Scrutiny Committee - 25/09/2013

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 25th September, 2013.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 25th June, 2013 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor McCready declared a non-financial interest in Article II by virtue of his wife being a teacher at the school, left the Chamber and took no part in the debate.

II ST PAULS R C ACADEMY

There was submitted Report No 384-2013 by the Director of Education reporting on the findings of the Education Scotland Continued Inspection Visit of St Paul's 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.

III COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 335-2013 by the Chief Executive reporting on complaints statistics for the first quarter of 2013/2014.

The Committee noted:-

(i) the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April and 30th June, 2013;

(ii) the latest summary of findings from the Complaints Review Group which met to check the quality of complaints handling and promote learning and process improvement from complaints;

(iii) the results of the satisfaction survey sent to everyone who made a complaint which was closed between 1st April and 30th June, 2013;

(iv) progress on addressing the areas for improvement identified in the report to Scrutiny Committee on 25th June, 2013, including the recommendations from the internal audit review; and

(v) a summary of the annual letter from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on complaints received about the Council during 2012/2013.

IV DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL 2012/2013 - ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT

(a) DRAFT AUDITED STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2012/2013

The above report was submitted and noted (Report No 398-2013);

(b) EXTERNAL AUDITOR'S REPORT

The above report was submitted and noted (Report No 397-2013).

(c) DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL 2012/2013 ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT (RESPONSE TO THE EXTERNAL AUDITOR'S ANNUAL AUDIT REPORT)

There was submitted Report No 396-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services on the outcome of the external audit of Dundee City Council for the year to 31st March, 2013.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the draft External Auditor's Report and, in particular, that KPMG LLP had indicated they would issue an unqualified audit opinion on the 2012/2013 financial statements;

(ii) instructed the Director of Corporate Services to arrange for the Audited Statement of Accounts to be signed, as necessary;

(iii) noted the completed Action Plan at Appendix 3 to the External Auditor's Report;

(iv) endorsed this report as the Council's formal response to the External Auditor's Report;

(v) noted that the External Auditor's Report would be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee in due course, together with the Audited Statement of Accounts.

V TAYSIDE SUPERANNUATION FUNDS 2012/2013

(a) DRAFT AUDITED STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE TAYSIDE SUPERANNUATION FUNDS 2012/2013

The above report was submitted and noted (Report No 378-2013).

(b) EXTERNAL AUDITOR'S ANNUAL REPORT

The above report was submitted and noted (Report No 379-2013).

(c) TAYSIDE SUPERANNUATION FUNDS 2012/2013 ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT

There was submitted Report No 377-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services on the outcome of the external audit of Tayside Superannuation Funds for the year to 31st March, 2013.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the External Auditor's Annual Audit Report, in particular, that KPMG LLP anticipated issuing an unqualified audit opinion;

(ii) instructed the Director of Corporate Services to arrange for the Audited Statement of Accounts to be signed, as necessary; and

(iii) noted that the External Auditor's Report to members would be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee in due course, together with the Audited Statement of Accounts.

VI INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 392-2013 by the Chief Internal Auditor, providing the Committee with a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last meeting of this Committee.

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

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

There was submitted Report No 393-2013 by the Chief Internal Auditor, providing elected members with an update on the progress in implementing internal audit recommendations previously reported to and agreed by management.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

VIII PUBLIC SERVICE IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK (PSIF) ASSESSMENTS

There was submitted Report No 386-2013 by the Chief Executive summarising the strengths, areas for improvement and high level performance indicators for the services that had completed a PSIF assessment between May, 2013 and August, 2013.

The Committee noted the findings for the PSIF assessments for Environmental Protection and Information Technology.

IX MANAGING EARLY DEPARTURES FROM THE SCOTTISH PUBLIC SECTOR

There was submitted Report No 366-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services providing elected members with a summary of the above national study that had been undertaken by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission and Auditor General.

The Committee noted the key findings arising from this national study.

X CORPORATE PERFORMANCE SELF-ASSESSMENT 2013/2014 - REPORT FOR THREE MONTHS TO 30TH JUNE,2013

There was submitted Report No 357-2013 by the Director of Corporate Services advising elected members of the performance of Dundee City Council for the first three months of the new financial year to 30th June, 2013 as defined by the key quarterly performance indicators.

The Committee:-

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

(ii) noted that all Chief Officers should 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 2013/2014 financial year.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.