Discussion:
Members received an overview of activities and
progress made on work areas within the terms of reference of this
Committee covered by Councillor Rupert Turpin, Portfolio Holder for
Business Management, which were:
- Customer
Contact;
- Democracy and
Governance;
- Audit and Counter
Fraud;
- Revenue and
Benefits;
- Income Generation
(including new Joint Ventures);
- Risk
Management;
- Business
Management;
- Commissioning,
and;
- Medway
Norse.
Councillor Turpin responded to Members’
questions and comments as follows:
- Covid-19 related increase in
demand for the Revenues and Benefits and Macmillan welfare
services:
·
The Portfolio Holder advised that he received a statistical
dashboard on a monthly basis and expressed confidence in the
ability of the Revenues and Benefits Team to meet the needs of
customers, recognising that it was currently operating in very
difficult times. The service was responding well to Government
initiatives including prompt payments from the hardship fund for
people who could not work due to Covid-19. Changes to Universal
Credit processes were being automated which would put the team in a
good position to deal with increased demand. He referred to a range
of transformational initiatives including the hosting of core
Revenues and Benefits systems in the cloud which were freeing up
officer time.
·
Reference was made to the rise in referrals experienced by Kent and
Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT), many of which
were for debt related mental health problems. It was suggested that
facilitating direct referrals from the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) and KMPT would be of benefit. The Portfolio Holder
noted that suggestion and recognised the need for financial
assistance to be provided quickly. He referred to the high praise
that the Revenues and Benefits team had received for their work
with the DWP at the introduction of Universal
Credit.
·
The Portfolio Holder advised the Macmillan service was offering
support over the telephone to reduce the risk of service users
contracting Covid-19. He offered to make enquiries to confirm that
the Macmillan services was working well in the current difficult
circumstances. He shared the view expressed by Members that the
public message should be to encourage people to promptly access any
medical service they needed during the pandemic and not delay
seeking help because they wished to protect the NHS.
- Medway Norse: In terms of the
re-recognition of Unite the Union, the Portfolio Holder commented
that he hoped that Medway Norse could again work successfully with
Unite but noted that some members of the workforce had joined
another union which Medway Nose was working with.
- Kent Access Permit –
The Portfolio Holder confirmed that this was not on the risk
register. He stated his confidence that a Brexit deal would be
achieved and that the Government was working with haulage companies
to ensure they had the paperwork in place for the Kent Access
Permit. The Council had been assured that there was no prospect of
a lorry park in Medway given its distance from Dover.
- Budgeting process
assumptions: The Portfolio Holder commented that assurance had
been received from the Government that there would be recompense
for lost fees and charges income. Other forms of Government support
grant were also being received and savings were being made, for
example through the cancellation of cultural programmes.
- Remote
working: Referring to a recent staff
survey, the Portfolio Holder reported that most staff considered
that they were as productive or more productive working from home.
It offered flexibility and a better work life balance. It remained
to be seen what elements of the new ways of working would be
retained post Covid-19. Councillors were encouraged to access
documents electronically and good progress had been made although
the Portfolio Holder recognised that there were occasions when a
hard copy might be preferable, for example when viewing large maps.
The Portfolio Holder expressed his admiration for the way in which
Councillors had adapted so quickly to new ways of working. He added
that the Council had been complimented on the quality of its live
streamed meetings, which were available to view for 180 days after
the meeting. He praised Democratic Services and ICT for their work
in enabling remote meetings.
- Customer
Contact – Asked if he would review
the equality impact assessment in relation to the closure of the
transport office within the dynamic bus facility, the Portfolio
Holder responded that he was not aware of any complaints but would
look at it again if equality issues were raised with
him.
- Kingsley
House: The alterations to the housing
services provided at Kingsley House was raised and the Portfolio
Holder advised that the service was under review. It was envisaged
that it would be a remote one to one service rather than a drop-in
service, although a face to face contact would remain for
vulnerable customers. It would be kept under review with the key
focus being on delivering the service that people
needed.
- Parking permits
during Covid-19: The Portfolio Holder
advised that, should there be another period of lockdown, the
command structure that had been put in place during the pandemic
would determine how parking permits would be enforced. With regard
to any plans to introduce digital parking permits, opportunities to
increase digital options for parking were always under
consideration as the general direction in parking was an increased
use of technology.
- Customer and
Business Support (CABS): Asked if there
were any plans to review and increase the CABS telephony service
which was currently operating at full capacity, the Portfolio
Holder responded that, in view of the Council’s difficult
financial situation, it was important that the service worked
flexibly to ensure that sufficient staff operated the telephony
service during known busy periods. On-line booking systems would
also help in this regard.
- Retention of a
booking system for recycling centres: The
Portfolio Holder advised that it was now possible to visit a
recycling centre every two weeks. There may be further adjustments
and people would have different views on whether the booking system
should be retained but flexibility within the system was
important.
- Weekly waste
collection: Reference was made to the
weekly waste collections which had been operated by Medway Norse
for the past year. The Portfolio Holder advised that the feedback
he had received was that it remained an excellent
service.
- Police Crime
Commissioner (PCC) Elections: Asked
whether the forthcoming elections might be conducted by means of
postal votes only, the Portfolio Holder commented that he would be
very surprised if this was the case, referring to the low turnout
for PCC elections.
- Electoral
registration: The Portfolio Holder
undertook to check whether there were any plans to conduct an audit
of Route 1 properties where 10% of properties contacted said the
information needed to be amended.
- Remembrance
Day: The Portfolio Holder said that he
would pass on Members’ praise to Mayoral Services for the
efforts being made to mark this important occasion this
year.
- Government support
in relation to Covid-19: The Portfolio
Holder praised the Audit team which had been redeployed to assist
with fraud detection in relation to grant applications from
businesses. He also praised the Business Rates team which was
distributing Government grants to eligible people who had lost
income due to shielding having been contacted by track and trace.
In response to a question on Covid-19 grant allocation, he
confirmed that his own local Conservative Association had not
received a grant.
- Crematorium: The Portfolio Holder
praised crematorium staff and said that it had coped well with
increased demand. Renovation of the crematorium had been completed
two years ago and this had included investment of £1.6m in
new equipment. In addition, six months prior to the pandemic,
digital equipment had been installed to enable live broadcasting of
services and this was being provided free during the
pandemic.
- Parish
Councils: With reference to the ability
of the 11 Parish Councils within Medway to hold legally convened
meetings during the pandemic, the Portfolio Holder responded that
Parish Councils were organisations in their own right and had a
responsibility to ensure they complied with the law. He reported
that the Monitoring Officer had contacted the Parish Councils to
offer advice on how to overcome the risks to the six-month rule
where Councillors ceased to hold office if they did not attend
actual or remote meetings. The Portfolio Holder added that, at his
request, the Monitoring Officer had asked Parish Councils to report
any incidences where Parish Councillors had been disqualified due
to the application of the six-month rule.
On
behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked the Portfolio Holder
for Business Management for his attendance.