Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the Management Committee for the forthcoming year.

Resolved:

To appoint Councillor Simon Killane as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee for the forthcoming year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the Management Committee for the forthcoming year.

Resolved:

To appoint Councillor Alan Hill as Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee for the forthcoming year.

To note the changes to the Membership of the Committee following the meeting of Council on 13 May 2014.

Full Members added - Councillors Ian Thorn and Phillip Whalley (Previously Substitutes)

Full Members removed - Councillor Roy While

Substitute Members added - Councillors Howard Greenman, Chuck Berry, Nick Watts, David Jenkins and Trevor Carbin.

Substitute Members removed - Councillors Brian Dalton, Russell Hawker, Dr Helena McKeown, John Noeken and Councillors Phillip Whalley and Ian Thorn (now Full Members).

The total membership of the panel was increased from 13 to 15.

Resolved:

To note the changes to membership of the Committee, with the revision that Councillor John Noeken had been removed as a Substitute Member and added as Full Member of the Committee.

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Jon Hubbard and Phillip Whalley.

Councillor Hubbard was substituted by Councillor Trevor Carbin.

Councillor Whalley was substituted by Councillor Paul Oatway QPM.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2014.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2014 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

That subject to amending Minute 53 - Task Group Updates - under the heading ‘Environment Select Committee’ to refer to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, not the Officer of the Police and Crime Commissioner, to APPROVE as a true and correct record and have the Chairman sign the minutes.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations.

To receive details of any announcements through the Chair.

Through the Chair it was announced the Scrutiny Training scheduled for 1400 on Tuesday 15 July 2014 at County Hall still had one open slot, and that a reminder notice would be sent out to all members should anyone wish to attend.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.  Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above no later than 5pm on 1 July 2014.Please contact the officer named on the first page of this agenda for further advice.  Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There were no public statements or questions submitted.

A report from Paul Kelly, Scrutiny Manager, and Ian Baker, Head of Programme Office, is attached.

At its meeting on 29 April 2014 the Management Committee considered a report from the Scrutiny Manager on recent requests to appoint a scrutiny member to executive project boards, and requested a set of recommendations on a suitable approach to such requests, addressing the need for clear remits for any appointee, a focus on outcomes and a clear report process.

A report from the Scrutiny Manager and the Head of the Programme Office, setting out criteria for the role of any appointee to a Project Board, and an engagement process as detailed in the agenda papers, including ensuring alignment with key criteria to ensure any involvement was appropriate and adding value to the council and regular meetings with the Programme Office to review new projects that could benefit from Scrutiny involvement.

The Committee discussed the report as well as receiving updates from Cllrs John Walsh and George Jeans on their experiences from working on Project Boards, including the need for a certain amount of confidentiality and constructive analysis, with the Cabinet Member for Highways and Streetscene and Broadband commenting on the useful involvement of scrutiny members on a Project Board.

The need for officer support from the Programme Office as well as Scrutiny for any member appointed to a Project Board was emphasised, and it was also felt appropriate that where a Cabinet Member or Portfolio Holder was a member of a Board, there was a likelihood some form of Scrutiny engagement would follow given the clear significance of any such project.

Some concerns were raised about a focus on projects overshadowing the need to scrutinise the council more broadly, such as with corporate governance issues, although achieving early scrutiny involvement to shape policy and project development was seen as a positive step, rather than seeking involvement, or being requested to scrutinize, complex topics at too short a notice to add much to the process. The need for any appointee to take a strategic, not local, view was raised, with discussion of how realistic it could be for a single member to adopt a county-wide strategic approach, although it was felt local interest in a topic could assist in the informing of a strategic approach.

Members felt that the requirement that any Scrutiny involvement on a Board aligned with delivery of the council’s business plan should be mandatory, and that a list of which Boards Cabinet Members and Portfolio Holder’s were members of, as well as more detail on lead officer’s and categories of projects and a template for members to create reports to the relevant Committee, would assist Scrutiny in its considerations of where it could add value to the process.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

(1)  Involvement of Overview and Scrutiny needs to align with delivery of the council’s business plan, and one or more of the following criteria;

·         Must be transformational in nature with a direct impact on communities or people

·         Has significant financial implications for the Council

·         Involves thematic and/or partnership working

·         Engagement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

Cllr George Jeans will provide an update on the Project Board on the Rollout of Superfast Broadband in the County.

The latest members’ briefing note is circulated to support the written report from Cllr Jeans.

Cllr George Jeans provided a written update on the Wiltshire Online rollout of Broadband in the county, in his position as a scrutiny representative on the Project Board, along with the Head of the Programme Office.

Details were provided on the delivery of broadband for all of Wiltshire, as well as the intended minimum of 91% coverage of areas with superfast broadband provision, with officers working with Community Area Managers to put together a rota to provide updates to each Area Board as the rollout progresses across the county. The Committee was informed there were currently no significant problems for the project moving forward.

The Committee discussed the update along with contributions from the Cabinet Member for Highways and Streetscene and Broadband. There were some concerns raised about whether the provision of superfast broadband of 24Mbts for specific areas being prioritised above the goal of providing a minimum average of 2Mbts for the entire county, including isolated communities. It was stated the rollout was being progressed in the most efficient manner possible, with a need to benefit the most people as fast as possible, and also that technology to provide broadband and superfast broadband to isolated communities and farmsteads was evolving quickly, and options were being examined to provide this in a cheaper and more effective manner than the laying of fibre optic cables.

With regards the laying of fibre optic cabling, it was stated that the emerging Core Strategy contained guidance new sites to be compatible, and that there should be no disruption to existing broadband provision during the rollout as it was an entirely new infrastructure than the existing network.

There was discussion of securing additional funding allocations from the Government for phase 2 of project, which was currently dependent on Wiltshire Council providing match funding which had not been identified, and it was stated that the Council had significantly overmatched the funding allocation for phase 1 of the project given the priority for businesses and homes in the county, and believed this should be taken into account for phase 2 and was awaiting a response from the Government.

The Committee also emphasised the need for continued communication to residents on the outcomes of the project, with some concerns that expectations may be higher than what would be achieved, despite considerable improvement being the result.

Resolved:

To note the update.

Cllrs Simon Killane, Alan Hill and Gordon King will update the Committee following their attendance at the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) Conference on 10 June 2014.

On 10 June 2014 Cllrs Simon Killane and Gordon King attended the Annual Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) Conference entitled “You have reached your destination: scrutiny's role on the road to better places” alongside Emma Dove, Scrutiny Officer, to network and learn from scrutiny colleagues and evaluate the national position of scrutiny. The second day to the Conference was a Scrutiny Camp which Cllrs Gordon King and Alan Hill attended alongside Emma Dove, Scrutiny Officer. This involved a pitching session with all delegates to suggest topics for discussion based on what colleagues felt they would benefit from seeking the view of others and sharing ideas.

Cllrs Killane, King and Hill presented the written report from the conference, and commented on their experiences. It was stated that there had been a lot of confusion of government policy, and also a focus on scrutiny outcomes, though they felt the role of overview and scrutiny in policy development had not been emphasised as much as it could have been.

The Council’s work on the Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) was detailed at the conference, and it was stated that many council’s had not been able to positively engage with the LEPs in their areas, highlighting the need to be proactive in approach but also develop constructive relationships with partners and external bodies in a sensitive manner, particular where there is no obligation for those partners and bodies to co-operate with a scrutiny body of a local authority.

It was concluded that the conference had been a worthwhile experience in showcasing and examining scrutiny techniques and developments that Wiltshire could learn from and add to, and attendance at future conferences was encouraged.

Resolved:

To note the update.

1)            Written updates on Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee Task Group Activity are included as below and attached.

LEP Task Group

The LEP Task Group has been established with the following members to be formally appointed: Cllrs Alan Hill, Christine Crisp, Simon Killane and Mark Packard.

On 22 July an informative briefing will be provided to the members to ensure a solid understanding of the Local Enterprise Partnership as a body and its work, this is to be lead by Corporate Director, Carlton Brand and Assistant Director for Economic Development and Planning with a representative of the Secretariat of the LEP in attendance. Subsequently a Task Group meeting will be arranged with our counterparts in Swindon to take place in September, following the summer recess.

Financial Planning Task Group

An update is attached.

2)            The Chairman of each Committee will be given the opportunity to provide brief updates in relation to activity undertaken by existing task groups, and endorsement of any proposed new Task Groups, including the Early Help Strategy Task Group

1)            Financial Planning Task Group

The written update from the Financial Planning Task Group was noted, with further details on upcoming meetings of the group and work including on the Corporate Performance Regime, with plans for a ‘Citizen’s Dashboard’ to monitor the council’s performance, detailed.

LEP Task Group

The written update on the preparations for the LEP Task Group was noted.

2)            Children’s Select Committee

The Committee endorsed the Children’s Select Committee’s creation of an Early Help Strategy Task Group.

Health Select Committee

The Continence Task Group had completed its work, with its conclusions presented to the Clinical Commissioning Group.

An update from the Dementia Task Group was provided, as follows:

A series of meetings for the Task Group have been arranged over the next six weeks to bring together Task Group members, and at the same time, Wiltshire Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group finished in May 2014, a three month public consultation on the draft Wiltshire Dementia strategy; the Task Group is intending to influence the final strategy document once it is available.

In addition, the Health Select Committee and Dementia Task Group had received a request from the Corporate Director to consider a review of advanced dementia care, to report by November 2014.

Environment Select Committee

The Committee endorsed the continued existence of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Task Group, and it was reported the Adoptable Estates Task Group would be reporting on its work at the next meeting of the Environment Select Committee.

The Forward Work Programme was noted, along with the written update on the plans to arrange meetings between the Executive and Associate Directors and the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Scrutiny Committees in order to refresh and develop the Forward Work Plan further.

The written update on the Supermarket Levy was received, with the suggestion that the council should await the outcome of the 11 authorities submitting their proposals for a levy to the Government, before, if deemed appropriate, addressing the matter again.

It was also raised that the Chairman of the Environment Select Committee was not a member of the Management Committee, as was intended under the Committee’s Terms of Reference. It was stated this was a result of the Environment Select Committee electing its Chairman after the latest appointment by Council of members of the Management Committee, and that Group Leaders would have the opportunity to address the matter at the next meeting of Council on 29 July.

To note the date of the next meeting on 9 September 2014.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 9 September 2014.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.