Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business transacted at this meeting.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2007 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2007 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

To receive any references from Council and/or other Committees or Panels.

RESOLVED:  To note that no reports were received.

Report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support.

RESOLVED:  To note and endorse the content of the Chairman’s Report.

Verbal update from Performance Lead Members.

No verbal updates were received.  The Chairman agreed to prompt Performance Lead Members in future to raise any issues for inclusion in the Chairman’s Report.

RESOLVED:  To note (1) that no verbal updates were received;

(2)  the comment above.

Report of the Head of Property and Infrastructure.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director, Community and Environment, setting out key points in relation to performance issues in the delivery of the decent homes contract.  An officer reported on changes that Kier had made in response to officers’ concerns at the pace of delivery of the contract.  The changes had included:

·                    strengthening the project team

·                    a significant increase in the number of managers and technical staff

·                    the introduction of a storage facility for materials in response to concerns about the use of the Just In Time strategy.

The revised plan for delivery of the contract would be monitored by the core group, meeting on Kier’s premises.

The officer and a representative from Kier answered Members’ questions on the decent homes contract and the contract for repairs and maintenance, including:

·                    the percentage of jobs completed at the first visit – currently 85%;

·                    measures taken to ensure stocks of relevant spare parts – through the use of gas-servicing records and dedicated suppliers;

·                    customer satisfaction feedback – measured by Kier’s independent phone calls to customers, currently showing a 95% satisfaction rate;

·                    in response to a tragic accident reported in the national press, measures taken to verify the safety of heating thermostats and respond to tenants’ concerns;

·                    the motivation for Kier to perform well – Kier’s reputation, the value of the overall contract (of which the decent homes contract was only one strand) and Kier’s wish to remain a good partner;

·                    the use of financial penalties in the event of non-delivery of a contract – money could be recovered in relation to specific areas of the contract in the event of a quantifiable loss, but the use of financial penalties in other areas would be illegal;

·                    the prospects for localisation in relation to the supply chain and employment – the five-year contract provided Kier with a good chance to increase localisation;

·                    given the large number of homes to be refurbished by the end of March, the prospects of successful delivery – Kier was committed to delivering the contract, and both the officer and the Kier representative believed the target could be achieved with the level of resources now in place.

The Divisional Director of Housing also answered questions on the decent homes programme, confirming that the standard applied in Harrow was higher than that set out by the Government.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report and the proposals for improvement be noted;

(2)  performance on the decent homes contract continue to be monitored at the monthly Chairman’s meeting.

Report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support, setting out an update to the protocol for the operation of the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED:  That the amendments to the protocol, set out in the appendix to the report, be agreed.

Report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support, setting out Scrutiny performance in the previous quarter, as recorded in the Scrutiny Scorecard.  An officer reported that, while this process was still at an early stage, it nevertheless provided helpful information and was a good basis for future analysis.  The officer agreed to contact Harrow IT Services for data about the Scrutiny section of the Council’s website.

RESOLVED:  That the report, and the comments above, be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director, Strategy and Business Support, recommending that resolutions and findings from this meeting be reported to the next available meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED:  To approve the drafting of a reference report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, setting out findings and resolutions, and identifying any issues on which the Performance and Finance Sub-Committee recommended that an item be escalated for further consideration.