Agenda and minutes

To record the attendance of substitute members, if any, who have been authorised to attend in accordance with the provisions of standing order 17(1), with notification having been given to the proper officer before the start of the meeting and to receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from South Oxfordshire District Councillor David Dodds: his substitute was Jeanette Matelot.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the committee meeting held on 30 July 2015 (attached). 

To consider the outcomes of actions agreed at previous meetings.

To update on matters referred to Cabinet, district Scrutiny committees or other meetings or fora.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2015 were accepted as an accurate record of the meeting and it was agreed that the Chair sign them.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting; and of any other relevant interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive notification of any matters, which the chair determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair.

The Chair reminded the committee that the next meeting would focus be an update meeting on the Corporate Services Project.

Any statements and/or petitions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

None.

To review the attached scrutiny work schedule. Please note, although the dates are confirmed, the items under consideration are subject to being withdrawn, added to or rearranged without further notice.

Noted. No changes made by committee.

Report of the head of finance (attached).

The Committee considered the report from the head of finance on the Annual Review of the Capita contract from April 2014 to March 2015.

William Jacobs, head of finance; Paul Howden, Revenues and Benefits Client Manager and Nicola Mundy, from Capita came to the committee to present the item and answer questions. They were joined by Jane Murphy, the South Cabinet member for finance. Apologies were received from Matthew Barber, the Vale Cabinet member for finance.

The committee debated the issues and asked questions of the officers, a summary of the key points raised is below:

·         There were some outstanding issues which needed to be addressed on the report: Capita had put a new management team in place to address the outstanding issues in Exchequer Services and would be measured in an action plan.

·         The outstanding staffing issues at Capita had now been addressed.

·         There were errors in the payroll which had been identified by the councils’ HR officers which would otherwise have led to staff being incorrectly paid.

·         Concerns were raised about problems which occurred when Capita staff left their employment and there were a lack of written processes to pass information on.

·         When calls are made to the Capita switchboard, some staff seem to have a lack of knowledge about key council officers.

Recommendation:

The committee requested that the above issues be addressed and reported back at next year’s meeting.

Resolved:

To recommend to the Cabinet members for finance that they accept the scores given in the officers’ report.