Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must not participate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

To confirm the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 19 January 2021.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 19 January 2021 were agreed.

An update from the Managing Director.

The Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Service Delivery introduced the item.  He warned against complacency over COVID-19 and stressed the importance of continuing to adhere to guidelines.

The Managing Director gave a presentation on the current COVID-19 situation and the Council’s response, beginning with an update on local cases. The Committee was advised that the COVID-19 infection rate in Surrey was 230.4 per 100,000 – similar to the rate for the South East (235.0) and lower than the national rate (260.0) – and the Guildford rate had decreased to 199.3 per 100,000.  The Managing Director advised that in the previous week there had been 2,756 new cases in Surrey, of which 297 were in Guildford. The meeting was informed that as at 1 February there were 1,720 registered COVID-related deaths in Surrey, with 134 in Guildford.

The Managing Director advised the meeting of key COVID-19 issues: the national lockdown; support and services for the most vulnerable; business support; Council services; staff sickness; and mass vaccination.  The Committee was advised of continuing help for the most vulnerable residents in the Borough.  The Managing Director confirmed that the Council was administering eight grant schemes to support businesses.  The meeting heard that all essential Council services were being maintained.  The Managing Director referred to the work of the COVID safety marshals and the police.  With reference to staff sickness, the Managing Director advised that the rate was lower in 2020 than in 2019.  The meeting was advised that there were four mass vaccination sites in the Borough: Superdrug, Direct Pharmacy, Royal Surrey County Hospital, and G Live.  The Committee was informed that nearly 16,000 vaccinations had been delivered at Royal Surrey County Hospital by 27 January and 6,300 provided at G Live, with the first four priority groups on track to receive their vaccinations by mid-February.

In response to questions, the Director for Resources indicated that the Council’s expenditure on COVID-19 response was in excess of the £1.8 million grant received from the government.  She advised the meeting that the Council had so far spent £2.9 million on the response and was forecast to spend £5.4 million by 31 March 2021.  She confirmed that local authorities had up until now spent significantly more on responding to the pandemic than they had received in government support.

In response to questions, the Corporate Public Health Co-ordinator stated that Surrey’s Director of Public Health undertook in depth analysis of the variations in COVID rates locally and the information gathered informed the local response to the pandemic.  She confirmed that all care homes in the Borough were expected to have received vaccination visits by mid-February. 

In reply to a question from a Committee member, the Managing Director indicated that the value of consistent public communications about local vaccinations was being addressed.  The Leader of the Council indicated that if Councillors had specific queries about the vaccination programme he and the Deputy Leader of the Council would be able to raise them at an  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS56

The Leader of the Council introduced the item and praised the Future Guildford transformation programme. 

The Managing Director, the Director for Resources, the Director for Service Delivery, and the Senior Specialist Human Resources gave a presentation on Future Guildford.  The Managing Director began by summarising the aims of the Council-wide transformation project.  Next, the Director for Resources reminded the Committee members of Phase A of Future Guildford, including the staffing saving of £1.3 million.  She indicated that two major technology projects were started in Phase A: the Net Helpdesk system and Business World, an integrated finance and HR system.  The Committee was advised that Business World was implemented in 12 months to achieve savings and due to the imminent expiry of the old system. 

The Director for Resources indicated that staffing savings from Phase B would be between £2.8 million and £3.1 million which combined with Phase A staff savings of £1.3 million and service challenge savings would achieve approximately £8.1 million of savings overall.

The Director for Service Delivery advised the meeting about Phase B of Future Guildford.  He indicated that the learning from the Council’s response to the pandemic had been taken into account when, after the initial national lockdown, work resumed on Phase B of Future Guildford. 

The Director for Service Delivery outlined the consultation process undertaken with staff.  The meeting heard that of the 50 requests for voluntary redundancy, twenty-eight were accepted and twenty-two declined.  The Director for Service Delivery indicated that Phase B was not complete and there remained a considerable number of roles to recruit to, including posts requiring external recruitment. 

The Director for Service Delivery stated that lessons learned from Phase A of Future Guildford meant that service leaders had earlier inclusion and more support in the consultation process in Phase B.  In addition, he indicated that in Phase B there had been more drop in and support sessions provided than in Phase A, together with more and earlier transition discussions. 

The Senior Specialist Human Resources advised the Committee about staff turnover and wellbeing, including sickness absence levels.  She advised that staff turnover for the 2020 calendar year was thirteen percent, compared with fifteen percent for the previous year.  The Committee was informed that in 2020 there had been 89 leavers, with sixty-two percent voluntary resignations and twenty-six percent redundancies and settlements.  The Senior Specialist Human Resources concluded that there were no major concerns over staff turnover rates.  She advised the meeting that staff sickness absence rates were lower in 2020 than in 2019, although mental illness accounted for a higher proportion of absences in 2020. 

The Committee was provided with a summary of responses to the wellbeing section of a staff survey undertaken in the summer of 2020.  In addition, the Senior Specialist Human Resources advised that usage of the Employee Assistance Programme (providing counselling and advice) had doubled.  She indicated that a stress audit survey of staff would be undertaken soon.

The Senior Specialist Human Resources indicated that post-lockdown an agile  ...  view the full minutes text for item OS57