Agenda and minutes

(1)       During the receipt of these minutes there was a discussion on the importance of Cabinet Members and Managing Directors producing at least a list of the issues that they would be raising in their update to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee prior to the meeting.  This was commended as good practise to enable Members to be prepared for the items that would be mentioned at the meeting.  It was agreed that there was an expectation that there would be a written list of update items circulated prior to the meeting. 

(2)       The matter of ensuring that Cabinet Members did not sit next to the Chairman of the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to reinforce the Committees role to hold the Executive to account, was raised.  It was acknowledged that for Committees that met in the Council Chamber it was not so easy to get this separation but every attempt should be made to achieve it where possible. 

(3)       RESOLVED that (a)  the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 April 2010 are correctly recorded and they be signed as a correct record,  subject to the addition of the following sentence in Minute No 12 paragraph (5)  “A Member suggested that steps should be taken to lobby for the abolition of the Strategic Health Authority.”;

(b)       the Cabinet Member(s) and the Managing Directors be asked to prepare for circulation in advance of the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee a list of specific points that they intend to raise during their update to the Committee.

(1)       Mr King and Mr Bowles introduced the report and set out the context within which the Overview and Scrutiny function was developing.  Mr King emphasised the importance of supporting all Members to ensure that they were well equipped to carry out their multi faceted role with particular emphasis on their role as “community leaders”.

Context and changing the culture.

(2)       Mr Bowles referred to the Local Government Bill which was likely to be published in the summer and other amendments that may be made by the Government under secondary legislation.  He agreed with a comment from the Chairman that there was need for a change in the officer culture and emphasised the important role of the new Group Managing Director who was joining the authority shortly.

(3)       Comments were invited on the contextual part of the report.  These  included:-

·        It was important to break down the silos which existed within and between Directorates.

·        It was suggested that consideration should be given to ensuring that officers held relevant professional qualifications.

·        In relation to the Joint Transportation Boards, Members shared mixed experiences of the effectiveness of these.  One of the key issues was the lack of feedback on issues raised at the Boards.  It was suggested that if there were unresolved issues from a Joint Transportation Board then these could be raised at the relevant Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

·        The importance of Members playing a part in changing the culture of the organisation and then leading officers to support the elected Members in the new direction of the authority was emphasised.

·        As the Government had proposed a power of general competence which would give the public the power to take over public services it was essential that County Council ensured that the services it provided were what the public wanted.

·        At “Local Boards” there was in some areas a tendency for responsibility for an issue to be passed between different tiers of local government which was not helpful for the public.

·        It was suggested that funding from all tiers of local government should be put together and allocated by community forums so that there were larger sums available to distribute.

·        Whilst it was acknowledged that officers should be encouraged to attend meetings of “Local Boards” the way that this was organised should be as efficient as possible to make best use of the finite resources.

Forward plan of key decisions

 (4)          Mr King referred Members to the example of an enhanced Forward Plan of Key Decisions which was set out in appendix 1 to the report. 

(5)           The Chairman emphasised the importance of making effective use of the agenda setting meetings for the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees.  The agenda setting meetings provided a real opportunity  to ask both Cabinet Members and Senior Officers what the key challenges were for them and invited to indicate how the Committee could assist.  The Forward Plan of Key Decisions was an important tool for setting the agendas for Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

(1)       Members were invited to share any example of good practise. 

(2)       The Chairman of the Learning and Development Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee referred to the issues around the timescale and number of meetings of this Committee. Also the issue of how Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committees could play a positive part in restructuring was raised.   The Overview, Scrutiny and Localism Manager emphasised the importance of making effective use of the agenda setting meetings to assist in the effective management of Committees and to ensure that Committee agenda contained the items which Members wished to consider including restructuring.

(3)       In response to a question on whether there was support for scrutinising decisions before they were taken by Cabinet or the Cabinet Member, the Chairman stated that there was no prohibition on pre-scrutiny.

RESOLVED that the comments be noted.