Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chairman and Vice-Chairman for the Harrow Strategic Partnership Board for the year 2008/09.

Nominations were received and duly seconded, and it was

AGREED: That Councillor David Ashton, Leader of Harrow Council, and Dr Gillian Schiller, Harrow Primary Care Trust, be appointed Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the HSP Board respectively.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Received and noted.

That the minutes of the Board Meeting held on 20 March 2008, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2008, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

(if any)

Item 134 Championing Harrow

Howard Bluston reported a very good response from youth and sports societies regarding the opportunities arising from the Community Sports and Physical Activity Network (CSPAN). He encouraged members of the HSP Board to contact Paul Coates, the officer in charge of the initiative, for further information. 

It was noted that the report on Championing Harrow had been deferred to the next meeting of the Board.

It was agreed that the report on Harrow Vitality Profiles – Options for the Way Forward be included on the agenda in order that work could proceed on an update.

Susan Kaminska, Research and Information Officer, presented a report which sought approval from the HSP Board to proceed with an update of the Harrow Vitality Profiles, with a view to producing a third edition of the Profiles towards the end of the year. It was noted that the work would be undertaken within existing budgets.

As consideration was being given to the restructuring of the Board it was not considered appropriate to take a longer-term view as to how the Council could seek to progress the work in the future. A further paper would be submitted at a later date.

AGREED:  That the Harrow Vitality Profiles be updated in 2008, largely using the same indicators and format of the previous Profiles, and with all costs being met from existing budgets.

To receive a report from the Divisional Director, Strategy and Improvement.

The Board received a report on the recommendations of the peer review visit to Harrow Council which had taken place as part of the national Local Government Improvement Programme designed to help the authority assess its current achievements and its capacity to improve.

Chris Bowron from the Improvement and Development Agency was in attendance at the meeting to respond to questions.

The Service Manager, Policy and Partnership Service introduced the report of the review which looked at the Council and the Harrow Strategic Partnership. The review considered that the time was right to review the role and functioning of the Partnership in order for it to be truly strategic and to look afresh at what was delivered by whom, where and how. The work of the Board was considered to be overly focused on Local Area Agreements, while the management groups had a greater partnership agenda. A revised structure was under consideration to widen further the Partnership as contained in the following report on the functions and governance of the Partnership.

The review recommended that a programme of development activity for the Harrow Strategic Partnership be established which focused on establishing a greater commitment to working together and enhancing the effectiveness of joint working. The new structure, if agreed, would be the best way to take this forward. The suggestion that the Council undertook a review of its relationship with the voluntary and community sector was being undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

With regard to specific recommendations in the report it was noted that:

 ‘The role of overview and scrutiny in respect of the Harrow Strategic Partnership is unclear’. As the Partnership takes a more important role in things such as the Comprehensive Area Assessment, the Overview and Scrutiny assessment will be useful.

‘The Harrow Strategic Partnership needs to publicly demonstrate its value.’ It had previously been considered that the achievements of the Board were more important than its visibility but it could be necessary to raise its profile to meet the requirements for CAA.

Delivering Through Partnerships called for the Council to recognise the value of Partners and this was being taken forward. The paper on Governance arrangements attempted to deal with the way forward to include more aspects that affected the people of Harrow.

In response to a question as to the monitoring of progress it was reported that Overview and Scrutiny was undertaking a review of the Council’s relationship with the voluntary and community sector, with a view to report back on an interim basis in the summer. Overview and Scrutiny also had a programme of other reviews some of which might be of interest to the Partnership. Arising from discussion, the Chairman undertook to speak to the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny in order to clarify the position. It was agreed that the Overview and Scrutiny work programme would be reported to the next meeting of the HSP Board with a one page summary distributed to Members prior to the next meeting together  ...  view the full minutes text for item 146.

To receive a report from the Divisional Director, Strategy and Improvement.

The Service Manager, Policy and Partnership Service introduced a report which proposed revised governance arrangements for the Partnership that reflected the changing nature of the new Local Area Agreement, the closer partnership working developing in Harrow and demanded by the new Comprehensive Area Assessment and the outcomes of the Peer Review of the Partnership undertaken at the end of the last year.

Due to the overlap between the functions of the Executive and the Board, it was proposed that these be combined with a proposed partnership membership body of 45, as detailed in the report with the addition of the Deputy Leader of Harrow Council. This would be supported by the five existing Management Groups augmented by the relevant Portfolio Holders. The two reference groups would continue as advisers with an input to the agenda. A Local Public Sector Board would bring together the chief operating officers of the main public sector organisations to ensure progress of the Sustainable Community Strategy and a wider joint agenda.. It was noted that advance notification of the proposals had been given to the Primary Care Trust, Harrow Association of Voluntary Services and the Metropolitan Police Authority.

The HSP Board discussed the proposals and the following comments were made:

·                     The reason for the much larger size of the group was recognised but concern was raised as to the working basis of a group of 45. It would be unwieldy as a decision-making body but would be more efficient as an oversight group rather than a Board. Furthermore, if the larger Partnership was to be a decision-taker, could matters be determined by a simple majority? If the larger group had a rubberstamping function and the power lay in smaller groups there was the possibility that those without power could become critical of the structure.

·                     The Borough Commander reported that he was answerable to the Police and Community Consultative Group, a body with up to 70 members which he felt operated well.’

·                     The opinion was stated that HSP Board membership of the Primary Care Trust, North West London Hospital Trust and Central and North West London Mental Health Trust gave that sector a disproportional representation on the Board. The view was also expressed that the three bodies were accountable to different parties and everyone had a stake in the Partnership so all should be involved. It was further suggested that the Acute Hospital Trust had a contribution to make to the LPSB but that the Primary Care Trust could represent it on the Board. The alternative view was that the Primary Care Trust would be the representative on the LPSB.

·                     It was suggested that research be undertaken as to how other Strategic Partnerships were organised.

·                     In response to a question as to the rationale for the inclusion of a representative from the Government Office for London, the Board was advised that the organisation had requested attendance at meetings of Partnerships. Concern was expressed at the presence of a representative from GoL during determination of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 147.

To receive a report from the Divisional Director, Strategy and Improvement.

The Board received a report on the second year performance of the reward indicators in the existing local area agreement. The report highlighted which stretched indicators were at risk of not achieving their targets and what action, based on quarter three performance, had been requested by the HSP Executive at its meeting on 15 April 2008.

The Senior Policy Officer, Policy and Partnership Service informed the HSP Board that:

·                     An agreed action plan had been produced with regard to the stretch targets for the reduction in the number of non-residential burglaries in the borough and community cohesion.

·                     The 2007/2008 data for Exclusions would not be available until September 2008. An update would be submitted in September as to whether the £85k allocated by the Board to aid improvement had been successful.

·                     The position regarding the number of adults volunteering in Harrow would be discussed further with GoL.

·                     Overall, the figures were slightly worse than at the end of the first year, mainly due to non-residential burglaries.

AGREED:  That further reports be submitted on those stretched indicators shown as intervention.

To receive a report from the Divisional Director, Strategy and Improvement

Consideration was given to a report which provided an update on the Comprehensive Area Assessment and identified the current implications on the upcoming operations of the Harrow Strategic Partnership.

The Senior Policy Officer, Policy and Partnership reported that from its launch in April 2009, the CAA would monitor the partnership on its performance based on the new indicator set. The final methodology was not coming out until late 2009 but some idea of the detailed mechanism should be available in July 2008.

In response to a question, it was noted that any future initiatives would require a risk assessment. It was important to look at the risks of the Borough and identify any gaps.

AGREED:  That the HSP Board noted the report and CAA timeframes and the implications on the future development and management of the partnership.

To receive a report from the Divisional Director, Strategy and Improvement.

Members of the Board received an update report on the new Local Area Agreement including a list of agreed targets. Endorsement by the Board was sought with delegation to representatives from the lead organisations to agree the final targets on outstanding indicators.

It was noted that those targets coloured green denoted the 18 indicators agreed between Harrow Council and GoL. GoL had been provided with all targets and information was awaited on a further four indicators. The deadline for submissions was 30 May 2008. GoL did not consider the following targets sufficiently challenging: NI 51 Effectiveness of child and adolescent mental health services (more resources were required), NI 108 Key stage 4 attainment for Black and minority ethnic groups (more challenge for Black groups required), NI 35 Building resilience to violent extremism (self-assessment form required) and NI 63 Stability of placements of children looked after: length of placement (a need to provide rationale).

It was considered that members of the HSP Board had undertaken a lot of hard work in order to ensure that submitted targets had a rationale behind them. With regard to NI 70 (Hospital admissions caused by unintentional and deliberate injuries to children and young people),the target was to reduce the rate at which hospital admissions were increasing.

NI 7 (Environment for a thriving third sector) did not yet have a baseline as the first survey would be taking place in October 2008. The CCMG would be looking at the impact. The first three indicators and the target for NI 146 (Adults with learning disabilities in employment) had been received that afternoon so discussions would need to be undertaken with the relevant community sector in the next few days. It was agreed that the Senior Policy Officer would circulate a list of targets prior to the deadline and any member of the HSP Board who had major concerns on a target should advise her.

It was suggested that the indicators could be signed off on 1 June 2008 whether or not it was finished as negotiations could continue as had occurred the previous year.

AGREED:  That (1) the list of agreed LAA targets circulated at the meeting be endorsed; and

(2)  authority be delegated to representatives from the lead organisations of the outstanding indicators to agree the final targets.

Future dates to be notified.

A further date had not yet been notified pending the revised structure.