Agenda item

Mr A J King, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Localism and Partnerships; Mr G Wild, Director of Law & Governance; and Mr P D Wickenden, Overview, Scrutiny and Localism Manager, will attend the meeting from 10.15 am to 11.00 am to answer Members’ questions.

Mr A J King MBE, Deputy Leader, and Mr G Wild, Director of Law and Governance were present for this item.

The Chairman explained that the report regarding the reorganisation of the Overview and Scrutiny function had been discussed by the County Council on 15 October and the decision of the County Council would result in changes to the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee’s terms of reference.

Mr King explained to Members that it was hoped that clarifying the role of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee and strengthening the Scrutiny Board would result in more clarity and be beneficial to the ways in which the Council operated.  The constitution was in the process of being altered to reflect the decision made at the County Council meeting.  Mr Wild explained that changes to the articles of the constitution could only take place after the County Council meeting in December, but changes to the appendices could be made immediately.  All Members would be made aware of the changes.  The changes to the terms of reference of the Committee were capable of having immediate effect, however until the Scrutiny Board was to meet decisions taken would still need to be scrutinised which would fall to the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee.

The Chairman asked whether the agenda planning for the Scrutiny Board would continue in a similar way to that of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee, i.e. that opposition Members were able to request that items be placed on an agenda with a majority vote of the other spokespeople and not necessarily the agreement of the administration.  In response Mr King stated that it was the intention to allow Members to play a fuller part in the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees and that he would not expect the Scrutiny Board to be any less robust.

Mr Hotson stated that there would be a meeting of the Scrutiny board during the remainder of 2009, and as he was Chairman, the opposition would continue to have input into the agenda planning. 

The Chairman asked for clarification on the forward plan and it covering a period of 6 months instead of the current 4 months.  Mr King stated that it was being worked on, it was intended that the Forward Plan continue to contain 4 months worth of information with 2 months indicative information added to it.  Mr Wild explained that there was a real opportunity to make the Forward Plan a more useable, practical and open document than it was at present.  The constitution contained the right for all members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to insist that an item be placed on an agenda and in addition the Councillor Call for Action would widen the scope of all Members to request that items be considered at Committee level.  In response to a question Mr Wild explained that the law stated that any Member of a Committee had the right to require that that Committee placed an issue on its agenda, and therefore it suggested that non Committee Members did not have the same right, however Councillor Call for Action would change this.  

The Chairman asked about how the recommendations on the IMG on Member Information were being progressed.  Mr King explained that he hoped that by the time the Information Point Management Board was to meet an answer would be available. 

RESOLVED: that the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee:-

1. Thank Mr A. King and Mr G. Wild for attending the meeting and answering Members’ questions.

2. Welcome the assurance from the Deputy Leader that there would be an early meeting of the Scrutiny Board

3. Welcome the assurance from the Deputy Leader that all party representatives would retain the right to place relevant items on the Scrutiny Board and O&S Committee agendas

4. Welcome the assurance of the Deputy Leader that the recommendations of the IMG on Member Information would be progressed at the next meeting of the Information Management Board