This item is a standing item on all Overview and Scrutiny agendas. 5
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED BOROUGH COUNCIL
Council Offices, Wallace Green, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1ED
COMMITTEE: OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY
DATE TUESDAY 2ND NOVEMBER 2004
TIME: 6PM
PLACE: COMMITTEE ROOM 1, WALLACE GREEN HALL, BERWICK-UPON-TWEED
Members: Councillors S J Anderson, A E Breckons, B A Douglas. W N Ferguson, C G Hallam-Baker, J G Hutchinson, D McClymont, R J Patterson, F I Simpson, J E Smith, W G R Weeks.
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The Meeting will be open to the Press and Public during consideration of
the items set out in Part 1 of this Agenda.
1 DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in any of the items included on the agenda for this Meeting.
[Note: Any Member wishing to seek clarification as to whether it may be appropriate to declare an interest in respect of any item on this agenda should seek the advice from the Chief Executive or Borough Solicitor at least one working day before the Meeting].
2 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD ON 21ST SEPTEMBER 2004
Previously circulated; Chairman to sign.
3 PROGRESS REPORTS ON MATTERS IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE WORK PROGRAMME
Report Author: Gillian Simmons, Senior Democratic Services Officer, tel no (01289) 301721; email: gs@berwick-upon-tweed.gov.uk
Summary:
• Progress reports included in the body of the report
• Verbal updates can be given at the meeting
Purpose:
To receive progress reports from officers and Members on items in the Committee’s Work Programme for 2004/05, and to determine what action is to be taken, if any.
Report:
i) Performance Management sub-group
As part of the CPA Improvement programme, the system for managing performance across the organisation is to be changed and a new framework is currently being developed. It is expected that the draft of this new framework will be available for comment by December and it is proposed that the Performance Management sub-group should meet once the draft framework is available to have an input in its development.
Once the framework has been agreed and implemented, it should provide regular updates which can be reviewed by the Performance Management sub-group.
Recommendation: to agree that the Performance Management sub-group should meet to consider the draft Performance Monitoring framework when it is available.
ii) NHS Sub-group
a) Report on last meeting
*** The notes of the meeting held on 28th September are appended to this agenda.
Matters which have been raised and are to be discussed at the next meeting of the Sub-group include:
• Development of a Local Health Plan
• Consideration of the pilot being undertaken at Hexham to deliver some forms of chemotherapy locally
• A review of the Out-of-Hours service after three months
• Development of a communications strategy for the group
b) Update on Protocol for Communicating Complaints
This was not fully considered at the last meeting of the NHS Sub-group, but it was considered likely that complaints would be discussed informally with the Manager of Berwick Infirmary in the first instance.
c) Co-option of new member to NHS Sub-group
It is proposed that Mrs Grace Haig, Chair of the Patient and Public Involvement in Health (PPI) Forum be co-opted onto the NHS Sub-group to increase patient representation on the sub-group.
Recommendations: (i) To invite Mrs Grace Haig to join the NHS Sub-group and (ii) to consider further areas of enquiry for the health sub-group.
4 ANNUAL WORK PROGRAMME 2004/05
Report Author: Gillian Simmons, Senior Democratic Services Officer, tel no (01289) 301721; email: gs@berwick-upon-tweed.gov.uk
Summary
• Suggests items for consideration by the Committee
Purpose
To update and develop the work programme for the coming year, in line with the strategic priorities of the Council.
Report
(i) Leisure Connections/Swan Centre
The relationship between the Council and Leisure Connections has been passed to the Culture and Arts Working Group for review and recommendations, which will be fed into the Improvement Plan.
Whilst a similar review by Overview and Scrutiny may involve some duplication of effort, there is scope for O&S to consider inviting the manager of the Swan Centre to make a report on activities over the last year, and to outline plans for the future.
Recommendation: To decide whether to invite the manager of the Swan Centre to make a presentation on the Centre's recent activities and forthcoming plans.
(ii) Matters identified at a meeting of Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny, Policy (Environment) and Policy (CS&R)
a) Evening Economy
The Evening Economy concerns commercial and leisure activities in the early evening, such as shops and cafes staying open later to provide incentives for visitors and residents to come into Berwick town centre later in the day, and to provide retail opportunities for those working in the town on their way home.
A scrutiny exercise on the Evening Economy could investigate how widely 'late night shopping' would be used, particularly in the run up to Christmas, and could work with local retailers to see if such a scheme could be combined with other incentives such as free parking to attract shoppers to Berwick. The scrutiny might also inform the case for increased retail and leisure opportunities in the summer season.
b) "Greening" the Council
A review of Council practices to see if these could be made more environmentally sustainable, with the aim of developing clear recommendations on how this could be done.
c) Waste Management
An overview of all aspects of waste management including resourcing, DEFRA application, issues concerning fly-tipping etc. and the connections between this and CDRP's emerging antisocial behaviour strategy, with the aim of producing a detailed report to inform Policy (Environment) decision making in this area.
d) Environmental Health Issues
(i) Food Safety - a review of the service now that it has had increased resources, to look at how those additional resources have been used, whether targets are being met and whether the service has improved.
(ii) Health and Safety - a scrutiny of targets, priorities and activities, to obtain an overview of the service as provided by Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council.
Both of the above reviews could be undertaken by inviting officers to attend Overview and Scrutiny to report to the Committee and to take questions from Members.
e) Housing
A review of the housing maintenance service in light of the CPA process. This could be undertaken by inviting officers to attend Overview and Scrutiny to report to the Committee and to take questions from Members.
f) Planning
A review of proposed new arrangements once staff have been in place for 3 months. This could be undertaken by inviting officers to attend Overview and Scrutiny to report to the Committee and to take questions from Members.
Recommendations: (i) To consider which, if any, of the above should be added to the work programme and to set up working groups to undertake the reviews, and (ii) to schedule reviews which can be undertaken by the full Overview and Scrutiny Committee in its regular meetings
(iii) Areas of joint scrutiny with other Councils in the region
Alnwick District Council’s Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee has set up a Regional Funding Working Group to examine how regional funding works to the disadvantage of the Council, to include involvement by other councils in rural Northumberland.
To this end it has received reports from the Northumberland Strategic Partnership on the distribution of external government funding by One NorthEast during the financial year 2003-04.
Alnwick is now consulting on the information received and has asked that a representative(s) of Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee be appointed to feedback the Borough Council’s views on the funding situation. This could be in writing, or by attendance at the next meeting of the Regional Funding Working Group at 3.00pm on Thursday 11th November 2004.
Recommendation: That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee appoint a representative(s) to consider the evidence collected by Alnwick District Council and to feedback the Borough Council’s views on Regional Funding to the Alnwick Regional Funding Working Group.
b) Joint Scrutiny Project
Proposals for a joint health scrutiny project have been discussed by officers from Alnwick, Castle Morpeth, Blyth and Berwick. Whilst still in its early stages, this initiative should be welcomed as an opportunity to undertake a wider investigation of a specific health issue across the region.
Recommendation: To note the report.
b) Regional Officers and Members Scrutiny Network
Next meeting to be held on Thursday, 11th November in Morpeth, hosted by Northumberland County Council. Items on the agenda will include:
• Presentation by Gareth Wall, Centre for Public Scrutiny
• Performance Monitoring
• Scrutinising the Children’s Bill
Recommendation: To appoint a representative of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to attend meetings of the Regional Officers and Members Scrutiny Network
5 BUSINESS FOR NEXT MEETING
This item is a standing item on all Overview and Scrutiny agendas.
Members are invited to identify:
• the item for substantive debate
• any items in the work programme on which they would like a more detailed progress report
Members are reminded of their responsibility
to sign the Attendance Sheet in compliance with the Rules of Procedure.
