Archived decisions

Recommendation

Progress

Anticipated timescale

A) There is a clearly defined mechanism, stating the outcomes looked for, through which Select Committees can bring issues, reports and recommendations to the attention of the relevant Executive Member, or where appropriate the Cabinet. Any written report or recommendations will normally be responded to within two months of receipt by the Executive Member or Cabinet.

A1) When a response is made, if recommendations are not accepted an explanation is provided.

A protocol clarifying how issues, reports and recommendations arising from scrutiny are reported to the executive (and relevant external agencies) has been drafted by the scrutiny team. This will be shared with democratic services to ensure this can be incorporated into their committee support procedures. The protocol will be contained in the scrutiny handbook so that the process is clear to all officers and members who interact with scrutiny.

It is anticipated this protocol will be adopted into ways of working alongside the outcomes of the democratic services corporate services review.

The scrutiny handbook is planned for launch after the elections as part of the new member induction programme.

B) Where recommendations are accepted there will be an agreed process for following up progress with implementation and reporting this to the relevant Select Committee and full Council.

A protocol clarifying how progress with recommendations will be tracked and reported on has been drafted by the scrutiny team. This will be shared with democratic services and incorporated in the Scrutiny Handbook.

The Policy & Resources Select Committee prepares an annual report of scrutiny activity which goes to full council. This will include updates on progress made against recommendations to track the impact of scrutiny.

It is anticipated this protocol will be adopted into ways of working alongside the outcomes of the democratic services corporate services review.

The scrutiny handbook is planned for launch after the elections as part of the new member induction programme.

C) Executive Members are able to highlight issues of concern (e.g. any partnership working including that supporting the delivery of the Local Area Agreements or National Indicators and which supports the County Council's role as Community Leader) to Select Committees for consideration for inclusion in work programmes.

There will be scope on Select Committee agendas for Executive Members, with suitable notice, to raise questions for consideration by the Committee.

A protocol clarifying how Executive Members can provide suggestions to Select Committee Chairmen has been drafted by the scrutiny team. This will be shared with democratic services and incorporated into the scrutiny handbook.

It is anticipated this protocol will be adopted into ways of working alongside the outcomes of the democratic services corporate services review.

The scrutiny handbook is planned for launch after the elections as part of the new member induction programme.

D) At the point of selecting a topic for inclusion in the work programme, including taking into account issues raised by Executive Members, Select Committee Chairmen ensure that the prioritisation and scheduling of work allows for maximum opportunities to inform or improve the service/topic under consideration.

This principle will be included in the scrutiny handbook. Ensuring this takes place will be assisted by use of the topic selection criteria (see recommendation S).

The topic selection criteria have been agreed by the Policy & Resources Select Committee at the October 2008 meeting and the principle behind this recommendation is already in operation for selection of topics for 2009. This will be reinforced by inclusion of this in the scrutiny handbook and the new member induction programme.

E) The Cabinet Working Group agrees that Select Committees should be able to access expertise within Departments for technical and other professional advice (e.g. the legal and scientific advice provided to the Fluoridation Review Group) when this can be made available. Equally the Select Committees need to work with partner organisations and other external agencies to build arrangements for accessing advice and support as required to inform the delivery of their thematic work programmes.

A protocol regarding the ways in which scrutiny may access technical expertise has been drafted by the scrutiny team. This will be included in the scrutiny handbook.

It is proposed that a letter will be prepared for the Chief Executive to send to all Heads of Departments to alert them to this protocol.

It is anticipated this will be agreed upon before the elections.

F) The point of contact between lead scrutiny officers and each Department is formally agreed to ensure that information is properly routed both through Departments and to Select Committee Members.

The Democratic Services Manager for each department will be confirmed and a list compiled and shared among the Scrutiny Team and Democratic Services, for the purposes of routing requests for reports to Select Committee meetings.

When undertaking an in-depth review, the scrutiny officer will need to approach a member of the Senior Management Team in the relevant department to request a link officer relevant to the topic. It is proposed that a letter will be drafted from the Chief Executive to Department Heads to remind them of their responsibility to take strategic ownership of their interaction with scrutiny in this way.

The scrutiny officer may also approach individual officers as appropriate for queries relating to particular topics.

The list of Democratic Services Managers has been compiled.

It is anticipated this will be agreed upon before the elections.

F1) Briefings and reports for Members can be easily identified and accessed through the County Council's website.

County Council Part I and II reports also include a link to the original Executive Member/Cabinet report for ease of reference.

Work is underway to develop the Members Portal to provide easier access for Members to relevant information.

The planned `decisions programme' will enable decision reports to be linked to other relevant documents. This recommendation will also be passed to Democratic Services as they are responsible for making some of the links online where reports are attached to other meetings.

It is currently expected the `decisions programme' will be rolled out after the elections although the feasibility of an internal pilot prior to the elections is being explored.

G) Informal meetings are set up between the relevant Select Committee Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, Opposition Spokespeople, Executive Members and key officers to provide advance information on emerging issues.

In view of busy diaries and to avoid creating extra meetings where possible, it has been suggested that these informal meetings take place after the Executive Members `Chairman's Briefing' meetings (which are already scheduled). Select Committee Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Opposition Spokespeople will be invited to attend these sessions. On conclusion of the business relating to the Executive Member's Decision Day, there will be opportunity for informal discussion of emerging issues. This will provide a forum for sharing the scrutiny work programme, and for the Executive Member to provide early warning of issues coming up on their agenda.

If this approach is agreed by the committee, the relevant Democratic Services officers can initiate this process as soon as practically possible.

G1) Select Committee Chairmen have lead responsibility for regularly briefing their Select Committee Members on the issues raised in these meetings.

Once this process is operational, Select Committee Chairmen will be expected to pass on to their Select Committee Members the key messages emerging. It is suggested that this be circulated by email within a few days of the meeting. If issues are significant, the Chairmen may wish to raise them under `Chairman's Communications' at the next available Select Committee meeting.

Once the process for undertaking the informal meetings is agreed and is operational, Chairmen will be expected to take on responsibility for communicating issues to the rest of their committee from the next meeting they attend.

H) The timing and frequency of Select Committee meetings and supporting activities are reviewed to improve alignment with the Executive Member decision making process.

For 2009 Select Committee meetings have been aligned to take place on the morning of one of the relevant Executive Member's Decision Days (which takes place in the afternoon). However, complications arose during the January cycle of meetings, so it is planned to review the situation in time for the planning of the 2010 calendar of meetings. Members views are sought on when select committee meetings should be held.

It is expected work will begin on the calendar of meetings for 2010 in the summer of 2009. The scrutiny team will work with Democratic Services to ensure the views of Select Committee Members are taken into account when meetings are scheduled for 2010.

I) Mechanisms should be put in place to enable Select Committee Chairmen, taking account of the agreed priorities of that Committee, to initiate a response or action on behalf of the Committee to referrals from external sources that occur between meetings. These will be shared with all Committee members at the earliest opportunity with the chance for feedback where possible.

Details will be provided in the Scrutiny Handbook regarding Chairman's Action between meetings. Where timescales allow, the Chairman will invite comment from other committee members by email. The Chairman will use the agreed topic selection criteria in order to assess potential topics for scrutiny referred by other sources (e.g. LINks). Any action taken will be communicated to the rest of the committee by email, and noted under `Chairman's Communications' at the next available Select Committee meeting.

Chairman's action between meetings already takes place, this recommendation simply strengthens this process. As the selection criteria have been agreed, this can be used to assess any potential referrals from now on.

J) That the Policy & Resources Select Committee takes a stronger role in identifying priorities for scrutiny and adjusting work programmes as appropriate.

The visits to districts and the Annual Conference will provide good overview of issues of concern to Hampshire communities. The Policy & Resources Select Committee will also use Local Area Agreement performance information to identify cross-cutting issues and make recommendations to other committees for possible reviews as appropriate.

K) Select Committees actively build working relationships with relevant partner organisations and consider the way in which Hampshire County Council engages with and involves partners as a routine part of any thematic scrutiny activity, including building an understanding of the way in which other agencies impact on Hampshire residents.

The Chairmen of Select Committees have been undertaking visits to scrutiny peers at District and Borough Councils in Hampshire, and a `Hampshire Scrutiny Conference' is planned in April to discuss partnership scrutiny issues further. It is anticipated that increasingly scrutiny activity will include consideration of the impact of partnership working.

It will be an ongoing part of the Policy & Resources Select Committee work programme to develop relationships with relevant partner organisations and develop an approach to partnership and potential joint scrutiny.

Update to be provided at July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting

L) Briefing programmes, organised visits and facilities for members should be improved. This should include better information to be made available in the Members Room, consideration of the accessibility of information on Hantsweb and exploration of the feasibility of siting IT support for members in the Members Room.

The issues covered by this recommendation have been considered as part of the corporate review of democratic services. Implementation of this recommendation will take place in tandem with the outcomes of the corporate review.

The corporate reviews are due to report to the Corporate Management Team and Cabinet in March/April. It is anticipated any outcomes would be developed over the forthcoming months.

Update to be provided at July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting.

M) The feasibility of providing the opportunity for Hampshire based students to act as research assistants/project support to members is explored with Universities and Colleges and also the County Council's Hampshire Own Grown (HOG) programme.

The Director of Human Resources, has agreed to take this recommendation forward. An approach has also been made to a contact regarding the Hampshire Own Grown programme. Support to Members of this kind has also come up as an issue in the corporate democratic services review, so any implementation would be undertaken in tandem with the outcomes of that review.

The Scrutiny Team will liaise with the Director of HR to discuss how such support could work in relation to the scrutiny function, over the next couple of months. This will be undertaken in conjunction with any outcomes from the democratic services corporate review that are related.

Update to be provided at July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting.

N) Work programmes are sufficiently flexible to accommodate unplanned work without compromising the timeliness of planned work undertaken by Select Committees.

This principle will be included in the scrutiny handbook. The topic selection criteria will help facilitate this, such that any new topics suggested after the work programme has been set will be considered in terms of timeliness and priority, and the impact on existing agreed work considered.

Use of the topic selection criteria will take place from now on, and the principle contained in this recommendation will be adopted into ways of working.

O) The `Call in' process is reviewed, taking account of national best practice.

Additionally the Policy and Resources Select Committee needs to consider mechanisms to call to account the decisions of other partner organisations that impact on the residents of Hampshire

A protocol for a revised Call in procedure has been drafted by the Scrutiny Team, reflecting national good practice. This needs further work to establish the implications for the constitution. Once this is finalised it will be brought to the Policy & Resources Select Committee for approval, and then for wider approval

Regarding partner organisations, the work of partner organisations that impacts on the residents of Hampshire will increasingly come within the remit of scrutiny. National guidance is awaited regarding the extent of powers with which these organisations can be held to account through the scrutiny process. The government response to the `communities in control' consultation suggests scrutiny will not have the power to `call in' decisions made by partner authorities.

Protocol to be provided for consideration at the July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting.

P) The way in which reports and other information is presented to Members be reviewed to ensure that relevant evidence and supporting information is included, previous work can be easily tracked and links with corporate policies are clear.

The recent changes to the report templates are designed to help facilitate some of these changes with new appendices specifically designed to provide feedback from consultations and other supporting evidence. However, these issues of changed practice take time, and support for changes will be ongoing as the `decisions programme' is rolled out. There are also pilots taking place of a Combined Impact Assessment tool which , once agreed, it is hoped will be used to provide supporting evidence into decisions.

It is anticipated currently that the decisions programme will be rolled out after the elections.

Update to be provided at July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting.

Q) A `plain English' handbook is developed setting out the role and function of the Select Committees and the procedures that support their work. This will be clearly accessible on the website and widely circulated in the County Council.

The Scrutiny Team have drafted a `Scrutiny Handbook'. This will need to include the protocols/ways of working agreed as a result of the other recommendations. It is planned to have an internal version to assist Members and officers involved in scrutiny, and a simpler public version.

It is planned to continue drafting the handbook as the outcomes of the other recommendations become clear. It is expected that the handbook will be ready to be provided to all members with the inauguration of the new administration after the elections.

The Handbook will be shared with the Select Committee Chairmen and Opposition Spokespeople when a more definitive draft is available, for comment, before it is finalised.

R) The scope to build Select Committee Member understanding of the key issues with regard to performance and finances, and better alignment with the annual cycle of both disciplines, is explored with the appropriate key leads in the County Council.

The way in which the plans and programmes of other agencies, such as the Highways Agency and partnerships such as the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) and other 'Diamonds for Growth', impact on Hampshire residents also needs to be taken into account by the Select Committees

First part of the recommendation:

The Scrutiny Member briefings combine an overview of performance and finance information at the service and corporate level. These seem to be working well and helping to create the links and draw these to the attention of Scrutiny Members. This process will continue to operate and develop.

The Council has an Integrated Planning and Reporting Steering Group which specifically looks at strengthening the alignment and integration of service performance, finance and workforce issues. As part of this a number of initiatives have been developed/trialled including aligned reporting timetables; Integrated Service Planning template pilot; Value for Money scorecards; Driving Success; and Council Budget and Corporate Strategy priority links. Recommendation R has reconfirmed this group's mandate and will be used to inform this work as it continues to develop. As part of this, further information and reports will be received by the Policy & Resources Select Committee on Driving Success (the revised corporate Performance Management Framework and new Corporate Improvement Plan).

Second part of the recommendation:

The plans and programmes of strategic and local partners are already subject, in some instances, to joint scrutiny arrangements (eg Partnership for Urban South Hampshire, transport for South Hampshire, Health). For others the normal service planning and partnership working mechanisms (eg, Children & Young People's Board, district Local Strategic Partnerships, the Local Area Agreement and the Hampshire Senate), either corporately or through departments, will consider the impact of partner plans and activities on both the County Council's own delivery and on commonly agreed goals.

The scrutiny officers are already routinely advised of any consultations by partners so that they can discuss Select Committee involvement with the Chairs. As part of this, the scrutiny officers will be supporting the Policy & Resources Select Committee to develop an approach to partnership scrutiny as part of its ongoing work programme. Scrutiny Members/officers could develop more formal linkages with specific partnerships if they wished.

This is an area which can never be considered 'achieved', instead it is important to continually seek alignment and to remain aware of upcoming issues. Recommendation R has been alerted to the relevant people and its implications discussed, taken on board and informed the ongoing work in this area.

On this basis the recommendation can be considered complete. That said, if Cllr Cartwright or the Policy & Resources Select Committee would like further information or a briefing on any specific aspects we would be happy to arrange this.

S) A clear set of criteria for prioritising topics for inclusion in Select Committee work programmes is agreed and published. This is also used, adjusted as appropriate, to support the Select Committees in coming to a view about any referral from partner organisations.

The criteria for prioritising topics for scrutiny were agreed at the Policy & Resources Select Committee meeting in October 2008. This will be used from now on when considering topics for scrutiny, originating internally or from external sources.

Through the District/Borough Council visits it has become apparent that some of the Districts/Boroughs use a selection flow chart originating from the Centre for Public Scrutiny (see appendix 1). Members may find this a useful tool.

The topic selection criteria have already been agreed and use is already in operation. The committee to agree whether the attached flow chart is also useful.

T) Work on the website for Hampshire County Council Select Committees continues and includes work programmes and other support activities as well as the handbook (see recommendation R above)

A plain English website which is easy to navigate is required to support members in the delivery of their work programmes and other supporting activities.

The Scrutiny Team continue to update the scrutiny website. Work will be continuing to publicise this website to ensure that Members, officers and the public are aware that this is a source of information.

Regarding the wider website issue, this will be raised with the head of I.T. Further Member input may be required to identify areas for improvement.

Work on the scrutiny website will be ongoing. Awareness will be raised in conjunction with the launch of the scrutiny handbook after the elections.

General development of hantsweb will be a longterm project.

Update to be provided at July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting.

U) The Hampshire County Council media protocols are revised to ensure they properly reflect the role of the Select Committees

The Head Of Corporate Communications has agreed to re-draft the media protocols to reflect the role of the Select Committees. The new draft is expected to be shared with The Scrutiny Team in March. This will then need to be approved by the Leader in order to be implemented as a new protocol.

It is expected that the re-drafting will be complete by the end of March 2009. The correct avenue for obtaining approval will then be identified and followed.

Update to be provided at July Policy & Resources Select Committee Meeting.