Scrutiny Committee - 13/06/2012

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 13th June, 2012.

Present:-

Bailie Willie SAWERS

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Kevin KEENAN, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 18th April, 2012 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS FOR WHICH ALL GRADES ARE GOOD OR BETTER

There was submitted Report No 197-2012 by the Chief Executive providing a summary of recent external inspection reports which did not require in-depth scrutiny.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the summaries of recent inspection reports on Law Nursery and Menzieshill Nursery School which received grades of good or better in all areas covered by the inspection; and

(ii) remitted to the Director of Education to ensure that the areas for improvement included in the reports were acted upon, both in relation to the particular services inspected and as guidance on good practice for other services.

II SS PETER AND PAUL RC PRIMARY SCHOOL

There was submitted Report No 229-2012 by the Director of Education reporting on the findings of the HMIe inspection of SS Peter and Paul Primary School.

The Committee, having questioned the Director of Education and senior management, agreed to:-

(i) note the contents of this report; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Education to continue to support the school.

III TURRIFF HOUSE CARE HOME FOR OLDER PEOPLE

There was submitted Report No 227-2012 by the Director of Social Work reporting on the findings of the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland inspections of Turriff House.

The Committee, having questioned the Director of Social Work and senior management, agreed to:-

(i) note the contents of the report; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Social Work to monitor progress towards improving the service and note the improvement in grades at the February 2012 inspection.

IV COMPLAINTS STATISTICS 2011/2012

There was submitted Report No 191-2012 by the Chief Executive providing the Committee with an analysis of the formal complaints processed through the Council's electronic recording system during 2011/2012.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the analysis of formal complaints processed through the electronic recording system between April, 2011 and March, 2012, with comparisons to the figures for 2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/2011;

(ii) remitted to Chief Officers to ensure that complaints were logged on the system, to analyse complaints about their service and to aim to use lessons learned from complaints to drive service improvements;

(iii) noted that changes made to processes, training, etc as a result of complaints continue to be summarised as part of the annual report to the Policy and Resources Committee on how the Council uses feedback from customers and service users to improve its service; and

(iv) noted that local authorities were being asked to adopt a standard model complaints handling procedure, including a set of performance indicators which would form the basis for future statistical reports, details of which would be reported to the Policy and Resources Committee soon.

V USING COST INFORMATION TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE - ARE YOU GETTING IT RIGHT?

There was submitted Report No 203-2012 by the Director of Corporate Services providing elected members with a summary of the above national study that had recently been issued by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission.

The Committee noted the main findings arising from this national study, including the self-assessment checklist that may be useful to help identify key issues and consider improvement actions.

VI AN OVERVIEW OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND - CHALLENGES AND CHANGES 2012

There was submitted Report No 205-2012 by the Director of Corporate Services providing the Committee with a summary of the above national study that had been undertaken by Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission.

The Committee noted the key findings arising from this national study, including Appendix 1 of the report which identified key areas for both new and returning elected members to consider and assess where further action points may be required.

VII ASSURANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN UPDATE 2012/2015

There was submitted Report No 206-2012 by the Director of Corporate Services providing elected members with an update on the Assurance and Improvement Plan 2012/2015 that was recently issued by Audit Scotland on behalf of the various regulatory bodies responsible for scrutinising the services provided by the Council.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report and the appended Assurance and Improvement Plan Update 2012/2015.

VIII PUBLIC SERVICE IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK

There was submitted Report No 233-2012 by the Performance and Improvement Manager summarising the strengths, areas for improvement and high level performance indicators of each of the services that completed a PSIF assessment between June 2011 and March 2012.

The Committee noted the findings of the PSIF assessments completed to date.

IX INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 234-2012 by the Chief Internal Auditor providing the Committee with a summary of the Internal Audit Reports finalised since the last meeting of this Committee.

The Committee agreed to note the information contained within the report.

X INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT - YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH, 2012

There was submitted Report No 245-2012 by the Director of Corporate Services relative to the above.

The Committee noted the KPMG report and approved the agreed management actions in response to the recommendations made by KPMG.

XI INTERNAL AUDIT ANNUAL REPORT 2011/2012

There was submitted Report No 235-2012 by the Chief Internal Auditor summarising the activities of the Council's Internal Audit Service during the period 2011/2012 and providing an opinion on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the Council's control environment.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

XII INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2012/2013

There was submitted Report No 236-2012 by the Chief Internal Auditor, together with the Internal Audit Plan for 2012/2013.

The Committee agreed to note the information contained within the report and plan.

XIII CORPORATE PERFORMANCE SELF-ASSESSMENT 2011/2012

There was submitted Report No 204-2012 by the Director of Corporate Services advising elected members of the performance of Dundee City Council for the twelve months to 31st March, 2012 as defined by the Key Quarterly Performance Indicators.

The Committee:-

(i) noted that performance levels for the financial year had generally been maintained or improved; and

(ii) remitted to all Chief Officers to review the contents of Appendix 1 as it related to their service and consider if there were any indicators for which performance could be improved over the 2012/2013 financial year.

Kevin KEENAN, Convener.