Agenda and draft minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2024 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act 2011, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), some other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they must urgently complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required in general to disclose any relevant DPIs, ORIs or NRIs at the meeting.

-       Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the room unless granted a dispensation.

-       Where the matter directly relates to the financial interest or wellbeing of an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.

-       Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to or affects their or a relevant person’s financial interest or wellbeing, whether they can participate in any discussion or vote on the matter or stay in the room depends on the detailed rules in paragraphs 7 to 9 of Appendix B of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure of interests orally at the meeting and they will also be recorded in the minutes.

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.

The Chair advised the Committee that a request had been received from the Labour Group to replace Councillor Ellily Ponnuthurai with Councillor Louis Carserides as a member of the Streets & Environment Sub-Committee. As set out within the Scrutiny & Overview Procedure Rules, it is the responsibility of the Committee to confirm changes to the membership of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees.

Resolved: That Councillor Louis Carserides is appointed as a member of the Streets & Environment Sub-Committee for the remainder of the 2024-25 council year.

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented for its information with the Period 7 Financial Performance report, due to be considered by the Cabinet on 22 January 2025. The Committee is asked to: -

1.         Review the information provided in the draft 2024-25 Period 7 Financial Performance Report, and

2.         Consider its conclusions on the latest budget position for 2024-25

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

The Committee considered a report on pages 21 to 66 of the agenda that provided an overview of the latest budget position for 2024-25 covering Period 7 (October 2024). This report was included on the agenda as part of the Committee’s ongoing scrutiny of the delivery of 2024-25 budget.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

·       Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance

·       Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive

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

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

The item was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, during which it was noted that there had been a small negative movement of £800,000 in the General Fund forecast. This was mainly related to an increase in Adult Social Care, linked to demand management, and a small increase in Children, Young People and Education, linked to demand and increased costs, which were being seen across the sector. There had been some mitigation within other departments, which helped to minimise the increase, but the current forecast for the General Fund was an overspend of £18.4m.

Following the introduction, the first question on the information provided in the report asked about the key risks to reducing expenditure within the budget. It was advised that the key risk was the demand pressures that were being experienced within temporary accommodation, Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care and SEND Transport, with a lot of volatility within these sectors. As well as demand pressures, the cost for temporary accommodation had seen a significant escalation.

As a follow-up, the likelihood of balancing the budget by year-end was questioned. In response, it was advised that there was still analysis to be done, such as on the use of unused grants to support revenue spending and also areas of revenue spending that should have been allocated as capital spending. Even with this work, it was likely that it would be necessary to use funds from Earmarked Reserves to balance the budget at the year-end. It was advised that confirmation of the amount of funds required from earmarked reserves would be outlined once the year-end work had been completed, in the Outturn report which was usually published in the summer.

The next question asked whether there had been any engagement with the Government about the possibility of changing the rates on the Council’s loans, to help manage the cost of the debt burden. It was advised that this was not a straightforward request, as the Government would need to consider any support given within the context of their overall treatment of the local government sector. It was acknowledged that the delay in finding a solution was, in part, the fault of the previous government. The new Government was focused on local authority reorganisation, which would bring forward the issue of the level of debt held by authorities across the country and Croydon would be part of this discussion. The current tone of the conversation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/25

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is provided with a report updating on the progress made in delivering the People & Cultural Transformation Strategy 2024-2028 and the accompanying action plan. The Committee is asked to:  -

1.         to receive and note the update on the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy 2022-2026 development; and,

2.         to scrutinise the achievements to date, work in progress, planned actions, and the contents of the report.

The Committee considered a report on pages 67 to 114 of the agenda that provided an update on the delivery of the People & Cultural Transformation Strategy and action plan. This report was included on the agenda to allow the Committee to review the progress made in implementing the Strategy, having previously commented on its development.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

·       Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance

·       Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive

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

·       Elaine Jackson – Assistant Chief Executive

·       Dean Shoesmith – Chief People Officer

·       Denise Bushay – Management Development Programme Participant (Head of Early Years, School Place Planning & Admissions)

·       Barbara Grant – Staff Networks (Programme Manager)

·       Andy Griffin – Guardians Programme (Concessionary Travel Team Manager)

·       Ismael Musoke – Young Persons Network (Service Coordinator)

The report was introduced by the Chief People Officer, Dean Shoesmith, who provided a brief overview. It was noted that although Appendix 2 set out a refreshed version of the strategy, it was intended to be incorporated within the wider Future Croydon transformation programme. The introduction was supplemented by feedback from staff members on their experiences with initiatives launched as a result of the strategy, such as the Management Development Programme, Guardians Programme, and engagement with staff networks. The Committee welcomed the opportunity to hear the experiences of Council staff.

Following the introduction, the Committee proceeded to question the information provided. They asked what indicators were being used to track the health of the organisation and whether areas such as staff turnover, the level of staff sickness, and the number of grievances were tracked. It was advised that the ongoing Oracle Improvement Programme was important as it would provide an accurate baseline for monitoring and help improve the accuracy of data held. Currently, data production used spreadsheets, which was time-intensive, but improvements to the Oracle system should free up this time and provide better analysis. It was requested that a future report be brought to the Committee providing an update on the Oracle Improvement Programme and staffing data.

The next question asked how the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy would intersect with the forthcoming Future Croydon Transformation Programme, which would include a new operating model for the Council. It was advised that the strategy was designed to be dynamic and, once the Future Croydon programme was published, the strategy would need to be reviewed and updated if necessary to ensure it aligned with the transformation programme and other interdependencies such as the Oracle Improvement Programme.

Further information was requested on how specifically the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy would dovetail with the Future Croydon transformation programme. It was questioned whether some of the timescales in the strategy were too ambitious given the scale of the transformation work across the Council. In response, it was acknowledged that although the strategy had already delivered across a range of actions, significant progress was still needed. To support the change programme, additional resources had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/25

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with a report setting out the Council’s response to the Corporate Peer Challenge. The report is due to be considered by the Cabinet on 22 January 2025. The Committee is asked to: -

1.    Review the Report on the Corporate Peer Challenge, along with the accompanying action plan, and

2.    Consider if there is any feedback the Scrutiny & Overview Committee would like to bring to the attention of the Cabinet during its consideration of the report.

The Committee considered a report on pages 115 to 126 of the agenda that set out the Council’s response to the findings in the recent Corporate Peer Challenge report.  This report was included on the agenda to give the Committee the opportunity to provide feedback on the action plan, ahead of its consideration by the Cabinet on 22 January 2025.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

·       Executive Mayor Jason Perry

·       Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive

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

·       Elaine Jackson – Assistant Chief Executive

·       Carol Squires – Director of Policy, Programmes & Performance

·       John Montes – Senior Strategy Officer

The Executive Mayor, Jason Perry, introduced the report by highlighting that it provided independent, external validation of the Council's recovery. The findings of the review highlighted significant progress in areas such as increased transparency, strengthened partnerships, and robust leadership. However, there was still work to be done, with the recommendations from the review serving as an aid to ensure sustained progress.

The first question from the Committee on the Corporate Review Challenge asked what staff had been interviewed by the Peer Review Group. It was confirmed that the Peer Review Group had interviewed staff from across the Council, including the senior leadership team, directors, heads of service, managers, representatives from Staff Networks, and customer service staff. It was highlighted that the Peer Challenge team had the discretion to identify additional areas where they wanted to interview more people to inform their work as needed, beyond the initial list of interviewees provided by the Council.

The next question asked how it would be ensured that sufficient resources were allocated to deliver the action plan. It was advised that there had been considerable consultation with services about the action plan, which had informed the timescales for delivery. In some instances, the actions were building upon work already underway, and although the timescales were ambitious, they were considered deliverable. Consideration had also been given to the potential costs, with options for working with existing partners being explored to find the most cost-effective solutions for delivering the action plan.

It was noted that there was an action to consult with staff on a new organisational structure by summer 2025 and a separate action to move more staff onto permanent contracts by autumn 2025. As such, it was questioned whether these separate actions were deliverable within the identified timescale. It was advised that work to reduce the number of agency staff within the organisation was already underway, and while the targets were ambitious, they were felt to be deliverable.

A request was made for further information about how the Council would engage with its partners on its restructure. It was advised that there was an ongoing conversation with health partners about ways to build upon the existing integrated working to deliver further opportunities for joint commissioning and joint teams.

Given the ongoing Oracle Improvement Programme and historic challenges with producing data, it was questioned whether the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/25

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to

1.    Approve the recommendations made by its Sub-Committee’s for submission to the Executive Mayor for his consideration.

2.    Review the response provided by Mayor to recommendations made by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee.

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 127 to 138 of the agenda which presented the response of the Mayor to previous recommendations submitted by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee and also recommendations made by Scrutiny Sub-Committees for sign-off by the Committee.

Resolved: The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed to: -

1. Approve the recommendations made by its Sub-Committee’s for submission to the Executive Mayor for his consideration.
2. Note the response provided by Mayor to recommendations made by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee.

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 139 to 164 of the agenda which presented the most recent version of the work programme for the Scrutiny & Overview Committee and its Sub-Committees.

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.