Agenda item

Mr A J King, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Localism and Partnerships, 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 on this item.

Mr A J King MBE, Deputy Leader of the Council and Mr P Wickenden, Overview, Scrutiny and Localism Manager were present for this item.

(1)   Mr A King introduced the report on the potential to refocus and restructure the Overview and Scrutiny function.  The report had previously been considered by the Policy Overview Co-ordinating Committee and 4 other Policy Overview Committees and the notes of those meetings had been tabled for Members’ information.  Mr King reminded Members that the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee (CSC) had a specific purpose; to review the decisions of Cabinet and Cabinet Members and the Policy Overview Committees (POCs) had a role in challenging service delivery and policy development.  There was a statutory requirement to have a Committee with the power to ‘call-in’ decisions and there was an important relationship between the CSC and the POCs.  The agenda for the 15 October Council Council meeting would include a recommendation from Cabinet drawing on all the discussions had relating to the potential to refocus and restructure the O&S function.

(2)   Mr Kite explained that there was a danger in some authorities of scrutiny being corrosive and divisive and there was no room for a scrutiny committee to be a constant critic of Council business.  There was a ‘family’ of decision making bodies working together for residents.  The end user should have a voice, through Members or through widening the publicity of scrutiny.   There was a possibility of asking for evidence for scrutiny reviews from residents so that Members were better informed of public perception when making decisions. 

(3)   Mr Hotson stated that the Council should be working more closely with the media and further opportunities to seek the views of services users should be explored.  Mr Brookbank highlighted the decline in popularity of traditional newspapers and the Council should concentrate on new technology to engage residents. 

(4)   Mr Parry stated that it was the role of the elected Member to articulate the views of the public, to identify areas of concern and bring them to the relevant Committee. 

(5)   The Chairman identified the Forward Plan as an area for improvement to enable overview and scrutiny activity to be better planned, resourced and delivered.

(6)   Members discussed the role of Local Boards in scrutiny; they were very effective as a means of learning about public views.  Mr Wickenden gave an example of an area issue being raised and discussed in a neighbourhood forum in Dover which was then taken up and scrutinised by Dover District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Neighbourhood Forums were an effective way of ensuring that the public and voluntary organisations were able to express their views. 

(7)   Members were divided in relation to the effectiveness of petitions.

(8)   Select Committees were favoured by Members of the Committee as a positive way of reviewing topics of concern.  However reports could become too aspirational and unachievable and one Member requested more review of select committee reports before they were submitted to the Cabinet. 

(9)   Members agreed that there was a need to untangle the work of the Select Committees, the Policy Overview Committees and the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee.  There were benefits to holding the Cabinet to account but there was a need to strengthen the role of the POCs and Select Committees.  A number of Members did not believe that the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee was the most appropriate place to deliver pre-decision scrutiny.   

(10)          Members discussed the resources available for Select Committee work; as these were considered to be one of the most valuable aspects of the Overview and Scrutiny process.  Currently three select committees reviews were undertaken in the same year. 

(11)          Mr King stated that there was a need to develop the Overview and Scrutiny function for the future and there was an opportunity to capitalise on the expertise of individual Members as rapporteurs.  The model used at Essex was interesting and would be investigated further, it would not be possible to create vast new resources to support the work of rapporteurs, there would be a need for Members to undertake work themselves. 

(12)          RESOLVED that the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee:

1.      Thank Mr King and Mr Wickenden for attending the meeting and answering Members questions;

2.      Agree that the roles of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee, POCC and POCs need to be more clearly defined, particularly in relation to policy development and post-decision call in;

3.      Request that the Leader ensures that the Forward Plan is as complete and detailed as possible to enable overview and scrutiny activity to be better planned, resourced and delivered;

4.      Request the Leader to ensure that the Cabinet provides as much information as possible when reporting back on recommendations made to it by Overview and Scrutiny Committees, including reasons being offered for not agreeing to any particular recommendations;

5.      Agreed to ask the Cabinet to acknowledge the vital role of local boards and neighbourhood forums in the overview and scrutiny process and use these deliberative structures to engage more with the public;

6.      Request that consideration is given to allowing Overview and Scrutiny Committees to introduce more innovative ways of seeking the views/evidence of service users, perhaps by involving the media and increasing the use of technology;

7.      Ask the Cabinet to re-examine the resources available for Select Committees, as this was regarded by all as one of the most valuable parts of the Overview and Scrutiny process.