Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors B Adams, A G Hagues and Mrs M J Overton MBE and Mr C V Miller, Mrs E J Olivier-Townrow, Mr S C Rudman and Mr P Thompson.

It was noted that the Chief Executive, having received a notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Mrs H N J Powell as a replacement member of the Committee in place of Councillor Mrs M J Overton MBE, for this meeting only.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2014 be agreed and signed by the Chairman.

(To consider any Call-Ins, should any be received)

No Call-Ins had been received.

(To consider any proposals for Scrutiny Reviews, should any be received)

There were no proposals for Scrutiny Reviews received.

(To receive a report by Jasmine Sodhi (Performance and Equalities Manager), which invites the Committee to consider the Draft Annual Report 2013/2014)

Consideration was given to a report by Jasmine Sodhi (Performance and Equalities Manager), which invited the Committee to comment on the draft Annual Report 2013/2014. 

The Performance and Equalities Manager presented the report to the Committee and in doing so, highlighted that the draft Annual Report would normally have been considered by the Value for Money Scrutiny Committee.  However, one of the recommendations from the Constitution Review Working Group, subsequently agreed by the County Council, was that overarching documents such as the draft Annual Report and the draft Council's Business Plan should be considered in future by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.

The intention of the Annual Report was to: -

·    Highlight some real achievements in services provided for Lincolnshire residents;

·    Summarise how the Council had spent its budget and what savings were made; and

·    Briefly outline the Council's plans for 2014/2015 and areas for improvement.

Members were advised that the Annual Report was compiled from information from the Leader's Annual Statement, performance against the Council Business Plan and information from performance colleagues in services and Heads of Service.  It was organised around the Council's purpose: - 'Investing in infrastructure and the provision of services; Commissioning for outcomes based on our communities' needs; Promoting community wellbeing and resilience; Influencing, coordinating and supporting other organisations that contribute to the life of Lincolnshire; and Making the best use of all our resources'.

Although the Annual Report was primarily a look back over 2013/2014, reference had been made to the Magna Carta exhibition in 2015.  Also included was a section on Commissioning for Lincolnshire, as part of Pages 40 and 41 of the Draft Annual Report, which reflected the Council's planned operational changes. 

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·    It was planned that the Annual Report would only be made available electronically, either on request or through the County Council's website and therefore there would be no printing costs for this publication.  However, hard copies could be made available upon request;

·    It was suggested that those sections where it detailed achievements, should be brought forward into the foreword;

·    It was noted that the recently awarded grant for road maintenance would be included within the draft Annual Report;

·    It was noted that Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell's position on page 18 of the report should be changed to read 'Deputy Leader of the Council';

·    It was felt that the success of the Energy from Waste Plant should be emphasised more within the report;

·    It was suggested that the content of the report should be consistent with the deadline of 31 March 2014, as the report should be a 'look back' on the previous year.  Therefore, any updates on certain areas should be included in italics to make it clearer to the reader;

·    It was also suggested that the content of the report should be more analytical, rather than descriptive;

·    It was felt that the section on the council's financial position should include detail  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

(To receive a report by David Hair (Team Leader Scrutiny and Member Support), which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider its work programme and the work programmes for the Council's Scrutiny Committees)

Consideration was given to a report from the Team Leader (Scrutiny and Member Support), which provided the Committee with an opportunity to consider its work programme and the work programmes of the Scrutiny Committees.  Copies of the individual work programmes were appended to the report and the following updates were received:-

i)          Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

It was noted that it was hoped to have a Constitution Review Working Group update to this meeting.  However, the Chairman advised that this was still a work in progress and the provisional meeting scheduled for 27 August 2014 would now be required to consider proposals before they were put before the meeting of the County Council on 26 September 2014.

ii)         Adults Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman advised that there were two items which were listed for July but would now be considered by the 1 October 2014 meeting of the Committee: -

·         Adult Social Care Outcome Framework Benchmarking; and

·         Use of Residential Care in Lincolnshire.

iii)        Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee

The Scrutiny Officer advised that there were no amendments to the work programme. 

It was noted that following the meeting on 12 September 2014, the Committee would be holding a workshop on Children's Commissioning.  This was to inform Members of the commissioning strategies, which would fall under the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee along with a list of current contracts and new contracts which would start to come through over the next six to twelve months.

iv)        Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman reported that there were no changes to the work programme, however, the meeting on 10 September 2014 would be held at the Fire and Rescue Waddington Training Facility.  Following the meeting, there would be a development session for councillors on Public Health Harm Reduction, which would look at alcohol and tobacco, illegal medicines and legal highs.  Invitations to the session had been sent out and if any members wished to attend, then they should contact the relevant Scrutiny Officer.

It was queried who would be the presenting officer for the report on Lincolnshire Libraries. 

It was suggested that the Committee received an update on the Localism Act 2012.

v)         Economic Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman advised that there was one amendment to the work programme.  A report on Grantham Southern Economic Corridor had been added to the agenda for 9 December 2014.

It was noted that the next meeting on 9 September 2014 would be held at Mercury House in Gainsborough.  The Committee would receive a tour of the building prior to the Committee meeting.

vi)        Environmental Scrutiny Committee/ Flood and Drainage Management       Committee

The Chairman advised Members that the report on 'Anglian Water', which was due to be presented to the Flood and Drainage Management Committee on 5 September 2014, had been deferred to its meeting on 4 December 2014.

The Chairman also advised that he was proposing to move the meeting of the Environmental Scrutiny Committee from 19 September 2014 to 31  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.