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Home , Hinckley and Bosworth

SCRUTINY NETWORK

16 March 2010

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council

Attendees Broxtowe Borough Council Jeremy Ward Chesterfield Borough Council Cllr Craw, Anita Cunningham County Council Cllr George Wharmby, Ratna Taylor District Council Cllr Aldridge & Bosworth Borough Council Cllr Lay, Cal Bellavia, Rebecca Owen County Council Debbie Cook Local Government East Kirsty Lowe Borough Council Tracy Tiff County Council Cllr Allen Walker (Chairman), James Edmund City Council Kim Pocock County Council Matthew Garrard (Vice Chair) District Council Paul Spencer

Apologies Council Jane Foley Broxtowe Borough Council Cllr Wombwell Chesterfield Borough Council Cllr Denise Hawksworth Council Cllr Long, Dave Parry City Council Rob Davision District Council Cllr Cate Hunt, Ros Hession East Lindsey District Council Cllr Fiona Martin Gedling Borough Council Jane Ansell Lincolnshire County Council Nicola Desforges Newark & Sherwood District Council Ged Greaves North West District Council Cllr Felix Fenning, Keith Gordon Nottingham City Council Cllr Dewinton District Council Cllr Ken Joynson, Paul Morrison

Notes

Welcome and Introductions Cllr Walker, Northamptonshire County Council, The Chairman Scrutiny network welcomed the network members to Hinckley and thanked them for attending.

Minutes from the last meeting Anita Cunningham, Chesterfield Borough Council asked that Cllr Craw, Chesterfield Borough Council be included in the list of attendees of the last meeting on 4 December.

Action: Kirsty to amend minutes of 4 December network meeting accordingly

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

Scrutiny Recommendations Cllr Walker informed the network that the formulation of recommendations had been raised as an area of interest for the network. He thanked those authorities who had volunteered to outline how recommendations are formulated and monitored within their authority.

Northamptonshire County Council James Edmunds, Northamptonshire County Council provided an overview to Northamptonshire’s approach to developing recommendations. He identified four key questions that are considered when formulating the recommendations following reviews. 1. How many? 2. How Specific? 3. How deliverable? 4. Where presented?

He also provided details of the different Boards and groups where recommendations may be presented, including Primary Care Trust and the Public Service Board.

Additional questions to be considered were, how will recommendations be received? How will they be tracked?

A question was asked as to whether district councils submit recommendations to the Public Service Board. James provided details of the development of a county wide scrutiny committee, which will include representation from district authorities, which will work closely with the Public Service Board.

Cllr Craw, Chesterfield Borough Council asked whether Northamptonshire County Council’s Scrutiny committee has a good working relationship with the PCT. James confirmed that there is a close working relationship with the PCT.

Nottinghamshire County Council Matthew Garrard, Nottinghamshire County Council provided an overview of the approach to formulating recommendations. He outlined Nottinghamshire definition of the measures of success for Scrutiny, that it should work to improve public services.

He confirmed that Nottinghamshire County Council scrutinise both internally and external organisations.

He further provided details of the monitoring process used, which requires the responder to confirm whether the recommendations are to be accepted, partially accepted or rejected.

Nottingham City Council Kim Pocock, Nottingham City Council informed the network that the scrutiny committee in Nottingham is currently reviewing the process of formulating recommendations.

She informed the network that the committee aims to base scrutiny recommendations on evidence, which should be triangulated using more than one piece of evidence. She informed the network that for each recommendation a desired outcome is defined, to ensure that the recommendations are outcome focused. She confirmed that the aim is to identify 10 recommendations from each review, but that a flexible approach is taken to this. She provided details of the monitoring process and changes made to ensure that the process used is flexible to respond to changes.

She went onto provided details of where she felt Nottingham City need to develop further the process of formulating recommendations, she cited short reviews where recommendations are formulated following the presentation of evidence at the end of a meeting. She confirmed that Nottingham City Council is considering whether time should be given to reflection on evidence prior to the formulation of recommendations. However, Kim provided examples of how this might impact on the process.

Examples were identified of how joint working can have implications for the process of formulating recommendations.

A discussion followed on how scrutiny review reports and recommendations should be a member led process. A discussion followed on how authorities differ in their operation of scrutiny.

Cllr Walker asked the network to consider how people (Members and officers) treat those involved in scrutiny.

A discussion followed on report writing, and whether this done by scrutiny officers.

Cllr Lay, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council informed the network that he felt that scrutiny has a good profile within the council, particularly from positive results from reviews undertaken. He informed the network that the committee had benefited from scrutiny being a non­political process.

Debbie Cook, Lincolnshire County Council informed the network of improvements in relationships between the Scrutiny Committee and the Executive over the last few years. She indicated that a culture of close working between the two had created a positive profile for scrutiny.

Paul Spencer, South Derbyshire District Council provided details of how scrutiny is seen within the authority, providing examples of positive reviews.

Cllr Warmby, Derbyshire County Council provided details of the experience of scrutiny within Derbyshire and how it has developed within the authority. He provided details of a guide to scrutiny that had been produced to assist members and officers in understanding how scrutiny operates within the authority.

Jeremy Ward, Broxtowe Borough Council provided details of how scrutiny has developed within Broxtowe and experiences of engagement in reviews.

A discussion followed on how scrutiny is supported.

Tracy Tiff, Northampton Borough Council provided details of a recent work programme planning workshop held jointly with the Executive. She provided details of scrutiny training sessions held for officers and news letters used to promote greater understanding of scrutiny within the authority.

Anita Cunningham, Chesterfield Borough Council informed the network that Chesterfield are currently reviewing scrutiny. She informed the network that work to strengthen links with the Executive is ongoing. Cllr Craw added that in his experience the value of scrutiny is its independence. James Edmund, Northamptonshire County Council informed the network that scrutiny in Northampton has a good level of engagement.

Kim Pocock, Nottingham City Council informed the network that relations with the Executive are improving.

Matthew Garrard, Nottinghamshire County Council informed the network that scrutiny within the authority has a good profile and that externally the committee receives good media coverage.

Joint Scrutiny Scoping Project Update Kirsty Lowe provided a brief update on the Joint Scrutiny Scoping Project. She informed the network that the project had been commissioned by the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, to look at opportunities for joint scrutiny in the region, and to identify where joint scrutiny already operates.

She also informed the network that the consultants had interviewed Local Authority Leaders, Chief Executives, Chairs of Scrutiny, Scrutiny officers, as well as holding a focus group for scrutiny members and officers. She informed the network that the final report will be published in the beginning of April.

Network Terms of reference Kirsty Lowe informed the network members that on 1 April 2010 Local Government East Midlands and the East Midlands Regional Assembly will merge and become a new organisation, East Midlands Councils. She stated that she felt that it would be a good opportunity to review the current terms of reference to ensure that they still reflect the work of the network.

She went on to inform the group that terms of reference would be circulated for comments via email, and would look to finalise these at the June network meeting.

Scrutiny Review update from around the region Cllr Walker informed the network that a number of updates had been received from authorities, which have been circulated in advance with the papers. He invited network members to update on recent reviews that may be of interest.

Cllr Lay provided details of a review of anti poverty strategy and positive outcomes resulting from the review.

Anita Cunningham informed the network that Chesterfield have been successful with the bid to the Centre for Public Scrutiny.

Update on National Scrutiny Network Matthew Garrard provided details of a forthcoming publication from the Centre for Public Scrutiny, Accountability Works, which will promote the work of scrutiny. He informed the network that Jessica Crowe has returned from maternity leave to the post of Executive Director.

Matthew provided an update on the Local Government Overview and Scrutiny Bill.

Close Date of next meeting 18 June 2010, Nottingham City Council

Cllr Walker thanked Hinckley and Bosworth for hosting the network.