Contact: Philippa Smart e mail:[email protected], ext 7336

1 Summary and purpose

1.1 To provide Members with information about aspects of the new Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 that apply to overview and scrutiny.

2 Changes to overview and scrutiny

2.1 In January 2007, the committee received information about measures to strengthen the powers of overview and scrutiny, as outlined in the Local Government White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities, 2006.

2.2 The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act, which received royal assent on 30 October 2007, will give effect to the Government's proposals for reform of the local government system in England and for reform of the current arrangements for patient and public involvement in the provision of health and social care services.

2.3 Chapter 2 of Part 5 of the Act concerns overview and scrutiny committees and their power to review and scrutinise local public service providers. This part of the Act will be taking effect some time in 2008, once official guidance is issued. Aspects of the implementation of the Act are being consulted on at present. Some of the principal sections are as follows:

a) section 119: reference of matter by councillor to overview and scrutiny committee

This section brings the `councillor call for action' into use. Essentially, it enables any Member of the council to refer to an overview and scrutiny committee a local government matter and local crime and disorder matter which falls within the committee's remit. This can be done regardless of whether that Member is on the committee or not.

A referral in this way will ensure that the matter is included in the agenda and discussed at the committee. However, in making such a referral the Member must have regard to any Guidance issued by the Secretary of State. Guidance has yet to be issued.

If the committee decides not to take the matter up it must explain the reasons why to the Member. If it decides to conduct some work on the issue, it must make sure that the Member has a copy of the any reports or recommendations that it makes in relation to it.

b) section 120: requiring the attendance of decision makers

The Local Government Act 2000 empowered overview and scrutiny committees to require the attendance of the council's executive and officers of the authority to answer questions at their meetings. This section extends that remit to include any Member of the council who has been empowered to conduct an executive role in relation to his or her ward.

This section relates to a later section of the Act which enables local authorities to devolve some powers for Councillors to exercise decision making within their wards, thus bringing that new executive function within the remit of overview and scrutiny.

c) section 122: reports, recommendations and responses

This section makes three additions to the Local Government Act 2000:

(i) duty of the authority and executive to respond to overview and scrutiny.

Under this section, overview and scrutiny committees must, `by notice in writing' require the authority or executive to consider its report or recommendations and to respond saying what, if any, action it proposes to take.

The committee must publish the response, if the committee has published its reports and recommendations. If the matter originated from a Councillor Call for Action, it must provide a copy of the response to the Member.

The authority or executive has a duty to respond within two months.

(ii) duties of `certain partner authorities' in relation to reports and recommendations from overview and scrutiny

When an overview and scrutiny committee makes a report or recommendation about a local improvement target that relates to a relevant partner authority and is specified in the Local Area Agreement, the committee may require the partner authority to have regard to them in exercising their functions.

(iii) confidential and exempt information

Overview and scrutiny committees and their respondents must exclude any confidential or relevant information when publishing their reports, recommendations or responses. If publishing any of this with exclusions renders the content misleading or incomprehensible, the overview and scrutiny committee and respondent must publish a summary which does not disclose the exempt information.

d) section 123: joint committees

This section covers the formation and role of joint committees in two tier areas for overview and scrutiny of local improvement targets. A group of partner authorities, such as the County Council and the District Councils within the area, may appoint a joint overview and scrutiny committee and arrange for it to make reports and recommendations that relate to any local improvement target.

The requirement to respond in two months, and for relevant partner authorities to have regard to reports and recommendations, apply to the work of joint committees.

e) section 124: district scrutiny of local improvement targets

Subject to Secretary of State implementation through regulations, any overview and scrutiny committee on a District Council may be empowered to make reports or recommendations to the related County Council on matters relating to a local improvement target in the area's Local Area Agreement.

3 Recommendation

3.1 The committee may wish to note the changes, contained within the 2007 Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act, affecting overview and scrutiny that will come into effect during 2008, and consider how best to prepare for their implementation once guidance is issued.

4 Financial implications

4.1 None

5 Impact assessment

5.1 None

6 Crime prevention

6.1 None

7 Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied on to a material extent in the preparation of the report.

NB. This list excludes:

1. Published works

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

None