Scrutiny Committee - 18/08/2010

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 18th August, 2010.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 10th June, 2010 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I ACTION POINTS

(i) DISCLOSURE PRACTICES IN EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENTS

On a reference to Article I(ii) of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 19th May, 2010, there was submitted Report No 432-2010 by the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) reviewing the Council's Disclosure practices.

The Committee noted the contents of the report and agreed that representation be made to the Scottish Government regarding inconsistencies between what different outside bodies want the Council to do in terms of disclosure checks and seek to have them addressed.

(ii) ST MARY'S PRIMARY SCHOOL NURSERY CLASS - ERECTION OF A FENCE

On a reference to Article II of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 10th June, 2010, there was submitted Report No 390-2010 by the Director of Education.

The Committee noted the decision by the Director of Education that a fence was not required since a range of other steps had been taken immediately to address the issue of members of the public passing through the school grounds.

(iii) ADOPTION SERVICE AND FOSTERING SERVICE - UPDATE ON ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

On a reference to Article VI of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 10th June, 2010, there was submitted Agenda Note AN106-2010 reporting on the actions relating to the Service Engagement Strategy for the Adoption Service which also included the Fostering Service.

The Committee noted the position.

II THE ELMS - SECURE UNIT

There was submitted Report No 255-2010 by the Director of Social Work and the Director of Education reporting on the findings and evaluation of the inspection of the Elms Secure Unit by HM Inspectorate and the Care Commission.

The Committee, having questioned the Director of Education and Director of Social Work and senior management, agreed to:-

(i) note the contents of the report; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Social Work and Director of Education to monitor the continued progress towards improving this service.

In addition, it was remitted to the Director of Education to report to the Education Committee on the outcomes for young people who have been accommodated within the Elms Secure Unit.

III WHITFIELD COMMUNITY EARLY YEARS CENTRE

On a reference to Article I of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 10th June, 2010, there was submitted Report No 388-2010 by the Director of Education reporting on the findings of HMIe and the Care Commission from a follow-through inspection of Whitfield Community Early Years' Centre.

The Committee, having questioned the Director of Education and senior management, agreed to:-

(i) note the contents of the report; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Education to monitor progress towards meeting the areas for continuing improvement contained in the report.

It was further agreed that it be remitted to the Chief Executive to suggest to HMIe that it would be helpful if follow-through reports gave consideration to indicators and gradings.

IV BALDRAGON ACADEMY

There was submitted Report No 425-2010 by the Director of Education reporting on the findings of the HMIe Inspection of Baldragon Academy.

The Committee, having questioned the Director of Education and senior management, agreed to:-

(i) note the contents of the report; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Education to monitor progress towards meeting the areas for improvement contained in the report.

V LEARNING COMMUNITY SURROUNDING BALDRAGON ACADEMY

There was submitted Report No 323-2010 by the Head of Community Learning and Development, Leisure and Communities Department reporting on the findings of the HMIe inspection of the learning community surrounding Baldragon Academy.

The Committee, having questioned the Director of Leisure and Communities and senior management, agreed to:-

(i) note the contents of the report; and

(ii) instruct the Head of Community Learning and Development to monitor progress towards meeting the areas for improvement contained in the report.

VI SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL INSPECTION REPORTS FOR WHICH GRADES ARE GOOD OR BETTER

There was submitted Report No 394-2010 by the Chief Executive providing a summary of recent inspection reports by the Care Commission which do not require in-depth scrutiny.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the summaries of recent external inspection reports all of which received grades of good or better in all areas covered by the inspection; and

(ii) remitted to the Director of Social Work to ensure that the areas for improvement and recommendations included in each report were acted upon both in relation to the service inspected and as guidance on the good practice for other services.

VII EMPLOYEES

The Committee agreed to record their appreciation in respect of the excellent work carried out by employees within the above establishments and remitted to the Chief Executive to write in appropriate terms.

VIII BEST VALUE REVIEW PROGRAMME

There was submitted Report No 387-2010 by the Assistant Chief Executive reporting on progress with the programme of best value reviews and providing information on the wide range of additional officer led review activity which was included in the Council Plan and departmental Service Plans 2007/2011.

The Committee:-

(i) noted progress on the various elements of the best value review programme as set out in Sections 4.2 to 4.6 of the report;

(ii) noted progress on the officer-led review activity included in the Council Plan and departmental Service Plans 2007/2011, which was summarised in Section 4.7 of the report and detailed in Appendix 1 of the report;

(iii) remitted to chief officers to ensure that any review activity not yet completed would be taken forward into new Plans; and

(iv) noted that the Policy and Resources Committee, in April 2010, approved a Corporate Improvement Programme which included the programme of best value reviews for 2010/2011 and 2013/2014, progress on which would be reported to this Committee in due course.

IX COMPLAINTS STATISTICS 2009/2010

There was submitted Report No 409-2010 by the Assistant Chief Executive providing an analysis of complaints processed through the Council's electronic recording system during 2009/2010.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the analysis of complaints processed through the electronic system between April 2009 and March 2010, with a comparison to the figures for 2008/2009;

(ii) remitted to chief officers to ensure that complaints were logged on the system, to analyse their own complaints and to aim to use complaints to drive service improvements; and

(iii) noted that changes made by departments to processes, training etc as a result of complaints would be summarised as part of the annual report to Committee in December on how the Council uses feedback from customers and service users to improve its services.

X 2009/2010 INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT

There was submitted Report No 438-2010 by the Chief Internal Auditor advising the Committee of the Internal Audit Annual Report for 2009/2010 which summarised the activities of the Council's Internal Audit Service for that period and provided an opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the Council's control environment.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

XI INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 439-2010 by the Chief Internal Auditor providing the Committee with a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Sub-Committee.

The Committee agreed to note the information contained within the report.

The Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 8 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

XII INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 440-2010 by the Chief Internal Auditor providing the Committee with a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Sub-Committee.

The Committee agreed to note the information contained within the report.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.