Agenda and minutes

It was noted that Ms A Harrison had replaced Mr R J E Parker as a Member of the    Committee

RESOLVED that Ms A Harrison be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee. 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2007 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)       Mrs S Garton, Head of Corporate Performance, gave a brief introduction to this item. 

(2)       Mr Hotson stated that concern had been expressed by Members as to why the Annual Plan had not gone to each of the Policy Overview Committees to enable them to make specific comments in relation to their Directorate area.  He stated that officers would be looking at the programming Policy Overview Committees to ensure that the Annual Plan could be considered by each of them.  He informed Members that the report on the Annual Plan needed to be signed off late tomorrow afternoon and therefore if any Members had any further comments after this meeting they should contact officers directly.

(3)       The introduction to the Annual Plan by the Leader and the Chief Executive and the covering report to the plan were tabled.

(3)       There was a view from Members cross-party that in relation to monitoring performance it would be helpful to have at least half yearly if not quarterly reports to each of the Policy Overview Committees on their Performance Indicators within the Annual Plan.

(4)       The Committee then debated the Plan during which Members asked a range of questions which covered the following topics:-

§                     the Kent Agreement and how the targets are set – Mr Minter explained that these were a mixture of national targets and targets that KCC and partners agencies thought should be included, for example, the Criminal Justice Board wanted one of their national targets included so that partners could assist them with it.  They had now completed the two year reporting as part of a three year programme and out of the 18 outcomes only one was red.  The strength of the Kent Partnership approach was that partners were able to help and support each other in meeting these targets.  He stated that all involved had learned a lot which would be very helpful for the target setting for the next Local Area Agreement.

§                     The Kent Commitment - It was acknowledged that this was only at an early stage and therefore there was only a small section on it in this years Annual Plan.

§                     Apprentices – Members were informed that there were currently 65 apprentices employed by the County Council. The target was 250 and therefore good progress was being made.

§                     Regarding the percentage of Pedestrian Crossings with facilities for disabled people, Members were informed that officers considered that the target of 100% was realistic because as part of the routine maintenance programme work measures would be put in that would achieve this target.

§                     Kent Agreement - Page 5-13 in relation to the agreement it says “Some success has been achieved in agreeing Freedoms and Flexibilities with government, but, in general, there has not been as much progress as had been hoped for.”   Mr Minter explained that Kent was one of the 21 pilots for this type of local agreement.  Most pilot authorities asked for one or two freedoms, Kent County Council had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

(1)       The Overview and Scrutiny Manager submitted a report updating the Committee on the current Topic Reviews and set out priorities for the Work Programme for the period Autumn 2007 to Spring 2008 and the resources available to deliver the Work Programme.

(2)       The report set out details of the recently completed Topic Reviews and the two current Topic Reviews, Alcohol Misuse and Support of Carers in Kent. 

(3)       Members were reminded that at their February meeting they agreed that the  following topics should be given further consideration for inclusion in the work programme at this meeting:-

(a)       Accessing Democracy;

(b)       Developing the creative curriculum;

(c)        Young people’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development, value-based education and behaviour;

(d)       Consultation and participation with children and young people (student voice);

(e)       Provision of activities for young people;

(f)         Supermarkets and outer town shopping malls/retail parks on businesses in Kent.

(4)       In relation to the Accessing Democracy proposed topic review, the Overview and Scrutiny Manager had met with Mrs Angell who had originally proposed this topic to consider how the County engages with hard to reach groups.  This was a key area of activity where the County Council would need to demonstrate for the Corporate Performance Assessment that it had evidence to show that it did effectively engage with all members of society.  Therefore it might be timely to establish a Select Committee  relating to how the Council engages hard to reach groups in the Autumn.

(5)       The report also included two new potential items for inclusion in the Work Programme.  These were:-

(a)       Vulnerable children; and

(b)       Flood risks

(6)       In relation to the NHS Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the report set out potential new items for inclusion in the Select Committee Work Programme.  A consultation document on the review of Health Services across Kent and Medway known as ‘Fit for the Future’ was due to be launched early in July.  A possible subject for Select Committee within the NHS Overview and Scrutiny Committee area was Access to Health Care, which would include proposals likely to arise from the Fit for the Future review.   This would be another piece of work that would be of value to the County Council and other partner organisations.  This proposal was fully supported by the Cabinet Member with responsibility for Public Health, Mr G Gibbens.

(7)       The Overview and Scrutiny Manager set out the resources available to deliver the Work Programme which were 1.5 full time Research Officer in addition to the dedicated Research Officer for the NHS.  The Committee were informed that the 6 monthly training post from the Graduate Development Programme would cease at the September 2007 because of budgetary constraints.  This would mean that there was no guarantee that a trainee would automatically be placed with the Overview and Scrutiny Team although it was well recognised across the County Council that the opportunity to work on a Select Committee was an excellent placement opportunity. 

(8)       The Chairman informed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.