BOROUGH OF KETTERING

MONITORING AND AUDIT COMMITTEE

Meeting held: 20th April 2004

Present:	Councillor Hales (Chair), Councillor Jones (Deputy Chair), Councillors Anderson, Bayes, Beale, Burton, Coe, Harrison, and Tebbutt.

Also Present:	Pam Thurston (Joint Union Co-ordinator)
Brian Eldridge (Kettering Borough Tenants Forum).  

03.MA.47	APOLOGIES  AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor J. Henson for whom Councillor Anderson acted as a substitute. 

03.MA.48	MINUTES

RESOLVED	that the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd February 2004, be approved and signed by the Chair.

03.MA.49	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

		None.

03.MA.50	URGENT ITEM 

The Chair of the Committee agreed to accept an item of urgent business under the terms of the Section 100B 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, in order to expedite the process for reporting on Best Value Improvement Plans.

03.MA.51	OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME
	
	Members of the Committee noted that the report of the consultants appointed to review the SLA Grants process, would be submitted directly to the Council’s Executive initially.

	It was also noted that the Committee would be setting out its Work programme for the forthcoming municipal year at its next meeting.

03.MA.52	BENEFITS PERFORMANCE (A1)

	A report was submitted which updated members in respect of the performance within the Income and Debt Management unit up until the end of March 2004. 

	Members noted that that the actual collection rate for NNDR for 2003/4 was 97.7%. The take –up of payment of Council tax and Business Rates by direct debit had increased by 2% and 4.8% respectively. 

	Although there had been a slight setback in respect of Housing Benefit Overpayments, corrective action was being put in place to remedy this. 

	Members were informed that a new Document Image Processing system was being introduced for Benefits processing, and that a new Business Rates System would be implemented later in the year.

	In response to a member’s question, details were provided with regard to the process for writing-off Council tax debts. Further detail would be provided in the next monitoring report.

	It was noted that a new checking and matching regime had been put in place with the Department of Work and Pensions to prevent housing benefit overpayments occurring as a result of the abolition  of renewal periods.

	Members expressed their appreciation of the improvements made to the service to date.

03.MA.53	HOUSING ARREARS (A2)
		
A report was submitted which provided members with key performance information on current and former tenants rent arrears, and which advised on remedial action taken.

Members noted the impact of Direct Debit payments, particularly in ‘five week’ months on the figures submitted. It was also noted that 818 tenants currently paid rent by direct debit, and it was hoped that this would continue to increase. 

Members were appraised of the current situation with regard to evictions and the recovery process generally. The work carried out with partner organisations as part of the recovery process was noted. Mr Brian Eldridge representing the Tenants Forum was present at the meeting, and indicated that the Forum were happy with the role they played as a partner in the process.

Members expressed their appreciation of the improvements made in rent arrears collection to date.

03.MA.54	PERFORMANCE IN DEVELOPMENT CONTROL  (A3)

A report was submitted which updated the Committee in respect of the progress made towards improved performance in the Development Control Service Unit.

The report presented information in the context of performance against targets, particularly those relating to Planning Delivery Grant, and Best Value Indicators. It also examined progress with improving the speed of determining applications, and looked forward to the situation with regard to operating within the planned increase in capacity in the Unit.

Members noted that a training event in respect of Travel Plans was due to be held on 27th May 2004. Further to this issue, it was agreed that training could be provided in respect of Planning Appeals by using recent judgements as Case Studies.

Members commented that it is useful for them to receive up-to-date information in respect of enforcement issues in their Wards.

03.MA.55	PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DATA (A4)

Members had received the Key performance Information Booklet for March 2004. It was noted that work was in progress in respect of the end of year performance data and corporate priority measures.

Members requested that the summary table showing the number of Performance Indicators that had improved, deteriorated and stayed the same be complemented by the inclusion of the previous quarter’s analysis, to allow movement to be tracked.

03.MA.56	BEST VALUE IMPROVEMENT PLANS (A10)

Members considered the above report as a matter of urgent business which had been accepted by the Chair (see 03.MA.50 above).

A report was submitted which requested members to agree that Best Value Review Improvement Plan progress reports for reviews carried out to date, would no longer be reported to the Committee, and outlined the reasons for this.

Having considered the report, it was 

RESOLVED	that members note that progress reports on Best Value Review Improvement Plans  for reviews carried out to date, will no longer be reported to this Committee.	

03.MA.57	ANNUAL AUDIT AND INSPECTION LETTER 2002/03 (A5)

Members received a report which presented the Council’s Annual Audit and Inspection Letter for the year 2002/03, as prepared by the Audit Commission. 

The Chair of the Committee commented that the letter reflected good progress made by the Council in many areas.

An action list of areas for improvement was also circulated for information.

RESOLVED	that the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter for 2002/03 be noted.

03.MA.58	INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2004/05 (A6)

Members received a report that presented the Council’s Internal Audit Plan for 2004/05, to be provided by Consortium Audit. It was noted that the plan had been put together using a ‘risk based’ approach. It had been calculated that 425 man-days would need to be available for the work to be carried out. If circumstances required during the year, the Plan could be changed accordingly to meet the Council’s requirements.

RESOLVED	that the Internal Audit Plan for 2004/05 be noted.

03.MA.59	E-GOVERNMENT (A7)
		
Members received a report and presentation which outlined the Council’s e-government strategy, related projects and progress against e-government objectives.

Members were appraised of the involvement of staff in the process with regard to training and replacement of IT equipment, and also the potential impact on work/life balance which could occur as a result of initiatives included in the strategy.

Members noted the requirement to meet elements of the strategy in order to release Government funding, and the current situation with regard to this.

Concern was also expressed with regard to homeworking and the use of confidential information, although it was anticipated that a policy would be developed to cater for this issue.

Members also discussed the impact of working with partner organisation’s IT systems, and the issues of compatibility, the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and the current progress in developing relationships with partner organisations to identify information that could be easily shared. 

Having considered the report, it was 

	RESOLVED 		that:- 

i)	regular reports on progress be submitted with a view to monitoring how the Council was meeting requirements to trigger the release of government funding; and

ii)	a policy be developed with regard to homeworking and the use of confidential information.

(NB Councillor Beale left the meeting at 8:48pm)

03.MA.60	CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKS (DISCLOSURES) IN RELATION TO EMPLOYMENT (A8)

	A report was submitted which outlined the Council’s situation in respect of the need to obtain Criminal Record disclosures in respect of certain post, and the differing types of disclosures relating to those posts.

	It was noted that the Council would ensure that partner organisations would also have undertaken such checks where relevant.

03.MA.61	REVIEW OF SICKNESS ABSENCE MONITORING (A9)

	A report was submitted which evaluated the effectiveness of revised sickness management arrangements following the introduction of the Bradford Model in July 2003.
	
	The report outlined the current situation with regard to sickness levels, and members were informed that the average per full time employee for the year until 31st March 2004 was 13.05 which represented a minimal reduction from the previous year, but was still in the lower quartile. The Council’s target was to achieve upper quartile performance by the end of the current municipal year.

	Members were appraised of the costs of sickness absence to the Council, and the value placed back into the organisation by reducing it. Members were also appraised of the key elements of the Bradford model and the current policy, and presented with an analysis of trends and causes of sickness absence in 2003/04. The Action Plan for addressing the issue was also submitted.

	It was noted that it was planned to consult with Trade Unions with regard to the reduction of the Bradford trigger from 500 points to 300 points.

	Members noted that the Unions had not yet undertaken their review of the effectiveness of the system, and the Unions felt that it might be appropriate for a longer period to allow for the ‘bedding in’ of the Bradford system.  It was noted that a review of the 500 point threshold would be undertaken by Human Resources twelve months after its implementation.

	Members were given an example of how an employee would reach the 500 point score and were appraised of the process that would be instigated at this stage. It was felt that it might be appropriate for an analysis of gender to be undertaken, particularly in view of forthcoming initiatives regarding work/life balance and provisions for carers. Also, it was felt that an analysis of stress related sickness absence based on age groups would be useful, although it was recognised that care must be taken to ensure that  this was not perceived to be punitive in any way. It was emphasised that reaching 500 points triggered helping mechanisms, where there was a genuine case of ill-health,  rather than punitive action.

	It was noted that those Service Units which were required to submit performance monitoring reports to the Committee were also those whose sickness levels were lowest.

	Having considered the report, it was

RESOLVED	that the Action Plan included in the report be endorsed, and a further update be submitted to the Committee in September 2004.

(The meeting started at 7.00pm and ended at 9.25pm)

Signed________________________________________________
Chair

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