northlincs.gov.uk

PRESENT:  Councillor Davison in the chair.

Councillors Waltham (vice-chair), Armitage, Cawsey, Glover, Jawaid MBE, C Sherwood, Wells and Wilson.

Councillor Barkworth attended the meeting in accordance with Procedure Rule 1.37 (b)

The panel met at Pittwood House, Scunthorpe.

131  DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – There were no declarations of personal or personal and prejudicial interests.

No Whip was declared.

132  MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the proceedings of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Panel held on 27 October 2010, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and signed by the chair.

133  PUBLIC REQUESTS TO SPEAK – There were no requests received.

134  LOCAL AREA AGREEMENTS AND THE FUTURE ROLE OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT – The chair welcomed Caroline Barkley, the council’s Head of Strategy Development to the meeting to update members on the proposed new inspection framework following the government’s decision to abolish the Local Area Agreement.

The oral presentation informed members of the current inspection framework, the data and indicators that would still need to be collected and the impact of any changes to the inspection framework.The government was currently consulting local authorities on its proposals.

Resolved – (a) That members of the panel be provided with the proposed 152 new indicators to be collected, (b) that all scrutiny panels continue to monitor the current performance of all thematic partnerships, (c) that the Head of Strategy Development be invited to future meetings in order to keep members informed of the new inspection framework and its impact on overview and scrutiny, and (d) that the Head of Strategy Development be thanked for her attendance and for answering members questions.

135  WORK PROGRAMME 2010/2011 – Update from the Chair and Vice-Chair of each Scrutiny Panel – The chairs and vice-chairmen of each of the four scrutiny panels for North Lincolnshire Council were invited to provide the panel with a brief update on recent work completed and future work to be undertaken, as well as any difficulties being experienced by any of the scrutiny panels.

Resolved – That the position for each panel be noted.

136  (15)  THE DECENTRALISATION AND LOCALISM BILL – The Service Director Legal and Democratic circulated a briefing paper on the Decentralisation and Localism Bill and its potential impact on local democracy and governance (overview and scrutiny) in North Lincolnshire.

Resolved – (a) That the report be noted, and (b) that the report be circulated to all overview and scrutiny members for information.

137  (16)  LIBERATING THE NHS: LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK AND NEXT STEPS – The Service Director Legal and Democratic circulated a briefing paper on the coalition government’s position on the proposed future enhanced role of overview and scrutiny of the NHS and NHS funded health services.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

138  (17)  POLICE REFORM AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BILL – The Service Director Legal and Democratic circulated briefing papers from the Local Government Information Unit and the Local Government Association on the implications to local government of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

139  MEMBER DEVELOPMENT – SUCCESSFUL RIEP BID TO SUPPORT SCRUTINY MEMBERS – The Service Director Legal and Democratic informed the meeting that the Humber Sub-Regional Member Development Officers Group had been successful in obtaining a grant of £3,000 from the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEP) to develop a scrutiny support pack for members. The successful bid centred on –

• A pocket-sized booklet to act as an aide-memoir to members in terms of questions and types of question, skills, members’ and officers’ roles, etc.
• A supporting CD demonstrating good and bad practice in scrutiny
• A launch event possibly to include a short drama demonstration of good and bad practice in scrutiny.

The Humber Sub-Regional Member Development Officers Group would now liaise with the respective scrutiny teams to identify common issues and best practice.

Resolved – That members of the panel be consulted on proposals for items to be included in the scrutiny support pack, prior to its completion.