Scrutiny Committee - 10/12/2014

At a MEETING of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 10th December, 2014.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Richard McCREADY, Depute Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 24th September, 2014 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were made.

II REVIEW OF SCRUTINY ARRANGEMENTS

Reference was made to Article IV of the minute of meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee of 10th November, 2014, wherein the Committee considered and approved Report No 274-2014 by the Chief Executive relative to the above.

The Committee, for their interest:-

(i) noted that scrutiny takes place at many levels within the Council, involving both elected members and chief officers, with the role of the Scrutiny Committee being to strengthen these arrangements;

(ii) noted that the Scrutiny Committee had the power to refer any concerns to relevant Service Committees; and

(iii) noted the annual programme of reports which the Scrutiny Committee could expect to receive during the year.

III SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL INSPECTION REPORTS FOR WHICH ALL GRADES ARE GOOD OR BETTER

There was submitted Report No 410-2014 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 East Port House, White Top Centre and Turriff House, all of which received grades of good or better in all areas covered by the inspections; and

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

IV BI-ANNUAL REPORT ON COMPLAINTS

There was submitted Report No 450-2014 by the Chief Executive reporting on complaints statistics for the first half of 2014/2015 compared to previous periods and on the action which continued to be taken to ensure good complaints handling and to learn from complaints.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the key performance indicators on complaints closed between 1st April and 30th September, 2014, with trends from previous periods;

(ii) noted the latest findings from the Complaints Review Group which met quarterly to check the quality of complaints handling and promote learning and process improvement from complaints;

(iii) noted the plan to use complaints to identify suitable subjects for STEP reviews;

(iv) noted the results of the satisfaction survey sent to everyone who made a complaint closed between April and September, 2014, with trends from previous surveys; and

(v) noted a summary of the annual letter from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on complaints received about the Council during 2013/2014.

V INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS

There was submitted Report No 462-2014 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.

VI QUALITY ASSURANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

There was submitted Report No 463-2014 by the Chief Internal Auditor advising members of the requirements contained within the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards in respect of the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme and providing a summary of the approach and actions that had been taken to date including the identification of potential areas for improvement.

The Committee noted the information contained within the report.

VII CORPORATE PERFORMANCE - SELF-ASSESSMENT 2014/2015 - REPORT FOR SIX MONTHS TO 30THSEPTEMBER, 2014

There was submitted Report No 442-2014 by the Chief Executive advising elected members of the performance of Dundee City Council for the first six months of the financial year to 30th September, 2014 as defined by the key quarterly performance indicators.

The Committee:-

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

(ii) noted that all Chief Officers should 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 in the remainder of the 2014/2015 financial year.

Richard McCREADY, Depute Convener.