Issue - meetings

To accept and note the information in the report.

The report was submitted by Cllr Ioan Thomas  

DECISION 

To accept and note the information in the report. 

DISCUSSION  

The report was submitted to update members on what had been achieved in the Finance field over the last few months.  It was noted that there was good performance in the Department and satisfactory progress with the relevant priority project within the Council Plan.   

Reference was made to several services such as the Internal Audit Service and the Benefits Service. It was noted that the Benefits Service continued to perform against its core delivery measures, however, the average time taken to process a new benefit application had increased from 20.7 days in November 2021 to 24.1 days in November 2022. It was explained that this was a combination of job vacancies and sickness as well as an increase in the work as a result of winter fuel payments.   It was reported that there was enthusiasm within the Service and they were participating in two corporate schemes, namely the Workforce Development Scheme and the Talent Nurturing Scheme.    

It was noted that the same staffing problems existed within other Services such as the Taxation Service where staff recruitment and retention was an increasing problem.  The frustration within the Finance and Accounting Services was highlighted regarding receiving invoices in a timely manner from the rest of the Council's Departments for processing. It was believed that there was a responsibility on all Cabinet members to try and ensure that the Departments sent out invoices without delay. 

It was noted that the IT Service had managed in their latest efforts to fill vacant posts following a period of being unable to appoint.  A wish was expressed for more feedback to be given to the IT Support Service from across all Council Departments. It was mentioned that the feedback received was on the whole very positive, however this feedback was scarce. To conclude, reference was made to the IT Digital Learning Service that was a new service and a considerable amount of work had been achieved thus far.  

Observations arising from the discussion 

·                  A recent letter received from Minister Julie James was mentioned regarding the Welsh Government's winter fuel payments scheme. The letter noted that on average 72% of the payments had been paid across Wales, however Gwynedd had paid 95% and was continuing to look for the other 5%. This was high praise for the Department's work. The Head of Finance was requested to convey this praise to the Service.  

·                  It was reported that the Department had been looking for different ways of undertaking this work by using the Post Office and this had been very successful.