The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board met to discuss the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, the Adult and Health Services Annual Statutory Representations Report, the Digital Strategy, and the Workforce Strategy. The board was scheduled to hear updates on digital developments and the workforce strategy, and to review the council's use of investigatory powers and handling of social care complaints. The attendees were scheduled to consider the annual review of the council's Corporate Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Guidance and the Annual Statutory Representations Report for Adult Social Care Services.

Annual Statutory Representations Report

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was scheduled to review the Annual Statutory Representations Report for Adult Social Care Services 2024/25. The report, which is prepared in line with the 'Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009', provides a detailed analysis of performance for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Key messages included in the report were:

• a 3.5% increase in the number of complaints investigated
• that 56.5% of complaints were not upheld
• that the number of complaints declined during 2023/24 decreased to 8
• that all complaints have been investigated through to a finding
• that the most common reason for making a complaint in 2024/25 was 'Finance – Charging Policy'
• that the service received 82 compliments about adult social care services during 2024/25.

The report also noted that complaints escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) increased from 21 to 23, with the Ombudsman taking action and/or reaching a decision on 19 cases. The report stated that complaints provide invaluable information to learn and improve, and that acting upon the learning from complaints provides the opportunity to change practice and strengthen service delivery, with transparency and accountability.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was scheduled to discuss the council's use of its powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). The report included an overview of the council's use of its powers under RIPA for the period of 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. During this period, there were twelve directed surveillance¹ authorisations and one Covert Human Intelligence Source² (CHIS) authorisation. The report detailed several operations that made use of directed surveillance authorisations, including:

• Operation 4 April 2024, which related to the sale of illicit tobacco products and resulted in the closure of two premises for 3 months.
• Operation 29 July 2024, which related to the sale of illicit tobacco products and resulted in the seizure of over £9,000 worth of illicit tobacco products.
• Operations 25 September 2024, which related to the sale of illicit tobacco products and resulted in the seizure of over £10,000 worth of illicit tobacco products.
• Operation 31 October 2024, which related to the sale of illicit tobacco products and resulted in the seizure of over £16,000 worth of illicit tobacco products.
• Operation 17 December 2024, which related to illicit tobacco sales and resulted in the closure of a retail premises.
• Operations 15 January 2025, which related to the sale of illicit tobacco products and involved the deployment of a CHIS.
• Operation 10 February 2025, which related to the sale of illicit tobacco and allowed officers to observe activities of an individual, identify a vehicle and the drop point used to store illicit tobacco.
• Operation 19 February 2025, which also related to the sale of illicit tobacco and the directed surveillance was used to observe a resident's premises.
• Operation 10 March 2025, which saw officers obtain directed surveillance authority of a residential address following a negative test purchase.

The report also noted that the RIPA officers group meets on a quarterly basis and is chaired by the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, and that the Director of Legal and Democratic Services is in the process of arranging for officers who make RIPA applications, the council's authorising officers and the RIPA monitoring officer to undertake training with an external provider. The report recommended that Cabinet approves proposed minor amendments to the council's Corporate RIPA Guidance, which included changing all references to Neighbourhoods and Climate Change to Neighbourhoods and Environment .

Digital Developments

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was scheduled to receive an overview of key digital developments within the council since 2023 and the Digital Strategy (2023-2028). The strategy is structured around three core themes: digital customer, digital organisation, and digital community. Key digital developments since its adoption in July 2023 included:

• DCC website engagement: 11 million page views and 3 million unique visitors in last 12 months
• Chatbot interactions: 5,500 chatbot interactions with a 55% containment rate
• Webchat live agent support: 4,500 interactions with live agent via webchat
• Self service satisfaction: Online Doitonline managed through CRM received a 4.2 out of 5 satisfaction rating
• The Story: Combining five collections of historic records and objects that offer insights into County Durham's past.
• Data security and protection toolkit support for care providers
• Capacity Tracker support for care providers
• NHSConnect support for care providers
• Health Call Digital Care Home support for care providers
• Digital Skills training through Barclays Digital Wings to upskill care staff
• Grant funded support towards digital systems
• The new digital customer journey for Wellbeing, Sport and Leisure has notably increased activity engagement, customer satisfaction, and revenue.
• Members Portal has been developed to assist councillors with case management
• The council is currently in the process of migrating its digital applications and IT infrastructure services from legacy on-premises systems to the cloud.
• Three primary focus areas for AI use: business support, specific service applications, and staff productivity
• Pilot completed initially with Older Persons Locality Teams and Hospital Discharge Teams using Magic Notes
• Project Gigabit government contract secured to provide full fibre broadband to Teesdale
• 25 Digital Community Hubs focussed mainly in left-behind neighbourhoods and rural areas

The report also noted that an external Local Government Peer Review was undertaken week commencing 6 October and that the findings from this review, alongside other assessments, will inform a comprehensive review of the Digital Strategy.

Workforce Strategy 2024-2027

The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was scheduled to receive an update on the council's Workforce Strategy 2024-2027. The council's Workforce Strategy is structured around three workforce priority areas: enabling the organisation to deliver through our people, being a good employer and creating a people first culture, and building capacity and developing great talent. Initiatives to support the Council Plan ambition for 'reforming the council' by having a workforce fit for the future included:

• A robust approach to recruitment and resourcing
• Development of an employer brand
• Effective workforce and succession planning approaches
• Use of apprenticeship programmes to support upskilling and recruitment
• Programmes to develop leaders and managers
• Digitisation of learning and development
• Creation of a positive organisational culture

The report also included data on the age profile of the organisation, details of the council's apprenticeship vision, and examples of workforce stability. The report noted that the council is working with universities and schools to develop a pipeline of talent, and that it has a growing social media presence to attract new employees. The report stated that staff turnover remains stable (9%), that staff motivation is generally high, and that there are many initiatives in place to be a good employer and to get the most from the workforce.