Issue - meetings

Recommendations

That the Executive

                      (i)         notes the forecast outturn position against the 2024/25 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.1.

                     (ii)         notes the forecast outturn position against the 2024/25 Housing Revenue Account budget as detailed in section 2.3

                    (iii)         Agree to allocate £660k of the Environment Directorate revenue underspend in 2024/25 to fund necessary fender improvement works at the Fish Quay, Whitby (paragraph 2.5.2).

                   (iv)         notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the second quarter of 2024/25

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

                   (vi)         note the updated Q3 2023/24 Capital Plan; and

                  (vii)         approve the allocation of £660k of Environment Directorate revenue underspend to deliver the improvements to the Fish Quay, Whitby, to return it to full operation (paragraph 4.2).

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

The Executive Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Heather Phillips, introduced the report which covered the period 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024 and drew Members’ attention to the following:

·         Telephone response times were improving

·         Benefits processing times were improving

·         Increased customer satisfaction with highways

·         Shorter stays in short-term care homes

·         Increasing numbers of children requiring support

The Leader welcomed Members of Scrutiny Board to the meeting.  In response to questions to Executive Members from Scrutiny Chairs and Member Champions the following was confirmed:

·         A new team was looking into the large-scale fly-tipping incidents at Osmotherley and Easingwold and the Council would seek to recover costs if possible.

·         The Council had a satisfaction rate of 70% for ‘Ease of access (disabilities)’ for Highways, which was above the Council’s own trend and the England average, however more could be done.  Localised issues such as cracked pavements would be addressed through the annual accessibility budget of £75k.

·         Migration of data from the legacy councils continued in sequence as support systems converged such as for planning and revenues and benefits.  A priority was the avoidance of data leaks and ensuring the quality of the information transferred.

·         An update on progress with the community partnership approach and community anchor organisations was requested.  Councillor Phillips agreed to provide Councillor Peter Lacey with a written response.

·         Consolidated economic activity data was quite new and was being shared with some business stakeholder organisations.  Work was underway to look at how it could be effectively shown on the website to enable other groups to use it.

·         The Allerton Park incinerator was operated by a third party under contract to the Council and a recent breakdown had resulted in an increase in waste going to landfill.  Under the contract the Council received a rebate when the incinerator was unavailable, and all additional costs of disposal were met by the operator.

·         Hotel occupancy figures were provided by an external organisation and could be relied upon as the same data was used by the trade and tourist information services.  There was a small increase in hotel room occupancy over the year.

·         Dealing with childhood obesity was a priority through the Healthy Schools Programme which included promoting the free schools meals and the type of food being served.  A Family Weight Management Service was to be introduced and the Executive Member would be exploring the benefits of active travel with Public Health colleagues, such as cycling and walking to school.

·         A consultant, Dr Jill Kelly, was employed in Public Health who oversaw the healthy schools programme, which includeed education and weight monitoring and measuring, followed by direct support for individuals where required.  124 early years settings were registered with this scheme and the Executive Member would ask Dr Kelly to look at venues for Selby.

·         An update was provided on the state of the care market.  Whilst  ...  view the full minutes text for item 632