Agenda and 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.

Councillor S Wright declared a personal interest in any item relating to schools as his wife is employed at a Bury School.

Councillor K Leach declared a personal interest in any item relating to the NHS as she was employed by the NHS.

The Minutes of the last meeting held on 22 November are attached.

It was agreed:

That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2017 be approved as correct records and signed by the Chair.

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 in attendance at the meeting.

A report from Karen Dolton, Interim Executive Director of Children and Young People is attached.

Karen Dolton, Interim Executive Director of Children and Young People attended the meeting to give an update on the progress made in relation to the recommendations identified in the Newsam Report.

It was explained that in July 2017 the Council had received a report setting out findings and recommendations in relation to actions of both members and officers regarding safeguarding issues.

It was explained that the meeting had resolved that the Interim Executive Director should implement any outstanding recommendations in relation to safeguarding and adoption procedures.

Karen reported that she was satisfied that the failings highlighted in the Newsam Report were not indicative of a wider or systemic problem.

A thorough Ofsted inspection of Bury’s services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers had been carried out between 22 February and 17 March 2016. Bury had been judged to be good for safeguarding children and judged as having a good adoption service. The judgement was made after thorough examination and auditing of a number of children’s case files and extensive scrutiny of performance information and policies and procedures.

A number of additional measures have also been implemented to give assurance of that practice is of good quality and compliant with procedures.

A new quality assurance framework had been launched in March 2017 which requires monthly auditing by team managers and strategic leads of randomly selected children’s file. Each file is given a judgement and remedial actions are followed up to ensure that practice improves.

It was also explained that the Council’s whistleblowing policy had been strengthened and all members of staff were aware that if they felt their concerns had not been dealt with adequately they could raise their concerns with Ofsted.

The recommendations were set out within the report and the actions undertaken were explained:

The council to publicise and reinforce the role of the LADO.

It was explained that the role of the LADO was well understood in Bury and the investigation had not revealed any ignorance of the role but a choice not to involve the LADO appropriately. Strategic leads have emphasised the role at a number of meetings with staff. The LADO had also given a presentation to several Councillors and the role of the LADO in relation to adopters had been updated.

Council to ensure all staff are aware of the regulatory role of Ofsted.

It was reported that the adoption procedures have been updated to reflect the content of the regulations and these were set out within the report.

Council to immediately ensure a conflict of interest assessment is undertaken on all Councillors and employees who come to the attention of children’s social care.

It was explained that the main policy change related to the Council acting as Adoption Agency where a member of staff or councillor was the applicant. These changes have been put into place.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments and the following were raised:

• Councillor Harris referred  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC.366

A report from the Leader of the Council is attached

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Shori presented a report providing an update on devolution to Greater Manchester.

It was explained that devolution is about local people making more of the decisions on local issues rather that those decisions being made by Whitehall and Westminster.

In 2017 Greater Manchester voted for the first directly elected Mayor. This was one of the conditions of devolution deals with the Treasury. The role of the Mayor has responsibility over transport, housing, policing, fire service provision and industry.

It was explained that the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham had established a senior leadership team with three Deputy Mayors; Councillor Sir Richard Leese – Deputy for Economic Growth and Business; Baroness Beverley Hughes – Deputy for Policing and Crime and Councillor Rishi Shori – Deputy for Young People and Social Cohesion.

It was explained that each of the ten Council Leaders and Chief Executives was assigned to a Greater Manchester portfolio. Pat Jones - Greenhalgh is lead for Safer and Stronger Communities.

The our People Our Place – Greater Manchester Strategy was refreshed in July  and publically launched in October. The document outlines 10 priority areas with each having an implementation plan sitting under it;

• Children starting school ready to learn
• Young people equipped for life
• Good jobs for people to progress and develop
• A thriving economy in Greater Manchester
• World Class connectivity to keep GM moving
• Safe, decent and affordable housing
• Green city region with high quality culture and leisure for all
• Safe and strong communities
• Healthy lives with good quality care for those that need it
• Age- friendly Greater Manchester

It was also explained that Bury’s Health and Wellbeing Board had signed off on the Locality Plan which sets out the Transformation proposals for the borough in terms of the integration of health and social care, keeping people well for longer, reducing failure demand and tackling wider determinants of health.

The locality plan is an essential condition of accessing Transformation funding of which £19m has been successfully secured to develop new models of care.

It was explained that work was being carried out to understand the degree to which Bury is represented within the Greater Manchester governance environment. Attendance at regional scrutiny groups by councillors, council officers and other representatives such as colleagues from the CCG, Police or the local business community which will ensure that Bury can take advantage of opportunities within Greater Manchester.

The second version of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework was due to be published in June 2018 with an aim of maximising the regions brownfield sites.

It was reported that Greater Manchester had put itself forward to pilot 100% retention of business rates with effect from April 2017.

Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments and the following points were raised:

• Councillor Harris referred to Bury’s representation and asked whether opposition members would be invited to sit on the scrutiny panels mentioned.

Councillor Shori reported that opposition members were actively invited to sit  ...  view the full minutes text for item OSC.367

A report from the Leader of the Council is attached.

Cabinet report attached

Appendix 1A

Appendix 1B

Appendix 2

Councillor Shori, Leader of the Council presented a report providing Members with an update on performance in line with Team Bury’s Single Outcomes Framework.

It was explained that under each of the single framework outcomes are a series of indicators and performance measures. These collectively contribute towards the delivery of the respective outcome.

The report and appendices detailed a number of areas where performance has improved or is at a high level and also made reference to areas of performance that were less positive.

It was explained that where performance was declining or below target or another relevant comparator, work would take place to understand what was required to improve performance. This would be done by understanding the partners involved, the true reasons as to why the data was as it was and assess what would be required to improve performance.

It was also reported that work was being carried out within several areas of the Council in relation to refreshing strategies and performance arrangements.

Those present were invited to ask questions or make comments and the following points were raised:

·         Councillor Caserta referred to the figures in the report relating to gym use and asked which locations this related to.

Councillor Shori stated that this referred to local authority use.

·         Councillor Harris referred to the figures relating to building residential units and the number of affordable houses. She asked whether the affordable housing figure was as well as the unit figure or incorporated within it.

Councillor Shori stated that the affordable housing figure was included.

·         The figure relating to missed bin collections had risen, why was this.

It was explained that there had been a spike in sickness within the service which had an effect on the collections.

·         Councillor Smith referred to homeless prevention and the improvement in relation to this and asked what was being done.

It was explained that there was a lot of work being carried out between different agencies and early intervention work. There was also help to support people to maintain their tenancies.

·         Councillor FitzGerald commented that the section relating to safe place to live with all people protected and feel protected from harm did not contain any figures. She asked if something could be included within this section for future reports.

Councillor Shori explained that the figures received were in relation to Greater Manchester as a whole. He had asked for Bury’s figures separately but this was difficult to do. Councillor Shori explained that he was working with Bury Police locally to formulate local figures.

It was agreed:

That the update be noted and that the team involved in producing the report be thanked for their input.

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