Apologies were received from John Hill, Head of Public Protection.

There were no declaration of pecuniary interest. Councillor Peter McCabe said that when he was Mayor of Merton, South Thames Crossroads had been his charity.

Agreed.

Julia Regan, Head of Democracy Services, undertook to find out if Sutton and Merton Community Services were now engaged in the Traveller protocol review and in providing welfare assessments. ACTION: Head of Democracy Services

Savings proposals – Corporate Services

Members asked questions and made comments about individual savings proposals:

CS2015-08 staffing support savings and CS2015-09 safety services and emergency planning

The Commission accepted these savings.

CS2015-10 energy invest to save initiatives

The Commission accepted this saving and asked that elements of the programme be brought forward where feasible.

Members asked whether savings CS2015-12 South London Partnership efficiency savings, CS2015-13 shared investigation services and CS2015-14 shared audit service could be brought forward. The Director of Corporate Services, Caroline Holland, described each of the savings and explained why they were assigned to future years. The Commission accepted these savings.

CSD7 restructure print and post division

Caroline Holland explained that this saving had been deferred due to delays in introducing an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS). The system would enable incoming post to be scanned and circulated electronically thus freeing up staffing resources.

CSD43 share FOI and information governance policy service

Caroline Holland explained that this saving had been deferred due to difficulty in finding a partner authority that had a similar approach to this work.

RESOLVED: to accept the Corporate Services savings proposals, with a recommendation that Cabinet should bring forward elements of CS2015-10 energy invest to save initiatives where feasible.

Draft service plans – Corporate Services

Legal Services

A member asked why there were different patterns for each borough’s chargeable hours. Caroline Holland undertook to investigate, in particular to provide an explanation for Kingston’s figures for 2014/15. ACTION: Director of Corporate Services

Human Resources

In response to a question about apprentices shown for 2014/15 on a number of service plans and not subsequently, Caroline Holland said that these are now entered onto the HR service plan and that different arrangements were being explored in order to get apprentices into work areas where there would be an opportunity for subsequent employment, subject to the usual recruitment procedures being followed.

Resources

A member asked what was meant by a tactical recharge review.  Caroline Holland said this referred to the need to make internal customers aware of what is being recharged and how.

A member asked why some of the major projects were shown as being medium risk and what action was being taken in mitigation. Caroline Holland said that, for example, the project board was working with the provider of the new financial systems to ensure they work effectively and that users understand them.

Customer Services

Members noted the slight decrease in overall customer numbers and telephone callers predicted from 2016/17. Members asked that the number of internet users also be shown in future as this is an integral part of the customer contact programme.

Members asked for an explanation for the  lack of change in the number of council tax properties from 2015/16 to2017/18 and an increase in 2018/19. Caroline Holland undertook to investigate. In response to a question, she said that the figures relate to the number of council tax bills sent out and that the figures used for the medium term financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair invited each of the Panel Chairs to summarise the Panel discussions and set the context for any recommendations made to Cabinet.

Councillor Abigail Jones, Chair of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel, said that the Panel was aware of the tough decisions that needed to be made and found that the savings had been well thought through by officers. Savings proposals included efficiencies, back office savings and some innovative ideas. Members had some concerns about  the impact of savings in the Planning service but had been reassured by officers. She said that the Panel also had a thorough discussion of the draft service plans.

Councillor Katy Neep, Chair of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel, said that the Panel had a comprehensive discussion of the savings proposals and the indicative capital programme. It welcomed the additional information provided on services for children with disabilities. The Panel had accepted the high level staff structure savings proposal and had asked to be kept up-to-date with progress on this. The Panel had ongoing concerns arising from changing demographics and the pressures that this puts on children’s services, particularly for children with special educational needs. The Panel will keep performance indicator targets under review.

Councillor Peter McCabe, Chair of the Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel, said that the Panel had listened to eloquent contributions from service users. He said that the Panel had made an unanimous reference to Cabinet in the light of real concerns that had been raised in regard to some of the adult social care savings proposals. The Panel had been troubled by the potential impact on quality of life, personal dignity and ability for independent living. The Panel had also heard about the valuable lifeline and respite services provided by South Thames Crossroads.

RESOLVED: to forward to Cabinet the comments and recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Panels as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

Members agreed to request that the Borough Commander provides an overview of any changes since the last meeting and anything he wants to draw to the Commission’s attention. Performance indicators should be submitted in advance of the meeting in the same format as previously.

Members agreed to submit the following questions to the Borough Commander for discussion at the meeting on 23 March:

·         Has the Borough Commander given any thought to how the government’s announcement on greater collaboration between the emergency services might be taken forward locally?

·         Has the reduction in the use of stop and search powers impacted on knife crime?

·         How does the level of policing, and reduction in numbers of officers, compare to other boroughs?

·         Is the dispersal of rough sleepers in Hyde Park likely to have an impact locally?

·         How do the ward teams work together? In particular, how is consistency across the borough monitored and how is good practice shared between teams?

·         How much collaboration is there between the police, council and other agencies to deal with low level crimes? Will there be an impact on the council’s planning enforcement team when these issues are not dealt with by the police?

·         Have cutbacks had an impact on 999 call response times?

Agreed.