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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
Councillors R Mogford and S Adan.
None.
People, Policy and Transformation The Strategic Director – Transformation and Corporate introduced the Service Area reports. The Head of People, Policy and Transformation gave an overview of the report. • The Committee praised the improvements in public communication and engagement, highlighting positive developments in the city such as the successful food festival. • The Committee praised the case study for its effective engagement with schools and universities, particularly the internship programme, and commended the support provided to veterans and service leavers. • The Committee requested a review of the current 70% target for bi-monthly staff check-ins, noting significant improvement from 30% in previous years and suggested the consideration of a higher target. • The Committee advised that while Community Asset Transfers can be beneficial, the approach should be flexible and tailored to the needs and capacity of each group. The Committee recommended considering partnership models as alternatives where appropriate and review examples across the country to identify best practice. • The Committee noted that the new annual report for the Local Authority Trading Company (LatCo) will report to the Performance Scrutiny Committee – Partnerships, following a review of the committee’s terms of reference. • Although discussed during the Law and Standards report, the Committee recommended that future complaints reporting for service area reviews should include analysis by category, such as lack of response, slow response, and be cross-referenced with Governance and Audit complaints reports that are produced on a six-monthly basis. • Although discussed during the Finance report, the Committee recommended that the Council explore the use of short instructional videos on the website to support residents in accessing digital services. Law and Standards The Head of Law and Standards gave an overview of the report. • The Committee praised the service area for their strong performance and progress across key areas in the mid-year service area review, noting improvements in key areas such as the publication of Council meeting minutes and workforce turnover rates. • The Committee requested continued focus on improving staff check-in performance in the Law and Standards service area, noting that its small team size should enable higher compliance with organisational targets. Finance The Head of Finance gave an overview of the report. • The Committee requested clarification and correction of the headcount figures for the service area, as the reported numbers between March 2024 and September 2025 appeared inconsistent. • The Committee wished to reiterate previous recommendations to Cabinet to review and consider increasing resources in Customer Services, especially given recurring staffing challenges. • The Committee requested that future reports include data on first call resolution (FCR) rates for customer service calls, as this is seen as a more meaningful performance indicator than wait times alone. • The Committee noted the improvement in Accountancy Budget Monitoring Manager submissions and encouraged continued progress.
a) Actions Arising The Scrutiny Adviser informed the Committee of the actions that have been completed, and the actions that are currently outstanding. b) Draft Annual Forward Work Programme 2025/26 The Scrutiny Adviser informed the Committee that the next meeting is on the 8th December 2025, with the 2025/26 Service Plan Mid-Year Reviews for the Place Directorate being discussed. c) Outcomes Monitoring The Scrutiny Adviser informed the Committee of the actions that have been completed, and the actions that are currently outstanding.
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