Archived decisions
ITEM 2
AT A MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES SCRUTINY AND SELECT COMMITTEE of the COUNTY COUNCIL held at The Castle, Winchester on 14 February 2005.
PRESENT:
Councillors: S.A. Hayes (Chairman); Mrs P.G. Banks; I.F.E. Beagley; M.F. Cartwright; P.J. Chegwyn; A.P. Collett; B.D. Dash; R.J. Ellis; M.J. Kendal; Mrs. C.A. Leversha;
P.A. Pierce; M.J. Roberts; J.G.L. Wall; J.K. West.
Also present: Councillor Mrs. P.A. West
246 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9,10,11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed. No such interests were declared by any Members on this occasion.
247 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 2 December, 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
248 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman referred with sadness to the death on 12 February of Councillor D.G. Allen, Executive Member for Education. Members stood in silence in his memory.
249 MEMBERS' QUESTIONS
The Chairman responded to two questions notified to him by Councillor M.J. Roberts. He explained the respective stances of the County Council and the Hampshire Police Authority with regard to funding of community support officers, and did not agree that there was any inconsistency or occasion for embarrassment. He went on to say that he was satisfied with the arrangements made by Hampshire County Council under the Freedom of Information Act and that proper procedures were in place.
250 DEPUTATIONS
There were no deputations notified on this occasion.
251 THE COMMITTEE'S PROACTIVE TOPICS
The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive on three topics which were the subject of current investigation (Item 6 in the Minute Book). Members considered each of the topics in turn and their deliberations are summarised in Minutes 252, 253 and 254 below.
252 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR MEMBERS
Michelle Smith, Chief Executive's Department, attended the meeting and gave a presentation on various developments aimed at improving the information flow for Members. She outlined developments in IT and the responses from the survey of Members, as a result of which there was now a clear idea as to what Members wanted and what was lacking. She went on to give details of Member development, training and induction, with particular reference to key contacts, a Members' handbook, and information for candidates. A comprehensive contact list of officers in all departments was being developed which would make clear who does what at various levels within the County Council's organisation.
Members expressed the view that their main aspiration was to have early notice of any changes in service delivery affecting their areas, whether promoted by the County Council or by other organisations, so that they could react in a prompt and well-informed manner. They suggested that the County Council's representatives on outside bodies could similarly act to give colleagues early warning of such changes. Members were asked to notify any further ideas on IT links, the content of the Members' directory and any other issues related to communications, to Michelle Smith.
RESOLVED:
That Councillor M.F. Cartwright be nominated to complete final explorations and formulate recommendations regarding "managing local information for Members" with the support of the Scrutiny Manager.
253 MEMBER INPUT TO CONSULTATION PAPERS
RESOLVED:
That Councillor P.R.C. Hutcheson be nominated to complete the final explorations and formulate recommendations with regard to "Member input to consultation papers" with the support of the Scrutiny Manager.
254 WHITE PAPER ON PUBLIC HEALTH
The Committee received a detailed presentation from Dr. Mike Gill, Regional Director of Public Health. A copy of his presentation appears as Item 6x in the Minute Book. He set out a range of areas where he thought Hampshire County Council could act as an engine for public health, notably obesity; tobacco; services for vulnerable children; and services for older people. He saw a leading role for local authorities such as Hampshire County Council in promoting public health and healthy lifestyles.
During debate Members drew attention to the role of Trading Standards in securing the informative labelling of food; and enforcing the law on sale of drink or tobacco to children; they felt that these important areas should be fully reflected as one of the County Council's key actions. Other areas where the County Council might make a difference were seen to be healthy start; surestart; promotion of safe walking and cycling routes to school; promotion of sport and fitness; promotion of healthy foods in the County Council's catering operations and in procurement; and an awareness of the County Council's status as a good employer which could set an example of caring for the health and welfare of its staff. The Committee thanked Dr. Gill for his challenging and thought-provoking presentation.
RESOLVED:
That Councillors R.J. Ellis and M.J. Roberts be nominated to join with Members of the Health Scrutiny Committee to complete the initial explorations and consider and report the options for strategic development with regard to "public health", with the support of the Scrutiny Manager and Health Scrutiny Manager.
255 REVIEW OF DEMOCRATIC DECISION MAKING PROCESSES
The Scrutiny Manager gave details of the programme of events for Members formulated by the Core Group as follows:-
9 February 2005 - providing challenge and scrutiny (already held)
21 February - decision making
1 March - the local role.
A copy of the presentation appears as Item 7 in the Minute Book.
Members were encouraged to attend and react. The Scrutiny Manager would arrange a short feedback session to keep Members informed.
256 SCRUTINY OF FINANCIAL PROCESSES
The Committee considered a report of the Chief Executive and County Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on future arrangements for effective scrutiny of the budget. It was acknowledged that the timetable had not worked this year, with a resultant feeling of frustration by Members, many of whom felt that they had missed the opportunity to scrutinise the County Council's budget. The situation was complicated by the changes in Government timetables for budget announcements. In order to improve the situation for the future, Members felt that meetings of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny and Select Committee should be more closely aligned to those of the Cabinet at those times of the year where budget issues required scrutiny.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the approach taken to budget consultation, the views expressed by Members of the Committee, and the intention of improving the process next year be noted and endorsed.
(ii) That approval be given to the broad timetable for scrutiny of financial processes during 2005/06 as set out below:
· 11 April - consider the Council's draft efficiency plan for 2005/06
· June - draft statement of efficiencies achieved during 2004/05
· September - final accounts for 2004/05
· October - forward budget planning and framework issues for 2006/07
· January 2007 - further consideration of budget guidelines and responses to those guidelines as they develop.
in each case a day or two before the Leader's decision day.
257 SCRUTINY UPDATE - REPORT FROM PANEL 1, SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
The Committee received a progress report from Councillor A. Ludlow, Chairman of the Panel (Item 9 in the Minute Book). Arising from the report, Members expressed the view that there was a clear need for separate and dedicated staff to support scrutiny.
RESOLVED:
(i) That with regard to the written evidence received, those organisations, individuals and officers who contributed to the inquiry be thanked and sent a copy of Appendix 2 to this report, to demonstrate the Committee's commitment to acting on the issues raised and valuing good practice.
(ii) That the Committee endorses the future direction of the Inquiry Panel as set out in the report.
(iii) That with regard to the issue of evidence-based practice, the Cabinet be advised that:
· The need to collect, collate and share statistical information be included in planning for the future, especially as part of the partnership approach in implementing the Children Act
· Officers be encouraged as a matter of good practice to identify, collect and present statistical evidence to assess projects, both at the planning, monitoring and evaluation stages where at all possible.
258 BEST VALUE REVIEW ON EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY - UPDATE PRESENTATION
The Committee received a presentation from Councillor Mrs. P.A. West setting out the stage reached by the Best Value Review (copy of presentation set out as item 10x in the Minute Book). The Committee endorsed the general approach as set out and noted that a full report would be made to their meeting on 11 April.
259 THE COMMITTEE'S TIMETABLE AND FUTURE DECISIONS
The Committee received and noted the report of the Chief Executive (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on their formal programme of items and setting out a list of forthcoming key decisions which were due to be made by the Leader. No other items were identified for inclusion on the list.
260 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
In view of the number of items already known to be due for consideration at the meeting on 11 April, it was agreed that the meeting would begin at 10 a.m. instead of 2.15 p.m. in order to allow adequate time to do justice to them.
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