Agenda item

A report by the Director of Finance and Support Services setting out the performance and finance position as at the end of September.

The Committee is asked to examine the data and supporting commentary for the Total Performance Monitor and make any relevant recommendations for action to the Cabinet Member or a relevant Select Committee.

35.1  The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services (copy appended to the signed minutes).

35.2  Katharine Eberhart, Director of Finance and Support Services introduced the finance aspect of the report and highlighted the following:-

·         Taking into account pressures in Children’s Services, non-delivery of savings and the mitigations to deal with those, the total overspend had increased from £15.3m to £15.9m

·         The use of £7.355m from the budget management reserve to mitigate overspending meant that the Council had slipped down the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s resilience index

·         The Council needed to implement controls so that it made the right purchasing decisions to mitigate costs where reasonable

35.3   Summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments: -

·         Replenishment of the budget management reserve would be built into future budget forecasts

·         A query was raised over the alternative plans in relation to supported independent living provision for 16-25 year olds – ACTION: Katharine Eberhart to supply information on the alternative plans

·         The extra demand on the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant would be explained in the Cabinet Member decision report on the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Strategy - ACTION: Katharine Eberhart to circulate the decision report to  members of the Committee

·         Sophisticated methods were used to predict demand in Adults’ Services including taking into account the initiatives that were aimed at maintaining independence for longer (such as reablement) but the connection with financial drivers could be improved

·         A lot of information on market provision came from agencies and the Council’s commissioners

·         Children Looked After from outside the county remained the responsibility of the originating authority

·         The cost of looking after asylum seekers was broadly met by central Government

35.4 Martin Farrell, Head of Intelligence and Performance introduced the performance aspect of the Total Performance Monitor report and highlighted key information including a presentation of recently released Department for Education school performance data for 2019: -

·         Attainment at Key Stages 1 and 2 in West Sussex was below Hampshire (the closest demographic authority to West Sussex) and at or just below the national average

·         Attainment at Key Stage 4 in West Sussex was above Hampshire and the national average overall, but with large variations between schools

·         55% of measures were expected to be rated ‘Green’ by the end of the year with action plans in place to recover those rated ‘Amber’ or ‘Red’

35.5   Summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments: -

·         The School Effectiveness Strategy contained plans to raise attainment, especially in the poorer performing schools

·         The Children & Young People’s Services Select Committee would look at the differences between attainment at primary level compared with secondary level

·         Concerns over those killed or seriously injured on the roads would be discussed at the Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee in January – ACTION: All Members of the Council to be invited to attend this meeting

·         Air quality was monitored by roadside monitors including near airports – aviation pollution was monitored by Reigate & Banstead Borough Council – ACTION: Martin Farrell to circulate this information to the Committee

·         Concern was expressed as to whether the corporate targets were considered when decisions were taken

35.6 Jamie McGarry, Head of Human Resources Business Partnering ? Organisational Change introduced the workforce section of the Total Performance Monitor and highlighted key information for Members: -

·         There had been an increase in agency staff in both Children’s and Adults’ services which is monitored by the service

·         Mental health issues such as stress and anxiety were the main causes of long-term staff absences from work and were more prevalent than in other organisations – to address this there had been a staff survey, engagement with senior managers, a wellbeing plan for staff and agency staff used to help with large social worker caseloads – ACTION: Jamie McGarry to share the results of the staff survey and update the workforce information in the next Total Performance Monitor with action taken

·         The Children’s Services Improvement Plan should improve the working environment for children’s social workers, which would help with recruitment and retention of permanent staff and reduce the need for agency staff

·         The use of agency staff was included in budget plans

·         The incentive scheme for social workers had been very successful and the vacancy rate was now down to between 1% and 2%

·         Agency staff were involved in specific work including introducing best practice and embedding graduates into the service

·         The link between appraisals and increments had been paused, appraisals and appraisal training were continuing - 60% of managers had been formerly trained with others being upskilled in team meetings by trainers

·         There were challenges around supportive supervision for children’s social workers and whether people with disabilities and/or from ethnic backgrounds would be disadvantaged by performance related pay schemes – a year’s worth of data needed to be assessed to ensure the scheme was fair

·         The appraisal completion rate for the past year was 71% overall, but only 55% in Children’s Services, efforts were being made to improve these figures

·         There were concerns over an attack on a social worker – ACTION: Jamie McGarry to provide the Committee with fuller details

·         Disciplinary cases were about conduct, not performance – there were no cases related to safeguarding issues

35.7 Resolved – that the Committee: -

     i.        Recognises the issues with forecasting demand in services

    ii.        Expresses concern over the reliance on reserves to balance the budget

   iii.        Is disappointed in the number of savings that are now at risk and emphasises the need to ensure due diligence is carried out when setting future budgets

  iv.        Is disappointed in the education performance statistics and asks that the Children & Young People’s Services Select Committee looks at these in more detail

    v.        Asks that all Members be invited to the January meeting of the Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee where the Safer Sussex Partnership will be discussed

  vi.        Questions whether there will be a refresh of the West Sussex Plan and the targets being measured against it in the Total Performance Monitor

 vii.        Expresses concern over the health and wellbeing of staff and the high increase in sickness due to stress and anxiety

viii.        Requests further information at the next meeting in relation to appraisal training

  ix.        Confirms its support of the importance of carrying out appraisals for all staff