight’s meeting.

There were no members of the public present at the meeting to ask questions under this item.

A report from the Leader of the Council is attached.

The Leader of the Council submitted a report outlining the progress made during Quarter 4 2014-2015 for the performance indicators and projects within the Bury Council Corporate Plan.

The information contained in the report has been extracted from the Performance Information Management System (PIMS) and provided by the responsible services.

It was reported a new monitoring framework was under development to track progress on the ‘Vision, Purpose and Values’ programme.

Questions and comments were invited from Members of the Committee and the following issues were raised:

·         In response to a question from Councillor Daly, concerning the Supporting Children Improving Lives Programme, an undertaking for a future report to provide more detailed analysis of criteria used to measure the success of the programme.

·         With regard to the issue of bringing empty properties back into use it the Deputy Leader of the Council referred to the positive impact of the Radcliffe Pilot Scheme which would look to be extended across the borough.

·         In response to a question concerning the type of work done around fuel poverty and the amount of funding remaining from the initial allocation of £159,450, the Assistant Director, Business Re-design undertook to find out and report back.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted.

A report from the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing is attached.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing submitted a report providing details of:

·      Revenue outturn figures in respect of the last financial year, 2014/2015,   detailing any specific carry-forward requests and the proposed application of the carry-forward rules;

·      Major variances between the revised estimate and the outturn;

·      Level of school balances;

·      Housing Revenue Account outturn for the year;

·      Minimum level of balances in the light of risk assessments

The figures in the report are consistent with the figures included within the Statement of Accounts which were approved by the Responsible Finance Officer on 5 June 2015 and will be presented to Audit Committee on 15 July 2015.

Questions and comments were invited from the Committee and the following issues were raised:

·         The Chair, Councillor Gartside, referred to the recent Airport dividend and expressed concern that the Council may be overly reliant on this funding. The Deputy Leader reported that the under spend was largely a result of prudent treasury management.

·         With regard to the issue of voids within the Millgate, the Deputy Leader referred to positive recent activity and espoused the benefits to the wider economy of having as many shop units as possible filled.

·         In response to a question from Councillor Daly concerning the level of school balances, the Deputy Leader explained that a review was currently underway within Children’s Services to assess balances and seek justification for balances which seem excessively high.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted.

A report from the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing is attached.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing submitted a report providing details of:

·       The capital outturn figures in respect of the last financial year 2014/2015;

·       Major variances between the Revised Estimate and the Outturn;

·       The financing of the Capital Programme in 2014/2015;

·       Re-profile of budgets/allocations and slippage of funding into 2015/2016; 

·       Details of the capital receipts realised during the year.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted.

A report from the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing is attached.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing submitted a report presenting a review of Treasury Management activities during 2014/2015.

During discussion of this item, Members of the Committee acknowledged the good performance of the Treasury Management Team. The Chair, Councillor Gartside referred to overspends within Children’s Services and Adult Care Services and highlighted concerns around any reliance on treasury management to balance the budget. 

In response  

It was agreed:

That the report submitted be noted.

A report from Jane Whittam, Assistant Team Manager, Information Strategy and Commissioning, Department for Children, Young People and Culture is attached.

Jane Whittam, Complaints Co-ordinator, submitted a report setting out information in respect of complaints related to Children’s Services covering the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015.

During discussion of this item, Members acknowledged and welcomed the decrease in complaints and the increase in the number of compliments received.

It was agreed:

That the report be noted.