Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 79 KB

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE
MINUTES of a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee held on
Tuesday, 9 April 2013 at Shire Hall, Gloucester.
Present:
Cllr Ron Allen
Cllr Dennis Andrewartha
(vice-chairman)
Cllr Phil Awford
Cllr Rob Garnham
(chairman)
Cllr Ceri Jones
Cllr Steve McHale
Cllr Fiona McKenzie
Cllr Stephen McMillan
Cllr Gordon Shurmer
Officers in attendance:
Jane Burns, Director: Strategy and Challenge
Dave Graham, Flood Risk Management Officer
Simon Harper, Democratic Services
Apologies:
Cllr Diane Hibbert, Cllr Shaun Parsons, Cllr Klara Sudbury and Cllr
Kathy Williams.
12. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr Garnham declared an interest in the report from the Chairman of the Health,
Community and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee (minute 16 refers). He
advised that his wife was employed by the Gloucestershire Hospitals’ NHS
Foundation Trust.
Cllr Awford declared an interest in the part of the scrutiny monitoring report relating
to Severn Estuary shoreline management (minute 15 refers). He explained that he
was a member of both the Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee
and the Lower Severn Internal Drainage Board.
13. MINUTES
The minutes from the meeting held on 30 January 2013 were confirmed and signed
as a correct record.
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14. TRACKING SCHEDULE
The progress against actions identified at the last meeting was noted.
A member was disappointed that the answers to the questions at full Council
relating to highways had not been circulated separately to the committee. The
chairman requested that an appropriate link be provided to the questions on the
council website.
Action – Simon Harper
15. SCRUTINY MONITORING
a) Severn Estuary Scrutiny Commission
The chairman welcomed Simon Cullen and Emma Turner from the
Environment Agency. Mr Cullen circulated an update which summarised the
changes from the original Severn Estuary Flood Risk Management Strategy,
engagement from November 2011 to April 2013, the maintenance situation
and consultation on the revised strategy.
The revised strategy assumed a sea level rise of 0.7 metres by 2110 and an
increase in river flow of 25 per cent. Defences were now predicted to last
longer and less compensatory habitat was likely to be required. The
realignment of defences would only progress through negotiation with
landowners and general agreement with communities.
David Graham from the Council’s Flood Risk Management Team stated that
the Gloucestershire NFU Severn Estuary Stakeholder Group provided a forum
for concerns to be raised. He said that the Environment Agency had listened
to the concerns and was considering options.
Mr Cullen explained that there was a project at Alvington to create a new area
of salt marsh whilst landowners at Awre were looking to maintain the flood
defences themselves.
A member noted the importance of land for food supply and he expressed
concern at the potential loss of farmland. Another member referred to the
difficulties of taking action against riparian owners who failed to maintain
watercourses. He said that legal action was lengthy and costly for local
authorities.
Referring to the predictions for sea level rises and increases in river flow, the
vice-chairman noted how important it was for local authorities to take account
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of this in developing local plans. Another member recognised the importance
of a joined-up approach as new development in one part of a catchment might
have a significant impact on communities in another part of the catchment.
Answering questions, Mr Cullen stated that the revised strategy would not
take account of the impact of a Severn Barrage as there were no plans for a
barrage at present.
b) Trading Standards
A member expressed concern that important issues could be missed if the
service just relied upon intelligence led investigations. Members were
concerned that the reduction in resources would mean that the service would
be unable to protect residents from unsafe and unfair trading practices. They
were particularly concerned that a need for training had been identified but
there appeared to be some uncertainty about the funds that would be
available for training in 2013-14. The chairman asked that this be raised with
the head of service.
Action – Simon Harper
A member who had served on the task group stated that he had been
surprised at the breadth of activities Trading Standards were involved in. He
was concerned that there was a lack of public awareness with the importance
of the service only being recognised when things went wrong. He hoped that
scrutiny in the new Council would continue to keep a close eye on the service.
c) Transitions from children’s services to adult life for disabled young
people
A member who had served on the task group welcomed the report and was
pleased to see that extra staff resources had been provided.
d) External care packages
A member who had served on the task group noted the positive influence of
officers who had a nursing background on the way the service was provided.
16. HEALTH, COMMUNITY AND CARE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
The committee chairman, Cllr McMillan, presented the reports from the meetings
held on 8 February and 13 March 2013.
Cllr McMillan explained that changes to emergency and urgent medical care were
driven by a national shortage of suitably qualified staff and safe clinical practice. He
said that the committee would have the opportunity to consider the outcome of the
consultation process early in the new Council.
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Referring to work planning, he stated that the sheer size and scale of the health
agenda meant that the committee relied on the knowledge and experience of health
professionals in identifying key issues. He hoped that the new Health and
Wellbeing Board would help this process as it would bring more local authority
involvement in the commissioning of services. He recognised the importance of an
effective working relationship between the committee and the Health and Wellbeing
Board.
A member stated that he continued to be concerned that the remit of the committee
was too wide to allow effective scrutiny.
17. BUDGET AND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
The committee chairman, Cllr Andrewartha, presented the report from the meeting
held on 5 March 2013.
Cllr Andrewartha said that the committee was concerned regarding the adult social
care targets for self-directed support and re-ablement which remained poor in
comparison to other local authority areas. Looking forward to the new council, the
committee had identified some key issues. These included broadening the scope
of scrutiny to ensure that it took account of the role of partners and the
commissioning structure and the barriers to a more co-ordinated approach to
recycling across the county.
18. ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
The committee chairman, Cllr McKenzie, presented the report from the meeting
held on 7 March 2013.
The report was noted.
19. CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
The committee chairman, Cllr Awford, presented the report from the meeting held
on 8 March 2013. He explained that the committee continued to focus on
safeguarding and services to vulnerable people. Members recognised their
important role as corporate parents and hoped that more members would become
actively involved in the new Council. They were pleased that the new approach
would involve reports at every full Council meeting.
A member was anxious that the additional £1 million included in the 2013-14 budget
for promoting adoption was used effectively. She was concerned that some of the
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information on the Council’s website at present was discouraging people from
getting involved.
Action – Simon Harper
20. COMMUNITY SAFETY OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
In the absence of the committee chair, Cllr Kathy Williams, members noted the
report from the meeting held on 12 March 2013.
Members were anxious that an effective working relationship was developed
between the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police and Crime Panel.
21. SCRUTINY ACHIEVEMENTS
Cllr Garnham thanked the members of the committee and officers for their support
over his time as chairman of the committee. He believed that scrutiny had made a
difference and he noted that the Council’s approach was recognised nationally as
best practice. The Council had received a number of awards from the Centre for
Public Scrutiny culminating in the ‘overall impact’ award for 2013 for the Severn
Estuary Scrutiny Commission. He said that he had contributed to a national
publication on the ‘State of Accountability in 2013’ and had recently attended an
event in London. The Council’s scrutiny principles had been highlighted as best
practice in an article in the Guardian following the event.
The other scrutiny chairs thanked their committee members and officers for their
support over the last four years.
22. 2013 MEETINGS
26 June
30 July
25 September
5 December
All meetings to be held at 10am at Shire Hall, Gloucester.
The meeting ended at 11.20am.
CHAIRPERSON
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