This meeting of the Scrutiny Board was scheduled to discuss a report on how Wolverhampton Council provides support to its Councillors and helps them to manage the casework they receive from their constituents, as well as a performance and budget monitoring report, which looks at the performance of each of the council's departments in relation to their budgets and the delivery of their service plans.

Councillor Support and Casework

The Scrutiny Board was scheduled to receive a presentation on how Wolverhampton Council supports its Councillors and helps them manage their casework. The report explains that Councillor Support is based on the third floor of the Civic Centre in Wolverhampton. It states that the dedicated process for managing Councillors' casework was established in 2021.

The dedicated management process for Councillors casework was established in 2021, originally while the function was being established it was a separate team called the Councillor Enquiry Unit (CEU).

It explains that Councillors have a single point of contact for all of their casework. They can submit cases to the Councillor Support team via email, phone, the Love Your Streets app, in person or during Ward Walks. The team then triages the cases and logs them before sending them on to the relevant council departments. Once the department has responded, the team then closes the case. Councillors are able to access an online dashboard, which is updated four times a day, to keep track of all of their cases.

The report also provides data on the types of cases being submitted, as well as the average amount of time it takes departments to respond to cases. The report shows that 16,798 cases have been submitted to the team since May 2021, with 98% of City of Wolverhampton Council cases and 99% of Wolverhampton Homes cases closed. The average time it takes for the council to respond to a case is 15 working days, while the average time for a response from Wolverhampton Homes is 14 working days. Sixty percent of cases were submitted to Resident Services. The ten most common types of cases submitted are:

1. Fly tipping reporting
2. Tree Pruning
3. Carriageway Pothole
4. General Enquiry
5. Missed Bin Escalation
6. Flytipping Private land
7. Manual Litter removal
8. Blocked Gully
9. Parked Vehicle Complaint
10. Road Sweeping request

The report also looks at the casework of the Environmental Place Based Services, Highways Services and Wolverhampton Homes departments in more detail.

The Environmental Place Based Services state that one of the main challenges they face is residents making requests for services to be carried out outside of the department's scheduled programme. They state that if they respond to requests outside of the schedule, it makes the service less efficient and creates more complaints from where we have diverted resource from . They also report that they are limited in what they can do in certain situations, citing verge parking, Section 46s¹ and private land as examples. Highways Services describe a number of challenges they face in their casework, including flooding, highway and street lighting maintenance, parking and road safety. They explain that the increasing frequency of storms is leading to an increase in flooding related enquiries, that over 6,500 potholes are reported every year and that 94% are repaired on time and that, while the LED conversion of street lights is complete, 60% of the columns are over 30 years old. They also report that, despite having a strong inspection regime, delivering an annual programme of planned works, repairing potholes, traffic signals and street lights on time, embracing technology and innovation and making data led decisions, they still face an overwhelming service demand:

Resident Services receives approx. 1,000 enquiries per year (60% Cllr 40% public) Approx 75% of all enquiries relate to highways; 45% Highways Maintenance (450 pa)

Wolverhampton Homes report that their Customer Resolution team logs an average of 200 Councillor and MP enquiries each month and allocate them to the relevant service areas. They add that most common enquiries relate to lettings, repairs and neighbourhoods.

The Scrutiny Board was also scheduled to note a report that was previously considered by the Governance and Ethics Committee on 5 September 2024 (Appendix 1 - Councillor Support and Casework Overview). This report provides more detail about the support available to Councillors. It explains that the Councillor Support team also book meeting rooms for Councillors, maintain their pages on Modern.gov, arrange parking permits, coordinate their allowance and Special Responsibility Allowance payments, maintain the register of Councillors' interests, order surgery posters and business cards for them, coordinate arrangements for Councillors attending conferences and seminars and ensure that individual emergency decision notices (IEDNs)² are completed in line with the constitution.

Performance and Budget Monitoring 2024-2025

The Scrutiny Board was scheduled to consider the integrated finance and performance update against Our City: Our Plan priorities for 2024-2025 (Performance and Budget Monitoring 2024-2025_v1), which was previously received by the Cabinet on 13 November 2024. This report provides an update on the progress the council has made on its service plans and how well it is managing its budgets.

The report explains that on 28 February 2024 the council approved a net budget requirement of £332 million for the 2024-2025 financial year. It also explains that the council has a strong record of financial management and is in a comparatively strong position compared to other local authorities, but also that many councils are facing unprecedented levels of financial challenge:

The City of Wolverhampton Council has a strong track record of managing its finances and is in a comparatively strong financial position, however as previously reported to Cabinet and Council, local authorities across the country are facing unprecedented levels of financial challenge.

The report then breaks down the financial position of each of the council's departments. Commissioning and Transformation are projecting an underspend of £294,000 (5.45%). Adult Social Care are forecasting an overspend of £865,000 (0.84%), Children's Services and Education are forecasting an overspend of £4.7 million (8.33%), Public Health and Wellbeing an underspend of £67,000 (1.68%), Resident Services an overspend of £3.5 million (9.38%), City Assets a balanced budget, City Development an underspend of £4,000 (0.24%), Finance an underspend of £590,000 (2.95%), Governance an underspend of £24,000 (0.14%), Transformation an underspend of £41,000 (0.33%) and City Economy and Partnerships an overspend of £32,000 (1.08%). The overall net position of the General Fund, based on these projections, is an underspend of £160,000.

The report then details the budget risks that the council faces. The risks are categorised into nine areas:

• Medium Term Forecasting
• Service Demands
• Identification of Budget Reductions
• Budget Management
• Transformation Programme
• Reduction in Income and Funding
• Third Parties
• Structural uncertainties
• Government Policy

The report explains that the level of risk associated with Service Demands and in-year changes to Government Policy are both rated as Red , while the risks associated with Medium Term Forecasting, Identification of Budget Reductions, Transformation Programme, Reduction in Income and Funding, Third Parties, Structural uncertainties and Government Policy are all rated as Amber . The risk associated with Budget Management is rated as Green .

The report also explains that the council is required to make provision for bad debts each year. At the end of March 2024, the provision for general sundry debts was £11.4 million, while the provision for potential write offs in respect of Council Tax and Business Rates was £33.7 million. The report then lists a series of debt write offs for approval, including three sundry debts totalling £33,984.71, three Council Tax debts totalling £20,594.76, one Non-Domestic Rates debt of £16,579.04, one Housing Benefit overpayment of £8,271.30 and one Housing Revenue Account rent debt of £7,994.74.

The report then requests approval for the use of £300,000 from the Public Health Reserve to fund costs related to children's mental health, as well as the use of £400,000 from the Insurance Reserve to fund anticipated premium costs and costs of claims.

Finally, the report requests approval for 29 virements totalling £11.3 million. It also seeks approval to delegate authority to the Director of Finance to action the virements related to the pay award, once those costs have been calculated. The report also explains that as part of budget setting for the 2024-2025 financial year, an amount totalling £2 million was held corporately to support increased demand for temporary accommodation. It seeks approval to transfer this amount to the Housing Benefit Payments and Subsidy service.

The Scrutiny Board was also scheduled to note the Strategic Risk Register (Appendix 4 - Strategic Risk Register), which contains an up to date list of all of the risks the council faces. The register includes risks that relate to the council's ability to safeguard adults and children, the possibility of a negative assessment from the Care Quality Commission and the Housing Regulator, risks to the council's reputation, potential problems with cyber security and risks related to the council's finances, as well as many others. The report pack also contains a copy of the Performance Data (Appendix 1 - Performance Data) to be discussed, and the report contains a lengthy discussion of the current performance of the council against a range of indicators.