Agenda item

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 ofthe 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 the properties being proposed and she encouraged Members to direct any further concerns to her so that she could ensure they were addressed.  It was confirmed that finding the right type of accommodation was a key factor in ensuring that asylum seekers placed with the Authority stayed in the county. 

·          The drop in timely assessments for ECHPs was due to a lack of educational psychologists which was an issue nationally.  Stuart Carlton - Corporate Director for Children & Young People’s Service confirmed the County had commissioned more assessments than it was capable of completing with the staff available and was pleased to note the recent recruitment of a Principal Psychologist and two further educational psychologists which he ensured Members would help address the assessment backlog.

·          There was a limit to what the Authority could do to encourage a greater reduction in the amount of waste generated.  It was noted the County’s landfill figure of 4% was half that of the national average of 8%. 

·          In regard to highways insurance claims, the focus was not on their repudiation but on investment in the road network to improve the highways and in turn reduce the number of claims.

·          The draft Economic Strategy was recently approved by Full Council.

·          As a result of bringing together the data available from the legacy District and Borough Councils it was not possible as this stage to understand whether the number of households in temporary accommodation were the same households as reported in Quarter 4 2022/23 and Quarter 1 2023/24.  It was noted that work was underway to collect improved data that would better inform the Authority’s KPIs.

·          The performance data available in relation to the management of planning applications could be made clearer – Councillor Andrew Lee suggested it be broken down into two categories – those applications determined within the statutory 8 weeks and those with an extension to 13 weeks.  He suggested it would also be useful to know who was asking for the extension in time – the applicant or the Authority.  It was confirmed that in Quarter 1 all areas were performing above the national requirements with all but Hambleton & Richmond being above the major performance target of 70%.   

Revenue Budget, Treasury Management & Capital Plan

County Councillor Gareth Dadd introduced each section of the report.  In regard to Revenue, he drew attention to the current underspend and the expected in-year budget deficit of £27m.

Gary Fielding, Corporate Director for Resources confirmed the planned £30m deficit budget had been put in place to allow time to plan for the coming years.  He was also pleased to report there had been no major shocks as part of the ongoing consolidation work.

In regard to Treasury Management, County Councillor Gareth Dadd noted there was nothing to add to the report, and in regard to the Capital Plan, he drew attention to the addition of £580k to the capital plan for the Scarborough chalets, on an invest to save basis, and the risks associated with capital projects and the ongoing work to mitigate those risks.

Executive Members voted unanimously in favour of all of the recommendations within the report, and it was

Resolved – That the following be noted:

a.      The information in the Q2 Performance Report was to be used as a performance baseline or starting point for the new council

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

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

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

The Executive also agreed:

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

f.       To refer the report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management;

g.      To approve the refreshed Capital Plan as summarised at paragraph 4.2.3 of the report;

h.      To approve the addition of £580k to the capital plan for the Scarborough chalets, on an invest to save basis; and delegate authority to officers to proceed with the scheme;

i.       That no action be taken at this stage to allocate any additional capital resources.