Agenda and minutes

A minute of silence was observed in memory of Councillor Dhirajlal Lavingia.  The Vice-Chairman of the Committee paid tribute to the work carried out by Councillor Lavingia, in particular the amount of voluntary work he had carried out.  He would be sorely missed by his colleagues and the community of Harrow. 

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 the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

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:-

Agenda Item 10 - Healthcare for London:  Consulting the Capital - Local Consultation Process

The following Members declared personal interests as set out below and remained in the room to participate in the discussion and decision relating to this item and ask questions on the presentation received at the meeting:-

(i)                   Councillor B E Gate stated that his wife and daughter worked for a local General Practitioner (GP);

(ii)                 CouncillorMrs Vina Mithani stated that she worked for the Health Protection Agency;

(iii)                Councillor Eric Silver, who was not a member of this Committee, stated that he was a contractor who dealt with the Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Agenda Item 11 – Final Report on CSCI Annual Review

The following Members declared personal interests as set out below and remained in the room to participate in the discussion and decision relating to this item and ask questions on the presentation received at the meeting:-

(i)                   Councillor Mitzi Green stated that her son received benefits from the Council;

(ii)                 CouncillorMrs Margaret Davine stated that her mother was in receipt of social care from the Council;

(iii)                Councillor Stanley Sheinwald stated that he was Chair of the Carers’ Partnership Group.

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.

The Chairman re-ordered the agenda of the meeting.  For clarity, business is recorded in the order set out in the agenda.

RESOLVED:  That all items be considered with the press and public present.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2007, which had previously been confirmed at the special meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11 December 2007, be further amended as follows:-

Minute 206, to delete the words ‘and the Neighbourhood Housing Trust’ from paragraph (ii);

(2) the minutes of the special meeting held on 11 December 2007 be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendments:-

Minute 243 (i), paragraph 2 be amended to read ‘Councillor Dinesh Solanki declared a personal interest in that he lived in Wealdstone’;

Minute 243 (ii), paragraph 3 be amended to read:

(i)                   Councillor Jeremy Zeid declared an interest in that he was a governor of Priestmead Middle School;

(ii)                 Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane declared an interest in that he was a governor of Canons High School;

(iii)                Councillor Anthony Seymour declared an interest in that he was a governor of Pinner Park Middle School;

(iv)               Councillor Ashok Kulkarni declared an interest in that he was a governor of Roxbourne First and Middle School.

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 at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 8.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 9.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

(if any).

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

Report of the Interim Divisional Director of Strategy and Improvement

The Committee received a report of Interim Divisional Director, Strategy and Improvement, which set out matters that had been considered by the Scrutiny Policy and Performance Lead Members between October and December 2007.

The Scrutiny Manager introduced the report and highlighted the key aspects of the report, and sought approval of the letter set out at Appendix 2.

The Scrutiny Policy Lead Member, Children and Young People, suggested that:-

·                     the letter at Appendix 2 be signed off by the Scrutiny Policy and Performance Lead Members, Adult Health and Social Care;

·                     the report on Children and Young People, which made reference to the target of developing more Children’s Centres between 2008?2011, ought to include that, by 2011, Harrow would have a total of 16 Children’s Centres.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the reports of the Scrutiny Policy and Performance Lead Members be noted;

(2)  the letter at Appendix 2 of the report, addressed to the Chief Executive of the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust on the future of the Brent Birth Centre, be approved and that it be signed off by the Scrutiny Policy and Performance Lead Members, Adult Health and Social Care.

Report of the Primary Care Trust

The Chairman welcomed, Sarah Crowther, Chief Executive of Harrow Primary Care Trust (PCT), and Karen Butler, Head of Patient and Public Involvement, Harrow PCT. 

Sarah Crowther gave a presentation on Healthcare for London:  Consulting the Capital.  The consultation, currently being carried out by all PCTs in London and Surrey over a three-month period, was based on proposals arising from Healthcare for London: Framework for Action, also known as the Darzi Review.  The proposals were aimed at making the best use of taxpayers' money, at the same time as delivering improvements and reducing inequalities in healthcare in London in the context of a projected growth in demand for services.  A shift in the balance between community and hospital care was being proposed, together with the establishment of polyclinics, offering a wide range of high-quality services over extended hours.  There would be a range of hospitals - local, major acute and specialist, with effective centres carrying out high-volume elective surgery.  Feedback from a public consultation "roadshow" event held at Harrow Civic Centre on Saturday 26 January 2008 demonstrated that a priority for local people was that all the services worked well together.  Sarah Crowther emphasised that the consultation related to a framework for action, not individual services or buildings.  The consultation would end on 7 March 2008, with recommendations to be drawn up in summer 2008.  PCTs would then develop detailed proposals, which would be subject to discussion, scrutiny and consultation, and Harrow PCT looked forward to working with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on this process.

Sarah Crowther and Karen Butler then responded to Members' questions as follows:-

·                     partnership working, for example, with social care providers, was important to Harrow PCT, although at this stage much more work needed to be done on finance to ensure there was adequate funding, with a view at a later stage to setting out a year-on-year plan on which the PCT would work closely with the Council;

·                     the 26 January 2008 "roadshow" had attracted over 50 people, there had been events at two local supermarkets, and documents and posters had been circulated throughout the local community.  While the number of responses was not yet high, it was important to note that the quality of the feedback received had been good.  Unfortunately, it had not been possible to hold the “roadshow” in Harrow Town Centre because of the IT requirements which could not be met by the two shopping centres.  Feedback from other PCTs was that the quality of responses from “roadshows” in shopping centres had not been good;

·                     in order to make effective use of Information Technology (IT) systems and guarantee security of patients' records, the PCT would need to make some changes to systems, but also to make better use of what was already available, and every PCT Chief Executive was conducting a review of data security.  There existed different levels of access to patients’ records and amendments to records needed to be tracked.  She acknowledged that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 260.

Report of the Interim Corporate Director of Adults and Housing

The Portfolio Holder, Adult Services, introduced the summary report of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) on its annual assessment of Harrow's performance in social care services for adults in 2006/07.  The CSCI's overall judgement was that the Council had provided adequate delivery of outcomes during the period, with a star rating of one (on a scale of zero to three), with uncertainty about the services' capacity to improve.

The Interim Corporate Director, Adults and Housing, gave a presentation on measures being taken to address this assessment and improve adult social care services, reporting that this area now had a higher profile, with a focus on well-being, self?directed support and safeguarding vulnerable adults.  Cabinet had agreed that adult services/intermediate care were a priority, and these services now featured strongly in the new Local Area Agreement.  The officer welcomed involvement from Scrutiny in relation to the safety of vulnerable adults.  In response to a Member's question, he reported that both the Council and the PCT had agreed to put more money into intermediate care services. 

Answering questions about the implications of the recent judicial review of the Council's decision to change the criteria of eligibility for adult social care, in which a judge had found against the Council on one of five counts, the Corporate Director and the Portfolio Holder informed Members that steps were being taken to ensure that any relevant lessons might be learned from this challenge. 

A Member was concerned that Cabinet had not received sufficient advice in this regard.  He was of the view that Scrutiny might want to examine the process to identify problem areas.  The knock?on effect of the decision needed to be realised and it was important that the process was robust.  He was of the view that such decisions ought to be taken by full Council.

The Director stated that should Council decide to move to provision of critical care only in the future, the vulnerable would be safeguarded.

Members noted a new will to improve adult services and were confident of a higher assessment in the future. 

RESOLVED:  That the report and the comments above be noted.

Report of Interim Divisional Director of Strategy and Improvement

The Scrutiny Performance Lead Member, Adult Health and Social Care, and the Scrutiny Policy Lead Member, Children and Young People, introduced the report, which set out the findings and recommendations of the Scrutiny Review of Obesity in Harrow. 

The Scrutiny Policy Lead Member, Children and Young People, informed the Committee that Recommendation 7 had been addressed.  In relation to Recommendation 3, she agreed to send details of the MEND programme to the Scrutiny Policy Lead Member, Adult Health and Social Care.  She also drew attention to various Recommendations where the support of the PCT was crucial.

The Portfolio Holder, Adult Services, welcomed the opportunity to serve on the Diabetes Partnership Board (Recommendation 11 refers) but requested that the Scrutiny Policy Lead Member, Children and Young People, and the Scrutiny Performance Lead Member, Adult Health and Social Care, act as Co?Board Members.  In relation to recommendation 12, the Portfolio Holder agreed that the communications teams of both Harrow and the PCT ought to work together.

Sarah Crowther, the Chief Executive of Harrow PCT, agreed that the PCT would be happy to work with the Council with a view to making joint bids for funding in this area (Recommendation 6 refers) and stated that Recommendation 13 would be addressed.  She agreed in principle to all the review recommendations relating to the PCT.  Members discussed the need for more children to walk to school and for adults to take responsibility for their own health.  They also agreed that the 2012 Olympics should be used to enthuse more people to take exercise.

The Review Group and supporting officers were thanked for the excellent report.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report and its recommendations be endorsed, subject to adding a reference to the 2012 Olympics;

(2)  the report be referred to Cabinet and the Harrow PCT Board for consideration and agreement;

(3)  the monitoring of progress against the report's recommendations be placed on the Scrutiny Work Programme.

Report of the Corporate Director of Strategy and Business Support

The Chairman of the Review Group introduced the report, which set out the Group's findings and recommendations on the first year of the partnership between Harrow Council and Accord MP in the delivery of public realm services. 

Unusually, and in order to avoid excessive delay in allowing Cabinet to see the report, it had been presented to Cabinet prior to coming to Overview and Scrutiny.  Cabinet had endorsed the recommendations.  Asked about specific success measures and measures of impact of the review, the Chairman of the Review Group said that there would be an update after six months, with implementation of the recommendations to be monitored on a "by exception" basis by the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee.  The Vice?Chairman stated that the matrix at pages 150?151 of the agenda ought to have a time limit and that bench monitoring was also essential.  Members agreed that the report was very positive, demonstrating a good partnership relationship.  They also suggested that the Portfolio Holder, Environment Services, be kept informed of the results of the review.

It was noted that whilst the conclusions from this Review could be applied to the partnership with Kier, it would be looked at separately after the partnership was in operation for at least six months.

Officers were thanked for their support.

RESOLVED:  That (1) the findings of the review be noted;

(2)  the recommendations be endorsed;

(3)  the implementation of the recommendations be monitored by means of an update after six months and on a "by exception" basis by the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED:  That it be noted that a response on the query relating to the legal basis of the decision taken by the Council in relation to the pan-London JOSC, referred to in Minute 245(a)(2) of the minutes of 11 December 2007 meeting, remained outstanding, and that, should the response not be received by the 11 February 2008 meeting of the Committee, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman write to the Director of Legal and Governance Services seeking a response to this matter.