To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors JG Jarvis and RL Mayo.  Apologies had also been received from Miss E Lowenstein.

To receive details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

No substitutes were present.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members.

9.       Community Safety Update.

Councillor AJM Blackshaw, Non-Pecuniary, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Audit Committee for Warwickshire and West Mercia Police.

Councillor BA Durkin, Non-Pecuniary, Magistrate.

Councillor DB Wilcox, Non-Pecuniary, Vice-Chairman of the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel, and Magistrate.

To receive the minutes of the meetings held on 15 January and 10 March 2014.

The minutes of the meetings held on 15 January and 10 March 2014 were received. 

The Chairman noted that Councillor GJ Powell was in attendance at the 15 January meeting and asked that this be corrected in the minutes.

The Chairman drew attention to the resolution at minute 74 of 10 March meeting, in relation to Hereford Futures Limited (HFL), and reported that the Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee had responded that ‘It is … not clear what benefits investing resources into a review… would have at this time’.  Some Committee Members expressed concern that organisational memory should not lost and emphasised the importance of accountability for public money.  Other Committee Members felt that the issues had been considered sufficiently and resources had to be focused on immediate pressures; it was commented that the Chairman of HFL Board had undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the lessons learned.  It was noted that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman would discuss opportunities to capture organisational memory with relevant officers.

Further to minute 70 of the 10 March meeting, the Chairman advised that the potential for joint scrutiny activity with other authorities in relation to the governance of the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership was being explored.

RESOLVED:  That, subject to the above amendment, the minutes of the meetings held on 15 January and 10 March 2014 be approved as correct records and be signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

(There will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised. Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

The Chairman said that a bus operator had approached him about issues with the Supplier Portal in relation to the procurement of new bus contracts.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda below.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the officer named on the cover of this agenda).

No questions had been received from members of the public.

To consider the Committee’s work programme.

The Chairman suggested that, in view of the comment at minute 80 above and given the intention to consider a progress report on the ‘Home to School Commissioning Approach’ in September, a short piece of work could be undertaken to identify any issues with the software.  The Chairman and the Vice-Chairman would consider the best way forward.

The Vice-Chairman drew attention to briefing notes that were pending (on Education & Sustainability Strategy and Free Schools, Academies & the Relationship with Herefordshire Council) and requested that these be received in time to inform the Task and Finish Group on ‘The real cost of a child’s education’.  Referring to the 6 January 2014 meeting (minute 53 refers), it was requested that School Examination Performance figures for 2013 be circulated to Members.

The Vice-Chairman noted that the Task and Finish Group on Household Recycling Centres was due to report to the June meeting and suggested that it would be timely to receive the Performance Report on Waste Management briefing note.

Due to time constraints, the Executive Rolling Programme was considered at the end of the meeting.  The Vice-Chairman noted that the latest Understanding Herefordshire Report was due to be received by Cabinet in June and suggested that the document be taken to the September meeting of the committee, in order to shape the work programme.  The Vice-Chairman also noted that the Local Transport Plan 4 was to be considered by the Cabinet Member Infrastructure in June and suggested that this could form part of the work programme.

RESOLVED:  That the work programme be noted.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on Hoople from the Managing Director of the company.  In addition, it outlines the approach being taken to jointly review the future approach to commissioning services currently delivered by Hoople beyond the current contract term.

The Assistant Director Place Based Commissioning introduced the item with the following comments: the Joint Venture Company had been established in April 2011; it represented one of the council’s most significant strategic service delivery partnerships; Hoople delivered ‘back office’ services, including human resources, finance and IT; the council currently owned 74.7% of Hoople, with the remaining 25.3% owned by Wye Valley NHS Trust; in addition to the savings already delivered, a recently renegotiated Service Level Agreement (SLA) had achieved further savings in excess of £1.2 million for 2014/15; the council’s current contract with Hoople would come to an end on 31 March 2016; a joint review had been commissioned to examine the options available to the council for future service delivery arrangements, with a report due to be presented to Cabinet on 3 July 2014; and the committee was invited to comment on the proposed criteria, as detailed in paragraph 8 of the report.

Mike Dearing, the Managing Director of Hoople, was invited to give an overview of the Three Year Update document; this was appended to the report.  The principal points of the presentation included:

a.         The independent non-executive directors of Hoople, Nigel Sellar (Chairman) and Jill Youds, and the council nominated non-executive director, Councillor CNH Attwood, in attendance at the meeting were introduced.

b.         The business case for Hoople was based on achieving £11 million cumulative savings over ten years for Herefordshire Council.  It was now forecast that savings of £12 million would be achieved by end of the current five-year service contract.

c.         The company made no profit from the SLA services it provided to the shareholders.

d.         Hoople worked as a flexible partner, maintaining strong working relationships which enabled the company to understand the needs of the council and to identify new solutions to meet the on-going changes and challenges.

e.         With the recent renegotiations, the council spend on corporate services with Hoople was now 50% less than when the contract started.

f.          Acknowledging the financial challenges for the shareholders, the company continued to grow profitable business with a range of other customers to support and supplement the existing service range and to maintain and enhance resilience.

g.         Hoople sought to maintain employment opportunities locally and staff were developing new service options and seeking new business to support the vitality and viability of the company.

h.         It was anticipated that there was the potential for dividends to be paid to the shareholders in future years.

i.           Other key successes included: the establishment of a high street recruitment agency; new terms and conditions had been rolled out across the company, helping to drive performance and outcomes; staff culture was now focussed on delivering strong customer service; and Hoople had achieved an excellent balance of public sector values and private sector expertise.

j.           It was noted that there were three layers of governance which were used to monitor contractual service performance with the council.

k.         Attention was drawn to the principal areas of change in the council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

To update the Committee on current community safety issues in Herefordshire, including the new approach to managing offenders, as well as the proposed priorities for the Herefordshire Community Safety Partnership for 2014/17.

The Chairman advised that the committee acted as the council’s statutory crime and disorder committee and welcomed the following to the meeting: George Branch, Assistant Chief Officer, Warwickshire and West Mercia Community Rehabilitation Company; Superintendent Sue Thomas, West Mercia Police; and Nina Bridges, Sustainable Communities Manager, and Adrian Turton, Community Safety Manager, Herefordshire Council.

The Sustainable Communities Manager presented the Community Safety Update, supplemented by comments from the Community Safety Manager and Superintendent Thomas.  The presentation was included in the agenda and was structured under the following headings: Changing Landscape for Community Safety; Herefordshire is a Safe County; Achievements in 2013/14; Headline Statistics 2013/14; Draft Priorities for Strategic Plan 2014/17; Reduce Re-offending; Address the Harm Caused by Alcohol and Drugs; Address Domestic Violence and Abuse; Promote Community Cohesion and Reduce Anti-Social Behaviour; and Moving Forward.

The committee considered the report, the principal points included:

a.         The Chairman said that this item was timely given that Ofsted were inspecting the authority’s safeguarding arrangements currently.  It was noted that, since Ofsted had found the arrangements to protect children as ‘inadequate’ in 2012, progress had been made with the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

b.         The Chairman said that the Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) statistics were alarming; with a 9% increase in incidents in 2013/14 compared to 2012/13 and a 19% increase in DVA crimes over the same period.  The Community Safety Manager said that, although the reasons were not certain, the figures may reflect increased confidence about reporting incidents and increased awareness as a result of local and national campaigns, such as those by Women’s Aid and the White Ribbon campaign.  Superintendent Thomas said that the police were taking extra effort with certain offences, including DVA, sexual assault and hate crime.  She added that it was not necessarily about focussing on the figures but about ‘doing the right thing’.

c.         A Committee Member noted that DVA could have a serious impact on children at very early ages and it was questioned how awareness was being raised in schools.  The Community Safety Manager advised that five schools were involved in a pilot initiative and this had delivered positive outcomes; the potential to develop the project and roll it out across Herefordshire would be explored in the forthcoming year.  The Chairman commented that teachers or teaching assistants would often pick up on behavioural changes and questioned whether the reporting lines were as clear as they possibly could be.  The Cabinet Member Corporate Services said that a significant amount of training was provided on safeguarding issues.  The Sustainable Communities Manager said that a lot of work was being undertaken around the advice and support available to frontline professionals and others who might come into contact with DVA issues.  The Community Safety Manager said that the comment about teaching staff would be taken away and he provided an overview of the current referral process to MASH.  Mr. Branch commented on work to reduce reoffending, such as the Building Better Relationships programme.

d.         A Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

The next scheduled meeting is Monday 30 June 2014 at 2.00 pm.

Monday 30 June 2014 at 2.00 pm