Archived decisions

a R.J. Baulk

p K.G. Chapman

p A.P. Collett

p Dr R.J. Ellis

p B.T. Gurden

P.A. Heath

p P.R.C. Hutcheson

p Jo Kelly

p Mrs. C.A. Leversha

a A.R. Ludlow

p A. Weeks

Action

77

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were reported on behalf of Councillors Baulk and Ludlow, the letter by reason of his being engaged on other County Council business elsewhere. There were also apologies for late arrival from Councillor Collett, by reason of his being involved on Police Authority business.

78

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 save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with paragraph 12 of the code. No such interests were declared on this occasion.

79

MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 25 January 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

80

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman congratulated Emma Gordon, Scrutiny Officer, on being one of the Members of the Team which had won the National Award "Young Local Authority of the Year". He reported that the visit to the Contact Centre had been duly made, although unfortunately, few Members had been able to attend. He referred to progress made by Members of the Panel reviewing the future of scrutiny, which would be considering detailed proposals on the way forward at their next meeting on 17 April which Councillor Davidovitz would be asked to attend. He reported that, in addition to the briefing on local area agreements already set in train for 6 May, there would also be a public meeting of the Committee that morning to give further consideration to proposals for the review of scrutiny and the outcome of the furniture review. In conclusion, he mentioned that Colin Hinxman would be undertaking the Swimathon the following day, to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care, and Members wished him well in that initiative.

81

LOCAL INVOLVEMENT NETWORKS (LINKs) UPDATE

The Committee considered a presentation by the Chief Executive's Department (Item 5 in the Minute Book) on the development of partnership arrangements through LINKs. Paddy Hillary and Pauline Owen gave a detailed explanation of the new arrangements which were admittedly complex. Key points were:-

· The County Council was responsible for managing transitional arrangements from April to September 2008, and for tendering the procurement of a host in the form of an outside or voluntary body to run the LINK.

· The LINK would be scrutinised by the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

· There was no direct Member involvement in view of the need to separate functions between the LINK and the County Council as service provider for Adult Services.

· A key measure of performance in terms of the LINK's success would be the way it engaged the interests of people who wished to be more closely involved in the work of the Health Service and Adult Services.

Members noted that Government funding was in place for the operation of the LINK over the next three years, with the prime responsibility of the County Council to manage the procurement arrangements and contract for the successful tenderer and to then monitor the performance of the LINK host. Members underlined the importance of avoiding duplication with the work undertaken by HATs, the LAA and the LSP, and the independence of the LINK in providing the means for the public to engage with the Health Service and Adult Services.

The Committee thanked Paddy Hillary and Pauline Owen for their presentation.

Chief Executive (Paddy Hillary)

82

BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Environment (Item 6 in the Minute Book) setting out the refresh for the Corporate Plan for biodiversity over the period 2008-11. The duty to have regard to biodiversity applied to the County Council along with other public bodies, and in considering the report Members drew attention to the importance of biodiversity in the following areas of activity:

· The promotion of sustainable development

· The health and well-being of the community

· Hampshire's quality of place

· Climate change

· Rural policy

· Beneficial by-products such as improved public health and welfare, reduced levels of illness and reduced crime/disorder

· Opportunities for improved management of grounds, notably at schools, to provide a more natural environment

· Wider opportunities for the County Council to promote biodiversity through its own land holdings and land management policies

In response to questions it was explained that the report was the subject of consultation with departments with a view to it being generally adopted in May 2008. Members felt that they would like to monitor progress annually, and suggested that the refresh should be considered and adopted by Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

Chief Executive (Emma Gordon) to update the work programme

Director of Environment (David Pape) to pursue with Alison Quant with a view to its going to Cabinet when the consultation process is complete

(a)

That annual progress reports on the Corporate Biodiversity Action Plan be submitted to the Committee.

(b)

That the Director of Environment be invited to consider referring the refresh of the Corporate Biodiversity Action Plan 2008-2011 to Cabinet for endorsement.

83

BUDGET MONITORING 2007/08

The Committee considered the report of the County Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the 2007/08 Budget Monitoring update which had been to Cabinet in February. In general terms the financial position looked satisfactory, and it was confirmed that there was a sound business case for the appointment of extra legal staff to assist the Adult Services and Children's Services Departments, in accordance with the request for further information made by the Committee at their last meeting. Members asked for some explanation of the figures on outstanding debt referred to in Appendix 3.

County Treasurer (Bevis Ingram) to explain the figures on outstanding debt by means of a note to YYPRSC

84

USE OF CONSULTANTS

Members considered the way forward for scrutiny of this topic, and in response to a suggestion by the County Treasurer it was agreed that a report on the IT Consultancy Framework would be submitted to them at their next meeting, to enable them to see the broader picture as to the rationale behind the use and recruitment of consultants. This would enable them to explore further the varied ways in which consultancy was deployed by the County Council.

County Treasurer (Bevis Ingram) in consultation with DPBRS (Neil Jones) to prepare a suitable report for next meeting

Chief Executive (Emma Gordon) to update work programme

85

REVIEW OF SCRUTINY - SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on findings emerging from the recent review of scrutiny arrangements. They thanked Marie Mannveille for a very comprehensive report.

It was noted that further proposals would come forward from the meeting of the Working Group being held on 17 April, but in the meantime Members drew attention to the following salient points:

· Importance of effective and targeted pre-scrutiny

· How to prioritise items and the overall role of Policy and Resources Select Committee in matching resources to work programmes

· Selection of items to go on agendas

· The role of the opposition in scrutiny

These and various other issues would be the subject of detailed consideration, both at the 17 April meeting and at the additional meeting of the main Committee due to be held on 6 May.

Chief Executive (Emma Gordon and Marie Mannveille)

86

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEES

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 10 in the Minute Book) setting out progress achieved by the Select Committees over the past year. They also had a supplementary sheet submitted on behalf of the Safe and Healthy People Select Committee. The content of the report was duly approved.

Chief Executive

(Emma Gordon)

87

HANTSDIRECT PHASE 2 - UPDATE

The Committee considered the report of the Chief Executive (Item 11 in the Minute Book) setting out progress with implementation of Hantsdirect. Sally Geer and Bob Wild gave an outline of current issues and updates on concerns raised previously by the P&RSC, including success in achieving target response times, notable reduction in staff turnover, and the programme for Adult Services and Children's Services to be added to Hantsdirect as part of its Phase 2 development. Those Members that had visited the Contact Centre stated how impressed they were by the skills and knowledge of the operators, and it was agreed that there was no reason why Members should not be able to visit the Contact Centre individually by arrangement.

Chief Executive

(Michelle Smith)

88

FORWARD LOOKING WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee received details of proposals for their future work programme (Item 12 in the Minute Book). Members indicated that they would like to see:

· Improved briefing on financial issues, to enable them to get behind the figures and understand better what they meant - the expansion of the budget briefing programme to encompass two sessions each year (July and November) would go some way towards achieving this

· Monitoring and scrutiny of partnerships

· Monitoring and scrutiny of charities/voluntary organisations and how they run services on behalf of the County Council - specifically how much is spent on management as opposed to delivering services.

· Levels of Government grant settlement, how they are formulated by the Government and their adverse impact on Hampshire.

Chief Executive

(Emma Gordon) to update the work programme