Agenda and draft minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2024 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 July were agreed as an accurate record.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and other registrable and non-registrable interests they may have in relation to any item(s) of business on today’s agenda.

There were no disclosures of interest made at the meeting.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business for the consideration of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee at this meeting.

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee is asked to receive and review the update provided by the Executive Mayor.

The Committee considered a report outlined on pages 15 to 48 of the agenda, which presented an update from the Executive Mayor on the delivery of his business plan. This report was included on the agenda because the Executive Mayor provides an update to the Scrutiny & Overview Committee at the start of each municipal year.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

• Executive Mayor Jason Perry
• Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance
• Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive
• Nick Hibberd – Corporate Director for Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery
• Debbie Jones – Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education
• Jane West – Corporate Director for Resources and Section 151 Officer
• Allister Bannin – Director of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer
• Huw Rhys-Lewis – Interim Director of Commercial Investment & Capital
• Alan Layton – Interim Oracle Senior Responsible Officer

During the introduction to the report, the following points were noted: -

• Getting the Council’s finances under control remained a priority for the Mayor, with it noted that a balanced budget had been delivered in 2023-24, unlike many other London boroughs which had budget deficits.
• The historic debt burden remained a significant barrier to the longer-term financial sustainability of the Council. The cost of managing the debt was the Council’s third largest area of expenditure after Children’s and Adult Social Care. The Mayor had written to the new Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, to highlight the challenges facing Croydon and would seek to continue the engagement with the government about the Council’s financial sustainability.
• Both the Government appointed Improvement & Assurance Panel and the previous Secretary of State had recognised that pace of change and improvement in the Council had increased.
• There had been progress made in many areas over the past year, including improving the Planning service and updating the Local Plan. Westfield had bought out its partner Hammerson’s interest in the town centre, which was another step toward redevelopment, with a range of meanwhile uses coming forward. There had been a huge amount of work to improve the Housing service, and the redevelopment of the Regina Road site was progressing as expected, supported by a £53.8m grant from the Mayor of London.
• The Mayor continued to be keen to listen to residents, holding eight question time events across the borough so far.
• It was highlighted that the Council had come a long way on its improvement journey, but there was still a lot to do to get Croydon back on track. It was agreed that everyone wanted Croydon to be the best it can be.

Before the Committee started to question the Mayor on the information provided in his report, the Chair extended the thanks of the Committee for the provision of the quarterly reports updating on the delivery of the Mayor’s Business Plan, which provided a range of data that had helped to inform their questions. The Chair explained that the Committee had divided its questions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50/24

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with an update on the Oracle Improvement Programme. The Committee is asked to:

1.  Review the information provided in the presentation and update on the Oracle Improvement Programme

2.  Consider its conclusions and whether it wishes to make any recommendations for the consideration of the Executive Mayor based upon the information provided.

The Committee reviewed a report detailed on pages 49 to 180 of the agenda, which provided an update on the Oracle improvement programme—the software suite used by the Council for HR and financial processes. This report was included on the agenda because the project had been previously recognised by the Committee as a critical measure in enhancing the Council’s financial and staffing controls.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

·   Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance

·   Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive

·   Nick Hibberd – Corporate Director for Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery

·   Debbie Jones – Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education

·   Jane West – Corporate Director for Resources and Section 151 Officer

·   Allister Bannin – Director of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer

·   Huw Rhys-Lewis – Interim Director of Commercial Investment & Capital

·   Alan Layton – Interim Oracle Senior Responsible Officer

During the introduction to the report by the Cabinet Member for Finance, the following points were noted: -

·   It was essential to ensure that the Council can effectively produce data, as this is crucial for the Council’s broader improvement. The Oracle Improvement Programme would play a significant role in enhancing the availability and accuracy of the data used by the Council moving forward.

·   When the Oracle system was originally installed in 2019, the minimum amount of functionalities available were enabled, which were adapted to work within existing Council processes. The implementation team, responsible for the rollout of the software was also removed, as a cost saving, before the project was completed. 

·   A primary aim of the Improvement Programme was to ensure that the Council utilised the Oracle system’s full functionality, adapting Council processes as needed to deliver the maximum potential benefits. 

·   In the early stages of the Improvement Programme, there had been substantial engagement and support from staff, who were starting to recognise how the Oracle system could enhance performance.

·   A significant challenge to the Oracle system’s implementation at Birmingham Council was the attempt to modify the system’s functionality to fit their processes instead of adapting the processes to the system.

After the introduction, the Committee proceeded to ask questions about the Oracle Improvement Programme based on the information provided. The initial inquiry was whether appropriate resources were in place to ensure the system’s integration throughout the Council by the programme’s conclusion. It was confirmed that the Council had invested substantial resources into change management as part of the programme. This included a dedicated HR change lead, subject matter experts, and business owners to spearhead the transition across the organisation. The project’s costs encompassed the implementation and training necessary to establish a self-sufficient system. Upon the project’s completion, the resources required for the system’s ongoing and continuous improvement would be reviewed.

In response to a question about the lessons learned from the previous rollout, it was advised that a commitment to fully utilising the system’s functionality was essential to maximising the potential savings. It was important to view the project as part of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51/24

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with a report setting out the provisional Outturn Financial Performance Report for 2023-24. The Committee is asked to: -

1.  Review the information provided in the report on the 2023-24 Provisional Outturn Financial Performance Report, and

2.  Consider its conclusions on the provisional budget position for 2023-24

3.  Consider whether there are any recommendations to bring to the attention of the Mayor.

The Committee considered a report outlined on the pages of the agenda supplement, which presented the Provisional Outturn Financial Performance Report for 2023-24. This report was included on the agenda as part of the Committee’s ongoing focus on the Council’s financial sustainability.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

• Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance
• Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive
• Nick Hibberd – Corporate Director for Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery
• Debbie Jones – Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education
• Jane West – Corporate Director for Resources and Section 151 Officer
• Allister Bannin – Director of Finance and Deputy Section 151 Officer
• Huw Rhys-Lewis – Interim Director of Commercial Investment & Capital

During the introduction to the report by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, the following points were noted: -

• It was highlighted that the Council’s General Fund revenue budget for 2023-24 was forecasted to balance, albeit with permission from Government for a £63 million capitalisation direction.
• The use of capitalisation was not uncommon in local government over the past couple of years, but not all local authorities being granted permission to use capitalisation were staying within their budgets.
• As the pressure on the budget had not disappeared, it was pleasing to be able to increase the Business Risk reserve by £10.1 million.
• Looking forward to 2024-25, the budget was likely to see continued pressure in areas such as SEND transport, social care placements and temporary accommodation, which were common pressures across the local government sector.
• It was noted that one of the reasons why the 2023-24 budget balanced was due to the identification and implementation of savings throughout the year. These savings had already been applied to the 2024-25 budget, which meant there would be even less wriggle room in the year ahead.

Following the introduction of the report, the Committee proceeded to ask questions on the information provided. The first question asked for an update on the timeline for auditing the outstanding accounts. It was advised that the Council had completed its work on the 2019-20 accounts and these were with the external auditor, Grant Thornton, for sign off. The Council was working on the 2020-21 accounts audit queries with a new audit manager and team at Grant Thornton and was targeting taking these accounts to the Audit & Governance Committee meeting in October 2024. The previous government had proposed the introduction of a backstop that would allow the backlog of accounts across local government to be brought up to date with reduced audit, with the full audit process restarting from the most recent accounts. This legislation was currently on hold and there had been no indication from the new government as to how it would move forward with this. The Council’s target would be to deliver audited accounts every six months until it had caught up with its backlog, but this was dependent on whether the backstop was introduced or not.

It was questioned why the Council had only achieved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52/24

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to: -

1.  Note the most recent version of the Scrutiny Work Programme presented in the report.

2.  Consider whether there are any other items that should be provisionally added to the work programme as a result of the discussions held during the meeting.

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 181 to 204 of the agenda which presented the most recent version of the work programme for the Scrutiny & Overview Committee and its Sub-Committees.

It was agreed that delivery of the potential savings from the Oracle Improvement Programme should be revisited during the budget scrutiny process later in the year.

Resolved: The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed to note the most recent version of the Scrutiny Work Programme 2024-25.

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This motion was not required.