Scrutiny Committee - 20/10/2010

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 20th October, 2010.

 

Present:-

 

BAILIES

 

Derek SCOTT

Willie SAWERS

 

 

COUNCILLORS

 

Kevin KEENAN

Fraser MACPHERSON

Craig MELVILLE

Richard McCREADY

Bob DUNCAN

Stewart HUNTER

 

Councillor Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

 

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 18th August, 2010 was held as read.

 

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

 

I SOCIAL CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES AND HOUSING SUPPORT

 

On a reference to Article II of the minute of meeting of the Social Work and Health Committee of 27th September, 2010, there was submitted Report No 581-2010 by the Director of Social Work reporting on the findings of the Care Commission Inspection of Social Care and Support Services.

 

The Committee, having questioned senior management, agreed to:-

 

(i) note the content of the report; and

 

(ii) instruct the Director of Social Work to monitor progress towards the improvement in the service.

 

II SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL INSPECTION REPORTS

 

There was submitted Report No 604-2010 by the Chief Executive providing a summary of recent inspection reports by the Care Commission and HMIe 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 Directors of Social Work and Education to ensure that the areas for Improvement, Requirements and Recommendations included in each report were acted upon, both in relation to the service inspected and as guidance on good practice for other services.

 

In addition, it was remitted to the Director of Education to report back to the next meeting on the action taken with regard to areas for improvement referred to in (ii) above.

 

III 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.

 

IV INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

 

There was submitted Report No 635-2010 by the Chief Internal Auditor providing the Committee with a summary of the internal audit reports finalised since the last Scrutiny Committee.

 

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

 

V INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS - SUMMARY OF PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS

 

There was submitted Report No 636-2010 by the Chief Internal Auditor providing the Committee with an update on the progress in implementing internal audit recommendations previously reported to and agreed by management.

 

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

 

VI REVIEW OF PREVIOUS YEARS EXTERNAL AUDIT ACTION PLANS

 

There was submitted Report No 586-2010 by the Director of Finance providing elected members with an update on the progress on implementing recommendations from previously agreed external audit reports.

 

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

 

VII EXTERNAL AUDIT REPORT - CORPORATE ELECTRONIC RECORDS AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

 

There was submitted Report No 621-2010 by Alasdair Craik, Senior Audit Manager relative to the implementation of the Corporate Electronic Records and Data Management System.

 

The Committee agreed to note the action plan.

 

VIII PERFORMANCE REPORT 2010

 

On a reference to Article IV of the minute of meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 27th September, 2010, there was submitted Report No 445-2010 by the Director of Finance informing elected members of the Council's performance for the financial year 2009/2010.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted the Council's performance for 2009/2010 as set out in the Performance Report; and

 

(ii) noted that the Council was required to report performance by 30th September, 2010 and this had been done through the Annual Performance Report which had also been published on the internet. Excerpts from the report had also appeared in the Evening Telegraph.

 

IX STATUTORY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2009/2010 - CORPORATE SELF‑ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE

 

Reference was made to Article III of the minute of meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 27th September, 2010.

 

There was submitted Report No 397-2010 by the Director of Finance advising elected members of the performance of the City Council as defined by the specified indicators stipulated by Audit Scotland and as supplemented by those indicators which the Council intended using to measure its performance under the new self-assessment regime which was introduced for the first time for the financial year 2009/2010.

 

The Committee concurred with the decision of the Policy and Resources Committee:-

 

(i) that the performance indicators in Appendix 1 be published on the Council website in a prominent position in order that stakeholders be made aware of the Council's corporate self-assessment of its performance in 2009/2010;

 

(ii) that all indicators in Appendix 1 which can be measured quarterly be reported on this basis to this Committee to ensure that performance improvements continue to be obtained in the coming year and to ensure that performance self-assessment was fully embedded within the Council's Performance Framework; and

 

(iii) that the results of the Council's first Corporate Performance Self-Assessment be cascaded downwards to relevant groups of stakeholders. For example, the housing performance indicators be published in the housing newspaper to engage with tenants. Similar mechanisms required to be in place for the other performance indicator categories at the discretion of the relevant officers.

 

X CORPORATE PERFORMANCE SELF-ASSESSMENT 2010/2011 - REPORT FOR THREE MONTHS TO 30TH JUNE, 2010

 

There was submitted Report No 398-2010 by the Director of Finance advising the elected members of the corporate performance of Dundee City Council for the three months to 30th June, 2010 as defined by the Key Quarterly Performance Indicators.

 

The Committee:-

 

(i) noted that performance levels for the first three months of the financial year had generally been maintained or improved; and

 

(ii) remitted to all Chief Officers to review the contents of Appendix 1 as it related to their service and consider if there were any indicators for which performance could be improved over the remainder of the 2010/2011 financial year.

 

 

 

 

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.