Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A Bridges, C E H Marfleet, C E D Mair and Added Members Mr P Thompson and Mrs G Wright.

No declarations were made.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2014 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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

It was reported that no call-ins had been received.

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

It was reported that no scrutiny reviews had been proposed.

(To receive a report by Michelle Grady (Assistant Head of Finance), which provides a summary of the public consultation feedback received by the Council during November 2014, around what the Council's priorities should be in a climate of reducing available budget.  Any comments will be passed to the Executive for consideration when making the budget proposals for 2015/16 onwards.  David Forbes (County Finance Officer) will be in attendance)

Consideration was given to a report which provided a summary of the public consultation feedback received by the Council during November 2014 around what the Council's priorities should be in a climate of reducing available budget.  Any comments made by the Committee would be passed to the Executive for consideration when making the budget proposals for 2015/16 onwards.

During discussion of the item, the following points were noted:

·         The public were consulted through the Council's free magazine County News and also via the Citizen's Panel.  Out of the 300 members of the Citizen's Panel who were contacted, 66 responded.  The age range of Panel members was 18-80, however it was not clear whether the responses were representative of this range;

·         Participants were asked which services should be protected, and which should not.  The results had been analysed and services had been listed in order of priority;

·         As part of the consultation, school children who had attended a take-over day at the Council had been asked their opinion on the services to be kept.  It was felt that more young people should be consulted on matters such as this in order to ensure their voice was heard;

·         Cultural services had been rated as a low priority and some Members felt that culture was important for people's happiness and wellbeing.  David Forbes confirmed that a low priority would mean that other funding would be sought to replace the Council's in order to retain the service for residents;

·         Comments were made regarding the implications of cutting the Council's budgets in other areas of public services;

·         It was felt that money saving exercises and efficient ways of working should be commenced further in advance to allow officers more time to process them.  The lessons learnt from previous budget cuts could be applied to help future budget decisions;

·         Members felt the cuts in local government funding were a constant challenge and that officers had dealt with them very well.

As a result of the discussion, it was agreed that the following points would be fed back to the Executive for consideration when making the budget proposals for 2015/16 onwards;

·         The Committee was frustrated at the continuing under-funding of local government by central government;

·         The Committee was interested to know the consequential impact of the County Council's reductions on other public sector bodies in Lincolnshire;

·         The Committee hoped that a wider consultation might be possible on any future occasion including more engagement with young people.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted and the comments agreed by the Committee, above, be passed onto the Executive for consideration when making the budget proposals for 2015/16 onwards.

(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 programme for the Council's Scrutiny Committees)

Consideration was given to a report which enabled the Committee to consider both its own work programme and the scrutiny committee work programmes for 2015.

A discussion took place regarding the previous agenda item and it was agreed that David Forbes should be asked to produce a report for the Committee.  This report would explore the possibility of undertaking assessments of the impact of Lincolnshire County Council budget reductions on the wider public sector within the County.

i)       Adults Scrutiny Committee

The Health Scrutiny Officer advised that there were not changes to the Committee's work programme for its meeting on 23 January 2015. 

At its meeting on 25 February 2015, it was likely that the Committee would be considering a Commissioning Strategy for Carers.

ii)      Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee

The Committee was advised that there was one amendment to the work programme, which was the report on Anti-Bullying being deferred to the meeting on 5 June 2015 as further work was required on it.

At its next meeting on 16 January 2015, the Committee would be considering a report on the outcomes from the Ofsted Inspection.  Ofsted's inspection report regarding the Council's Children's Services directorate would be published on the Ofsted website on 6 January 2015.

iii)     Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman advised that two changes had been made to the work programme for the meeting on 21 January 2015;

·         The item on the Crime and Disorder Priorities 2015/16 would now be considered on 4 March 2015.  However, this would be replaced with an item on the issues around doorstep crime;

·         At its meeting on 27 January 2015, the Committee would consider an item on library provision and non-members of the Committee would be able to take part.

iv)     Economic Scrutiny Committee

The Scrutiny Officer reported that there were no changes to the work programme.  The Committee would next meet on 13 January 2015 and would consider a report on the 2015 programme for Lincoln Castle Revealed.

v)      Environmental Scrutiny Committee

The Chairman reported that the Flood and Drainage Management Scrutiny Committee had set up a small working group to look in detail at the proposed response to the Environment Agency's consultation on Flood Risk Management Plans.

vi)     Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire

14 January 2015

The Chairman reported that there were no changed to the items listed for 14^th January 2015, as the Committee was planning to consider five significant items as part of its agenda.  The list included an item where the Committee would receive an update on the progress of the Lincolnshire CCGs with their action plan in response to the CQC's report (published in February 2014) on the Health of Looked after Children.

Also in January the Committee would consider a Complaints Overview Report from United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.  One of the recommendations from the Francis Report, which was accepted by the Government, was that the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees should take an overview of complaints.  This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.