Scrutiny Committee - 29/06/2022

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held remotely on 29th June, 2022.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 27th April, 2022 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

II INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 157-2022 by the Acting Senior Manager, Internal Audit submitting a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

III INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2021/2022

There was submitted Report No 158-2022 by the Acting Senior Manager, Internal Audit providing an independent annual internal audit opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the organisations governance, risk management and control framework and a summary of the key activities of the Councils Internal Audit Service during the period from which the opinion was derived.

The Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

IV AUDIT SCOTLAND - INTERIM AUDIT TESTING 2021/2022

There was submitted Report No 168-2022 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services submitting the Management Letter on Interim Audit Testing 2021/2022 prepared by the Councils External Auditor, Audit Scotland.

The Committee noted the contents of Audit Scotlands Management Letter and noted the management responses to Audit Scotland Findings.

V ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR TO 31ST MARCH, 2022

There was submitted Report No 141-2022 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, 2022.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the covering report;

(ii) to approve the Annual Governance Statement as appended to the report;

(iii) to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to include the Annual Governance Statement in the Annual Accounts for the year to 31st March, 2022;

(iv) to note 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) to note the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Councils corporate governance as detailed in the Annual Governance Statement.

VI UNAUDITED ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2022

There was submitted Report No 190-2022 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services providing some background and additional commentary on the Councils unaudited Annual Accounts for the year ended 31st March, 2022 which were being submitted to the Scrutiny Committee along with this report.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the contents of the covering report;

(ii) to note the unaudited Annual Accounts which had been submitted along with the report;

(iii) to instruct the Executive Director of Corporate Services to arrange for the unaudited Annual Accounts to be signed as required and submitted to the Councils external auditor by 30th June, 2022 at the latest;

(iv) to note that the key assumptions underpinning the independent actuaries calculation of the Councils IAS 19 liability had been reviewed and accepted by the Council as administering authority for the Pension Fund; and

(v) to note that a members briefing on the Annual Accounts would be arranged.

VII EXTERNAL INSPECTION REPORT FOR DRUMMOND HOUSE

There was submitted Report No 189-2022 by the Executive Director of Children and Families Service providing a summary of a recent external inspection carried out by the Care Inspectorate on the young peoples home Drummond House, which took place on 30th March, 2022, as detailed in the Appendix to the report. The inspection focused on five Quality Themes: supporting children and young peoples wellbeing, leadership, staffing, setting, care and support planning.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the summary of the inspection report on Drummond House, which covered five categories of inspection received grades of 1 Adequate and 4 Good; and

(ii) to remit the Executive Director of Children and Families Service to ensure that the areas for improvement were acted upon.

VIII ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 127-2022 by the Chief Executive reporting on performance regarding complaints in 2021/2022, with comparisons to previous years, and to show how the Council continued to learn from complaints.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April, 2021 and 31st March, 2022, with trends from previous periods;

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

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

(iv) to note results of the satisfaction survey sent to people who had made complaints in 2021/2022; and

(v) to note examples of compliments received about Council services.

IX LOCAL GOVERNMENT BENCHMARKING FRAMEWORK PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2020/2021

On a reference to Article III of the minute of meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 13th June, 2022, there was submitted Report No 148-2022 by the Chief Executive advising of the performance of Dundee City Council, including functions delegated to the Integration Joint Board, for the financial year 2020/2021, as defined by the performance indicators compiled by the Improvement Service for the Local Government Benchmark Framework. In particular, describing the Councils performance in relation to the other peer local authorities in the Councils family group which had similar characteristics such as urban density and deprivation.

The Committee, for their interest, noted that the Policy and Resources Committee had agreed:-

(i) to note the results contained in the report;

(ii) to remit the report to this Committee for further consideration; and

(iii) to remit the Council Leadership Team to review the areas of improvement set out in Section 6 of the report.

X LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 2020/2021

There was submitted Report No 175-2022 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, providing a summary of the above national report that had been undertaken by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission.

The Committee noted the key messages arising from the Audit Scotland overview report.

XI LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND: OVERVIEW 2022

There was submitted Report No 176-2022 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, providing a summary of the above national report that had been undertaken by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission.

The Committee noted the key messages arising from the Audit Scotland overview report.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.