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Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Monday 28th October, 2024 7.00 pm

October 28, 2024 View on council website  Watch video of meeting  Watch video of meeting  Watch video of meeting  Watch video of meeting or read trancript  Watch video of meeting or read trancript  Watch video of meeting or read trancript  Watch video of meeting or read trancript
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Summary

The meeting considered a proposal for the extension of three contracts with Capita and the proposed new Fees and Charges for 2025/26. The committee requested further information from officers on business and Council tax collection rates and asked that an informal group be set up to look at the future of the Capita contracts. The committee also requested that officers investigate the possibility of tapering the proposed charge for arranging care for people above the capital and savings threshold.

Review of Capita Contracts

The committee discussed a report from Councillor Dean Knacke, the Cabinet Member for Resources, and Councillor Barry Rawlings, the Leader of the Council, about a proposal to extend the current contracts for IT, Customer Services, and Revenues & Benefits with Capita. The committee heard that the services provided by Capita were frighteningly transparent in their poor quality and value for money, and that the council was committed to bringing them back in-house.

The committee were concerned that the proposed short extension to the IT contract, from two years and seven months to three years and one month, would not be sufficient to allow for a smooth transition. The Leader of the Council explained that the extension was necessary to avoid disruption to the 2026 local elections, and that the council would welcome all-party involvement in a longer-term move away from Capita.

The committee also asked whether the benefits of in-housing services could be extended to other boroughs through shared services. The Cabinet Member for Resources said that this was always the holy grail, but that other councils had been reluctant to share services with Capita because of commercial confidentiality concerns. He added that the council was investigating the possibility of shared services with other boroughs.

The committee noted that the report referred to robust contract management controls that had been used to improve the performance of Capita services, and asked for specific examples of how this had been achieved. The Leader of the Council said that the main benefit of in-housing services was accountability, and that the council now had more control over services like planning. He added that the council was now able to look at services in a more holistic way and restructure them to improve efficiency.

The committee were concerned about the low collection rates for business rates, and asked for further information on this before the report went to Cabinet. They also requested the formal establishment of an informal group to scrutinise the Capita contracts in more detail.

Review of Fees and Charges

The committee discussed a report from Councillor Knacke and Councillor Alan Schneiderman, the Cabinet Member for Environment, about the proposed increases for executive and non-executive fees and charges for implementation from 1 January 2025.

Councillor Knacke explained that fees and charges were reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that the costs of chargeable services are covered and that the Council is achieving value for money. He added that the council was under a statutory responsibility to have a rational methodology for increasing fees and charges, and could not simply set charges to meet income targets.

The committee heard that a number of charges had not been increased in line with inflation for a number of years and that this was part of the rationale for the proposed increases. In some cases, such as parking charges, the proposed increases were above the rate of inflation and the committee asked whether this was justified. Councillor Knacke explained that parking charges had been set on an ad hoc basis and that the council wanted to consult on a more consistent approach, nudging residents towards active travel in line with the Mayor's Transport Strategy. The committee questioned whether the comparison of parking charges with bus fares was reasonable, given that car ownership involved additional costs such as road tax and insurance. The Cabinet Member for Environment said that these were borne by car users for the choice of being car users and that there was no equivalent choice by a bus user not to pay for the bus infrastructure.

The committee were particularly concerned about the proposed increase in visitor parking permits, which had risen by 88% and 94% respectively. Councillor Knacke explained that this was partly to reflect the cost of enforcement, as the council was committed to increasing the number of controlled parking zones in the borough.

The committee also raised concerns about the proposed increase in the arrangement and management fee for new care packages, which had risen from £300 to £2,000. Councillor Cornelius asked the cabinet to consider tapering the charge so that someone who is only just above the capital limit does not have to pay the full amount. The Cabinet Member for Finance said that he appreciated Councillor Cornelius's tact in dealing with a sensitive issue and that the adult social care market had been very acutely affected by the increase in both inflation and interest rates. He added that the document was still subject to an equality impact assessment, and that he expected this concern to be reflected in the assessment.

The committee raised the issue that the Retail Price Index (RPI) had been used to calculate the proposed increases, rather than the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Councillor Lemmon asked what the methodology for calculating inflation was, and Councillor Knacke confirmed that this was the RPI. Councillor Weiser commented that the Office for Budgetary Responsibility had stated that CPI was a more appropriate measure for calculating increases in the cost of goods and services, and asked why RPI had been used. Councillor Knacke responded that this was a measure that was used as an industry standard in the public sector and that the Conservative government had used RPI when calculating taxable intake, duties on alcohol, on road tax, on cigarettes. And when it's calculating money that it's liable to pay out in terms of benefits or job seekers allowance, it uses CPI. He added that he did not think it's unreasonable to use the measure set by your government over the past 14 years to determine money that it is owed. The committee questioned whether this was a fair and representative measure to use.

The committee requested further information from officers on how income bands in the Council Tax Support Scheme 2024-25 were calculated, and whether inflation and the living wage were taken into account.

Task and Finish Group Updates

The Overview and Scrutiny Manager updated the committee on the progress of ongoing Task and Finish Groups. The committee noted that reports from the Youth Homelessness Task and Finish Group and the Elective Home Education Task and Finish Group had been referred to Cabinet. The committee also noted that the Chair and Vice-Chair had agreed to amend the Task and Finish Group topics for 2024-25 to: Fostering (and Adoption), Sustainable Travel, Allotment Governance and Management, and Food Poverty.

Cabinet Forward Plan

The committee considered the Cabinet Forward Plan and noted that they had already requested that a pre-decision scrutiny item on the Food Waste Service be added to their work programme.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

The committee considered its Work Programme and noted that a pre-decision scrutiny item on the Food Waste Service would be added.

Attendees