Agenda item

To scrutinise the self-assessment and identify areas for further scrutiny. 

Richard Jones and Hannah Carter introduced the report and answered the members’ questions with Peter Davies and Will Mclean. 

Key points from Members: 

• Members sought further detail on the specific strategies being implemented to address financial pressures, and how the medium-term financial strategy will ensure long-term financial stability without an over-reliance on reserves. 

• Members asked how the council plans to achieve its net zero targets, and what steps are being taken to secure the necessary public investment to support the environmental initiatives. 

• Officers were asked what measures are being put in place to improve school attendance and support vulnerable learners, and how is the council addressing the needs of care leavers to prevent homelessness. 

• Concerning changes that have been made, members queried whether users and stakeholders are consulted with as much as possible in order to best adopt the changes and implement new ideas. 

• Further detail was sought about the decrease in train usage. 

• Further information was requested on the increase in the number of rapes and school exclusions. The Committee sought confirmation that the council is doing everything possible to ensure that schools record incidents of sexual assault accurately and are developing strategies to address them. 

• Members asked for further information about the council having the lowest gross revenue spend per head in Wales in 22/23. 

• It was noted that it would be useful to have further comparison data in tackling inequalities other than income e.g. age inequality 

• Staff and members were encouraged to complete the Carbon Literacy training. 

• Clarification was sought about some of the report’s graphs, and it was noted that data on bus journeys and other active travel would be useful in addition to car and rail 

• Members asked whether reports from regulators, such as the Care Inspectorate Wales report, have a bearing on the overall ratings given and whether collaborative work such as working with the Future Generations Commissioner’s office has been considered. 

• The Chair noted that recognising areas that require improvements, and the solutions needed, bolsters a self-assessment’s credibility, and that this could be built into service reports. 

• Members questioned how frequently and to what extent, performance information is used in our services to drive performance improvement. 

• Regarding the transformation of services to meet budget challenges, the committee observed that it is hard to find evidence of performance review or an assessment of transformations made over the last year, and asked why, noting the importance of any radical changes being monitored closely.

Officers present responded to all of the questions raised and the Committee was satisfied with the responses given. 

Chair’s Summary: 

The Chair welcomed the report and thanked the officers for its detail, and for having incorporated all-Wales comparisons, though he noted that more could still be done in that regard in order to give a fuller picture of performance. He also welcomed more service user feedback having been incorporated, as previously requested. The report was moved. 

ACTIONS: 

Members suggested making changes to errors such as missing targets and other omissions, for which a list will be sent to officers, as well as changing contractions to more formal English. 

The principal areas for further scrutiny that were identified by members were long-term financial stability, homelessness and care leavers, environmental stability, and monitoring change and transformations in council services. It was noted that the first is in hand with items already on the committee’s work programme and the second is being covered by People committee on 17^th July. The third area is being/will be covered by Place committee, and scrutiny officers will take forward the fourth area.