Agenda item

Report by Director of Finance and Support Services, setting out the finance and performance position as at the end of December 2022.

 

The Committee is asked to examine the Council’s corporate performance, finance, savings delivery and business performance for services within the remit of this Committee and to make any recommendations for action to the relevant Cabinet Member.

 

Members are reminded that only the performance data on Community Support in section 4 (Community Support, Fire and Rescue Portfolio) falls within the remit of this Committee.

Communities

 

54.1     The Cabinet Member for Community Support fire and Rescue, Cllr Crow, introduced the Communities section of the Performance and Resources Report (PRR).  He highlighted the work of the newly formed Ukraine Support Team, the seasonal uplift for sponsors which had commenced in January 2023 from the Government funding, and the work of the Community Hub in assisting with the latest round of Household Support Funds.  He also reported that libraries had helping with cost-of-living advice and assistance, as well as distributing essential toiletries packs.  Some 277 residents had engaged in digital safety training and Trading Standards had been involved in a case with a business selling alcohol to a child volunteer without checking proof of age.

 

54.2     Cllr Crow highlighted that the report showed a slight underspend at December 2022, mostly due to staff vacancies.  Work was in progress on an outstanding savings target on the development of adapted Library Service offer in conjunction with parish councils and officers would be looking to find a permanent solution.

 

54.3     Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

 

54.4     Ukrainian guests under the Homes for Ukrainians scheme were being successfully matched with sponsors or homed using temporary accommodation.  Assistance was being given to those guests who wanted to move into the private rental sector.  The numbers of sponsors had remained steady.

 

54.5     The majority of Ukrainian children had been kept in their schools.  Transport to school was being provided if children had to move location, in order to maintain education and links in the community.  Some parents/children had opted to move, for example to more urban areas from rural ones.  Decisions were made on individual basis or tailored to a family.  Some children were able to continue their Ukrainian education online to take examinations and some children were being home schooled.

 

54.6     Records of Ukrainian guests in employment were not required as part of the Homes for Ukrainians scheme.  Some Ukrainians were able to continue their work with Ukrainian companies by working online. A wrap around care support system was also being looked at to help single mothers move into employment.

 

54.7     The supermarket voucher scheme for Ukrainian guests had been set up with suppliers where they could be used easily.  Officers noted the suggestion that it was not giving guests the opportunity to use small independent businesses for example Polish shops.  The County Council had investigated an option of pre-paid top-up cards but that had proved very costly to the County Council.  

 

54.8     The County Council had commissioned learning courses for this cohort from the start of the scheme.  Options included online group work and English classes which were available to hundreds of guests.  Members questioned whether online learning reduced social contact for the attendees and how mental health could be supported.  This was an area discussed up 4- and 6-month conversations along with other challenges faced by the guests.

 

54.9     The Household Support Fund had only been in existence since the pandemic, about 18 months, and the County Council received £4.8m for 6 months. Consideration was given to how to use the funding most effectively and the authority had set up holiday school meal voucher scheme for children entitled to free school meals and would be continuing this.  Some funding was shared with district and borough councils to help on a local level.  The aim was to support residents in a more fundamental way with other services and support to prevent families having to turn again to household support.  Officers agreed to look at providing information under KPI 34 in the PRR on how many families the Community Hub had supported. 

 

54.10  The footfall in libraries was still slowly rising but was not back to pre-pandemic levels.  The main loss of income had been from the hiring of DVDs but with a change in habits formed over the pandemic that was not expected to improve.  Work on alternative streams of income generation were being investigated. 

 

54.11  The £3.4m overspend in the Coroner’s Service had been due to an excess of deaths over the Christmas period.  This had been reflected nationally.  Storage had been needed for longer as people hand not wanted to move forward with arrangements over the holiday period.  Such excessive periods were generally balanced out by periods of less over the year.  It was difficult to predict how many deaths relevant to the Coroner might occur but part of the business plan was to have fixed and additional resources that could be called upon and this had been implemented at Christmas.  The cost of inquests run by the Coroners Service varied, with costs of the Shoreham air crash inquest being significant.

 

54.12  Officers were unaware of Trading Standards supplying information to the Police who delivered presentations to community groups on online safety.  A written update would be provided to Committee members. 

 

54.13  The Community Support Hub was currently funded from a non-ringfenced Covid grant which would end on 31 March 2023.  The hub was a temporary situation designed to support whatever work was needed with grant funding from those schemes.  Officers were confident there would be ongoing work with grant programmes to continue operation.

 

Projected staff vacancy savings of £0.540m related to unfilled vacancies and the service was struggling like the rest of the County Council to fill posts.  There was also an uplift to a budget included that was not now required. 

 

54.14  Resolved – that the Committee:

 

1.   Welcomed the continued strong support for Ukrainian guests.

 

2.   Were reassured you had explored alternatives to the supermarket voucher scheme but were pleased you would consider noted the suggestion that it was not giving guests the opportunity to use small independent businesses.

 

3.   Noted the issues around education and mental health service access.

 

4.   Were reassured that via the Household Support Fund, School Meals Vouchers would be continue to available for children in the school holidays.

 

5.   Understood how habits had changed in the use of libraries over recent years but were assured to hear that footfall rising again and that work was under way on how alternative income streams could raise revenue.

 

6.   Were interested to understand how an extended bank holiday period could have so much impact on the costs of the Coroners Service.

 

7.   Understood the continued issues of recruitment that existed in the service and the impact that has on service provision.

 

8.   Acknowledged the conclusion of the Covid grant funding on 31 March 2023 but hoped to hear about how funding could be gained for the continuation of the Community Hub.

 

Environment

 

54.15  The Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, Cllr Urquhart, introduced the report highlighting that the Halewick Lane battery storage project was progressing well, the Manor Royal Energy Company would have its public launch on 7 March 2023 – this would be the first business park local energy company in the country.  Work continues on the three nationally significant infrastructure projects – Rampion 2, Gatwick second runway and A27 bypass. 

 

54.16  The increased inflation rate has had a £1.8m impact on contracts.  Increased utility costs have been offset by additional income raised by the solar farms of £2.2m.  Recycling income has been slightly reduced due to the volatility of markets and the Cabinet Member had been flagging this for over a year.  A receipt of £1.7m had been received after a contract settlement negotiation agreed several years previously.  An early report from Quarter 4 was that the County Council had received £2.3m grant funding from the Government towards the decarbonisation of the estate and work would begin as soon as possible.

 

54.17  Assistant Director Environment and Public Protection, Mr Read, updated the Committee that the Government was yet to make an announcement on the collection and management of food waste.  Food waste is the largest outstanding area for household waste collection.  Household collections of textiles could be considered with district and borough councils in the future.  In the future the Government could put responsibility back towards producers for items such as mattresses and carpets to make them from more recyclable products.

 

54.18  Members of the Committee asked questions and a summary of those questions and answers follows.

 

54.19  The Community Food Hubs had been hugely successful, and plans were being put in place to extend the project for a further year.  Work on funding was underway and it was hoped there would be an announcement soon.  Closer working with district and borough councils aimed to ensure activities were not duplicated.  A trial of education and cookery was going well.

 

54.20  KPI22 - CO² emissions from WSCC Activities – The very low levels of officer travel experienced over the pandemic period were increasing but were not back to pre-2020 levels.  Progress was being made at the work on electrifying the County Council’s fleet vehicles and the highways service were going to be the first part of the organisation moving over to electrified vehicles.

 

54.21  On-street public recycling bins very often had a high levels of contamination, and it was felt important by members to get the recycling message across to the public.

 

54.22  The County Council often did not get sufficient notification of consultations, to enable officers to ensure the right officer was available at the right time to draw up and submit responses, particularly for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.  The Planning Inspector could look at the adequacy of consultations and the County Council can raise concerns at that point.

 

54.23  Resolved – that the Committee:

 

1.   Welcomed the news on the Manor Royal Energy Company business park local energy company launch, which would be the first in the country. 

 

2.   Acknowledged the increased income generated by the solar farms.

 

3.   Acknowledged that the volatility in the recycling market was affecting income.

 

4.   Welcomed the grant funding received from the Government for the continued decarbonisation of the estate.

 

5.   Acknowledged the service were still awaiting information from the Government on the collection and management of food waste.

 

6.   Welcomed the news that work was in progress to extend the Community Food Hub project and looked forward to there being closer collaboration between the County Council and district and borough councils.

 

7.   Understood the difficulties with demarcation of responsibilities for recycling in the community between district and borough councils and the County Council.

 

8.   Welcomed the receipt of monies agreed under a contract settlement negotiation.

 

9.   Welcomed the progress of moving the county fleet over to electric vehicles starting with the Highways Services.

 

10.Noted the short consultation periods and lack of forward notice, and the influence of the Planning Inspector in raising this with those running Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects in particular.

 

Highways and Transport

 

54.24  The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr Dennis, introduced the report highlighting the potential dip in the condition of A and B roads.  Spending of £20m this year was hoped to bring standards back up by quarter 4.  The trajectory of killed and seriously injured casualties was better than previously.  Financial pressures remained the same as the previous quarter, with energy costs the most significant challenge, in terms of street lighting. 

 

54.25  The new Speed Limit Policy was being used and some applications had been approved.  Data would be available later in the year.

 

54.26  KPI17 – Length of new cycle infrastructure – This KPI would be reviewed in the light of the work being done by the Active Travel Task and Finish Group.  Members asked if consideration could be given to whether it would be better to record the number of people using cycle lanes rather than the length of lanes available.  Also, whether the quality of the length could be measured more accurately and consider whether it contributed to the local network.  Whichever method was used it was important to encourage usage. Officers reported that information was collected on carriageway condition and for footways but not specifically for cycle facilities.

 

54.27  KPI18 – Percentage length of A and B roads that require maintenance – This data is based on an annual survey rather than quarterly.  This meant the impact on the road network by recent weather events and environmental factors would not show until the next survey had been completed.

 

54.28  KPI19 – Highway Defects – Data showed that number of potholes in the same quarter last year had increased but the service had caught up over the year and confidence was high that the same would happen this year.

 

54.29  KPI41 – Killed and seriously injured casualties – This measure is reported annually and could be broken down by Police categories as report data was received from them.

 

54.30  The new online reporting tool was moving to phase two of online improvement.  Feedback received on performance so far would be considered, such as information on why cases were closed. Members were welcome to contribute feedback to officers.

 

54.31  The new Transport Plan would include a wish to decarbonise and new projects would have to demonstrate their commitment to that and biodiversity net gain.  There would always be a difficulty with long running road projects when requirements changed during their life-time.

 

54.32  Members were keen that communications with members of the public were both before and after consultation, keeping them informed on the next steps, for example whether the scheme going ahead or looking at alternative options.  Officers reported that information on consultations and schemes of work were on the County Council website but would investigate what other briefings, for example for local members, were possible.

 

54.33  Officers reported that there were some areas where there were difficulties in filling staff vacancies internally, for example some specialist posts, but work with WSP, a term consultant, had meant it had been possible to back fill some areas of work.  For the immediate future staff had been round to undertake work but it did put pressure on teams and there was a continual review of the things we would like to do given the staffing numbers.  Capacity was keeping on top of day-to-day work but it gave less capacity to look wholistically at long term working.

 

54.34  Officers were not aware of any Compulsory Purchase Order issues in major projects causing cost issues.

 

54.35  Resolved – that the Committee:

 

1.   Acknowledges the issues around performance on A and B roads and is pleased to hear about the high level of spending on road maintenance.

 

2.   Welcomes that the online reporting system will be enhanced and improved following feedback.

 

3.   Looks forward to hearing from the Task and Finish Group on active travel. (KPI17) later in the year.

 

4.   Highlights the importance of communications with communities on major schemes.

 

5.   Acknowledges the issues around Compulsory Purchase Orders on major projects.