Decisions

The finance (revenue and capital) savings programme, performance and workforce are currently monitored through the Total Performance Monitor (TPM). This monitoring and reporting mechanism brings together all these elements of the County Council’s operation in a way of reporting an integrated view to all stakeholders. This report is intended for senior officers, Cabinet, Select committee members, all Members and the public.

The report also sets out how the funding for the recently approved Fire and Rescue and Children’s Improvement plan (SSC03 19/20 and CYP02 19/20) will be managed within year and through the subsequent budget process.

The forecast year end revenue outturn position, as at the end of June 2019, across portfolio and non-portfolio budgets, is currently projecting an £18.7m overspend; prior to the use of the £3.4m Contingency Budget. Full details are provided within the covering report and Appendix A – the June 2019 TPM.

The Leader and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources have:

(1) noted the overall performance position covering finance, savings and performance as set out in the report.

(2) noted that any remaining overspend for the 2019/20 year, following any mitigation actions, will have to be drawn from the Budget Management Reserve; which will inevitably reduce the County Council’s financial resilience in future years; and

(3) with regard to the in-year funding requirements identified for Children’s Services and Fire and Rescue Services, the Cabinet Member for Finance:

a) approved the transfer of £1.426m from the Contingency Budget to the Fire Inspection Improvements Reserve, to support the implementation of the Fire and Rescue Implementation Plan.

b) approved the transfer of £1.942m from the Contingency Budget to the Children’s First Improvement Reserve, to support the implementation of the Performance Improvement Plan for Children’s Services.

c) endorsed the inclusion of future years’ implications for both Children’s and Fire and Rescue Services within the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The purpose of Operation Watershed is to support people in their local communities who want to work with the County Council to become more prepared for, or to reduce the risk of, flooding. Local groups are encouraged to apply for funding to finance schemes and projects of all sizes as a way of achieving this.

£1.500m is allocated for Operation Watershed in the Capital Programme agreed by Full Council in December 2017.  The allocation for 2019/20 is £0.300m.

In this period three full applications have been received and evaluated totalling  £49,972.40 and are set out in Appendix A of the report.

The Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure has approved the applications from the community groups or parish councils set out in Appendix A of the report.

The County Local Committee (CLC) duty regarding school governance is to stimulate interest and commitment to the governance of maintained schools and academies in the area and to identify and nominate suitable persons to serve as school governors on behalf of the county council.

The Director of Law and Assurance, in consultation with the Chairman of the North Horsham County Local Committee and the Chairman of the Children and Young People’s Services Select Committee, has used his delegated powers under Standing Order 3.45 to approve the nomination for reappointment of Local Authority Governor set out in Appendix A of the report.

Diesel fuel is currently delivered to ten sites in the County to assist with re-fuelling requirements for vehicles and fire appliances in the Council’s fleet.  The storage of diesel fuel also forms part of the Council’s overall resilience capability during times of fuel shortages and other emergency events.

Currently the Council meets its diesel fuel requirement using a call-off contract procured through the Crown Commercial Service (CSS) in 2017.  This contract expires on 30 September 2019.

Following a collaborative procurement process in July 2019 with local Blue Light organisations, the Council is now in a position to award the contract for the purchase and delivery of diesel fuel to WFL (UK) Ltd trading as Watson Fuels as the best-value solution.

The contract length is 30 months starting on 1 October 2019.

The (Acting) Chief Fire Officer has approved the award of contract to WFL (UK) Ltd, trading as Watson Fuels, to deliver diesel fuel to all ten sites in West Sussex from 1 October 2019 until 31March 2022.

7.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Law and Assurance (copy appended to the signed minutes).

7.2     Mr Gauntlett, Senior Advisor, introduced the report and informed the Committee that the draft Statement set out the Council’s governance arrangements and the draft action plan set out a range of actions proposed to improve them.

7.3     The Committee made comments including those that follow. It:

•        Was supportive of the draft Statement but asked for the summary of assurances in each section to be reviewed for consistency.

•        Asked whether the corporate governance processes identified within the Statement should have recognised the problems in Children’s Services and the Fire and Rescue Service as found by the external inspections in recent months. It hoped that attention would be given to any other services with forthcoming external inspections, such as the Youth Offending Service.  The Leader of the Council felt that the problems identified had been systemic and that all members in their local and strategic roles should seek to gain a better understanding of the experiences of service users and should seek to streamline and join up information being presented to different committees. She gave an example of paragraph 43 on the embedding of sustainability, where the Chairman could usefully write to the appropriate Select Committee to highlight the information there.

•        Hoped that consideration would be given to what appropriate external advice and service user voices were needed by select committees when scrutinising council services. The Director of Law and Assurance confirmed that this would be considered as part of the Governance Committee’s review of scrutiny in autumn 2019.

7.4     Resolved – That, subject to final revisions to improve consistency, the Annual Governance Statement 2018/19 be agreed and recommended for adoption through the signatures of the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.

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

4.2     Mrs Chuter, Financial Reporting Manager, introduced the report and informed the Committee that the Financial Statements had been completed and that the external audit was substantially complete.

4.3     The Committee made comments including those that follow. It:

•        Thanked officers for preparing a comprehensive statement of accounts.

•        Questioned whether additional funds for Children’s Services and the Fire and Rescue Service were reflected in post balance sheet events because of the timing of the inspection outcomes. The Director of Finance and Support Services advised that they were not.

•        Asked whether the increase of staff being paid over £50,000 per annum was due to new posts or inflationary uplifts. The Director of Finance and Support Services advised that most was due to inflationary uplifts moving posts just over the £50,000 reporting threshold.

•        Noted challenges in recruitment retention of senior management staff and hoped that more stability could be achieved, particularly in children’s services management.  It noted that exit payments would include pensions provision if there were any pensions liabilities. The Leader of the Council highlighted that difficult markets in social work and in senior management made recruitment and retention a particular challenge in the South East. The Director of Finance and Support Services agreed to check on the figures for Children’s Services staff and provide this to the Committee.

4.4     Resolved – That the Statement of Accounts for 2018/19 for West Sussex County Council and the West Sussex Pension Fund be approved, for signing by the Chairman of the Committee.

5.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services, and the Head of Southern Internal Audit Partnership (copy appended to the signed minutes).

5.2     Mr Harvey, Southern Internal Audit Partnership, introduced the report and advised that the 2018/19 audit opinion provided ‘adequate assurance’ on the Councils overall framework of governance, risk management and control and that most work had now been undertaken. He highlighted that audit findings generally reflected the areas for improvement found by the Corporate Peer Challenge and the Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Services and he confirmed that action was being planned to address the limited assurances in these areas. He thanked County Council officers for their cooperation and support during the audits.

5.3     The Committee made comments including those that follow. It:

•        Noted the ‘adequate assurance’ conclusion was roughly in line with comparable local authorities and acknowledged that it was difficult for a large, diverse organisation like the County Council to improve on this.

•        Asked for the table reflecting officers progress in implementing actions arising from audit reports to be included in all future reports, including the annual opinion.

•        Hoped that the move to the Southern Audit Partnership had not led to any reduction in internal audit activity. The Director of Finance and Support Services confirmed that there had been no reductions.

•        Noted that the auditors’ work would not overlap with other inspections, such as the Ofsted inspection, although some common themes could be identified and acted upon.

•        Expressed concern about delays in DBS checks for taxi drivers undertaking home to school transport being re-done every three years in line with the Council’s policy. The Director of Finance and Support Services advised that a better process was now in place for them to be renewed every three years, but agreed to update the Committee on progress.

5.4     Resolved – That the annual audit report for the year ended 31 March 2019 be approved.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the lead authority for Library books and other Library Services, on behalf of the Central Buying Consortium (CBC). The CBC Library Group (CBCLG) consists of 19 of the CBC members and currently a further 29 Associate member Local Authorities. This will rise by a further 10 Associate members.

The current Framework Agreement for Library Books and Audio-Visual materials is due to expire in March 2020 and the CBC Library Group have requested that the Framework is renewed for up to a further four years.

Based on the forecasts from all participating bodies the forecast spend is £12.8M per annum. The forecast for WSCC is £655K per annum.

In recompense for the work involved in procuring and managing the contract, WSCC receive a Management Fee from Associate members. Last year this was £61K.

The Cabinet Member for Fire and Rescue and Communties has approved:

(1)        the commencement of a procurement process for a new Framework Agreement for Library Books and Audio-Visual materials for the CBC Library Group, to commence on 1 April 2020; and

(2)        delegation of authority to the Director of Communities to award the contract to the provider who submits the most economically advantageous tender and can best meet the quality and performance standards required.

Health and Social Care in West Sussex are working together to develop and implement a pathway for people who are medically fit for discharge from acute hospitals but who may have continuing health or social care needs. People meeting these criteria and who do not require 24 hour care would be supported to return home immediately through this ‘Home First’ pathway without having their care needs assessed in hospital.  The service will provide support to meet people’s immediate needs at home whilst an assessment is completed. Following this assessment the need for ongoing support will then be considered. The aim will be to maximise the use of community support and to enable people to remain living as independently as possible.

This decision commissions hospital discharge social care services, which will form one part of the multi-agency support that will be provided to patients on their return home.  This includes plans to provide a county wide cohesive service that aligns with health services and enables the ‘Home First’ care pathway to be fully implemented across West Sussex.

The Executive Director People Services has approved the commencement of procurement activities to source a new hospital discharge care service and to proceed to let the contract for service commencement from April 2020, as set out in section 2 of this report.