Agenda and minutes

Minute of the meeting of 22 September 2016 to be approved and signed by the Chairman. (Copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of 22 September 2016.

DECISION

AGREED the Minute.

The Committee requested that Councillor Logan, the former Chairman, be thanked for undertaking the role of Scrutiny Chairman over the past two years.

DECISION

AGREED to thank Councillor Logan for his contribution as the previous Chairman.

Presentation by Project Manager, Environment and Infrastructure and Customer Services Manager.

With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of 22 September 2-016, the Chairman welcomed to the meeting Mr Les Grant, Customer Services Manager; Mr Graeme Dobson, Project Manager; Ms Claire Tracy, Lead Officer Customer Services; and Ms Jane Robertson, Development Manager (Adult Services).  The officers were in attendance to give a presentation to Scrutiny Committee on the Social Work Duty Hub, Customer Services Project.

Mr Grant began the presentation by advising that the Social Work Duty Hub had been in operation since 2006.  Since inception, several attempts had been made to measure and quantify the impact of the Hub.  Evidence suggested that the Hub had provided a limited positive impact on the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the Social Work Duty Service in the Borders. Mr Grant explained that the overall volume of telephone calls which went un-answered, had regularly been more than 25%, which was unacceptable.  Staffing levels also meant that it was often difficult to handle calls out-with normal working hours.  In view of the nature of the work, a cautious approach had been taken in terms of applying changes.  The decision to evaluate the transfer of the management of Social Work calls and core duty business processes from the Duty Hub to Customer Services was finally taken in late 2012.  Various options had been considered, with the preferred model - introduced in June 2014 - providing a centralised Customer Service Unit, offering a single point of contact for all customers.  This model enabled Customer Services to provide information, answer questions and signpost services.  The model also delivered an interface to the parallel locality duty system for the transfer of customer core information, referral, screening and immediate social work intervention.  By changing the model and utilising Customer Services for the day to day management of incoming calls, Social Work could target resources more effectively and efficiently.

Mr Grant further advised that all Social Work calls were transferred to a core group of Customer Services Advisors, trained to effectively manage Social Work enquiries.  Evidence from August 2013 to August 2016 showed a clear improvement in response to calls and a reduction in call abandonment rates.  When a call was received via 0300 100 1800 it was either resolved at point of contact, referred to Social Work Locality or the caller was signposted to appropriate information or third party services.  Mr Grant went on to advise that ongoing work included: reviewing Social Work webpages to ensure information was more customer focused; establishing reporting requirements to provide Social Work with statistics about their service; and, the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) scripting.  A post implementation plan was also being developed which included: working with Social Work on the Community Led Conversation programme; ongoing involvement in the Framework System Users Groups; Online self-referrals and referrals direct to Border Care and Repair for minor equipment enquiries.  Mr Grant concluded the presentation by advising that, going forward, training would be delivered to every Customer Service Advisor, to ensure a greater pool of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Report by Service Director – Asset & Infrastructure. (Copy attached).

With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of 22 September 2016, there had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director – Assets & Infrastructure providing information to Members on the Council’s bridge assets, including a list of all bridges in the Scottish Borders, current processes for inspection and maintenance, planned investment, key issues around bridge condition and plans for improvement.   Mr Martin Joyce, Service Director Assets and Infrastructure; Mr David Girdler, Chief Officer Roads; Mr Colin Ovens, Infrastructure Manager; and Mr David Richardson, Asset Manager, were in attendance at the meeting.   Scottish Borders Council (SBC), under the requirements of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984, was responsible for maintaining over 1,100 bridges and 155 culverts across the region, many of which were ageing and in need of repair, but were of critical importance to the Scottish Borders, both economically and socially.  The current SBC Roads Asset Management Plan (RAMP), approved in 2014, helped the Council deliver the road services and detailed what was required to manage the road network assets, including bridges.  However, ensuring that all bridges were inspected regularly to assess condition and then undertaking necessary works was increasingly difficult in the current financial climate.  The report presented the current planned investment in bridges and the process around identifying planned maintenance work with future planned actions around performance reporting. 

Mr Ovens advised that there was a wide variety of bridge structures, including 562 of masonry arch construction. Responsibility for many of the bridges was shared, for example, 57 of the bridges with Network Rail and several with Northumberland County Council (NCC).  He explained that bridges had a limited life and their repair and renewal became necessary due to wear and tear, damage and inclement weather.  Additionally, older bridges were not designed to deal with the current volume and weights of traffic which led to more expensive repair requirements. 

The RAMP was one of the key strategic plans to be delivered by the Asset and Infrastructure team.  As with other services, resource constraints meant that decisions about prioritisation needed to be taken to ensure that public safety was protected and there was appropriate network investment to enhance the Scottish Borders, both socially and economically.   The Code of Practice for Management of Highway Structures (CoPMHS) recommended that Councils’ adopted the standards contained in the Code.  For bridges, this meant that biennially, a visual examination of all parts of the structure should be carried out for all bridges and culverts of 1m diameter and greater.  Every six years, a principal inspection – a close examination, using access equipment - should be undertaken on those larger structures identified as requiring a greater level of assessment.  Historical inspection information from 2009/2011 was mainly used to make current prioritisation decisions.  However, works could be prioritised due to concerns raised about a bridge’s condition.  

Mr Ovens further advised that the use of data and the RAMP process ensured that SBC met its statutory duty.  However, inspections recommended under the CoPMHS had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Update on subject included in the future Scrutiny Review Programme.  (Copy attached).

With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of 22 September there had been circulated copies of the updated list of subjects which Scrutiny Committee had been asked to review and which included the source of the request, the stage the process had reached and the date, if identified, of the Scrutiny meeting at which the information would be presented.  In addition, Members were also asked to consider further subjects for inclusion on this list for presentation at future meetings of the Committee.  When deciding whether subjects would be reviewed by the Scrutiny Committee, Members required a clear indication from the initiator of the request as to which aspects of the subject they wished to be reviewed.  This would enable the Committee to determine whether the subject was appropriate for consideration.  The Clerk to the Council advised that she would pursue with the Service Director Children and Young People, the provision of an update on home schooling to be brought to either the November or January meetings.  In February 2017, there would be a report listing all the recommendations made by Scrutiny Committee and the impact of the decisions made.  

            The Chairman, Councillor Turnbull, asked if the work of integrated Boards such as the Health and Social Care Integrated Board and the Police, Fire & Rescue, and Safer Communities Board could be included on the Review list.  The Clerk to the Council suggested that two separate reports may be appropriate, one concentrating on the Health and Social Care Integrated Joint Board, the other on the Police, Fire & Rescue and Safer Communities Board. The reports could also incorporate information on how these areas were covered in other local authority areas and bring in information from other organisations such as Cosla and Audit Scotland.     

DECISION

AGREED the list of subject for review by Scrutiny Committee as amended and appended to this Minute at Appendix 1.    

The next meeting is scheduled to be held on 24 November 2016

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee would take place on Thursday, 24 November 2016. 

DECISION

            NOTED.