Agenda and minutes

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

In connection with Agenda Item 6 (Access to Primary Care in Harrow),  Councillor Kairul Kareema Marikar declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she is employed in the Patients Advice and Liaison Service in Harrow.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

In connection with Agenda Item 8 (Peer Review), Councillor Mrs Chika Amadi declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she works in Wealdstone Town Centre and might be relevant to discussion of the Council’s regeneration plans.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2017 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 February 2017 be taken as read and signed as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

Page 196 – the second sentence of the question about Project Infinity (second paragraph on that page) to be replaced with the following words:  “Beyond the “My Community” e-purse, were the other items not products but concepts with speculative assumptions about income?”

Page 197 – penultimate paragraph on the page to be supplemented with the following sentence:  “The Council has no idea when it will get 500 properties.”

Matters Arising:

Minute 204 (Page 197): Councillor Almond referred to the agreement recorded in the minutes to report back to members of the Committee on the governance arrangements for the Concilium group of companies.  An update would be obtained for members of the Committee.

Minute 204 (Page 198): Councillor Almond asked about progress in replying to the query about damage to grass verges.  Councillor Ali reported that he had received a satisfactory response from the relevant Portfolio Holder.

Minute 205 (Page 198):  Councillor Almond pointed out that the minutes referred to agreement recorded in the minutes to report to Members on the implications for changes in street trading policy and charges on the budget position.  An update would be obtained for members of the Committee.

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 notice of them was received and there be a time limit of 15 minutes.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm on Monday, 3 April 2017.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions or petitions were received at this meeting.

Report of the Divisional Director, Strategic Commissioning

The Committee received a report which outlined the activities of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the scrutiny sub-committees and the scrutiny lead councillors during the 2016-17 municipal year.

Resolved to RECOMMEND:  (to Council)

That the annual report be submitted to Council for endorsement.

RESOLVED:  That the scrutiny annual report for 2016-17 be approved.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the report from health scrutiny members be endorsed;

(2)          the Review’s report and its recommendations be forwarded to the relevant agencies, as identified in the recommendations, for consideration and response; and

(3)          it be agreed that the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee revisit primary care access and the implementation of the report’s recommendations in its work programme for 2017/18.

Report of the Chief Executive

The Leader of the Council joined the meeting at this point (7.43 pm).

The Committee received a report by the Chief Executive which outlined some of the work which had taken place to address recommendations in the LGA Peer review report.  The Cabinet had agreed that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be requested to work with the Leader of the Council and the Chief executive to develop the draft action plan set out in the committee report and to help the organisation improve in response to the review.

A Member asked about the involvement of councillors in setting priorities for the Council’s future work.  The Chief Executive underlined the importance of positive and cooperative working relationships between Members and officers.  He had written to all Corporate Directors to emphasise the need to work to engage councillors across the board so that they understood how proposals and projects were developing.  He personally made efforts to go on ward visits so he could understand better the perspectives of individual councillors, and he would meet with new councillors to establish immediately a clear appreciation of respective roles and expectations.  The Chief Executive encouraged Members to let him know if these efforts could be improved and/or if at any time difficulties were being encountered in the working relationships with Corporate Directors. 

A Member proposed some corrections to the description of items in the draft action plan as follows:

Item 10 – should refer to the “economic regeneration agenda”.

Item 13 – should refer to the “budget setting challenge process”.

He also suggested that the action plan follow the order of the proposals and recommendations in the peer review report itself. 

In response to a Member’s question about the review’s comments on the  level of challenge to the Cabinet’s work, the Leader of the Council referred to arrangements made to strengthen this, including the “deep dive reviews” established by the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Commercialisation and his own fortnightly meetings with Portfolio Holders with no officers in attendance.  The Chief Executive added that these arrangements mirrored his own fortnightly meetings with Corporate Directors which he used to challenge proposals and promote coordination across the organisation.  There were also improvement boards for each Directorate which established inbuilt challenge to their work and their directorates’’ activities and performance.  The Chief Executive also acknowledged that the introduction of informal Cabinet briefing sessions with Portfolio Holders would enable discussions with Members at an earlier stage, and this would help to inform proposals more effectively.

A Member commended the Chief Executive and Administration for commissioning the peer review which she regarded as a progressive and forward-thing initiative.  She asked about the reaction of residents to the Harrow Regeneration Plans.  The Leader of the Council reported that residents’ feedback was mixed as could be expected in relation to very significant change plans, involving, for example, the construction of tall buildings in a town centre.  Major change affecting the built environment, traffic, parking, businesses, etc., necessarily led to a range  ...  view the full minutes text for item 213.