Issue - meetings

Recommendations

That the Executive

a.      notes that the information in the Q2 Performance Report is used as a performance baseline or starting point for the new council

b.      notes the forecast outturn position against the 2023/24 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.2 of the report.

c.      notes the forecast outturn position for the Housing Revenue Account as set out in paragraph 2.3.1 of the report

d.      approves the move of £10,443k from Strategic Capacity Unallocated to General Working Balances as set out in paragraph 2.5.1 of the report

e.      notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the second quarter of 2023/24

f.       refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

g.      Approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3 of the report

h.      Approve the addition of £580k to the capital plan for the Scarborough chalets, on an invest to save basis; and officers be given delegated authority to proceed with the scheme (see paragraph 4.4.7);

i.       Agree that no action be taken at this stage to allocate any additional capital resources (see paragraph 4.8.7).

Q2 Performance Monitoring and Budget Report

A joint report of the Chief Executive and Corporate Director - Resources, bringing together key aspects of the County Council’s performance on a quarterly basis.

County Councillor David Chance introduced the section on Quarter 2 performance, which provided a comprehensive performance picture of North Yorkshire Council.  He drew attention to the strong performance and leadership across a range of areas, as detailed in the report, and provided an overview of the strengths and challenges in performance across the Council’s Directorates, which included:

·          HAS performance remained strong despite the ongoing care market pressures;

·          An increase in safeguarding activity in both Quarter 1 and Quarter 2;

·          The average cost of care home placements had risen by 14%;

·          package provision had risen by 4%;

·          The demand for Adult Services was above the national figure;

·          A 10% increase in the number of EHCPs;

·          The number of exclusions and referrals to Children’s Services had risen;

·          An increase in residual waste and a decrease in recycling;  

·          A year on year reduction in landfill;

·          A long term downtrend trend in fly tipping;

·          An increase in demand on the Translation and Interpretation Service;

·          An increase in demand for customer service interactions;

·          A reduction in water quality particularly in South Bay, Scarborough;

·          A continued demand under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme;

Executive Members were given the opportunity to provide any further information relevant to their individual portfolio areas, and in response to questions from members of the Scrutiny Board, the following was confirmed:

·          The table on customer interaction did not include data on those interactions coming through the website such as applying for a residents parking permit or a green waste bin.  Work was ongoing to improve the collection of data representing the whole customer experience for reporting purposes

·          The ongoing pressure on domiciliary care was having an impact on the work of the Reablement Team. Short term placements were being constantly reviewed to ensure as many as possible were able to return to home rather than moving to long term care.

·          Weight management referrals were increasing but were still below pre-pandemic figures.  Work was ongoing to improve referral routes and data was being fed into the ongoing review of Leisure Services. 

·          Some improvements were required to the NHS Health Checks national programme - it was noted that uptake was slightly higher across the County compared to the national picture

·          The data on smoking cessation had improved since the service was taken back in house but had flatlined in recent months. It was noted the figures did not include data on vape users.

·          In regard to drug treatment figures, Richard Webb, Corporate Director for Health & Adult Services agreed to provide further information after the meeting.

·          The number of children in care had increased but without the unaccompanied asylum seeker children the figures would have reduced.

·          Plans were in place to increase the amount of accommodation available for unaccompanied asylum seekers.  Councillor Janet Sanderson acknowledged the concerns raised about the appropriateness of some of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 348