Agenda and minutes

To receive details of any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Howard Greenman and Jon Hubbard.

Councillor Hubbard was substituted by Councillor Clare Cape. Councillor Greenman was substituted by Councillor Roy While.

It was also noted that as a result of changes made at Full Council on 26 February 2019 Coucillor Matthew Dean had been removed from the Committee and Councillor John Smale was added to the Committee.

On behalf of the Committee the Chairman expressed thanks to Councillor Dean for his work on the Committee and as Chairman of the Environment Select Committee.

To approve and sign the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 20 November 2018 and the extraordinary meetings held on 31 January 2019 and 12 February 2019.

The minutes of the ordinary meetiing held on 20 November 2018 and the extraordinary meetings held on 31 January 2019 and 12 February 2019 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as true and correct records.

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

There were no declarations.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

Through the Chairman the Committee was provided an update on the number of Cabinet decisions which had received input from overview and scrutiny input, the number of recommendations developed by the commtitees and task groups, and the number of positive responses to those recommendations from the Executive, as follows:

·       So far in the 2018-19 municipal year, 68% of Cabinet decisions have received some form of OS input. This compares with 50% over the previous year.

·       OS has submitted 66 recommendations to the Executive and partners.

·       89% of the responses from the Executive to OS recommendations have been positive.

·       82% of eligible councillors have participated in OS in some form.

·       There have been 0 call-ins

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 on the front of the agenda 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 on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 12 March 2019 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 14 March 2019. Please contact the officer named on the front 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.

A series of questions from Mr Bill Jarvis had been submitted for the meeting and received written responses as detailed in Agenda Supplement 2.

Mr Jarvis then made a statement to the Committee, congratulating Full Council on its approved motion declaring a climate emergency as made on 26 February 2019, but emphasising the scrutiny and others in the council needed to take immediate action to implement a programme of work in response.

To present two Notices of Motion passed by Full Council on 26 February 2019 that reference involvement from Overview and Scrutiny.

On 26 February 2019 Full Council debated and approved two Notices of Motion relating to climate change, both of which required involvement from Overview and Scrutiny. In accordance with the constitution the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee was to be responsible for considering the referral of any motion from Full Council and coordinating the work programme of the select committees accordingly.

The first approved motion was titled ‘Acknowledging a climate emergency and proposing a way forward’ and included an intention to seek to make Wiltshire carbon neutral by 2030 as well as a request for a task group to develop recommendations and a plan to achieve this along with a carobon/renewables audit.

The second approved motion was titled ‘Environment and Global Warming’ and asked the Leader of the Council to consider establishing a Cabinet Member or Portfolio Holder with responsibility for environmental issues to work with Overview and Scrutiny to report to Council on such matters as energy use, carbon generation and other matters. Full details on both motions were provided in the agenda.

The Committee discussed the referred motions, noting there was an expectation that actions be undertaken quickly in response and that such a response needed to be wide ranging across the council. There was agreement that the Environment Select Committee be asked to form a task group to carry the matter forward and agree parameters with Cabinet on how to progress the work and report to Full Council.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

As requested by Full Council, the Management Committee asks the Environment Select Committee to:

a)    form a task group to develop recommendations and a plan to achieve making the county of Wiltshire carbon neutral by 2030 along with undertaking a carbon / renewables audit; and

b)    agree parameters with the relevant Cabinet Member or Portfolio Holder that represent the council impact on the environment and can be accurately reported to council on a regular basis, to potentially include those measures suggested in the motion to Full Council.

To receive an update on the outcomes of the recent Overview and Scrutiny Workshop.

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee has a responsibility to ensure that those councillors undertaking overview and scrutiny activity have appropriate knowledge and skills. In June 2018 the Committee approved a learning and development (L&D) programme for OS councillors during the 2017-21 council. This was to include regular workshops with themes chosen by councillors.

A report was received regarding the workshop held on 28 February 2019 on ‘gathering and using evidence’. The Chairman of each Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed potential actions to arise from the discussions of the workshop on 12 March 2019.

The Committee discussed the proposed actions, noting in particular the intention to revise the rapid scrutiny protocol, as the use of rapid scrutiny exercises to undertaken exploratory work including gathering initial evidence to determine if a task group was appropriate, had developed from when the protocol had been drafted.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

1)      To note the discussion points and outcomes of the OS councillor workshop held on 28 February 2019.

2)      To agree the actions listed in the table under paragraph 6 to address the development areas identified, with the Chairman and Vice-chairman to bring detailed proposals back for discussion where appropriate.

To receive updates from the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Select

Committees in respect of the topics under scrutiny in their areas, including any recommendations for endorsement by the Management Committee.

The Committee received the forward work programmes of each select committee along with any additional updates from the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of each committee.

Details were provided on recent work on children missing education and elective home education, children’s centres, residential engagement, maternity transformation, intermediate care beds, peer challenges and more.

Resolved:

To approve the forward work programmes.

To receive updates on recent activity from task groups

Written reports were received from each task group which had been set up by the Management Committee as detailed in the agenda papers. It was noted that the Communications with Councillors Task Group would undertake its first meeting on 25 March 2019.

In relation to the Digital Strategy Task Group it was reported from the Chairman that there was a concern the Task Group was not adding as much value as it could, in part because of a lack of information or information provided at a very late stage or short notice. The Cabinet Member and Portfolio Holder were in attendance.

In relation to the Financial Planning Task Group the Cabinet Member for Finance made a statement in relation to the position of the Chairman of the Task Group and his dual role as Chairman and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group.

In relation to the Military Civilian Integration Task Group it was noted there was difficulty identifying where the group could add value between the responsibilities of others such as the Leader, and also that although there was the National Armed Forces Day coming up later in the year, it was important that the work of military and civilian integration was not just focused on big events but a continual process.

In relation to the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership Task Group there had been delays in an exercise to scrutinise the Chippenham Station Hub project because of a lack of availability from Network Rail and other partners, but a new meeting had been arranged and further reports would follow when available.

A verbal update was provided on the work of the Public Consultations Task Group which had met the day before, noting the importance of clarifying legally required consultations from engagement exercises and surveys, and how each must or should be carried out, and who could authorise them. It was requested, and agreed, that senior officers provide information to the Tasks Group on the new Business Intelligence Hub which was intended to oversee any such consultations in future.

It was also noted that the Third-Party Advertising Task Group was proposed to be subsumed within a new Commercialisation Task Group which would have a broader focus, and that this would need to take account of work with Financial Planning and Traded Services to avoid duplication of work.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

1.    To note the update on OS task group activity provided.

2.    To note the membership of the Communications with Councillors Task Group as:

Cllr Graham Wright

Cllr Ruth Hopkinson

Cllr Gavin Grant

Cllr Allison Bucknell

Cllr Trevor Carbin

Cllr Jose Green

3.    To note the membership of the Public Consultations Task Group as:

Cllr Gavin Grant

Cllr Ruth Hopkinson

Cllr Jim Lynch

Cllr Pip Ridout

Cllr Fred Westmoreland

Cllr Stuart Wheeler

4.    To establish the Commercialism Task Group with the following terms of reference, and with its membership to be determined by the Chairman and Vice-chairman:

a)    To support implementation of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 4 June 2019.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 4 June 2019.

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

There were no urgent items.

However, the Chairman wished to place on record the thanks of the Committee to the work of the Scrutiny and Democratic Services teams for their support of all the scrutiny function across a very busy period.