10th October 2006 - Minutes

BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY

(STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY (STEWARDSHIP) COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON TUESDAY, 10 OCTOBER 2006

PRESENT: Ms J A Jenkins – Chairman

Mr G S White was unable to be present at the meeting.

Cllr C Barker, Cllr Ms R Burt, Cllr R Crane, Cllr W Sadler, Mr J Harris and Ms S Turner

of Forest Heath District Council (FHDC) were in attendance at the meeting as observers. Mr Barker, Chairman of the FHDC Overview and Scrutiny Committee, spoke briefly to explain how overview and scrutiny were carried out at Forest Heath and what they hoped to learn from their visit to Babergh.

36 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

There were no declarations of interest.

37 MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 August 2006 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

38 PETITIONS

None received.

39 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS

None received.

40 WORK PLAN

The Head of Corporate Services submitted a report (Paper F102), which provided details of the Committee’s anticipated work for the remainder of 2006/07, including items which may be the subject of Call In Procedures.

It was noted that the Overview and Scrutiny (Community Services) Committee would be receiving a progress report on enforcement matters.

It was agreed that the Capital Programme Monitoring report being discussed at the next meeting of the Committee would include specific details of likely under-spends and schemes to be brought forward in the Programme.

RESOLVED

That the Work Plan submitted as Paper F102 be noted.

41 REVIEW OF CALL-IN PROCEDURES

Mrs S Carpendale presented a report (Paper F103) by the Working Group to review Call-In Procedures. She reminded Members of the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the review and outlined the Group’s recommendations.

The Committee Services Manager drew attention to the questions set out in Appendix 1 to Paper F103, which had provided the framework for the review. He also reminded Members that the Overview and Scrutiny Committees had opportunities to review Strategy Committee decisions before and after they were taken, without recourse to the Call-In Procedures.

In the ensuing discussion, concerns were expressed about recommendation 2.4, where it was proposed that the Head of Corporate Services, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and the Chairman of the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee should consider the validity of any Call-In request. Some Members felt that, if there were disagreement between the Officers and the Chairman as to whether or not a Call-In request was valid, then the Chairman’s view should prevail.

Reservations were also expressed about the proposed new protocol set out in Appendix 5. It was suggested that further work might be needed to ensure that the Protocol did not contradict the procedures set out in the Constitution.

RECOMMENDED TO STRATEGY COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL

(1) That recommendations 2.1 to 2.3 and 2.5 to 2.9 be approved as set out in Paper F103.

(2) That recommendation 2.4 of Paper F103 be amended to read:

“That the Chairman of the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, in consultation with the Head of Corporate Services and the Monitoring Officer, considers the validity of a Call-In request, having regard to any agreed protocol. The Chief Executive and Corporate Directors are to maintain an overview of procedures, be notified of a Call-In request and be consulted if necessary.”

42 IMPROVING USE OF RESOURCES

The Head of Finance presented a report (Paper F104) about improving use of resources. He outlined key areas where strengthening of the Council’s arrangements for risk and financial management, internal control and securing value for money were being progressed. It was envisaged that the improvements to date and the proposals for further strengthening outlined in Paper F104 would result in a positive impact on the Council’s 2006 Use of Resources assessment by the Audit Commission.

In the discussion which followed it was agreed that Officers would look into the possibility of making the Corporate Assets Register available electronically and of circulating to Committee Members information about land owned by Babergh in each ward.

Members were in favour of publishing an annual report and summary financial information, provided it was succinct and readable. It was suggested that a good starting point might be the annual review prepared by the Communications and PR Manager to assist Members in reporting to Parish Meetings.

RESOLVED

(1) That the actions to improve and strengthen the Council’s arrangements for the effective use of resources indicated in Appendix A and Sections 4.8 and 4.9 of Paper F104 be noted.

(2) That a further report be submitted to the Committee in March 2007 setting out the results of the 2006 Audit Commission assessment and any further strengthening of the Council’s arrangements that are appropriate.

43 BENEFIT SERVICE – PERFORMANCE AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT – 1 JULY TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2006

The Head of Customer Services presented a report (Paper F105) setting out the performance of the Benefit Service for the period 1 July 2006 to 30 September 2006 and service developments which were being implemented following the work carried out by the Business Process Re-engineering Project.

In the ensuing discussions, the following were among the points noted:-

· For the current quarter the performance of the Benefit Service was either “excellent” or “good” on the six performance measures monitored by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

· Two thirds of applicants came from the Pension Service or Job Centre Plus. These applicants could not be dealt with until their eligibility for other government benefits had been determined. This could lead to delays, but efforts were being made to overcome the problem through on-going meetings with the DWP.

RESOLVED

That the performance of the Benefit Service and the developments in progress during the period 1 July to 30 September 2006 as set out in Paper F105 be noted.

44 DISTRICT AND PARISH/TOWN COUNCIL ELECTIONS

The Head of Corporate Services reported that since the Committee’s last meeting, further discussions had been undertaken with officers from the Department of Constitutional Affairs (DCA).

Members noted that the officials at the DCA believe that no more all-postal electoral pilots were likely to be approved, for the reasons set out in Minute 43 of the Strategy Committee meeting held on 28 September 2006. It was also noted that the Strategy Committee had resolved:

“That the report on District and Parish/Town Council Elections in 2007 (Postal Voting) set out in Paper F73 be noted, and that the measures set out in paragraph 4.23 of Paper F73 be undertaken, subject to funding being made available, and with particular emphasis on publicising the availability of postal voting in the five selected Wards.”

Members noted that a sum of £4,750 had been set aside for publicising the elections.

The Electoral and Administrative Services Manager gave a presentation on research carried out by the Electoral Commission on why people chose not to vote, the extent of the problem and measures that needed to be taken to increase the level of citizen involvement in public affairs. The issue was multi-faceted and representative institutions, such as local authorities, were not alone in needing to address democratic and community engagement. The Electoral Commission had also undertaken research into the likely impact that advertising and publicity alone could have on electoral turnout and the presentation included details of the promotional measures that might be possible within the projected budget.

Members noted that individually addressed communications to electors appeared to be an effective but relatively expensive means of encouraging people to vote, and because of the cost, it would not be possible to pursue such an option ahead of the May 2007 elections. Officers were, however, asked to look into the possibility, legality and allocation of costs of allowing candidates to include information about themselves in a mailing collated by the Council.

RESOLVED

That the position be noted.

Note: The Committee adjourned for refreshments between 10.30 and 10.45 a.m.

The business of the meeting was concluded at 12.35 p.m.

……………………………….

Chairman