Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall. View directions

Contact: Lisa Richards 

Note: This is the meeting postponed from 19 March 2018 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

2.

Joint Scrutiny Corporate Leadership and Governance Plan pdf icon PDF 175 KB

To receive a scrutiny summary report.

Minutes:

 

Documents:

·         Scrutiny summary report

 

Outcome:

·         Monitoring of the implementation of the plan would be timetabled as required

 

3.

Scrutiny Committee Structure

 To seek Members’ views on the committee and working group structures for scrutiny.

Minutes:

The Head of Democratic Services explained that the recent CIW Inspection had found scrutiny to be ineffective and that change was necessary.  Consideration was being given to restructuring the Scrutiny Committees to improve effectiveness.  Members were invited to share their experiences of scrutiny since the elections in 2017.  It was suggested that the new structures should reflect the priorities in Vision 2025.

 

Issues identified included:

·         The two committees are too large

·         Some Members do not attend scrutiny.  This was of concern to those Members who do attend regularly

·         Third sector and members of public with relevant experience should be invited to take part

·         Increasing the number of scrutiny committees from 2 to 4 with a smaller membership may be appropriate

·         These 4 scrutiny committees could echo the four main areas of The Vision

·         However, smaller committees coupled with poor attendance could further reduce the effectiveness of scrutiny

·         Consideration should be given to having one Committee with a series of working groups.  The Committee would oversee the effectiveness of the working groups

·         The authority have 18 Senior Salaries (SSs) to use.  Until the recent decrease of Cabinet Members from 10 to 8 all of the SSs were used.  SSs were also paid to other Chairs such as Pensions and Employment and discussion was had on comparative workloads of committees

·         It was confirmed that SSs could not be shared or split

·         The appropriate level of scrutiny for an area of the authority was discussed.  There was some opinion that insufficient scrutiny is able to be undertaken due to lack of resource.  Additionally other areas may have insufficient scrutiny due to the focus being on a few areas

·         Scrutiny should be undertaken in the full committee rather than working group (ie in the public arena)

·         Consideration should be given to webcasting scrutiny

·         Members are unclear if they should be scrutinising overall performance of a service or a particular project

·         Concentration of expertise in a smaller number of Members who meet regularly could be beneficial.  For example the Planning Committee has quickly gained expertise through three weekly meetings.  Ad hoc scrutiny has not resulted in similar gains

 

The Joint Meeting adjourned for the WAO Focus Group to take place.

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

5.

Declarations of Party Whips

To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

 

(NB: Members are reminded that under Section 78 Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.)

Minutes:

There were no declarations of Party Whips.

6.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 109 KB

To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Minutes of meeting held on 14 December 2017

 

Outcome:

·         The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record

7.

Working Groups

8.

Adult Social Care Scrutiny Group pdf icon PDF 60 KB

To receive a scrutiny summary report.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Scrutiny summary report

 

Outcome:

·         The summary report detailing topics considered up to 1 March 2018 was noted

9.

North Powys Office Accommodation Review pdf icon PDF 46 KB

To receive a scrutiny summary report.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Scrutiny summary report

 

Outcomes:

·         Noted

10.

Joint Chairs and Vice Chairs' Steering Group pdf icon PDF 81 KB

To receive the notes of meetings of the Joint Chairs and Vice Chairs’ Steering Group held on 5 December 2017 and 9 January 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Notes of meetings held on 5 December 2017 and 9 January 2018

 

Discussion:

·         Members were unclear as to the role and remit of the Joint Chairs Steering Group or the outcomes emanating from the Group

·         The Committee believed it should set its own work programme

·         The Committee have asked to scrutinize Heart of Wales Property Services but have been advised that this cannot happen until the first annual report has been issued.  Members believe that scrutiny should be undertaken sooner rather than later to enable Members to scrutinize the Annual Report more effectively.

 

Outcome:

·         The Vice Chair of the Committee agreed to feed Members concerns to the Joint Chairs and Vice Chair’s Steering Group at their next meeting on 10 April 2018

11.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 20 KB

To consider the forward work programme and whether any additional items should be put forward for inclusion.

Minutes:

Documents:

·         Work Programme

 

Outcome:

·         Noted

12.

Correspondence

To consider any item of correspondence which, in the opinion of the Chair, are of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration.

Minutes:

There were no items of correspondence.