Minute No. Item No. & Title Agenda Page No

100 PRESENT :

Councillors S J Anderson, A E Breckons, W N Ferguson, C G Hallam-Baker, A Hughes (in the chair for the beginning of the meeting), J G Hutchinson, D McClymont, R J Patterson, F I Simpson, J E Smith and W G R Weeks.

101 APOLOGIES

There were no apologies for absence.

102 1. MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS OF REFERENCE 1

DECISION: To note the report.

103 2. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN 4

DECISION: To note that Councillor A E Breckons be and was hereby elected Committee Chairman for the ensuing year.

[Note: Cllr Hughes handed the chair over to Cllr Breckons and left the meeting.]

104 3. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN 4

DECISION: To note that Councillor W G R Weeks be and was hereby elected Committee Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

105 4. DECLARATION OF INTEREST 4

There were no declarations of interest.

106 5. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD ON 20^TH APRIL 2004. 4

DECISION: To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 20^th April 2004.

107 6. PROGRESS REPORTS ON MATTERS IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE WORK PROGRAMME 4

i) NHS Sub-group

DECISIONS: i) To note the minutes of the last meeting of the group, held on Tuesday 18^th May 2004 ii) To produce a pro-forma for communicating complaints and concerns from members of the public to the relevant NHS body iii) To circulate to the Committee a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the Local Government Association and the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health as a model for a protocol for the sub-group’s work iv) To invite Alderman Peter Herdman to become a member of the sub-group.

iii) Disability Discrimination Act

DECISION: i) To agree the outline of the report and commission its final form to be submitted at the next meeting of the committee.

ii) Rail Services

DECISION: i) To endorse the Station Car Park project as a significant contribution to all of our corporate priorities

108 7. ANNUAL WORK PROGRAMME 2004/05 5

DECISIONS: i) To set up a meeting between the chairs of the Policy Committees, the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Leader and the Chief Executive to identify areas of work to be undertaken in the course of the year ii) To remove all items from last year’s Work Programme, with the exception of Recycling and the ongoing sub-groups on Health Services and Performance Management. iii) To investigate a more regular system for monitoring the work of the Policy Committees iv) To hold future training events for members of the committee immediately before committee meetings.

109 8. BUSINESS FOR NEXT MEETING 7

DECISION: To hold the next meeting of the Committee in Wooler and invite a health service representative to make a presentation on rural health services for older people as part of Rural Health Week.