Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Meeting, in particular the newly appointment Parent Governor Representative (for education matters), Mark Hughes.

Apologies were received from Cllr Mike Rouse.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by email indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 19 July 2021).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address listed below.

Subject to any announcement by Government between publication of this Agenda and the Meeting, places at the meeting may be limited, therefore, all members of the public who wish to attend the meeting should register by e-mail with the officer below. 

Furthermore, attendees may be required to sign that they have either:

• Had Covid-19 in the last 6 months, or

• Received two Covid-19 vaccinations, or

• Had a negative lateral flow test in the 48 Hours prior to the meeting.

None.

It was agreed that the Communications Team would be asked to promote Scrutiny meetings to the public moving forward. It was also suggested that webcasting should be considered for all public Scrutiny meetings.

(previously circulated)

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 17 March 2021 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The  Board was asked to consider:

·         the aims of overview and scrutiny and note its remits;

·         agree whether it would wish to receive an update on emerging issues and developments within the remit of each Member of the OSPB, including an update on each Overview and Scrutiny Panel; and

·         the Council's latest Forward Plan to identify:

§  any items it would wish to consider further at a future meeting; and

§  any items it would wish to refer to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel for further consideration.

Scrutiny Role and Remit

This was agreed as per detailed in the Agenda report.

A Member highlighted the importance of promoting continuous improvement, best practice and innovation in respect of Council services.

The Chairman highlighted that as well as scrutinising Council services, Scrutiny could take place beyond Council services if there was public interest in a particular area. Examples of this were highlighted eg BT Openreach had attended the Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Panel when discussions about broadband were taking place as had Severn Trent and the Environment Agency for discussions about flooding.

Updates on Emerging Issues

It was agreed that Scrutiny Chairmen would provide an update on Scrutiny activity at each meeting of the Board.

The role of the OSPB Vice-Chairman was discussed and whether he should have a specific area of focus – it was agreed that this would be considered further before a decision was made.

Cabinet Forward Plan

The Cabinet Forward Plan was discussed, and it was agreed that reviewing it would be continued, but more detail would be helpful to the Scrutiny Chairmen. This would be considered for future Plans.

Adult Care and Well-being Panel (Cllr Shirley Webb)

The recent Adult Panel meeting had taken place informally via Zoom and been  livestreamed, so that it could be observed by the public.  One of the areas that the Panel looked at was Dementia Centres; Dr Shirley Evans from the Association for Dementia Studies attended the meeting to talk about how Dementia Centres were being developed in Worcestershire.

Akin to other Panels, the Panel looked at performance and finance information and were pleased to note that at the year end, there had been a small underspend.

In addition, Panel Members were in the process of making contact with local social work teams in their area, in order to arrange a visit.

Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Cllr Kyle Daisley)

One of the areas reviewed by the Panel was an update on developments relating to Worcestershire Children First (WCF) Social Care Placements Sufficiency Strategy. Unfortunately, the Report had already been agreed by Cabinet before it was discussed at the Panel which wasn’t ideal. It was however, pleasing to note when discussing the finance and performance monitoring that at the year-end WCF had achieved a financial surplus.  With regard to the Work Programme, whilst acknowledging that 2/3 Tier Schooling had been looked at a number of years ago, given developments more recently in various parts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1198.

Deferred.

The Board was asked to consider the reports from Panel Chairmen on potential work programme topics, whether there were any issues which should be added to the OSPB's Work Programme and determine the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2021/22 to be considered by full Council.

An updated version of the Scrutiny Work Programmes had been circulated to members the day before the meeting.

During the discussion, it was agreed that the:

·       Programme would run for the municipal year ie May-May

·       Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Task Group would start in the autumn after the proposal had been reviewed to ensure it was still relevant

·       Elective Home Education (EHE) Task Group should be put on hold whilst the Children’s Panel were looking at Vulnerable Learners and then it should be decided if a Task Group was needed to look into EHE

·       the Developer-Funded Highways Infrastructure and Section 278 Technical Approval TG would go ahead (start date 1 October).

Councillor Matthew Jenkins attended the meeting to request that Scrutiny looked into the progress of Notice of Motion 4 – Local 20mph Speed Limits (Council 14 January 2021) which RESOLVED “Requests for more 20mph speed limits, particularly in residential areas and near schools, are often made to councillors. This motion requests that a task group or member advisory group be set up to review how 20mph areas are currently considered and look at the feasibility of creating a process that would allow a 20mph area to be created within a councillor’s division.”

Council had agreed to establish a task group or member advisory group to review how 20mph areas were currently considered and look at the feasibility of creating a process that would allow a 20mph area to be created within a councillor’s division.

The Scrutiny Work Programme was agreed and would be discussed at Council on 9 September 2021.