Agenda item

Consideration was given to report of the Head of Community Services.

The Head of Community Services presented the report Audit Wales report, ‘Review of People, Performance and Financial Resilience in Community Services’ (attached at Appendix 1).  The report also included the Community Services action plan in response to Audit Wales’ proposals for improvement.

The Audit Wales representative then went through the report and highlighted the main points contained therein, namely:

·        There are opportunities for the Community Services Directorate to build resilience by sharing the learning and good practice demonstrable in specific service areas to further develop its arrangements to manage performance, and strengthen strategic financial and workforce planning.

·        The waste service has achieved substantial progress over the period since 2015 through sound strategic planning supported by the adoption of a learning culture to manage change effectively.

·        The Council is developing a new corporate workforce strategy and although Community Services understands its key workforce issues and is taking steps to address them, there is scope for closer collaboration with HR to improve workforce planning and resilience.

·        Waste and recycling performance has improved significantly but the use of performance data is inconsistent across Community Services and some performance reports lack sufficient detail.

·        Robust corporate budget monitoring arrangements have helped manage Community Services’ overspends, but the scope and focus of financial planning is overly short-term.

The Audit Wales representative confirmed one proposal for improvement was identified, namely ‘to strengthen its resilience, Community Services should ensure that learning and good practice that exists within its different service areas is shared throughout the directorate. The Council should also consider whether it would benefit from sharing some examples more widely across the Council.’

The Head of Community Services thanked Audit Wales for their support throughout the review process.  In terms of the one proposal for improvement, he felt this was a positive and was more of a celebration of the Department’s successes, and that this message be passed on to other elements of the Council.  He also pointed out that the review was undertaken during the last 18 months through the Covid pandemic when frontline services were under immense pressure. 

He then went through the report in detail and highlighted points contained therein.  In terms of the management response to the proposal for improvement, i.e. to ensure that the good learning and practice is shared throughout the Authority, he confirmed that the Waste Team would be making presentations to the wider environment groups and wider CLT.  It was also proposed to present the technical services income generation model to the wider audience in due course.  This would be followed-up with business plans and performance reports to the relevant Committees.

A Member said the Council should consider establishing a contingency fund to respond to unexpected pressures, and asked whether any other Local Authorities were taking this approach.

The Audit Wales representative said she was not aware of any other Local Authorities taking this approach, but pointed out that not all Councils would be subject to the same level of overspend as Blaenau Gwent, and contributing factors like the weather and issues of fly tipping varied between Local Authorities.  She said the Council should analyse data to identify trends over a number of years to help mitigate in-year events that are difficult to plan for.

A Member said this was a pleasing report, particularly the 5 apprentices that had been taken on and the career progression opportunities created within the Department.  He also agreed with the suggestion of a contingency fund and said this should be considered.

Another Member said this was a positive report, however, he was concerned that the issue of updating the iTrent system had been identified.

In response the Head of Community Services said this was a challenge particularly with the volume of staff in frontline services, and also the technical challenges around the IT system.  However, he confirmed that Audit Wales’ comments had been noted and the Department was currently working with OD on this issue.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the Audit Wales report be accepted and the actions to implement the proposals for improvement. (Option 1)