northlincs.gov.uk

PRESENT: Councillor Davison in the chair.

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

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

The panel met at Pittwood House, Scunthorpe.

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

No Whip was declared.

125 MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the proceedings of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Panel held on 28 July 2010, and the special meetings held on 28 July and 11 August 2010, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and signed by the chair.

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

127 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.

128 (13) ABOLITION OF LOCAL AREA AGREEMENTS – The Service Director Legal and Democratic updated the panel on a letter from the Secretary of State to the council confirming that Local Area Agreements were to be abolished with immediate effect.The government’s intention was to publish an agreed single list of Whitehall data requirements. The chair then led a discussion on how overview and scrutiny might deal with performance monitoring in the future.

Resolved – (a) That relevant officers from within the council be invited to the next meeting of the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Panel to discuss the issue further, and (b) that members consider their preferred approach following these discussions.

129 (14) SCRUTINY STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES – ITEM REQUESTED BY COUNCILLORS C SHERWOOD AND WALTHAM. The chair invited Cllrs C Sherwood and Waltham to introduce an item on how overview and scrutiny could be undertaken in the future. Reference was made to the scrutiny model in Hertfordshire, which took an intensive approach to gathering evidence, which it believed resulted in a greater number of pieces of work, communicated in a concise manner.

Further discussion then took place on possible approaches, including consideration of strengths and weaknesses of the various options, and forthcoming legislation and guidance.

Resolved – That further discussions be held on a preferred future model of overview and scrutiny when the local and national situation is clearer.

130 MEMBER DEVELOPMENT – The chair invited an update on progress in setting up member training on the ‘Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting Police and the people’ and ‘Equity and Excellent – Liberating the NHS’ white papers, as requested by members on 28 July. Members were informed that the training was still planned, but that it may prove more beneficial when the coalition government’s position in these two areas was clearer.

Resolved – That the member development be arranged at a future date when the coalition government has published the results of the recent consultation exercises and has expressed its future intentions.