Contact: Jenny Heath, Corporate Performance Manager, ext 7402

1 The Best Value Programme for this Committee

1.1 At its meeting on 17 December 2001, the Cabinet revised the full five year programme of Best Value reviews. The revised approach took account of the limited scope for improvement offered by concentrating on current service arrangements and that this did not offer value for money in return for the significant investment in Best Value review activity. To widen the opportunity for innovation and creativity in the way services are delivered, the revised programme encourages a strategic focus on services, by exploring wider themes or reviewing across organisational boundaries.

1.2 This has a significant impact on this Policy Review Committee, which has the role of leading cross-cutting Best Value reviews. A schedule of the reviews for year 3 is attached, with an indicative outline of the area to be reviewed.

2 Member involvement in reviews

2.1 The local county council election disrupted member involvement in the second year Best Value reviews, either preventing members from continuing with a review they had begun, or leaving them reluctant to pick up on a process already well underway. Experience of involvement in reviews has, therefore, been patchy and review team leaders have regretted the lack of steer from members, outside formal meetings.

2.2 There is scope to ensure that the process of member involvement in Best Value reviews enhances the general management of the Policy Review Committee's workload. While it is important that options for improvement are supported by clear evidence and a balanced rationale for the conclusions drawn, there is no requirement for all the background detail to be presented formally to the full committee. The full committee should be able to rely on the involvement of their colleagues to ensure there has been sufficient challenge and objective consideration of the detail.

2.3 This paper proposes early identification of at least four members per review, so that review team leaders can ensure there is timely invitation to participate in meetings. This will also enable members to be aware of the full range of opportunities to choose from. Member representatives are invited to join review teams at key stages, so that their views and ideas influence the direction of the review and its outcomes and so that they can hear first-hand the views and ideas from other stakeholders in the service. Involvement in reviews can enable Members to develop expertise in specific areas, which will be useful in future policy development

Recommendation

1 It is recommended that members indicate their preference for involvement in the following Year 3 Best Value reviews:

· International Relations

· Democratic Services

· Regulatory Services

· Managing Change

· Human Resources in a Changing Environment

N.B. The list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.