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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting via Webcast

Contact: Julia Brown 

Media

Items
No. Item

68.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence received.

69.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

Minutes:

There were no changes to Membership of the Committee.

70.

URGENT BUSINESS, IF ANY, INTRODUCED BY THE CHAIRMAN

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reasons of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

71.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST pdf icon PDF 299 KB

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Legal and Democratic Services Manager in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.) 

Minutes:

Councillor C Coughlin declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to Agenda Item 9a & 9b - Financial Inclusion Strategy Review in respect of his employment in the Children and Family Wellbeing Service, Lancashire County Council.

72.

DECLARATIONS OF A PARTY WHIP

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rule 16, Members must declare the existence of any Party Whip, and the nature of it, when considering any matter in the following categories:

 

-        The review of any decision of Cabinet or

-        The performance of any Member of the Cabinet

 

N.B. The Secretary of State believes whipping is incompatible with Overview and Scrutiny.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of Party Whip.

73.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 306 KB

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2020.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2020 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

(A Member expressed that it be noted, that at the meeting held on 5 March 2020 the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources provided a Briefing, in respect of the work that Officers had carried out during the outbreak of Covid-19 and wished to thank them on behalf of the Committee for their work in respect of this).

74.

PUBLIC SPEAKING pdf icon PDF 177 KB

Residents of West Lancashire, on giving notice, may address the meeting to make representations on any item on the agenda except where the public and press are to be excluded during consideration of the item.  The deadline for submissions is 10.00am on Friday 5 June 2020. A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no items under this heading.

75.

QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (Q4 2019/20) pdf icon PDF 768 KB

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources as contained on pages 291 to 310 of the Book of Reports, which presented performance monitoring data for the quarter ended 31 March 2020.

 

The Partnership and Performance Officer provided an update on the latest key performance indicators and explained that detailed Performance Action Plans are now in place where performance falls short of target by 5% 'red category' (Appendix B). She went on to explain that data contained within the report had reflected some of the impact from the early stages of Covid-19.

 

Questions and comments were raised in respect of the following indicators;

 

BV8 % Invoices paid on time

A new electronic process was introduced at the end of March 2020.

 

WL90 % of Contact Centre calls answered

WL108 Average answered waiting time for callers to the Contact Centre

A sustained improvement over the year and remains on target.

 

NI157a – Processing of Major Planning Applications – Annual Target 75%

Exceeds the National performance target of 60%.  It was explained that a low number of applications can have a significant impact on outturn due to possible delays.

 

ES18 No. of fly tip incidents reported 

All fly tips reported are removed if they are on Council land. 

Environmental Enforcement Officers will engage with the landowner of Private Land to report removal.

 

NI192 Percentage of kerbside household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting

Details of actions contained within Performance Plan (Appendix B5)

A new dedicated post of Waste and Recycling Promotions Officer will be in place July 2020, focusing on identifying areas of low recycling.

 

ES14, 15, 16, 17 Average of missed bins per fortnight 

Concerns raised in respect of target not met.

Details of actions contained within Performance Plan (Appendix B4)

 

HS28 % of properties with a valid Electrical Installation Condition Report (homes and buildings)

It was explained that access to properties may be due to the position relating to restrictions during the current position with Covid-19 Government Guidance. The Partnership and Performance Officer made an undertaking to inform Members of specific data for the current target of 100% not being reached.

 

She explained that information relating to Revenue and Benefits would be presented in detail at Agenda Item 14 by the BTLS Service Director - Revenue and Benefits.

 

In discussion a Member commented that at the previous meeting held 5 March 2020, a suggestion was raised that the Performance Indicators that were performing well could potentially be reset accordingly to reflect this.  The Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources informed the Committee that Officers are currently looking at the Performance Indicators for this financial year.

 

RESOLVED: That the Council's performance against the indicator set for the quarter ended 31 March 2020 be noted.

76.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION STRATEGY - REVIEW

To consider the following items in relation to the 'Financial Inclusion Strategy' be undertaken by the Committee:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the following 2 items in relation to the review undertaken by the Committee entitled ' Financial Inclusion Strategy Review'.

77.

Financial Inclusion Strategy - Update pdf icon PDF 47 KB

To receive an update from the Financial Inclusion Team.

Minutes:

The Financial Inclusion Team Leader provided the Committee with a Presentation as contained on pages 339 to 348 of the Book of Reports, outlining the Financial Impacts on West Lancashire Residents during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

 

In discussion, comments and questions were raised in respect of the details included within the Presentation:

 

·         Money Advice Team - Review of Money Advice Team / Income Team

·         Future Resources / Funding to support Team

·         Lockdown March 2020 – Financial Impact on the residents of West Lancashire

·         Financial Inclusion Assistant Team set up – 222 referrals received

·         Promotion / Support available to meet the needs of Residents

·         Future medium term impact - difficult to predict future demand

·         Government Financial Support

·         Community Support Fund – Promotion through CVS/Partnership approach

·         Support moving forward – Budgeting & Money Advice for tenants and residents

·         Demographics of residents seeking support

·         WLBC extended support to all Citizens from 24 March 2020 in conjunction with Strategic Partners including; CA, Digital Inclusion West Lancashire Debt Service, ICAN, LCC, Money Advice Service, More Positive Together and Birchwood centre

·         Mental Health Support – Signposting via Social Media

·         Importance of collaboration with third sector partners

·         Types of support available for funeral costs

·         Free school meals – possibility of Government to extend during Summer Holidays

 

The Chairman thanked the Financial Inclusion and Money Advice Teams for the Presentation and work involved during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

 

RESOLVED: A.        That the presentation be noted.

 

B.        That a 'virtual' Scrutiny event be arranged with Members of the Committee, Key Stakeholders/Organisations and Service users in order to develop and refine the 'Financial Inclusion Strategy' Review.

 

C.        That the 'Signposting' of Mental Health Support available be provided to Members, in order to share with Tenants and Residents of the Borough.  

78.

Project Plan - Financial Inclusion Strategy pdf icon PDF 228 KB

To agree and review the Project Plan for the review.

Minutes:

The Project Plan as circulated on pages 311 to 316 of the Book of Reports was considered by the Committee.

 

RESOLVED:That the Project Plan be updated to include the arrangement of a 'virtual' Scrutiny Stakeholder event.

 

.

 

79.

ITEMS FROM THE MEMBERS' UPDATE INCLUDED ON THE AGENDA AT THE REQUEST OF A MEMBER

There are no items under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items under this heading.

80.

MEMBERS ITEMS / CCfA (COUNCILLOR CALL FOR ACTION)

There are no items under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items under this heading.

81.

WORK PROGRAMME OF THE COMMITTEE pdf icon PDF 193 KB

To consider the Work Programme of the Committee 2020/21.

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the 2020/21 Work Programme of the Committee be noted.

82.

EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

It is recommended that members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and as, in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED:    That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of that Act and as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption under Schedule 12A outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

83.

BTLS ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources and to receive a presentation from representatives from BTLS.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation and Resources as contained on pages 319 to 338 of the Book of Reports, which was to consider the BT Lancashire Services Annual Review 2019/20 of services provided to West Lancashire Borough Council as part of the partnership agreement with Lancashire County Council.

 

The Chairman welcomed the representatives from BT Lancashire Services (BTLS).

 

The meeting was attended by Mr Mark Orford (Director of ICT Services) and Ms Claire Hall (Director of Revenue and Benefit Services) who provided an overview of the work that had been undertaken over the previous 12 months under the partnership agreement.

 

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following;

 

·         Mental health and wellbeing

·         Council Tax debt recovery

·         Debt recovery process – collaboration across teams

·         Support for residents and businesses throughout Covid-19

 

The Corporate Director of Resources and Transformation explained that 200 Staff had been equipped and mobilised in order to work from home in respect of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

 

The Chairman thanked representatives from BTLS for their Presentation.

 

RESOLVED: That the BT Lancashire Services Annual Review 2019/20, attached at Appendix A be noted.