Agenda and minutes

The Committee received a report of the Director of People, Performance and Policy (Business Development), which outlined the consultation that had taken place on the reconfiguration of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees and their proposed remits, including that of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Having agreed the reconfiguration and the terms of reference of its Sub-Committees, it was

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Council)

That the terms of reference of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, agreed by Extraordinary Council on 31 May 2006, be amended to specify responsibility for scrutinising culture, adults with special needs and health finance as set out in paragraph (d) at Appendix 1 to the minutes.

(See also Minutes 11 and 19).

The Chair welcomed Councillor Christopher Noyce to his first meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee following his appointment by Council at its meeting held on 13 July 2006.

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 at this meeting.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:-

(i)                   Agenda Item 10 – Reconfiguration of Scrutiny Sub-Committees

Councillor Mitzi Green stated that she had taken advice from the Director of Corporate Governance in respect of this report.  She declared a personal interest in that her adult son, who had a learning disability, received support from Harrow Learning Disabilities Team and Housing Benefits.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

The Member wished it to be noted that she would seek further advice from the Director of Corporate Governance on individual reports with issues relating to adults with special needs and adult health/social care if and when these were considered by relevant Committees and declare her interests accordingly.

(ii)                 Agenda Item 18 – Any Other Business – Presentation by Arts Culture Harrow

Councillor Jean Lammiman declared a personal interest in that she was a Council appointed representative of Arts Culture Harrow (ACH).  She would remain in the room whilst the presentation was received and considered.

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:  That (1) in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1972 (as amended), the following agenda items be admitted late to the agenda by virtue of the special circumstances and grounds for urgency detailed below:-

(2)  the presentation by Arts Culture Harrow and the report titled ‘Cultural Services Inspection – Improvement Plan’ be received following consideration of agenda items 1 to 7 as the two matters were linked;

(3)  all business be considered with the press and public present.

(i) The minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2006, having been circulated, to be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

(ii) The the approval of the minutes of the special meeting held on 5 June 2006 be deferred until printed in the Council Bound Minute Volume.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the minutes of the meeting held on 25 April 2006, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record;

(2) the minutes of the Special meeting held on 5 June 2006 be deferred until printed in the Council Bound Minute Volume.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules 8, 9 and 10 (Part 4F of the Council’s Constitution) respectively.

The Chair welcomed Mike Severyn, the Chair of Arts Culture Harrow (ACH), and Lesley McConnell, Transitional Chief Executive, to the meeting.

Members received a presentation outlining the ACH Vision for the Future ‘Going Forward’ including the initiatives undertaken and proposed.  The Chair of ACH advised that there was a desire to strengthen the relationship between ACH and the Council and a need to tackle challenges, as well as increase income, development and capacity.  He paid tribute to Lesley McConnell and her staff on the achievements of ACH despite a restructure and commended her on rebuilding the organisation.

Members thanked the ACH Chair and the Transitional Chief Executive for their presentation and the responses provided to their questions and suggestions.

ACH’s interest in being involved in the setting up of an ‘all purpose performance area’ in Harrow was noted.  Members were supportive of the suggestion to visit the Wood Green Chocolate Factory to see how it had developed as a business.

It was noted that ACH would be included in the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme.

RESOLVED:  To note the presentation.

(See also Minutes 11, 12 and 16).

Report of the Director of Lifelong Learning and Cultural Services (People First)

The Committee received a report from the Director of Lifelong Learning and Cultural Services (People First), which set out the progress made against the Improvement Plan following the inspection of Cultural Services in March 2005.

An officer outlined the contents of the report, in particular the actions taken by the Council and those that were planned for the future, in relation to the recommendations made by the Audit Commission which were as follows:

·         improving the Council’s relationships with key partner organisations, which the officer explained would include the Arts Culture Harrow from whom the Committee had received a presentation that evening;

·         developing and implementing a service-wide framework for measuring impact;

·         ensuring that the vision for Cultural Services was clearly articulated and fully understood.

 Members were informed that:-

·         the Improvement Plan would be updated to reflect the changes in the Council’s Corporate priorities under the new administration;

·         a cross-cutting cultural services officer group had been established to ensure delivery of actions against the improvement plan and to ensure ‘a state of readiness’ for the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) in November 2006.

The officer responded to questions from residents and alluded to the changes to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) in relation to the Harrow Sports Council which were expected to be agreed the following week.

The Chairman stated that the Improvement Plan would inform the Committee’s Work Programme and how culture in Harrow would be taken forward by Scrutiny.  She requested that the report be sent to the representatives of the ACH who had attended the meeting that evening.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report be noted;

(2)  it be noted that the Improvement Plan would inform the Committee’s Work Programme;

(See also Minutes 15 and 25).

Report of the Director of Corporate Governance

The Committee received a report from the Director of Corporate Governance, which set out the changes required to the membership of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees in order to ensure compliance with legislation and the Council’s Constitution.  A paper setting out the changes to the membership of the Sub-Committees was tabled at the meeting.

During consideration of the report, nominations were received and seconded for Councillors Anthony Seymour and Mitzi Green in relation to the appointment of the Chairman of the Call?In Sub?Committee, which were duly voted upon.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the advice regarding the groups’ entitlement to seats on the Children and Young People Scrutiny Sub-Committee be noted;

(2)  the additional nominations for Reserve Members of the Call?In Scrutiny Sub?Committee be agreed as set out in the tabled paper;

(3)  the memberships of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees be approved as appended at Appendix 2 to the minutes;

(4)  Councillor Anthony Seymour be appointed Chairman of the Call?in Sub?Committee for the Municipal Year 2006/07. 

(if any).

RESOLVED:  To note that no references from Council or Cabinet were received.

Report of the Director of People, Performance and Policy (Business Development)

The Committee considered a report from the Director of People, Performance and Policy, which summarised the consultation that had taken place on the reconfiguration of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees and their proposed remit, including the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, since the Special meeting of this Committee on 5 June 2006.

An officer outlined the changes proposed to the remits of the Scrutiny Sub?Committees detailed in the report.  She also outlined proposals to establish a standing review group under the auspices of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 

RESOLVED:  That (1) the reconfiguration of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees be confirmed:

(2)  the revised remits of the Scrutiny Sub-Committees be agreed;

(3)  a report on the implementation of the reconfigured structure be submitted in a year’s time;

(4)  the terms of reference for the standing review group on health service finances be agreed.    

(See also Recommendation I and Minute 11).

Report of the Director of People, Performance and Policy (Business Development)

The Committee received a report of the Director of People, Performance and Policy, which set out the key findings and areas for development following the second Staff Survey which had been undertaken in November 2005 by the Work Foundation on behalf of the Council.

An officer highlighted the key aspects of the report and responded to questions from Members as follows:-

·         that the Work Foundation would be asked to comment on the suggestion of linking the confidence aspects together;

·         that staff at all levels would undergo training on the management of contracts and finance and that a new programme of training – ‘money matters’ - for managers would be introduced;

·         that an ‘Investors in People’  (IIP) corporate accreditation had been planned for May 2007 and that the outcome of the diagnostic, which had recently been completed, would help determine the assessment date. Each Directorate had its own Action Plan. It was incumbent on each Director to ensure that their Plans were being monitored in order to prepare the Council for the corporate assessment.

The Chairman advised that a ‘light touch’ scrutiny review would be carried out on the IIP corporate accreditation.

RESOLVED:  That the findings and action plans of the staff survey 2005 be noted.

Report of the Executive Director (Urban Living)

Members considered a report of the Executive Director (Urban Living), which provided a comprehensive overview of the progress made in implementing the Middle Management Review (MMR) within the Urban Living Directorate, details of which were set out in the report.

An officer made the following key points in response to questions from Members:-

·         the MMR within the Public Realm Infrastructure Services Group was expected to be completed by August 2006;

·         whilst the MMR was ‘substantially complete’ within five of the six operational groups which comprised Urban Living, certain issues such as retirement and displacement of staff had yet to be resolved in these groups;

·         the £100m + contract with Accord MP which commenced on 1 July 2006 was for a period of five years;

·         Appendix 1 to the report provided an overview of progress, comparing the status report to the April 2006 Committee with the current position at 30 June 2006 but it did not include details of new staff.

It was commented that the information provided at Appendix 1 was misleading and Members requested that a comprehensive list of the staff employed within the Urban Living Directorate be circulated to the Committee.  Members also sought assurances that the MMR process within Urban Living would be completed by August 2006.

The Chairman requested that the issues raised by Members be conveyed to the Executive Director (Urban Living) and the relevant Portfolio Holder(s).  She indicated that the Committee would, if necessary, consider matters under the confidential section of the agenda.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report be noted;

(2)  a comprehensive list of managers within the Urban Living Directorate be circulated to Members of the Committee;

(3)  it be noted that a progress report on the recommendations made by the scrutiny review of the MMR process would be submitted to the October 2006 meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 

Report of the Director of Corporate Governance

The Director of Financial and Business Strategy (Business Development) introduced the report, which set out details of the progress made in Corporate Governance during 2005/06 and the improvements planned for 2006/07.  She highlighted the key achievements during 2005/06 and the main workstreams planned for 2006/07.

The Chairman welcomed the report and stated that, in relation to the Equality Standards, it was important that the Committee received information comparing Harrow’s progress with other London Boroughs with an equally diverse population, prior to the October 2006 meeting of the Committee.  A Member suggested that the relevant Portfolio Holder be invited to attend that meeting of the Committee.

In response to questions from Members, the Director highlighted the benefits of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and the Management Information Systems (MIS) systems, details of which were set out in her report.  She added that the ERP system would go ‘live’ on 4 September 2006 and that staff training would take place during August and September 2006.  She explained how the Council would reap enormous benefits from both the systems, and would improve the Council’s capacity to monitor the issue of the costs and benefits associated with the use of consultants, data that was currently collected manually.  She added that with the ERP system, officers would be able to respond more fully on a report previously requested by the Committee in relation to the benefits and value for money provided by the consultants engaged by the Council.

A Member commended the work carried out by the Director of Financial and Business Strategy on financial stringency since her appointment to the Council.

RESOLVED:  That the good progress made in Corporate Governance during 2005/06 and the planned improvements for 2006/07 be noted.     

Report of the Director of Business Transformation (Business Development)

The Committee received a report of the Director of Business Transformation, which outlined the performance of the Business Transformation Partnership projects (BTP) and the proposed programme for quality assurance reviews during 2006.  The report also set out issues and developments in relation to the re?structure of Harrow Information Technology Service (HITS).

Members welcomed a representative from Capita and the consultant appointed to programme manage the BTP to the meeting.  They reported on the key aspects of the BTP project and the transformation of HITS, details of which were set out in the report.  They updated Members on the position since the report had been prepared and mentioned the following key points:-

BTP

·         the BTP project(s) was approaching a critical phase;

·         the Council had undertaken the biggest single training activity in Harrow;

·         Access Harrow (formerly First Contact) had embedded and performance had been improved;

·         further reports on the lessons learnt from the projects would be submitted to the Committee;

HITS

·         transformation of HITS aimed to provide high quality IT support;

·         the MMR process within HITS would be completed in August 2006;

·         the BTP was placing enormous demand on HITS and that a single ‘gateway’ had been created to deal with the demand;

·         the HITS Transformation Project Plan had been submitted to the First Contact Project Board on 7 July 2006 (rather than 25 June as stated in the report) and a copy of the Plan would be circulated to Members of the Committee;

·         the results of the Council-wide customer satisfaction survey run by HITS would be submitted to the Committee when the results were available.

Questions from Members on the survey and resources were answered.  The discussion then focused on the ability of the systems to deal with a high volume of calls, such as those recently experienced during the launch of the compulsory recycling scheme.  Members were informed that, in this instance, calls had been diverted to Capita’s Call Centre in Coventry and that useful lessons had been learnt when dealing with Council?wide campaigns.  It was noted that the Call Centre in Coventry was an option which would be held as a ‘reserve’ for use in exceptional circumstances. 

A Member stressed that whilst it was important to ensure that the overflow was dealt with, it was equally important to answer telephone calls quickly.  He was informed that whilst the volume of calls received was high, the quality of the response provided to the caller needed to be addressed. 

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report be noted;

(2)  the HITS Transformation Project Plan be circulated to Members of the Committee;

(3)  the results of the Council-wide customer satisfaction survey run by HITS be submitted to the October 2006 meeting of the Committee;

(4)  the cost of diverting calls to the Call Centre in Coventry be provided to Members of the Committee.     

Report of the Director of Financial and Business Strategy (Business Development)

The Committee received a paper from the Director of Financial and Business Strategy which had been previously circulated to the former Members of the Committee.

The Director highlighted the following key points:-

·         the new ERP system, due to go live on 4 September 2006, would substantially enhance the Council’s capacity to monitor procurement activity and performance of the suppliers;

·         the function of the procurement team was being examined/reviewed;

·         work with the voluntary sector would continue through the Harrow Association of Voluntary Services (HAVS);

·         a report on the savings achieved through procurement would be reported to Cabinet at its meeting on 3 August 2006.

The Chairman informed Members that procurement would remain in the Committee’s Work Programme for 2006/07.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted. 

Report of the Director of People, Performance and Policy (Business Development)

The Committee received a report from the Director of People, Performance and Policy (Business Development) which outlined how the Committee’s work programme had been devised for the period 2006?2010 and proposed new ways in which work might be undertaken.

An officer introduced the report and reported that the proposed new ways in which the work programme could be undertaken might help improve the way scrutiny was delivered.  She referred to the proposed establishment of the standing scrutiny review group on health finances and the need to consider its membership.

The Director of Financial and Business Strategy referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s responsibility for scrutinising the Council’s budget and the budget setting process.  She suggested that scrutiny of the budget would be more effectively delivered by a half day session – Challenge Panel – to which all appropriate officers and Members could be invited.  The Director was of the view that this process would help scrutiny Members to understand the issues and the pressures involved and allow them to contribute to the development of the budget.

The Director responded to questions from Members and suggested that it would be helpful for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive the report on the Council’s financial position, which would be considered by Cabinet on 3 August 2006.  She explained that the report would set out the process involved in setting up the budget.

Members expressed reservations about the proposed new ways of working due to the limited number of resources available.  They highlighted the importance of co?ordinating the various reviews and the need to be mindful of any overlap.

In response, an officer acknowledged the concern expressed by Members.  She reported that all non?executive Councillors would be invited to participate in the projects and stated that it was important that the Committee focused on outcomes that were important such as NHS finances, Council’s budget, Corporate Assessment, and the longer term scrutiny review on procurement and the Cultural Strategy.

The Chairman stated that a letter would be circulated to all non?executive Councillors inviting them to participate in the summer programme of scrutiny reviews.  The letter would set out details of the reviews under each scrutiny committee and the different methods of working that would be employed in each of the projects.  Following further discussion, the following Members were selected to lead on the projects set out below to be undertaken:-

In considering the recommendations set out in the report, it was

RESOLVED:  That (1) the items included in the work programme long list for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted;

(2)  the standing scrutiny review group of health finances be established;

(3)  the preparation for the finance and corporate assessment challenge panels be commenced;

(4)  the items in the work programme of the scrutiny  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Chairman reported that a special meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Question and Answer Session with the Leader and the Acting Chief Executive) would be held on 26 September 2006 at 7.30 pm.  She informed Members that a pre-meeting to discuss the questions would be held on 12 September 2006 and thereafter these meetings would take place ‘virtually’.

In response to questions from Members, the Chairman stated that the role of the Unions and their input into the work of Scrutiny would be discussed separately.

(See also Minute 12).

The Chairman reported that the ‘blog’ (ie developing new channels of communication) would come under the remit of the Member Development Panel.

(See also Minute 12)

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman thanked Maggie Rees, who would be leaving the service of the Council, for her work, professionalism and the support given to scrutiny. 

In accordance with the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 6.7(ii)(b), it was

RESOLVED:  (1)  At 10.00 pm to continue until 10.15 pm;

(2)  at 10.15 pm to continue until 10.20 pm;

(3)  at 10.20 pm to continue until 10.25 pm.