Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Heulwen Hulme, Little Brighouse, Benjamin Breeze, Elwyn Vaughan, Josie Ewing, Sandra Davies (Cabinet Member for Future Generations), Jack Straw (Chief Executive Officer), Nina Davies (Director of Social Services and Housing) and Lynette Lovell (Director of Education and Children).

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

There were no Declarations of Interest from Members relating to items to be considered on the agenda.

To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

(NB:  Members are reminded that, under Section 78, Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.)

The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member had been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

To receive and consider the Q1 Performance Report.

Documents Considered:

• Q1 Performance Report (to Cabinet and Scrutiny)

Background:

• The purpose of the report was to present the Council’s 2023 to 2024 Quarter 1(April to June) Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan Scorecard. The report was the first presentation of the Council’s progress against the new Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan.

•       The Scorecard had been made available on the Council’s website: https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/14124/Corporate-Plan-Updates

• The Quarter 1 Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan Scorecard showed the Council’s performance against its expectations between April and June 2023.
• The new performance year commenced on 01 April 2023 to coincide with the publication of the Council’s new Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan: Stronger, Fairer, Greener (abbreviated as ‘CSEP’).
• The purpose of the CSEP was to present the well-being priorities for the Council for the years 2023 to 2027, which supported the seven national well-being goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The Council’s priorities were its three corporate well-being objectives, which were:

1.    We will improve people’s awareness of services, and how to access them, so that they can make informed choices.

2.    We will support good quality, sustainable, employment, providing training opportunities, and pursuing real living wage employer accreditation.

3.    We will work to tackle poverty and inequality to support the well-being of the people of Powys.

• The CSEP contained all the priority work for the Council, driven by the Cabinet’s work programme and ambitions. The objectives and measures integrate the equality objectives and measures to ensure that the Council worked towards a fairer Powys in all aspects of work, and that equality is at the heart of the approach taken.
• The well-being objectives were organisation-wide areas of focus that were actively pursued so that the Council can make positive improvements to services. The performance process helped the Council to reflect on the year so far, to evaluate its approaches and contributions, to consider what has been learned, and to plan what actions can or should be taken to support ongoing progress.
• Each service had provided a written update about how they had contributed towards the achievement of the Council’s three corporate objectives and, where appropriate, the supporting measures.
• The new reporting system only provided the following options for identifying progress against a measure target:

•       On track

•       Off track

•       No data (data not due to be reported)

•       Not reported (data unexpectedly unavailable or not yet provided)

• Importantly, measure statuses were automatically calculated by the system as an indicator to identify whether the progress towards the activity met planned expectations (the targets). These statuses were used as conversation starts to enable activities to be considered in a more detailed context to determine what went well, where more or different support or resource may be necessary, and what lessons may be learned.

Issues Raised by the Committee and Responses Received:

To receive updates regarding staffing and sickness trends.

Documents Considered:

• Verbal updates from the Head of Adult Services regarding Q1 staffing and sickness trends.

Background:

• The Quarter 1 Performance Summary provided an update on:

•       Sickness Summary – Percentage of workforce absent due to sickness (01/04/2023 – 30/06/2023)

•       Long-term sickness absence (LTSA) for Quarter 1

•       Short Term Sickness Absence (STSA)

•       Number of occurrences over previous 6 months (01/01/2023 – 30/06/2023)

§  Quarter 1 had seen a reduction in both occurrences and working days lost compared with Quarter 4. The number of staff absent due to long-term sickness absence had fallen each month during Quarter 1. However, long-term sickness absence (exceeding 28 days) continues to be significant. It was reported that managers were conscious of the subsequent impact on the Authority in relation to budgets, ability to deliver services and impact on colleagues in work.

§  It was noted that Team Managers within Adult Services had support and training in managing sickness absence, including 1-2-1 sessions with the HR Advisor.

•       Workforce data summary

§  The headcount as of 30^th April 2023 was 547, equivalent to 460.29 FTE.

§  The headcount as of 31^st May 2023 was 552, equivalent to 464.79 FTE.

§  The headcount as of 30^th June 2023 was 554, equivalent to 469.54 FTE.

·       During Quarter 1, there had been 10 PCC leavers compared to 16 during Quarter 4, with no qualified leavers in Quarter 1, which accounted for 12.5% of the leavers during the previous Quarter 4.

•       Exit interviews had been offered to all leavers, and information form the interviews was feedback to the Service to act upon where appropriate. It was noted that exit interviews for Social Worker Qualified leavers were undertaken by Senior Managers and HR.

•       10 new starters had successfully commenced in post during Quarter 1, which was the same number as Quarter 4.

Issues Raised by the Committee and Responses Received:

To receive an update on previous recommendations made by the Committee, including:

i)               Foster Carers,

ii)              Families with a history of children looked after.

The previous recommendations were noted by the Committee.

To review the Recommendation Tracker.

The Committee reviewed the Informal Recommendation Tracker and noted the completed actions and recommendations.

The two recommendations made during the meeting were recorded to ensure that a timely response from Officers was received by the Committee.

The formal recommendations relating to the scrutiny of the Quarter 1 Performance Report were recorded in the Formal Recommendation Tracker. A report would be considered by the Cabinet on 19 September 2023, to either accept, partially accept or not accept each of the Committee’s recommendations.

According to the Council’s Constitution, a formal response from the Cabinet and relevant Cabinet Member should be received by the Committee within two months of the report being considered at the Cabinet meeting.

To note the scrutiny forward work programme.

The Committee noted the Work Programme and resolved to review it again at the next meeting.