Scrutiny Committee Minutes - 14 February 2008

Present:

Before the meeting began, the Chairman led Members in a moment's silence in memory of Councillor Derek Jackson, who died on 10 February 2008.

Sc/56/2/08   Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor H W Threlkeld and Mr J Exeter.

Sc/57/2/08   Minutes

Minutes Sc/53/2/08 to Sc/55/2/08 of the meeting of this Committee held on 13 December 2007 were approved as a correct record of those proceedings.

Sc/58/2/08   Declarations of Interest

There were no interests declared at this point in the meeting.

Sc/59/2/08   Forward Plan

The Committee considered report PP3/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which set out the scrutiny forward plan for the remainder of the municipal year.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Sc/60/2/08   Record of Rejected Request for Call In

The Committee considered report CLS11/08 of the Director of Corporate and Legal Services which informed Members of a request for call in which had been received and rejected.

RESOLVED that the action taken by the Director of Corporate and Legal Services in rejecting the call in request be noted.

Reason for decision

It is important that Members are aware of the call in request and the action taken in connection with the Council's procedural rules.

Sc/61/2/08   'Use of Resources' Assessment: 2006-7 Results

The Committee considered report F19/08 of the Director of Finance which set out the results received from the Audit Commission following their assessment of the Council's 'Use of Resources' (UOR) performance.

RESOLVED that the Audit Commission report (attached to these minutes at Appendix A - PDF: 117Kb / 19 pages) be received.

Sc/62/2/08   Internal Audit: Annual Review of Terms of Reference

The Committee considered report F22/08 of the Director of Finance which set out the Terms of Reference for the Council's internal audit service.

RESOLVED that the Terms of Reference (attached to these minutes at Appendix B - PDF: 115Kb / 13 pages) be approved.

Sc/63/2/08   Internal Audit - Completed Audit Reports

The Committee considered report F28/08 of the Director of Finance which advised Members of the findings and recommendations of reports that have recently been completed by the Council's Internal Audit Service.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

Sc/64/2/08   Implementation of Internal Audit Recommendations

The Committee considered report F26/08 of the Director of Finance which set out progress on implementing the agreed recommendations from internal audit reports.

RESOLVED that progress against the agreed recommendations be noted.

Sc/65/2/08   Implementation of External Audit Recommendations

The Committee considered report F25/08 of the Director of Finance which set out progress on implementing the agreed recommendations from external audit reports.

RESOLVED that progress against the agreed recommendations be noted.

Sc/66/2/08   Review of Internal Audit by External Auditor

The Committee considered report F27/08 of the Director of Finance which set out the report of the Audit Commission (the Council's external auditor) on the Council's internal audit service.

RESOLVED that the report on Review of Internal Audit (attached to these minutes at Appendix C - PDF: 297Kb / 10 pages) be noted.

Sc/67/2/08   Election of Sub Group for Work Plan Topics 2008-2009

The Committee considered report PP4/08 which sought five Members and/or co-optees to form a sub-group to assess the topics and make recommendations for the 2008/9 Scrutiny Work Plan.

Motion by Councillor A P Richardson
Seconded by Councillor Mrs P A Bell

and RESOLVED that:

1. Councillors H Sawrey-Cookson, Mrs G M Lumley, J Nicholson and Mr A Williams and Ms H Thornley be appointed to form a sub-group to assess the submitted Work Plan topics and make recommendations for three topics and up to two reserve topics to form the Work Plan 2008/9.
2. A report be submitted to the April 2008 meeting showing the full list of submitted topics and the recommendations of the sub-group for approval by the Scrutiny Committee.

Reason for decisions

To enable the Scrutiny Committee to carry out its functions in an effective and efficient manner.

Sc/68/2/08   Health Overview and Scrutiny at District Level

The Committee considered report PP5/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which advised Members of a suggested model for scrutiny arrangements of health and health services at District level and recommended the model be approved.

During the course of discussion on this item, Councillor A P Richardson declared a personal interest in this item as a member of Cumbria County Council's Health and Well-Being Scrutiny Committee.

Motion by Councillor Mrs P A Bell
Seconded by Councillor G R Savage

RESOLVED that the proposals for a suggested model for scrutiny arrangements of heath and health services at district level be approved.

Reasons for decision

With changes to legislation and a need to alter policies for health scrutiny, the proposed draft has been written to fulfil the new legislation and within the financial constraints all councils are facing.

Sc/69/2/08   Joint Review of County Car Parking Policies

The Committee considered report PP6/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which sought Members' approval of the recommendations from the report of the Joint Car Parking Policies Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED that:

1. The final report of the Joint Car Parking Policies Task and Finish Group (attached to these minutes at Appendix D - PDF: 75Kb / 13 pages) be approved.
2. The final report be forwarded to the Environment Committee to inform Members when formal consultation begins.

Reason for decision

The report supports the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee in their recommendation to consult with districts and boroughs before implementing revised parking policies.

Sc/70/2/08   Eden District Council's Best Value Comparison 2006-2007

The Committee considered report PP7/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which compared Eden District Council's performance with all district councils and with the Council's Best Value (BV) Family Group, which is a selection of councils with similar social, economic and demographic factors.

During a discussion on BV106 (% new homes built on previously developed land), Members felt that they would benefit from a special meeting of Scrutiny Committee, possibly on 17 March 2008, to consider the draft Core Strategy prior to it going to Environment Committee.

Motion by Councillor Mrs P A Bell
Seconded by Councillor M D Eyles

That:

1. The Council's performance in 2006-7 be noted.
2. Additional information on BV91a (% households resident served by a kerbside collection of recyclables), BV89 (% general user satisfaction with cleanliness of the environment) and BV166a (score against a checklist of best practice for Environmental Health) be provided to the Committee and that these indicators be referred to the relevant policy committee for consideration.

A vote was taken on the motion when there were:

For the motion- 6
Against it - 4

The motion was carried and it was RESOLVED that:

1. The Council's performance in 2006-7 be noted.
2. Additional information on BV91a (% households resident served by a kerbside collection of recyclables), BV89 (% general user satisfaction with cleanliness of the environment) and BV166a (score against a checklist of best practice for Environmental Health) be provided to the Committee and that these indicators be referred to the relevant policy committee for consideration.

Reason for decision

To assist the Scrutiny Committee in fulfilling its function of reviewing the Council's performance for 2006/7.

Sc/71/2/08   Review of Performance Reporting

The Committee considered report PP11/08 from the Performance Indicator Sub Group which proposed a revised format for the quarterly performance reports and annual target setting report and provided information on existing and proposed processes for selection of performance indices and targets.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr A V L Williams, on behalf of the Performance Indicator Sub Group, about the new formats for reports and the proposed approach for setting performance indices and targets.

Motion by Councillor Mrs P A Bell
Seconded by Councillor M D Eyles

And RESOLVED that:

1. The proposed style of reporting performance information for quarterly reporting and annual target setting reviews for 2008-09 (attached to these minutes at Appendix E - PDF: 47Kb / 3 pages) be agreed.
2. A report be taken to a subsequent meeting to consider the feasibility of introducing a formal process for Scrutiny to raise questions regarding performance indicators with the relevant policy committee.

Reason for decision

To seek agreement as to the preferred reporting style for performance information at the start of the financial year 2008-9.

Sc/72/2/08   Performance Indicators 2007-2008 -Third Quarter Report

The Committee considered report PP10/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which outlined the third quarter figures (October to December) for all performance indicators that under or over performed in the quarter.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Reason for decision

To provide the Scrutiny Committee with an opportunity to consider Council performance as at December 2007.

Sc/73/2/08   Performance Indicators 2008-2009

The Committee considered report PP9/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which detailed the new National Indicator set (NIs) and indicates which are likely to need to be collected by district councils.  These replace the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs).

RESOLVED that:

1. The list of National Indicators which this Council will need to collect be noted.
2. A report be submitted to the next meeting of Scrutiny Committee recommending a set of local indicators for adoption, based on the Council's priorities, the Local Area Agreement and suitability for measuring.
3. A further report be submitted relating to the targets to be set for the complete list of indicators, both local and national.

Reason for decision

To provide the Scrutiny Committee with an opportunity to consider the proposed process for local indicator selection and the list of national indicators which Eden District Council expect to collate from April 2008.

Sc/74/2/08   Best Value Improvement Plan Monitoring - Procurement, Local Economy, Financial Management Reviews

The Committee considered report PP8/08 of the Director of Policy and Performance which advised Members on progress made on implementing the recent Best Value Improvement Plans.

RESOLVED that the progress made on the implementation of the improvements from the Procurement, Local Economy and Financial Management Best Value Reviews be noted and that they be approved as now complete.

Reason for decision

To provide the Scrutiny Committee with an opportunity to assess the progress of the Best Value Review Improvement Plans.

Sc/75/2/08  Exclusion of Press and Public

RESOLVED that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, members of the public (including the press) be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

The following minute Sc/76/2/08 contains exempt information as described in the relevant paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and are excluded from this document by virtue of Section 100A of the Act. Below is a summary of these proceedings.

Food Standards Agency Audit (Sc/76/2/08) (Paragraph 3)

The Committee considered report TS175-08 of the Director of Technical Services which informed Members of the findings of an audit by the Food Standards Agency of the Council's food law enforcement service.

The Committee approved the recommendations in the report.

The meeting closed at 8.53pm