Agenda item

This is a discussion item.

The Chair introduced this item and welcomed Ian Davis as Chief Executive.  He asked Ian to give a brief overview of what he considers to be the Council’s key priorities for the future and asked whether his views on this had changed since his appointment, last June.

Ian Davis had met with the Leader and Members of the two main political parties, feedback from both parties was consistent.

Key priorities include:

·         Safeguarding, including a greater emphasis on safeguarding of children

·         Customer Experience

·         Public Health and inequalities in relation to this

·         Regeneration and Housing including the changing nature of the world we live in.

To deliver these priorities the organisation must be structured to ensure we have the right behaviours.  Firstly, the authority’s finances must be kept under control with a more strategic and earlier focus on the budget during the year. This will include more regular meetings and more involvement with Members.

Secondly, the culture of the organisation needs to be effective by having an open and honest approach which residents expect. 

Recruitment of the right staff is key, with a move towards the employment of long term staff and a reduction in the number of interim managers. 

A reorganisation is currently underway which will reduce the number of managers in the management team.  Following on from this there will be a review of the next tier of management at service head level, with a move away from the AD manager level. The intention is to make it clearer to see who has responsibility for each area. It should also provide budget savings.

The following questions/ issues were raised:

• In answer to a question about whether there may be conflicts/ issues resulting from a reduction in the number of departments, Ian Davis answered that whenever you create a structure that creates a ‘silo’ it is important the ‘silos’ work together to provide the correct outcomes.  It is useful to work together on shared responsibility ‘themes’ for example on the subject of ‘modern slavery’.
• An Enfield Youth Parliament (EYP) representative referred to responsibility for a key area such as housing and asked if it meant that responsibility mainly lies with just one person.  Ian Davis spoke of the empowering of staff and how the structure of departments should enable staff at all levels to have an input, an example of this is when looking at the Corporate Plan.
• A Customer Experience Strategy is to be put in place for the first time.
• Councillor Smith said he thought it was difficult for ‘behaviours’ to change, it is important that people are accountable for their actions and  that there are clear lines of responsibility.  It was thought better that people are open and clear if any mistakes are made to ensure issues are resolved, and not to have a ‘blame’ culture.
• Concerns were raised that in previous reorganisations some very capable people had left the organisation, we needed to ensure that those officers who ’go the extra mile’ do not leave the authority.
• Ian Davis said he thought there may have been problems in the restructure process in the past due to a lack of communication with staff and a lack of clarity of the process. He said this would not happen in the future.  He also said we were moving towards a ‘blind’ recruitment process where an applicant’s age/ sex/ culture characteristics would not be known.  He referred to the need for an embedded culture, where staff would continue to ensure that public money is spent wisely.
• Ian Davis was asked about his approach to customer service further to Enfield 2017 and he answered that a Customer Service Strategy is to be introduced with customer surveys taking place regularly as well as staff surveys.  There would also be a re-introduction of mystery shopping, for example, in relation to the council tax and planning services.  A ‘score card’ system would be introduced about quality issues which would enable the service to be able to respond by identifying and changing any problems quickly.  We will ensure we have a first class service for customers.
• It was suggested that a move away from an electronic approach for all customers would be beneficial.  Also the internet system for accessing council services should be easier -within a ‘few clicks’ people should be able to access Enfield’s services as it is possible with some other local authority sites.
• Councillor Smith referred to accountability and performance of services being driven by EMT (Executive Management Team). He asked if this would continue as it currently does?   Ian answered that it was anticipated there would be more linking together between finance and performance.  In future it is anticipated that staff would be able to clearly see their teams’ performance.
• The Safeguarding of Adults and Children is one of the key areas the Chief Executive will be focusing on. An assurance board would assess all aspects of the services, checking with monitoring officers would be undertaken to ensure services are ‘fit for purpose’.
• The use of benchmarking services with other authorities was mentioned.  Ian Davis said whilst this is a good starting point, it is necessary for us to look closely at every service to see if improvements can be made.
• Reference was made to pressures on budgets especially on Children’s Services.  At the moment, many of our children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are attending specialist schools outside of the borough. We are aiming to expand existing specialist SEND provision for children within the borough in order that they may return/ remain within the Enfield area.
• There has been an increase in demand for support for children with special educational needs, over recent years, and Ian spoke of the need for a streamlined approach. He is speaking to Tony Theodoulou and James Carrick about these issues. One of the EYP Reps referred to the support he had received at school and spoke to Anne Stoker (AD Children’s Social Care) after the meeting about his experience.
• Councillor Rye spoke of public health and the budget for this, he thought there should be more flexibility in the way it is applied.  Ian Davis spoke of his great interest in public health and how it is the key link and priority for all Council services. 
• Councillor Levy spoke of key themes that may cover all services, for example – the scrutiny work stream on the issue of loneliness. 
• Ian Davis would like to achieve a greater oversight of proposals/ plans before matters go to Cabinet. It was thought more pre-decision scrutiny of items coming to OSC would be useful and would avoid the need for many ‘call -in’ meetings.

Councillor Levy thanked the Chief Executive for attending the meeting and for giving an overview of what he considers are the Council’s key priorities.  He suggested that he may wish to come along to a future meeting of OSC to give a further update to the new committee members and suggested that this could be done in parallel with the Council Leader.