Scrutiny Committee - 11/12/2019

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 11th December, 2019.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 25th September, 2019 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were made.

II EXTERNAL INSPECTION REPORT ON MILLVIEW COTTAGE

There was submitted Report No 410-2019 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service providing an outline of the recent external inspection report of Millview Cottage which, over four categories of inspection, received grades of Adequate to Good. Millview Cottage was inspected in relation to supporting children and young people's wellbeing, leadership, staffing, care and support planning.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the summary of the inspection report on Millview Cottage; and

(ii) remitted the Executive Director of Children and Families Service to ensure that the areas for improvement were acted upon.

III EXTERNAL INSPECTION REPORT ON THE JUNCTION

There was submitted Report No 411-2019 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service providing a summary of the recent external inspection report of The Junction which did not require in-depth scrutiny. The Junction was classified by the Care Inspectorate as a 'high performing service' and, in the two categories inspected, received grades of Very Good and Good.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the summary of the inspection report on The Junction young people's house, which received grades of Very Good or Good in the two areas covered by the inspection; and

(ii) remitted the Executive Director of Children and Families Service to ensure that the areas for improvement were acted upon.

IV CITY AND COUNCIL PLANS MID-YEAR PROGRESS REPORT

On a reference to Article IV of the minute of meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 18th November, 2019, there was submitted Report No 366-2019 by the Chief Executive providing the Committee with a joint mid-year progress update on the performance and plans in both the City Plan 2017/2026 and the Council Plan 2017/2022.

The Committee, for their interest, noted progress made.

V BI-ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 368-2019 by the Chief Executive reporting on complaints statistics for the first half of 2019/2020, with comparisons to previous periods, and on the action which continued to be taken to ensure that complaints were handled well and that the Council learnt from complaints.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April, 2019 and 30th September, 2019, 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 the first half of 2019/2020, with trends from previous surveys;

(iv) noted examples of complaints received about Council services;

(v) noted a summary of the annual letter from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on complaints received about the Council during 2018/2019, which highlighted that only one complaint reached the Ombudsman's investigation stage and was upheld; and

(vi) noted that a programme of training for employees on dealing with complaints was continuing, and was reinforcing the importance of dealing promptly with complaints, keeping complainants informed and giving clear explanations of decisions.

VI INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 404-2019 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 in the report.

VII DUNDEE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2019/2020

After considering Report No 405-2019 by the Senior Manager, Internal Audit relative to the above, the Committee noted the contents of the Dundee Integration Joint Board (IJB) 2019/2020 Internal Audit Plan appended thereto.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.