Agenda and draft minutes

The Committee is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2024.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as an accurate record with no matters arising.

Committee members to declare an interest in any particular agenda item where applicable.

There were no interests declared by Members in the items on the agenda.

Report of Cloe Finn and Richard Hall, Policy and Improvement

The Committee received a report communicating the progress made on the Council’s Performance Management and Improvement Framework for the period 1 April – 30 September 2024.

 The performance reports outlined the challenges, achievements, actions, and resources for each policy objective. It also contains performance data including strategic and operational measures and is informed by qualitative and quantitative assessment to inform policy and resource decisions.

The report highlighted challenges, and areas of excellence and improvement relevent to the remit of the Committee.

Challenges include:

·        A total of 53 Chief Executive reviews were completed across all services with 26 being upheld. Compensation of £10,950 was awarded over 18 cases.

·        Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman: There were 2 final decisions made following the investigation of 17 complaints made against the council complaints, with £300 compensation awarded over the 2 cases.

·        The percentage of overall Council spend with local suppliers has decreased by 0.74% since year end 23/24. Further investigation is required to determine if there is a specific reason for this.

·        Lower completion rates of employee engagement survey by those who we cannot email the survey link direct to as they don’t have a Gateshead email address. Paper surveys were issued to this cohort of employees (1793 in total) and only 294 were completed. Of the 294, 128 employees used the QR code on the paper survey to complete the survey online using their own mobile phones or IT equipment.

Areas of excellence and improvement include:

·        Employee survey completion rates in some services were excellent. The overall completion rate for a first attempt was 47.02%. This is a good result particularly when a high proportionate of the organisation consists of front-line services.

·        Best Companies have analysed the employee survey results and accredited the Council as a "One to Watch" organisation which shows the Council has ‘good’ levels of engagement as an employer, and our workplace engagement shows promising signs for the future.

·        Over the last 12 months we have seen an overall increase of digital uptake reaching an average of 89% across the basket of activities reported on. Typically, we see a range between 72-91% of customers choosing to self-serve online.

·        Satisfaction with digital services remains high with an average rate of over 80% of customers being either satisfied or very satisfied.

·        A new pipeline management tool has been implemented within Corporate Commissioning & Procurement which will aid the requirement of the new Procurement

·        Act to publish an 18-month pipeline of Council procurements each year so businesses, especially those local to Gateshead, can better prepare to participate in tender exercises.

Actions include:

·        Employees will be invited to be take part of a series of action/idea generating planning sessions where they will be taken through the employee survey results in more detail. A comprehensive action plan for the whole Council will then be collated and monitored to ensure that we follow up on all actions identified and can report back to our employees on progress in a “you said, we did” approach.

·        A review  ...  view the full minutes text for item CR3

Presentation of Michelle Brown, Service Director for HR and WD

A presentation was given to the Committee reviewing years 1 and 2 of progress on the Workforce Strategy, covering the following areas:

·         Pay reward and benefits

·         Recruitment, selection, onboarding and induction

·         Health and safety culture

·         Employee wellbeing

·         Policy schedule review

·         Employee survey

·         Performance management culture

It was noted that a new tool is being sourced for the staff leavers survey, and in the meantime, this will be managed via Microsoft Word. The Committee discussed mechanisms for gathering responses to the staff leavers survey.

An ongoing review of the appraisal and development process was also discussed, with the Committee suggesting a 360-review process, which is being considered in the long term as part of leadership development.

The Committee discussed the Council’s working at home policy and rates of communications. Members were informed that as part of the Smarter Working Strategy, staff are encouraged to work from the office and have a set of parameters that they should accommodate when working from home.

The Committee agreed that having a well-supported workforce with access to development opportunities was a high priority.

RESOLVED

The Committee:

i.              Received and noted the presentation.

Report of Alison Dunn and Michael Walker, Communities, Health and Wellbeing.

The Committee received a report detailing the response to Food Poverty in Gateshead, and the interventions undertaken by the Council and its partners to mitigate its impact.

Post pandemic and following the establishment of a new Communities, Health & Wellbeing Service within the Council, the need for a formal food partnership and broader network was identified, resulting in an application being made to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) for an initial £200K (later increased to £337K to utilise an UKSPF underspend) to recruit a Food Partnership Lead for an initial 2 year fixed term, a Council Officer to explore a whole food system approach for Gateshead.

A new Gateshead Food Partnership was formed, comprising a wider membership than any previous food network before it (as outlined above). Including Council service areas who bring added value, such as the Business Development function who have been able to bring food manufacturers and suppliers to the network resulting in a new agreement with Team Valley fruitier JR Holland to take their surplus fruit and vegetables and circulate across the network.

In September this year Gateshead became a member of Sustain’s Sustainable Food Places and is now working towards Bronze accreditation.

A ‘Gateshead Food Charter’ has now been developed and outlines an ambitious vision to make Gateshead a place where:

• Everyone has access to healthy, nutritious and affordable food, moving from reliance on food aid to food justice and resilience
• Diet-related health inequalities are significantly reduced, citizens of Gateshead have the power and resources to demand that healthier food is made more affordable, appealing and accessible
• Everyone has the knowledge, confidence, and motivation to buy, cook and enjoy food and to shape their local food environments
• Good food contributes significantly to a vibrant and diverse local economy, creating good quality employment
• Our communities, organisations and businesses are connected and united to work towards a better food system for all, that protects and enhances our environment.

The Council, via Public Health and the Food Partnership Lead is taking part in the ‘Good Food Local’ approach, a benchmarking programme developed by Sustain to measure, map and report the level of commitment to good food against neighbouring Councils. This has already been done across all Councils in London with the North East chosen as the next area to adopt this approach. This project is in its infancy and so more information will be made available as the project becomes embedded.

The Food Charter will be launched at a ‘Food Summit’ to be held at the Baltic on November 8th, which has drawn an audience of over 160 attendees, all of whom are committed to a better food system in Gateshead. The feedback and views of participants will help shape future delivery of the Food Partnership. All attendees will also be invited to sign the Gateshead Food Charter.

The Committee suggested the use of the kitchen facilities in Bewicks to aid this cause. This was noted as something that would support ongoing work and is being considered by  ...  view the full minutes text for item CR5

Report of Darren Collins, Strategic Director of Resources and Digital

The Committee received a report providing the Committee with a review of revenue budget 2023/24 and an update on the achievement of 2024/25 budget to date.

The revenue budget set was delivered. This marked the twelfth year in a row that this outcome has been achieved.

The overall 2023/24 revenue outturn position for the Council including non-service budgets and financing resulted in a net revenue positive balance of £5.8m. This position is after the application of agreed reserves funding to support financing of the budget and resulted in a net addition to the Council’s general fund reserve.

The projected revenue outturn for 2024/25 at the second quarter following management intervention is £0.5m over budget. (First quarter was £3.6m over budget). The position per Group and Service was reported to Cabinet 19 November 2024.

The most significant budget challenges are in relation to children’s social care placements and temporary accommodation costs.

Cabinet agreed £15.8m of savings in the 2024/25 revenue budget which is challenging. Financial control and monitoring of budgets is crucial. Progress has been assessed at the second quarter and 95% have been achieved in full.

The highest value saving unachieved is part of the Children’s social care MTFS interventions. £0.394m savings linked to service reviews to reduce entries into care is not currently projecting as achieved.

The Committee was informed that there is a strategy in place to address the budget challenges presented by children’s social care placements and temporary arrangement costs.

RESOLVED

The Committee:

i.              Considered and noted the report.

Report of Democratic Services

The Committee received the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme, to note the contents and suggest further areas for scrutiny as required.

RESOLVED

The Committee:

i.                 Noted the Work Programme.

ii.                Requested the addition of the Working from Home Guidance to the Work Programme.