Scrutiny Committee - 26/06/2024

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held remotely on 26th June, 2024.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 24th April, 2024 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

II SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL CARE INSPECTORATE INSPECTION REPORTS FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY NURSERIESMAY, 2023 TO FEBRUARY, 2024

There was submitted Report No 193-2024 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service, providing a summary of Care Inspectorate (CI) inspection reports for Dundee City Council nurseries from May, 2023 and February, 2024.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the summary of the external inspection reports; and

(ii) to remit the Chief Education Officer to ensure that the area for improvement was acted upon, both in relation to the service inspected and as guidance on good practice for other services.

III EDUCATION SCOTLAND (HMI) INSPECTION OF DOWNFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL

There was submitted Report No 195-2024 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service, reporting on the findings of the Education Scotland (HMI) inspection of Downfield Primary School.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the report; and

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

IV EDUCATION SCOTLAND (HMI) INSPECTION OF ST NINIANS PRIMARY SCHOOL AND NURSERY CLASS

There was submitted Report No 194-2024 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service, reporting on the findings of the Education Scotland (HMI) inspection of St Ninians Roman Catholic (RC) Primary School.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the report; and

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

V FIRE AND RESCUE QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE REPORT

There was submitted Report No 196-2024 by Area Commander Heaton, providing information regarding the performance of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service against the priorities, outcomes and performance indicators detailed within the Local Fire and Rescue Plan for Dundee 2020/2023, to facilitate local scrutiny.

The Committee agreed to note, scrutinise and question the content of the report.

VI DUNDEE POLICING AREA QUARTERLY POLICE REPORT

There was submitted Report No 197-2024 by Chief Superintendent Russell, providing information regarding the performance of Police Scotland against performance indicators that would facilitate local scrutiny.

The Committee agreed to note and scrutinise the operational report.

VII 2023/2024 INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 171-2024 by the Chief Internal Auditor, submitting a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last Scrutiny Committee.

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

VIII INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN UPDATE AND PROGRESS REPORT

There was submitted Report No 170-2024 by the Chief Internal Auditor, providing an update on the progress towards delivering the 2023/2024 Internal Audit Plan; the audits from previous years plans that were not complete in June, 2023; and information about the number of open internal audit recommendations. The report also provided information about proposed self-assessment activity.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the progress with the Internal Audit Plan;

(ii) to approve changes to the plan; and

(iii) to note progress with the implementation of agreed internal audit recommendations.

IX 2023/2024 INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT

There was submitted Report No 172-2024 by the Chief Internal Auditor, providing a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last meeting of the Scrutiny Committee. The report provided an independent annual internal audit opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the organisations governance, risk management and central framework and a summary of the key activities of the Councils Internal Audit Service during the period from which the opinion was derived. It also provided all the information that the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards required to be reported to those charged with governance.

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

X ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR TO 31ST MARCH, 2024

There was submitted Report No 163-2024 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, 2024.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of this covering report;

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

(iii) to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to include the Annual Governance Statement in the Annual Accounts for the year to 31st March, 2024; and

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

XI UNAUDITED ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2024

There was submitted Report No 174-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, providing some background and additional commentary on the Councils unaudited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2024 which were being submitted to the Committee along with the report.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the covering report;

(ii) to note the Unaudited Annual Accounts which had been submitted along with the report;

(iii) to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to arrange for the Unaudited Annual Accounts to be signed as required and submitted to the Councils external auditor by 30th June, 2024 at the latest;

(iv) to note that the key assumptions underpinning the independent actuarys calculation of the Council's IAS 19 liability had been reviewed and accepted by the Council as administering authority for the Pension Fund; and

(v) to note that a Members briefing on the Annual Accounts would be arranged.

XII 2023/2024 COMMITTEE SELF-ASSESSMENT AND ANNUAL REPORT

There was submitted Report No 173-2024 by the Chief Internal Auditor, providing a draft annual report to Council on the work undertaken by the Scrutiny and Audit Committee during 2023/2024.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to review the draft annual report for the year to 31st March, 2024 and provide any comment;

(ii) to determine whether any amendments were required in the light of issues discussed at this meeting; and

(iii) to approve the annual report and agreed to submit it to the next City Governance Committee.

XIII ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 161-2024 by the Chief Executive, reporting on performance in dealing with complaints in 2023/2024, with comparisons to previous years, and to show how the Council continues to learn from complaints.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April, 2023 and 31st March, 2024, with trends from previous periods;

(ii) to note examples of the volume of transactions the Council had with customers and citizens as a context for the number of complaints;

(iii) to give examples of how complaints have been used to improve services;

(iv) to note the results of the satisfaction survey sent to people who made complaints in 2023/2024; and

(v) to note the examples of compliments received about Council services.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.