Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Select Committee for 2011/2012.

Nominations will be sought orally from those present at the meeting.  Voting will be by way of a show of hands.

Cllr Jeff Osborn was elected Chairman for the ensuing year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman of the Select Committee for 2011/2012.

Nominations will be sought orally from those present at the meeting.  Voting will be by way of a show of hands.

Cllr Tony Deane was elected Vice-Chairman (in his absence with permission) for the ensuing year.

Apologies were received from Cllr Nigel Carter, Cllr Tony Deane, Cllr Ricky Rogers, Cllr Christopher Devine and Cllr Mark Packard.

Cllr Jon Hubbard substituted for Cllr Mark Packard.

Note: Cllr Mark Packard was present for the later part of the meeting.

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Organisation and Resources Select Committee held on 24 March 2011.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 24 March 2011 were signed and approved as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman welcomed Phil Woods, Scrutiny Officer Cornwall Council who was in attendance to observe.

The Committee was reminded that following the previous meeting it was resolved that the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Scrutiny Manager would receive an update report on progress made against the Revenue and Benefits Service Inspection Action Plan for consideration prior to this meeting. 

The report had only recently been received and as such the Chairman had yet to consider its content.  It would be included in the agenda for the next meeting of the Committee if appropriate.

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 (acting on behalf of the Director of Resources) no later than 5pm on Thursday 19 May 2011.  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 was no public participation.

A Rapid Scrutiny Exercise was undertaken on 18 January on the Library Services Review and its findings reported to the Committee on 20 January.  The Committee was reminded that two of the recommendations arising from the activity related to the communications/consultation plan, details of which were included with the agenda.

The Project Team successfully responded to the scrutiny recommendations which were incorporated into the Library Review Communications Plan.  Discussion ensued on future monitoring.

Resolved:

That the Committee would invite an update report on the Library Services Review in November to monitor whether the service review aims were being successfully implemented.

The Committee was reminded that it had considered the KPMG Post Implementation Review report at its meeting held in November 2010.  Ensuing recommendations were duly reported to the Audit Committee for consideration. Included within these recommendations was the future scrutiny of the SAP Strategy which now forms part of the overall ICT Strategy.

A further report on SAP Development PID was submitted to the Audit Committee on 13 May where acknowledgement was made to the intention to further improve and develop SAP.

The Select Committee at its last meeting received the draft Technology Plan which it resolved to refer to the ICT Task Group for more detailed consideration in conjunction with the accompanying roadmap which incorporated SAP developments. 

The ICT Task Group met on 13 May and an update on this meeting was provided under minute no. 163 – Task Group Update.

Resolved:

1)            To note the actions of the Audit Committee on this matter; and

2)            To note the work of the ICT Task Group on the overall Technology Plan which incorporates SAP developments.

The Committee at its meeting held in November 2010 considered a report on the challenges faced by the Council in driving a more focused and professional approach into the Council’s procurement and commissioning activities and outlined options on how best to scrutinise this area of work in the future.

Following the decision taken by the Committee the Liaison Board considered a report which provided details of the proposed approach to future scrutiny of procurement and commissioning.

The Board resolved that future scrutiny would be dealt with by way of a dedicated Procurement and Commissioning Task Group which would report directly to the Organisation and Resources Select Committee and replace the Major Contract Task Groups.

The Committee is now asked to consider and approve the recommendations provided within the attached report.

The Committee at its previous meeting received an interim report on the work of the Partnerships Task Group.  Following endorsement of its findings details of the recommendations arising were sent to both the Community Safety Partnership’s Chairman and Cabinet Member for consideration.

The Cabinet Member’s response was provided with the agenda for consideration by the Committee.

Although the Committee felt a broader scrutiny of partnerships would be preferable it was accepted that this was a complex area and in order to gain a clearer understanding of its workings a focus on several key partnerships within the framework was required.

Following scrutiny of the Community Safety Partnership the Task Group would now scrutinise the Housing Partnership Board with its next meeting to scope the work due to take place on 1 June 2011.

Resolved:

To note the update provided.

The Section 106 Task Group met on 18 May to receive a 6 month update on progress made in relation to the introduction of a corporate database for S106 agreements following recommendations made at the last meeting.

A report will follow providing details of the key issues arising and resulting recommendations for consideration.

An update on Committee Task Group activity is attached.

The Committee were asked to note the Task Group updates provided and comment as appropriate.  In addition to the update the following additional information was provided.

ICT

The remit of the Task Group had initially been to consider the transfer of IT services from Steria to an in-house service but, following resolution of the Committee, the Group had considered the Services Technology Plan 2011-15 and associated road map at its meeting held on 13 May.  Further areas identified for future scrutiny included Smartphones and the Air Quality Monitoring System both of which had been identified from the roadmap.

As outlined within minute no. 159 – SAP Post Implementation Review the Task Group would be requested to consider SAP within its work programme as this fell within the roadmap considered by the Task Group at its last meeting.

The next meeting of the ICT Task Group was to take place on 27 July.  Cllr Seed confirmed that scrutiny of SAP would be raised at the meeting to allow the Task Group to consider whether further scrutiny could be undertaken.  The outcome of these discussions would be provided at the Committee’s next meeting.  Clarity was also needed on the respective roles of the Audit Committee and the Task Group regarding the Technology Plan and associated roadmap, and SAP Development PID to avoid duplication or conversely that some aspects were not effectively monitored and reviewed.

Resolved:

That the Chairman would discuss with the lead member of the ICT Task Group the potential for further scrutiny by the Task Group and that discussion would also be undertaken at the Task Groups next meeting on 27 July.

Campus and Operational Delivery Programme

In addition to the update provided clarity was given that several campuses, including Salisbury, were expected to proceed shortly.  The Task Group was expected to receive an update paper on progress made prior to consideration by Cabinet.

Shadow Community Operations Boards had now been established with several initial meetings across the County held.

The Shadow Boards were expected to commence discussions in relation to partnership arrangements and, specifically, which partners would be housed within the completed campuses. 

The Corporate Director for Resources announced that the police authority had taken the decision to have a presence within each of the hubs and, as such, had abandoned its own capital programme. It was also understood that discussions were taking place with the fire authority.

The Committee looked forward to receiving further details on the progression of the hubs in the future.

As the Committee has scrutiny representation on several Project Boards this item has been included to allow members to provide an update where appropriate.

Project Boards with scrutiny presentation include:

Staffing Management Executive Board – Cllr Ricky Rogers

Revenue and Benefits Project Board – Cllr Pip Ridout

At the last meeting a report was considered highlighting the themes and individual projects from the 4 year Business Plan relevant to the work of the Select Committee (see attached list). The intention was that discussion would then be held with the appropriate Cabinet member/portfolio-holder(s) and corporate director/ service director(s) to develop a complimentary future scrutiny work programme focused on the Council’s priorities and matched to available capacity and resources.

The delivery of the content and commitments given Business Plan is to be supported through an implementation programme co-ordinated through the Council’s Programme Office. This requires discussion and approval by CLT and Cabinet Liaison. This process has not yet been fully completed (partly due to the review of the senior management structure) and therefore is not yet available for use by scrutiny.

The Committee is asked to note the current position and that work to progress a revised scrutiny work programme will continue once CLT and Cabinet Liaison have agreed the implementation programme. Some projects in the Resources arena are already well underway such as Procurement and Commissioning, ICT and Campus and Operational delivery and scrutiny has responded to these with appropriate arrangements.

It is hoped that the position will have moved forward including the submission of a draft revised work programme by the next meeting of the Select Committee.

The Committee at its meeting held in March considered a report which highlighted the themes and individual projects from the Business Plan relevant to the work of the Committee.  A copy of the themes identified was provided for reference.

The Committee was awaiting further details of the Implementation Programme which it was understood would be provided following, in part, a review of the senior management structure.  Once armed with this information the Committees would be able to commence the selection of areas to highlight for further scrutiny and hold discussions with relevant Cabinet members and corporate/service directors.

The Corporate Director for Resources provided confirmation that the management team had not been restructured but had been realigned in order to meet the needs of the business plan.  This included that the Corporate Director would lead on transformation with the Chief Executive assuming responsibility for Finance, Procurement and Legal and Democratic Services.

A single Programme Office for the authority was being established to ensure a robust project management group was in place to deliver the priorities set.

Members of the Committee were unhappy that information on the realignment of services had not been provided to Councillors following announcements to staff made the previous week.  The Corporate Director confirmed that the concerns of the Committee would be fed back to the Communications team accordingly.

Members also requested that clarity be provided on lines of reporting in relation to the Chief Executive’s unit to ensure the Committee was able to continue to scrutinise effectively.  The Corporate Director confirmed that Cllr John Brady was the responsible Cabinet member for finance, performance and risk and Cllr John Noeken for Legal and Democratic Services.  Further details would be sought in relation to officer leads to allow the Committee to ensure senior officers were made aware of their required attendance at future Committees.

Members also noted that the themes identified included Systems Thinking which had already been applied to 20 services.  As the Committee requested further clarity on the services in question the Corporate Director confirmed that a report would be prepared for consideration at the Committees next meeting.

In summing up discussion the Chairman clarified the importance of a constructive relationship with both Corporate Directors and members of the Executive.  This had been set out in a protocol approved by Scrutiny and awaiting consideration by the Executive and CLT.

Resolved:

1.         To note the update including service realignment and future scrutiny; and

2.         That the Corporate Director Resources would provide the Committee with a report on ‘Systems Thinking’ including details of the 20 services that the system had already been applied to, at its next meeting in July.

A copy of the draft Forward Work Programme is attached for consideration.

This includes a list of relevant items from the Cabinet’s published Forward Work Plan.

The current Programme was noted acknowledging that it would be reviewed once more detail was available on the implementation programme for the Business Plan.

14 July 2011

14 July 2011.

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

There were no urgent items for consideration.