Scrutiny Committee - 27/06/2018

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 27th June, 2018.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 18th April, 2018 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were made.

II EDUCATION SCOTLAND (HMI) - INSPECTION OF EASTERN PRIMARY SCHOOL AND NURSERY CLASS

There was submitted Report No 224-2018 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service reporting on the above inspection of Eastern Primary School and Nursery Class in February, 2018.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the report; and

(ii) instructed the Chief Education Officer to monitor progress towards meeting the areas for improvement outlined in the report.

III ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 160-2018 by the Chief Executive reporting on complaints statistics for 2017/2018, with comparisons to previous periods and on the action which continued to be taken to ensure that complaints were handled well and to learn from complaints.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April, 2017 and 31st March, 2018, with trends from previous periods;

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

(iii) noted the results of the satisfaction surveys sent to everyone who made a complaint closed during each quarter of 2017/2018, with trends from previous surveys; and

(iv) noted the information on compliments received through the website.

IV LOCAL GOVERNMENT BENCHMARKING FRAMEWORK PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2016/2017

On a reference to Article III of the minute of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 23rd April, 2018, there was submitted Report No 65-2018 by the Chief Executive relative to the above.

The Committee, for their interest:-

(i) noted the results contained in the report;

(ii) remitted to the Council Management Team to continue to seek improvement to the indicators contained in the report; and

(iii) agreed to publish the report on the Councils website.

V LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND CHALLENGES AND PERFORMANCE 2018

There was submitted Report No 209-2018 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services providing the Committee with a summary of the above national report that had been undertaken by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the key messages arising from the Audit Scotland overview report; and

(ii) noted the action points for elected members arising from the Audit Scotland overview report.

VI INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 205-2018 by the Senior Manager, Internal Audit providing the Committee with a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

VII EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL INTERNAL AUDIT

There was submitted Report No 208-2018 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services providing the Committee with a report by the Internal Audit Manager of East Lothian Council on the External Quality Assessment of Dundee City Council Internal Audit.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

VIII INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT

There was submitted Report No 206-2018 by the Senior Manager, Internal Audit on the Internal Audit Report on Workforce for the Dundee Integration Joint Board.

The Committee noted, for assurance purposes, the information contained within the report.

IX 2017/2018 INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT

There was submitted Report No 207-2018 by the Senior Manager, Internal Audit summarising the activities of the Councils Internal Audit Service during 2017/2018 and providing an independent annual opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the organisations governance, risk management and control framework based on the work undertaken.

The Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

X ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR TO 31ST MARCH, 2018

There was submitted Report No 214-2018 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services presenting the Annual Governance Statement for approval and inclusion into the unaudited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2018.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the report;

(ii) approved the Annual Governance Statement which was included as an Appendix to the report;

(iii) instructed the Executive Director of Corporate Services to include the Annual Governance Statement in the Annual Accounts for the year to 31st March, 2018; and

(iv) noted that a copy of the approved Annual Governance Statement would be submitted to the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership for assurance purposes.

XI DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL UNAUDITED ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2018

There was submitted Report No 226-2018 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services providing background and additional commentary on the Councils unaudited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2018.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the covering report;

(ii) noted the unaudited Annual Accounts that had been submitted along with the report;

(iii) instructed the Executive Director of Corporate Services to arrange for the Annual Accounts to be signed as required and submitted to the Councils External Auditor; and

(iv) noted that the key assumptions underpinning the independent actuaries calculation of the Councils IAS 19 liability had been reviewed and accepted by the Council as administering authority for the Pension Fund.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.