Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)            to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)          where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)         the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)         if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)          all Members of the Committee;

(b)          all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that

(1)          the Declarations of Interests published in advance of the meeting on the Council’s website were taken as read;

(2)          Members of the Committee and Co-opted Members who had declared interests remained in the virtual meeting whilst the matters were considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on [DATE] be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2021 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, <DATE>.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk   

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

(if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that no references were received.

The Committee received the Scrutiny annual report 2020/21.

The Chair introduced the report and noted that due to the pandemic the report could not be done in the format as the previous year, but thanked the officers for delivering a good report.

The Committee thanked the officers for the report and be proud of what was achieved given the circumstances. The Committee noted that it outlined the past year well and gave a good insight into scrutiny. 

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the report be considered and agreed;

(2)          the report be submitted to Full Council for endorsement.

The Committee received the Scrutiny Work Programme 2021/22.

The Chair introduced the report and noted this was a focus of what would happen over the next year, with some key topics to come to scrutiny.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the report be considered and approved;

(2)          the report be submitted to Full Council for endorsement.

Members received a report which presented the findings and recommendations from the Shared Services Scrutiny Review.  The review had commenced in late 2019 but had to conclude early in March 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic diverted resources and continued to stretch organisational capacity.

A member of the Committee presented the report and highlighted the following:

·                     the review had been carried out in the midst of the pandemic which had been challenging and whilst not all objectives had been met, the report highlighted some positives;

·                     feasibility study appraisals should support Council decisions on future shared services, with risks being able to be identified and mitigated;

·                     it was crucial that contracts and agreements in shared services had exit strategies included.

The Committee raised a number of points including that the opportunity to revisit this issue in the future would be welcomed.

The Chair and Committee thanked the officers and review panel for their work and agreed that this should be included on the Scrutiny Work Programme

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the Shared Services Scrutiny Review be endorsed;

(2)          the review’s report and recommendations be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration and response;

(3)          in line with Rule 25.1.1 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules, Rule 40.2 be suspended, to allow the Executive a longer timeframe within which to respond to the Review, in recognition of current stretch in organisational capacity and that the response be provided by September 2021.