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

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 there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business transacted at this meeting.

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.

RESOLVED:  That (1) in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the following item be admitted late to the agenda by virtue of the special circumstances and grounds for urgency detailed below:-

(2)  all items be considered with the press and public present.

To defer the signing of the Minutes of the Committee’s ordinary meeting held on 22 April 2008 and the earlier special meeting held on 12 May 2008, until the next ordinary meeting.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Committee’s ordinary meeting held on 22 April 2008 and the earlier special meeting held on 12 May 2008 be deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Committee.

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.

Report of the Interim Divisional Director of Strategy and Improvement.

The Scrutiny Manager introduced the report, which outlined proposals to hold a Challenge Panel to support the development of the Council’s Corporate Improvement Programme.  In response to questions from a Member, she stated that the request for convening a Challenge Panel had come from the Interim Divisional Director of Strategy and Improvement.  A robust challenge would be expected in relation to the content and focus of the Improvement Programme.

The key objectives of the Challenge Panel would be to:-

·                     challenge the assumptions upon which the revised corporate improvement programme will be based;

·                     challenge the focus of the action proposed;

·                     consider the appropriateness of the action proposed;

·                     challenge the effectiveness of the action proposed.

The Committee was also informed that the Corporate Improvement Programme would be considered by Cabinet on 19 June 2008 and there was a need to feed into the report before 7 June.  It was therefore intended to hold the Challenge Panel, subject to the Committee’s agreement on its establishment, between 21 May and 7 June 2008.  It was noted that the Liberal Democrat Group had also been contacted with a view to one of their Members serving on this Panel.  The Scrutiny Manager confirmed that the Directors had indicated their availability for a round table discussion to investigate four areas of the scope.

RESOLVED: That (1) Challenge Panel be held to support the development of the Council’s Corporate Improvement Programme;

(2)  in addition to the two Members from each of the Conservative and Labour Groups, a Member from the Liberal Democrat Group be invited to serve on the Challenge Panel;

(3)  the scope set out at appendix 1 to the officer report be agreed.