Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the Board Meeting held on 7 August 2008, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 August 2008, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

(if any)

There were no matters arising.

To receive a verbal presentation from David Forster, Zurich Municipal.

The Board welcomed David Forster from Zurich Municipal to the meeting.  He gave a presentation on ‘Using Business Risk to Aid Achievement of Outcomes and Deliver the Comprehensive Area Assessment.’

He was of the view that a large component of the CAA was around assessing and managing risk as it could be used:

·                     as a business risk assessment to deliver Harrow’s Sustainable Community Plan

·                     to build business resilience

·                     to move on from capacity and capability to a broader concept with ideas around supply chain management to identify the weakest links.

The CAA focused on the outcomes and how the Council could work together with its partners – private, voluntary and local communities.  The more complex the inter-relationships, the greater the risk.  The Area Assessment asked three questions:

·                     how well do local priorities express local needs and aspirations?

·                     how well are the outcomes and improvements needed to be delivered?

·                     prospects for future improvement – what is preventing the delivery of these improvements?

Red and green flags were used within the area assessment- red flags to show significant concerns that were not adequately addressed and green flags indicating areas that others could learn from and should be expected everywhere.

With regard to this the Relationship Manager stressed that whilst some elements of the CAA were risk management the important issue was the delivering of positive outcomes.  Care should be taken to ensure that the red and green flags did not take too prominent a position.  The Service Manager, Policy and Partnership Service, reported that the response by Harrow Council to the consultation paper referred to the risk assessment relating more to the red flags whilst the green flags rewarded innovation.

David Forster outlined the potential for a piece of work that would help with the insight of CAA issues for the Council which was based on a best practice audit paper undertaken at the London Borough of Croydon.  It took the form of workshops with a risk based approach to dig deep into the themes to see the key challenges to success and what were the best practices that could be shared with other groups.

Such an approach could be tailored to the needs of Harrow and reported back to the Board in March.  The exercise would include working with Management Groups offsite and mapping outcomes in templates.  The methodology would be simple and intuitive with group working.

The Deputy Leader, Environment and Community Safety Portfolio Holder, Harrow Council, referred to the successful Weeks of Action which sought success and outcomes taking on board risks rather than undertaking risk assessments.  This was endorsed by the Borough Commander, Harrow Police, who questioned how different the approach proposed by David Forster was from SWOT and gap analyses.  In response David Forster said the envisaged approach was quantifiable and sat comfortably with the governance agenda.

In response to a question as the length of time required and expense of the proposed exercise, David Forster stated that bringing partnership themes together was often complicated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 170.

To receive a report from the Director of Community and Cultural Services.

An update on Championing Harrow was received by the Board.  The Service Manager Arts and Events outlined Championing Harrow activity with regard to funding, Sports Participation and Health, Economic Development and Tourism, Cultural Celebration and Volunteering.   Copies of the Championing Harrow and 1908 West London Marathon postcards were circulated.

It was noted that a fixed-term support post had been created within the Cultural Services team to manage the flow of information, respond to opportunities at short notice, research funding opportunities and coordinate Championing Harrow meetings.

Partners were encouraged to promote accommodation or other facilities in the guide for the Pre-Games Training Camps to which Harrow was a contributor.  Interest had been expressed by one team in using Harrow as a base for training prior to the Olympic Games but a decision had not been made.  In response to a question, it was not clear whether the cost of security would be borne by the team.

In response to a question as to whether people realised that the ‘Championing Harrow’ logo or ‘Inspired By Mark’ related to the Olympics, it was reported that Councillor Chris Mote had raised the issue with the Greater London Authority.

AGREED:  That the Board (1) support the recruitment of representatives from the PCT and Higher/Further Education to join the Championing Harrow Task Force;

(2)  support the promotion and widest use of the ‘Championing Harrow’ brand for any activity undertaken by the Council or its partners;

(3)  provide contributions to a ‘Welcome Pack’ to be used in attracting a visiting nation to Harrow for Pre-Games training and Friend and Family tourism during 2012;

(4)  ensure information from all partner organisations be directed to the ‘Championing Harrow’ team to ensure joined-up programming.

To receive a report from the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Board considered amendments to the Governance Handbook arising from discussions at the last meeting and various amendments proposed subsequently.

It had been suggested that the term ‘Assembly’ was no longer appropriate for a body comprising some 29 members and that the group should instead be called the Partnership Board.  This would require a new name for the smaller body and the suggestion was that this group should be known as the Harrow Chief Executives.

The Board was informed that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 23 September resolved that the concerns expressed by the North West London Hospital Trust regarding the diminished ability of the Trust to undertake joint working as a result of the new Partnership arrangements should be conveyed to the officers.  Subsequent to discussion, the Board was of the opinion that the membership of the Harrow Chief Executives should be restricted to Harrow-only bodies.  The North West London Hospital Trust operated in two boroughs. Job Centre Plus had requested membership on the Partnership Board.

AGREED:  That (1) the Board approve the Harrow Partnership Governance Handbook with membership of the Partnership Board and Harrow Chief Executives as circulated subject to the addition of Job Centre Plus to the membership of the Partnership Board;

(2)  the North West London Hospital Trust be informed that it had not been allocated a place on the Harrow Chief Executives.

To receive a report from the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Board was informed of the request by the Voluntary and Community Sector Forum that there should be better reporting from Management Groups so that the Partnership as a whole could be informed of issues, progress and opportunities.

As a result of the new Governance arrangements, written reports from the thematic management groups and reference groups would be succeeded by exception reports drawing attention to areas where improved performance was required.  This would not achieve the objectives that the Forum hoped to achieve.

It was suggested that the minutes of the management and reference groups be put on the Council’s website and that a newsletter be produced by the Policy and Partnership Team.

In response to a question, it was agreed that there should be a mechanism to notify partners when a report had been added to the website.  It was also requested that there be regular summaries at Board meetings.

The Chief Executive of Harrow Council undertook to arrange for the creation of a Partnership website.  The formation of such a website would provide increased accountability for the Summit and the annual report.  A report would be submitted to a future Board meeting on a holistic approach.

AGREED:  That (1) a Partnership website be created by Harrow Council;

(2)  the minutes of the management and reference groups be put on the Partnership website and a newsletter summarising the main activities be produced by the Policy and Partnership Team.

To receive a report from the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Board was advised that, although it had been a short period of time since the LAA had been agreed, each LAA was subject to an annual review and refresh.

For the current year the review would focus on the 20 indicators set out in the report on which there was outstanding action on targets.  These indicators were either where agreement could not be reached with GOL or those with a caveat such as the economic climate.  Should there be any changes subsequent to the Board meeting a process on how agreement could be reached would be suggested.  The management groups would be contacted for their input.

It was noted that should agreement with the Government Office for London not be reached then the Indicator would be referred to the local section.

AGREED:  That the report be noted and that the Relationship Manager be included in the process for the review and refresh of the Local Area Agreement.

To receive a report from the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Board was informed that the recent negotiation of the Local Area Agreement had provided the opportunity to re-look at the Sustainable Community Plan and address the points raised by the IDeA Peer Review and Corporate Assessment in 2007.  These assessments concluded that the current strategy lacked a distinct flavour of Harrow.

The Service Manager, Policy and Partnership Service, outlined the approach to be taken.  It was noted that the scenarios compiled from the results of the Citizen Panel consultation and interviews with significant opinion-formers would be discussed at the summit meetings.  The resulting Strategy would be presented to the Board and Cabinet in January 2009 and to the Council.

AGREED:  That the report be noted.

To receive a report from the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Board was informed that a report would be submitted subsequent to a meeting of the Panel.

World Class Commissioning Strategy

The Chairman raised an item concerning a letter from the Primary Care Trust regarding the World Class Commissioning Strategy.  The Service Manager, Policy and Partnership Service, undertook to respond on behalf of the Council and Partners were asked to respond if they had received a similar letter.

The next Board Meeting is scheduled for 13 January 2009.

As this was the last meeting of the Board prior to the implementation of the new Governance arrangements, it was noted that the previously scheduled date of 13 January 2009 was subject to availability of new appointees.