Scrutiny Committee - 24/06/2020

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held remotely on 24th June, 2020.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 12th February, 2020 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were made.

II LOCAL GOVERNMENT BENCHMARKING FRAMEWORK PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2018/2019

There was submitted Report No 52-2020 by the Chief Executive reporting on the performance of Dundee City Council, including functions delegated to the Integration Joint Board, for the financial year 2018/2019, as defined by the performance indicators compiled by the Improvement Service for the Local Government Benchmark Framework. In particular, it described the Councils performance in relation to other peer local authorities in Dundees Family Group with similar characteristics such as urban density and deprivation.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the results contained in the report;

(ii) remitted to the Council Management Team to review the selected areas for improvement in Section 7 of the report; and

(iii) agreed to the publication of the Local Government Benchmarking Framework report on the Council's website.

III ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 154-2020 by the Chief Executive reporting on complaints dealt with in 2019/2020, with comparisons to previous periods and on the action which continued to be taken to learn from complaints.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April, 2019 and 31st March, 2020 with trends from previous periods;

(ii) noted examples of the volume of transactions the Council had with customers and citizens as a context for the number of complaints;

(iii) noted examples of how complaints had been used to improve services;

(iv) noted results of the satisfaction survey sent to people who made complaints in 2019/2020, with trends from previous periods; and

(v) noted examples of compliments received about Council services.

IV INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 159-2020 by the Senior Manager, Internal Audit providing the Committee with a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

V 2019/2020 INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT

There was submitted Report No 160-2020 by the Senior Manager, Internal Audit submitting the 2019/2020 Internal Audit Annual Report and providing the Committee with an independent annual internal audit opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the organisation's governance, risk management and control framework and a summary of the key activities of the Council's Internal Audit Service during the period from which the opinion was derived.

The Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

VI ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR TO 31ST MARCH, 2020

There was submitted Report No 157-2020 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services presenting the Annual Governance Statement for approval and inclusion into the unaudited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2020.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the covering report;

(ii) approved the Annual Governance Statement which was included as an appendix to the report;

(iii) instructed the Executive Director of Corporate Services to include the Annual Governance Statement in the Annual Accounts for the year to 31st March, 2020;

(iv) noted that a copy of the approved Annual Governance Statement would be submitted to the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership for assurance purposes; and

(v) noted the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Councils corporate governance as detailed in the Annual Governance Statement.

VII DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL UNAUDITED ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2020

There was submitted Report No 163-2020 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services providing background and additional commentary on the Council's unaudited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2020.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the covering report;

(ii) noted the unaudited Annual Accounts that had been submitted along with the report;

(iii) instructed the Executive Director of Corporate Services to arrange for the annual accounts to be signed as required and submitted to the Council's External Auditors; and

(iv) noted that the key assumptions underpinning the independent actuary's calculation of the Council's IAS 19 liability had been reviewed and accepted by the Council as administering authority for the Pension Fund.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.