Agenda and minutes

1.1  Apologies for absence from Councillor Will Brett.

1.2  Officer apologies for absence from Joanna Sumner, Assistant Chief Executive.

2.1  No urgent items and the order of business is as per the agenda.

2.1  There were no declarations of interest.

4.1  Minutes of the meeting held on 16^th March 2016 were agreed.

5.1  The Chair welcomed Tim Shield, Returning Officer for London Borough of Hackney (LBH) and Dan Paul Head of HR from London Borough of Hackney to the meeting. 

5.2  The Returning Officer recapped on the challenges experienced at the elections in May 2015 and reminded Members of the action taken as noted in previous updates to the Commission in July 2015 and November 2015.

5.3  The key areas identified related to a training need for staff, structure and a new IT system. 

5.4  Hackney Council is in the process of implementing a new staffing structure and IT system.  Currently some interim appointments remain within the team.  The Council’s recruitment to post within the new structure for the Elections team is ongoing.

5.5  The Commission was informed the new IT system was implemented in the last 2 weeks of December 2015.  Implementation of the new system was complete within 2 weeks with minor glitches.  All staff have been trained on the new system and no serious problems have been identified.  The new IT system is used by 60- 70% of local authorities.  Hackney has arrangements in place with Islington Council (who use the system) and they are there to help with any questions or queries as additional support.

5.6  The Elections team is split into two distinct functions.  Managing elections and managing the IT system.  Whilst these changes were being implemented the team has continued to provide a full service.

5.7  The Government ordered all councils to close their register on the old system by 1^st December 2015.  New applications to enrol on the electoral register are carried out on the new Individual Electoral Registration (IER) system.  The deadline for residents to register to vote was midnight on 20^th April 2016.  On Monday 20^th April 2016 Hackney Council had 3000 applications pending for processing for registration.

5.8  The new IT system is fully integrated and enables the Council to see all the information related to an application on one dashboard.  This means if an application failed the verification process Hackney Council can see why and if an application has passed the verification process they can see this information too.  The new system allows the Council to see the time the application was made, enabling them to confirm if an application missed the deadline time.

5.9  The new IER system implemented by the Government requires a huge amount of management.

5.10  In relation to postal votes.  A person can register right up until the deadline date for a postal vote.  Hackney has issued 4000 postal vote application letters.  They are currently in the process of confirming the data and applications for postal votes.

5.11  Hackney cleansed it register as suggested, when they closed the old registration system and switched to IER.  In this process Hackney removed a number of individuals from the register because they not confirm their residence at the property.  In response the Council has received large volumes of letters returned to sender.  At the same time  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1  The Chair welcomed Ian Williams, Group Director, Finance and Corporate Resources and Councillor Geoff Taylor, Cabinet Member Finance from London Borough of Hackney (LBH) to the meeting. 

6.2  Headlines

6.2.1  The Council was in the process of producing its statement of accounts for 2015/16.

6.2.2  The Group Director, Finance and Corporate Resources recapped on the council’s budget pressures; adult social care - the Council is managing down the over spend in this budget area; temporary accommodation – the Commission visited one of the Council’s facilities recently – and looked after children – this area continues to increase moderately.

6.2.3  Hackney has a large number of residents in receipt of housing benefit.  The Council is reporting its best level of benefit processing - currently -10 days -against a long standing target of 20 days just as the benefit is being abolished.  Government is utilizing data transfer information especially in relation to benefit overpayment.  Real time income data is now available from HMRC.

6.2.4  The number of people attending the HSC is reducing in line with the budget saving identified for 2016/17.  Comparisons to 2 years prior shows the number of people attending the HSC has reduced by 100,000.  The Council has shifted a number of processes online in a bid to migrate people to using online services and reduce the need for people to attend the HSC.

6.2.5  The Council’s capital investment programme continues as they invest significantly in their housing stock.  However there is pressure on the HRA budget particularly in relation to the Benefit Cap and Universal Credit.  The Group Director, Finance and Corporate Resources suggested providing Councillors with a briefing session on the Housing and Planning Bill to provide information about the impact of the Bill on the Council’s housing budget.

6.2.6  The Government is offering councils a four year settlement and this has to be accepted by 14^th October 2016.  LBH is still considering the proposal because some details pertaining to the settlement remain unclear.

6.2.7  The Government has introduction the Social Care Precept and the Council has included this in the budget.

6.2.8  Hackney’s council tax collection rate continues to remain high with income increasing in line with the number of new properties in the borough.

6.2.9  The Council’s income has reduced by £130 million.

6.2.10  The Government is assuming all upper tier councils will increase their council tax by 3.75% each year. 

6.3  Hackney Budget

6.3.1  Hackney Council agreed its budget at the Full Council in March 2016.  The headlines were:

·  2% Social Care Precept raising £1.3m

·  Significant Cost Pressures: Temporary Accommodation / Looked After Children; No recourse to public funds; Impact of Benefit Cap reduction.  Based on medium term forecasts the council will need to invest up to £5 million to accommodate the cost pressure from temporary accommodation.

·  The Council continues to utilise its  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1  The Governance and Resources Scrutiny Commission embarked on a review to look at total public spend in the Borough - covering statutory public sector providers, voluntary sector and private sector – to consider how the Council and local partners could reconfigure services to meet demand with less resources.

7.2  The report was intended to help the London Borough of Hackney deal with two fundamental challenges: first, big cuts in public expenditure and second more complex social challenges that require a very different approach from the council, other public agencies and the wider community.

7.3  The Chair welcomed Councillor Geoff Taylor, Cabinet Member Finance from London Borough of Hackney (LBH) to the meeting.  The Cabinet Member for Finance provided a verbal update and outlined the draft Executive response to the review’s recommendations.  The draft was circulated to members of the Commission.

7.4  The Cabinet Member Finance stated he was aware the principal point of this review was to look how agencies could work together to reduce costs.  In the Executive response Hackney Council highlights the challenges associated with implementation because of the way government agencies are organised.  Phase 2 of the review provided an example of how government agencies needed to work together in the future to deliver services that meet demand at a reduced cost.

7.5  The introduction highlights the challenges to implementation of phase 1 of the review and makes reference to what the Council is doing in relation to the services reviewed in phase 2.

7.6  The Cabinet Member explained there are a number of initiatives that are happening across London.  All these initiatives are moving in the direction of greater integration of services.  There is integration between boroughs and integration between borough and government services.  The key concerns are about commercialisation, identity and accountability.

7.7  The Cabinet Member pointed out there is a role for the Commission on the journey of change.

7.8  The Cabinet Member congratulated the Commission on being shortlisted for an award for this review.

7.9  The draft Executive response was as laid out and the Cabinet Members asked members of the commission for comments in relation to the draft response.

7.10  Questions, Discussions and Answers

(i)  Members commented the area of work from this review was hard to measure but they wanted to see more measurable outcomes.  Members suggested instead of coming back to review the progress of the recommendations in 6 months, they could take 1 or 2 of the areas referred to in the response and track the progress of that work.  It was suggested this would involve being part of the process as it develops.  Suggested areas of work were scenario planning or the cross cutting officer programme board.

(ii)  Members commented the response is positive but very process orientated.  It was highlighted that the response promises to follow the principles but does not show how this will be implemented.  Members wanted assurance the process outlined would not just be discussed but taken forward and implemented.

(iii)  Members see  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

·  Work programme for 2016/17 discussion

8.1  The work programme for G&R on pages 27 – 33 of the agenda was noted for information.

8.2  The Commission noted the evidence session for the devolution review looking at employment and skills may need to be postponed under purdah rules for the EU Referendum vote on 23^rd June 2016.

8.3  It was noted the items listed for the work programme 2016/17 to date were:

·  Public Sector Workforce – Discussion about future public sector service provision and service delivery models to explore the implications for the workforce and workforce requirements.

·  Devolution Review Employment and Skills evidence session

·  ICT Transformation Projects Update

·  Performance monitoring (pilot for performance monitoring by scrutiny commissions).

8.4  Members discussed their work on performance monitoring to help identify the role of scrutiny in relation to the role of the Audit and Corporate Committee monitoring the performance of the Council.

8.5  It was noted G&R would be looking at how scrutiny should conduct performance monitoring.  Developing an approach for the scrutiny commissions to use.

8.6  Members agreed the 2016/17 work programme should continue with their work on the Devolution review, budget scrutiny and looking at how councils can become self-financing.

9.1  None.