Agenda item

Trafod Adroddiad Cyflawniad y Cyngor ar gyfer y Trydydd Chwarter.

The Service Director, Performance and Improvement presented Members with the Quarter 3 Council Performance Report to the 31^st December 2020.

The report included information in respect of revenue and capital budget performance; Treasury Management prudential indicators; Organisational Health information including staff turnover, sickness and Council strategic risks; and Corporate Plan priority action plan updates (including investment updates).

The Service Director provided the Committee with an overview of the key information included within the report in respect of financial data and progress against the Council’s Corporate Plan priorities as well as signposts to other reports presented to committees during the period. Committee was referred to the Executive Summary which provided information relating to the Revenue Budget Performance, projected as £1.049M overspend at Quarter 3. Committee was advised that the full year projection of additional costs and income losses associated with Covid 19 will continue to be fully funded by Welsh Government through its Covid Hardship Fund. The Council is working closely with Welsh Government Officials to ensure it recovers all eligible additional costs and losses.

The Service Director advised of some of the key areas within the subsequent sections within the report such as the key pressures continue within the demand led services particularly within Adult Social Care and Children Services. He also reported that work is ongoing across all council service areas with the aim of reducing the underspend position and bringing the Council’s revenue budget position in line with budget.

The Service Director provided a summary of the Capital Programme at Quarter 3 which is £57M against a total budget for the year of £108M, representing a 53% completion rate and comparative with a similar position last year. The Service Director advised on some key areas of investment such as Llys Cadwyn and Coedely Business Unit which focus on regeneration, continued investment in infrastructure through highways and structural improvements, a continued focus on vulnerable clients with regards to disabled facilities grants and investment in schools across the county borough. A number of grant approvals have also been built into the Capital Programme.

The Service Director reported that the Council’s turnover of sickness absence, which excludes Covid related sickness absence, is 3.84% which represents an improved position overall from previous years. He added that the Council continues to provide specific support to areas such as Adult Social Care, a service area which has a number of challenging circumstances in which staff continue to work.

The Service Director advised that section 4 sets out the Councils Strategic Risk Register, which has been updated. He confirmed that risk 25, which relates to the financial implications of the Covid-19 Pandemic, has been included due to Committee’s request as part of the scrutiny of the Quarter 2 Performance report. Section 5 covers the Corporate Plan priority progress updates together with the inclusion of summary progress updates and electronic links to more detailed action plans.

The Service Director explained that the purpose of the narrative is to provide a balanced picture of progress, within the context of the unprecedented circumstances which the Council’s services continue to operate. Section investment priority updates have been provided from across 27 areas with additional investment totalling over £55M.

In conclusion, the Service Director advised that the first progress update include the Council’s response to the extreme weather events, as agreed by Cabinet on the 18^th December 2020 with further updates to be considered by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in due course.

In response to a number of queries raised, the Service Director provided clarification with regards to the long- term care & support within Adult Services (£0.593M overspend) and the short-term intervention services (£0.840M underspend), the latter having been accrued in the concluding part of the year. The Chair suggested that an additional addendum to the report would provide better clarity and reasoning behind the data for the benefit of Committee.

Further clarification was provided regarding the overspend in Children’s Services as a result of an increase in demand for residential care to accommodate children looked after and the additional complexities associated with the demand. The Service Director confirmed that additional information relating to the following areas would be provided to Committee in due course following consultation with the relevant service areas:

Ø  Investment in town centres, specifically around levering in private sector investment for projects in Porth; and

Ø  Delayed Transfer of Care-the key stages of the process before hospital discharge with an appropriate care package in place

Following consideration of the report it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the

Council’s financial and operational performance position as at 31st December 2020 (Quarter 3).