Agenda item

A report by the Director of Finance, Performance and Procurement outlining the performance and finance position as at the end of September 2018.

The Committee is asked to examine the data and supporting commentary for the September 2018 TPM and make any relevant recommendations for action to the Cabinet Member or a relevant Select Committee.

66.1 The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance, Performance and Procurement (copy appended to the signed minutes).

66.2 The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources introduced the report, highlighting that the July TPM showed a £4.75m overspend but the September TPM shows the overspend is now £6m. This increase is mostly due to children’s services challenges including additional costs from children’s homes as detailed in paragraphs 5 and 6, and £2.5m for new social worker posts. The overspend must be reduced in order to avoid use of the budget management reserve. Savings have now been categorised as with or without mitigated actions (para 23) which results in a predicted £1.8m shortfall, which has been factored into the forecast outturn position.

66.3 The Director of Finance, Performance and Procurement introduced the financial element of the report, reiterating the main budget pressure of children and young people’s services. Mitigation work is ongoing through general staffing and vacancy control. School transport costs have been stationary since September which is positive and reserves have been used to partially mitigate this pressure. The cost anticipated with renewing the Highways contract has reduced to £1.6m and this has been partially mitigated. Extra Government funds for adult social care winter pressure may have constraints on how it can be used, however contingency funds to mitigate this are available from the Improved Better Care Fund (IBCF). There has been some overspend in Facilities Management but this is being monitored. Overspend in 2018/19 can be funded by the use of reserves if necessary however much depends upon what extra winter pressure is felt.

66.4 The Committee made comments in relation to the financial element of the report including those that follow. It:

•        Queried whether there was an end date for replacing the children’s homes, and a predicted date for the Council’s facilities to be open again. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explained that there is a review of children’s residential homes currently underway, with an interim review due in January specific to Cissbury Lodge and May House with a full review of all establishments due in March 2019; there are no firm dates yet for the reopening of facilities. Retention schemes and payments have been positively received by staff and taken up by 125 existing social workers. 10 new job offers have been made recently and 10 more are expected imminently which shows the Council’s commitment to staffing children’s social care. The Leader commented that the work in ongoing

•        Queried what was being done to tackle the longer term situation for children’s placements outside the county, which are more costly to the Council and disruptive for the children. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People explained that due to the closure of Cissbury Lodge, May House and Seaside homes most children have been placed within West Sussex. The review of residential homes will look at the demand, marketplace offering and cost against a review of the County’s own offering.

•        Expressed concern that alternative provision colleges were up-to and exceeding demand for places, and queried what was being done to support schools in order to keep pupils in mainstream schools and avoid exclusions. The Leader highlighted this is a national issue as there is no right of entry for local authorities to free schools or academies. The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills will be asked to provide a more detailed response to the Committee.

•        Expressed concern regarding reactive highways winter activity no longer covered by the “lump sum” contract arrangement, and queried whether there had been a risk assessment of the possible increased costs due to adverse weather conditions. The Director of Finance, Performance and Procurement stated the finance team has made projections and agreed to provide a summary of the information to the Committee.

66.5 The Head of Intelligence and Performance introduced the quarterly performance element of the report, summarising key information for the Committee. A presentation was given focusing on 3 highlighted measures: Pupils in West Sussex schools judged good or outstanding, average time between a child entering care and moving in with their adoptive family, and delayed transfers of care from hospital that are attributed to social care.

66.6 The Committee made comments in relation to the report including those that follow. It:

•        Commented that the improvement in schools is welcome, but progress appears slower in comparison due to schools improving nationally also, and wished to see further improvements in the coming years.

•        Commented that the statistics show clearly the link between funding and achievement, with the top 20 schools being in metropolitan and London boroughs, and that the gap must be closed for West Sussex schools particularly those in Crawley and the coastal strip. The Leader thanked the Committee for these comments, and noted that Blair’s London Challenge has shown good improvements however redistribution of funding is needed now to benefit schools.

•        Noted that in the recent national news publication of the Top 250 Primary Schools none were in West Sussex, and expressed concern that to support the growth of the Gatwick diamond and science based jobs within the county the right primary education needs to be provided. The Leader supported the comment and explained this suggestion has already been made and the Council are working with the local enterprise partnership strategy.

•        Requested a scattergram (including percentages) showing how schools have performed versus their level of funding, and a full statistical regression of funding vs. improvement. The Head of Intelligence and Performance will provide the information to the Committee.

·                  Commented that the quality of teaching and Headship is a critical factor for schools and suggested sharing of best practice should be undertaken. The Leader highlighted good examples of well-performing secondary schools, and noted that in recent years the success of secondary and primary schools has inverted. Members were encouraged to visit and engage with schools in their wards to help raise standards. 

·                  Commented that the biggest challenge for schools is the increase in children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), which leads to the budget required to manage this impeding on the mainstream. The Leader commented that the SEND budget pressure is a national problem, and pressure for adequate funding has been put on the Minister at the recent CCN meeting.

·                  Commented that nationally adoption rates seem to be falling as more couples are able to have their own children, and queried whether this has been affecting West Sussex. The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People commented that recruiting foster and adoptive parents is a challenge, and a more detailed response will be provided to the Committee.

·                  Commented that the Council have performed well at addressing their responsibility for Delayed Transfers of Care (DToC) and noted their thanks to the staff involved in this, however the health authority now needs to focus on reducing their responsibility for DToC. Members queried how they can be confident this is embedded within the work of both parties to continue improving. The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health stated the IBCF can be used to improve DToC and that a spike was seen in August due to the summer weather.

·                  Commented that the number of measures on the year-end forecast slide (67) doesn’t match the number of measures shown in Appendix 4 pages 65-68, even when accounting for those shown as sub-measures. The Head of Intelligence and Performance will check this data and confirm for the Committee.

·                  Expressed concern about the number of ‘red’ targets within the Best Start of Life service area, and agreed to refer this to the Children and Young People’s Service Select Committee (CYPSSC) for further review. The Leader commented that this is the most challenging service for the Council, that the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People is working to improve performance and that more hard scrutiny is encouraged.

·                  Commented that due to increasing bills and costs the Council is forced to pay more to provide the same or a lesser level of service, resulting in asking residents for more in Council Tax in order to provide a reduced service which may lead to dissatisfaction with the Council. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources accepted this point and commented that the management of public perception is important here. The Communications team can be helpful in managing public perception and aiding public understanding of the difficulties of financing Council services; this is an important point to cover in the proposed Task and Finish Group ahead of the next What Matters to You survey.

66.7 The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change introduced the workforce element of the report and highlighted key information for the Committee. Full-time equivalent (FTE) headcount is down and there has been a decrease in non-employed staff (e.g. agency) which is positive. Sickness has slightly reduced however there may be some winter impact in quarter 3. Focus groups will be undertaken to improve the appraisal process, and the measure on inductions is a new measure so this will be monitored and improved over the coming year. 

66.8 The Committee made comments in relation to the report including those that follow. It:

•        Noted the FTE headcount has reduced between quarters but the pay bill has increased by £4.5m, and queried whether this was due to a pay increase. The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change confirmed there was a pay award in quarter 2 for NJC staff which accounts for this change. There will also be a subsequent change for Hay staff.

·                  Commented that the appraisal process should also cover the rate of staff productivity. The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change agreed this should be taken account of and will be looked into.

·                  Commented in relation to recruitment and retention of nursing and auxiliary staff that numbers of nurses coming to the UK have fallen since the Brexit vote, and queried whether there are any statistics available for the workforce in West Sussex. The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change explained a meeting has recently taken place with the Director of Public Health and more work is required between the Council, the National Health Service and the voluntary sector to look into this provision in order to reassure members.

•        Enquired how many mental health first aiders there are within the Council by each area. The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change confirmed there is no formal network though there is interest in a mental health staff group. Work will be undertaken with the Director of Public Health to embed public health considerations within the Council’s People Strategy and mental health first aiders could form a part of that, however the timing of this is currently uncertain.

66.9 Resolved:

1) That the Committee are concerned regarding the pressures in children’s services and requests further information from the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills on what is being done to manage and reduce the level of permanent exclusions;

2) That the Committee recognises the clear link between the best performing Authorities and funding in relation to schools, that school performance must continue to be improved within West Sussex, and further recognises the need for the best performing schools to share good practice and lessons learned across the County;

3) That the Children and Young People’s Select Committee (CYPSSC) be asked to review the performance within Best Start in Life as many of the targets are rated ‘red’; and

4) That the Committee recognise the ongoing work on workforce statistics and policy, and requests to see the targets included in future reports.