HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

THURSDAY 28 JUNE 2007 AT 10.00 AM

OUTCOMES OF ONE-OFF SCRUTINIES UNDERTAKEN

AT SCRUTINY COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Report of the Head of Scrutiny

Author: David Moses, Head of Scrutiny Tel: 01992 555300

  1. Purpose of report

1.1To present the outcomes of the following one-off scrutiny hearings undertaken at Scrutiny Committee Meetings:

(i)Trading Standards

(ii)Statutory Services

(iii)Potters Bar Primary Review

(iv)Local Safeguarding Board

(v)Highways Extra

(vi)Household Waste Recycling Centres

(vii)User friendliness of the Herts Direct Web Site

  1. Trading Standards

2.1This scrutiny was undertaken by the Adult Care & Community Services Scrutiny Committees at its meeting on 7 June 2007.

2.2The Committee received a presentation from Guy Pratt, Head of Trading Standards which outlined current key issues for the service, namely:

  • peer review,
  • benchmarking,
  • performance measures,
  • regional working, partnerships,
  • prosecutions/asset recovery,
  • the Hampton and Rogers reviews
  • new legislation.

In advance of the meeting Members had also received the report of the latest 3-yearly external peer review, which took place in May 2006.

2.3Members noted that

  • The peer review had identified a number of areas of good practice as well as areas for improvement; one finding of the review was that ‘the relevant Cabinet Panel (Community Safety Panel) and Scrutiny Committee (Adult Care & Community Safety) should be better engaged, considering Trading Standards reports on a programmed basis and developing the service and its policies/joint working arrangements.’ The Committee agreed that a copy of the Improvement Plan should be circulated to all Members of the Committee.
  • The County remains the lowest spending authority on trading standards per thousand population, but this means that people expect a greater level of service than the authority currently provides. For example, whilst 80% of Trading Standards services offer support to people going to Court, Hertfordshire does not, and to do so would require considerable additional resources. Members debated whether the service could offer assisted advice on a targeted basis from existing resources, and it was agreed that this should be investigated further.
  • Of the 5 Performance Indicators which form part of the corporate assessment process, 4 are currently in the upper threshold.
  • The service increasingly delivers its duties and work in partnership with other agencies, particularly the police. Other partnerships include with the District Councils in respect of food enforcement and access to premises; co-operation with District Councils is likely to feature even more prominently over the next few years as a result of the recent pathfinder bid.
  • There have been many recent successes with prosecutions before the criminal courts and Members heard details of a few recent cases. It was noted that asset recovery is more about prevention of crime rather than income generation, and that legal actions do not form a source of revenue for the service: costs may be recovered if action is successful, but in some case these will be paid back over as long as 6 or 7years. The costs awarded are intended to cover the ‘backfilling’ of a post; however in practice it is often difficult to backfill a post on a temporary basis.
  • It is difficult to yet quantify the ramifications of the Hampton and Rogers reviews as the outcomes of these are currently being put into practice by the government through legislation and regulatory reforms. Members noted the intention of the Local Better Regulation Office – to be established in 2007 – to legislate to place the principle of ‘home’ and ‘lead’ authority on a statutory footing for multi-site businesses so that firms operating in more than one local authority will face a consistent and risk-based approach across their business. This is of particular relevance to Hertfordshire which is the ‘home’ authority for a large number of multi-site businesses.
  • the work of the service supports the County Council’s challenges, in particular ‘Helping People Feel Safe and Secure’. It supported the commitment of the service to rolling out ‘no cold calling’ areas, which are currently in place in several areas of the County.

2.4The Committee’s decided to:

a)note the comments arising from the peer review of the service that ‘the relevant cabinet panel and scrutiny committee (Adult Care and Community Safety) should be better engaged, considering Trading Standards reports on a programmed basis and developing the service and its policies/joint working arrangements.’

b)recommend that resources be reviewed to determine whether a prioritised assisted advice service could be provided from existing resources;

c)request that a copy of the Improvement Plan be circulated to all members of the Committee;

d)support the service’s commitment to increasing the number of ‘no cold calling’ zones, prioritised in areas which are susceptible to criminal activity.

2.5Consideration will be given to further scrutiny of Trading Standards as part of the annual work planning process which is due to take place in the autumn.

3.Statutory Services

3.1The ACCS Scrutiny Committee meeting on 7 June also received a presentation from Tom Hawkyard, Head of Statutory Services, structured around the five areas of work covered by the following services:

  • Registration Service
  • Citizenship
  • Coroners
  • Land Charges
  • Elections.

Members were also advised about the implications of a pandemic ‘flu outbreak for the Registration and Coroners’ services and the results of customer surveys and performance measures.

3.2Members noted in particular that:

  • There have been a range of problems with the new web-based system for the registration of births and deaths in England and Wales. Until these are resolved the system will not be used for registering marriages, and the problems are having a knock-on effect in delaying the move towards new arrangements for Hertfordshire to become a single registration district.
  • Civil partnerships have settled at around 5 or 6 per month and are not a significant source of income for the service. Citizenship is a major area of work, with the authority being ranked 12th in terms of the number of citizenship ceremonies carried out per year. The Nationality Checking Service is also a significant area of work; however more authorities are now beginning to offer this service.
  • There is still uncertainty over the impact of Home Information Packs (HIPs) on the Land Charges Unit; the likely workload to be generated by requests for searches cannot yet be quantified.
  • Although the move towards Individual Voter Registration appears to have been rejected by the Government, if implemented it could result in significant additional costs for the Elections Unit.
  • Both the Registration and Coroner’s Services have commenced preparations for a pandemic ‘flu outbreak; there are proposals that some legislative requirements may be slackened in the event of an epidemic although there is no timetable as to when this guidance will be received.
  • The service rates highly across all five areas in customer surveys and performance measures.

3.3The Committee noted that problems affecting the service are generally externally driven: for example the new web-based system for the registration of births and deaths and the outstanding national guidance on pandemic ‘flu.

3.4It was agreed that there was no need for further scrutiny of the Statutory Services at this time.

4.Potters Bar Primary Review

4.1At its meeting on 13 June 2007, the Chairman of the CSF Scrutiny Committee received a petition from D Merrill, Chair of Governors at SunnyBankPrimary School. The Director of Children, Schools and Families provided an oral response to the queries raised and confirmed he would supply a written reply in due course.

4.2The Committee then received three reports about the forecast pupil numbers in Potters Bar, two of which were from the Director of Children, Schools and Families and one prepared by the Governors of Sunny Bank Primary School.A query was raised with regards to the geographical distribution of primary schools in Potters Bar and the Director confirmed that mapping data had been used which provided clear patterns of admission and that this data could be circulated if requested.

4.3The Committee:

a) acknowledged the petition presented by the Governors of Sunnybank Primary School requesting that the County Council reconsider its decision in respect of the Potters Bar Primary School Review;

b)requested the Director of Children Schools & Families (CSF) provide a detailed written response to the petition and for this to be circulated to all members of the Committee;

c)noted the assurance given by the Director of CSF that there are sufficient primary school places in Potters Bar and that the travel and access issues had been considered by the Office of the School Adjudicator; and

d)decided there was no need for further detailed scrutiny of the Potters Bar Primary School Review.

5.Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board

5.1As part of its planned work programme the CSF Scrutiny Committee meeting on 13 June 2007 received the annual report of the Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Board, March 06 - March 07 and a copy of the Business Plan April 07 onwards.

5.2They were advised that there were four local practice forums in existence and that membership of the Executive Boards had been widened to ensure a more integrated approach to preventative work. They were further advised by the Director of Children, Schools and Families that a wider framework for preventative work was currently being rolled out and would be in place by April 2008.Throughout the discussion, questions from members were invited and responded to.

5.3The Committee

a)requested that a list detailing all members of the various boards and the organisations they represent be circulated as soon as possible;

b)welcomed the fact that improvement of the initial and core assessment rates was the top priority in the Council’s Corporate Plan;

c)requested that a report be prepared on the effectiveness of the four practise forums for a consideration by a future meeting of the Children’s Panel;

d)expressed concerns over the disparity between the performance nationally and that in Hertfordshire on undertaking initial and core assessments but acknowledged that this is a priority for the Children’s Schools & Families Department.

e)noted that:

i.Additional performance indicators are to be developed to measure the success of the HSCB priorities and stressed the need for this in respect of the preventative element of the priorities.

ii.One of the priorities for this year is to improve the sharing of good practice.

iii.HSCB is developing an evaluation tool to measure the impact of training.

6.Highways Extra

6.1At its meeting on 5 June 2007 the Environment Scrutiny Committee received a report prepared by Rob Smith , Assistant Director of Environment (Transport Management). The report provided details of how the Highways Extra programme has been delivered thus far and explained changes to the current approach in light of lessons learnt in the first year. The other officers present to answer the Committees questions included:

  • Alan Clark, Contract Manager, Highways Extra
  • Chris Allen-Smith, Principal Strategy Development Manager, Hertfordshire Highways

6.2Rob Smith clarified that he had taken no telephone complaints about Highways Extra at this stage of the project.

6.3The Committee noted the answers to an Lafarge questionnaire. The survey results contained some inaccuracies, but officers explained that where these figures had been rechecked the trend was not altered.

6.4In response to an issue raised regarding line repainting following resurfacing works, officers acknowledged that in a few instances there were delays in the repainting. In the main this was attributed to inappropriate weather conditions and during the winter the project was operating with one line repainting team to two resurfacing teams. It was noted that urgent lines were prioritised in all resurfacing works with white lines taking priority over yellow lines. Where delays with repainting of lines did occur, signs were put up to warn motorists.

6.5In response to a question about resurfacing whole sections of roads rather than pieces, officers confirmed that resurfacing whole sections is preferred by the public although it is a resource intensive approach.

6.6Concerns were raised about the number of heavy haulage vehicles using local roads and whether the material used for resurfacing were appropriate for this use. Adrian Croot, Highways Extra Project Manager for Lafarge, confirmed that the materials used are linked to research undertaken prior to resurfacing and the materials satisfy all criteria.

6.7The Committee:

  1. Welcomed the delivery of a programme of 391 highways extra schemes, which managed to include most of those on the reserve list and respond to one of the major issues identified by the public in the 2005 MORI survey.
  1. Congratulated the Highways Extra teams for their enthusiastic commitment to delivering the work programme.
  1. Noted that whilst there had been different experiences throughout the County, there was general satisfaction expressed by the Committee in respect of communications to residents, quality of work and replacement of road markings.
  1. Welcomed the lessons identified within the report, particularly those associated with improving communications with District Councils.
  1. Noted that the letters issued to residents will be amended to provide more information in respect of the treatment being used, the timescale for replacing road markings, and the need to drive more carefully during the initial period following the work.
  1. Recommended that consideration be given in future years to a percentage of the Integrated Work Programme being delivered through a similar approach, which is considered to have delivered value for money.
  1. A report on the impact of this additional investment should be taken to a future meeting of the Highways & Transport Panel to consider as part of developing the future investment strategy.

7.Household Waste Recycling Centres

7.1This one-off scrutiny at the Environment Scrutiny Committee on 5 June 2007 was undertaken in workshop format with the Committee split into three groups. There was a general feeling that this was a useful approach to this type of one-off scrutiny item, allowing greater participation by members.

7.2A report was introduced by Richard Brown, Assistant Director of Environment (Environmental Management) and Ray Greenall, Head of Waste Management. This provided information about the arrangements currently in place for providing Household Waste Recycling Centres in Hertfordshire, enabling them to scrutinise the service with a view to future service improvement.

7.3An information pack containing detailed information on locations, performance, operating methods and user satisfaction was also circulated to the Committee.

7.4The Committee was asked to give consideration to how it feels the HWRC service should be provided in the future. The Committee considered what, in integrated and sustainable waste management terms, the purpose of the HWRC service should be and what levels of service should be provided. Its discussion centered on three main issues:

  1. The purpose and function of HWRCs
  2. The location of HWRCs
  3. The scale and style of HWRC facilities

7.5A long list of points were identified then boiled down to a smaller number of key issues which were commended to the Executive Member for consideration when developing new contracts for the running of HWRCs:

a)Purpose and function

  • The service should major on re-use and recycling of materials, minimising receipt of residual waste.
  • HWRCs ought to be planned and operated as part of a single, integrated waste management system.
  • The service must be flexible and adaptable, to meet changing circumstances, whether from legislation or patterns of use.

b)Location

  • Adequate HWRC facilities for Hertfordshire residents must be maintained, taking opportunities for cross-border joint working where appropriate.
  • The current proximity standard should be reviewed to ensure convenient journey times to best available facilities.
  • The network must be flexible and adaptable.

c)Scale and style

  • The service should continue to promote an ethos of ‘customer first’.
  • The HWRC network should provide consistent and uniform recycling services, optimising site layouts and presentation/signage.
  • HWRCs have an important education and awareness-raising role and information about the centres themselves should tie-in with that provided locally by the waste collection authorities.

8.User friendliness of the Herts Direct Web Site

8.1In preparation for this one-off scrutiny item at their meeting on 14 June 2007, members of the Resources Scrutiny Committee were invited to compare the ease in which a piece of information could be obtained from the HertsDirect web site and those of a random selection of other local authorities.

8.2 To set the scene the Committee received a presentation and demonstration from the Head of Information Systems on the operation of the HertsDirect website outlining its use, accessibility and possible future developments. He stated that the HertsDirect website had been operating for 3 years now and was due for review shortly.

8.3 The Committee was advised that the HertsDirect was the second most popular viewed local authority website in the country with Hampshire being the most popular although they included its partner organisations ‘hits’ within its figures:

  • HertsDirect currently is experiencing 145,00 hits per month which equates to approximately 14% residents of Hertfordshire using HertDirect.
  • the number of on line transactions i.e school admissions, birth certificates etc. is increasing annually with the last annual increase for 2006 / 07 being 22%.

8.4 The Committee expressed concern at the number of staff who were trained website editors which currently exceeded 500 in particular the control over them in producing an up to date and accurate website. In response the Head of information Systems advised of the current departmental workings involving identified departmental ‘champions’plus corporate information updating being undertaken by Knowledge Management Unit. He advised that a process was followed in entering new information onto the website involving the editors signing off the work and issuing an alert advising of the new information entered.