Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors A J Jesson, C E H Marfleet, C L Strange and Added Members Mrs P J Barnett (Parent Governor Representative) and Mr P Thompson (Church Representative).

No interests were declared.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting on 28 July 2016 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman announced that there would be a series of budget workshops for each scrutiny committee which would be held after the scrutiny committees in November and December.  These private workshops would be open to all Councillors.

The Chairman had attended the last meeting of the Executive on 6 September.  The Executive had considered a number of reports which had been through pre-decision scrutiny including Fire and Rescue Integrated Risk Management Planning, Review of Financial Performance, Adoption of the Lincolnshire Permit Scheme and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children.

Nigel West, Head of Democratic Services and Statutory Scrutiny Officer, updated the Committee on the suggested scrutiny arrangements for the Joint Committee of Leaders and it was noted that the constituent authorities who had responded to the suggestion were of the view that there was no requirement for such arrangements at the current time.

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

No Call-Ins had been received.

(To consider proposals for scrutiny reviews, should any be received)

No proposals for Scrutiny Reviews had been received.

(To consider Councillor Calls for Action, should any be received)

No Councillor Calls for Action had been received.

(To receive a report from the Devolution Programme Manager relating to Devolution)

Consideration was given to a report which was due to be considered by the Leader of the Council on the Devolution - Approval to Creation of a Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority. The views of this Scrutiny Committee would be reported to the Leader of the Council as part of his consideration of this item.

Points of Clarification 

The following points of clarification were made during the meeting: -

·         The Government had made it clear that the Greater Lincolnshire Devolution Deal could only proceed with an elected mayor. If Lincolnshire wanted to have substantial devolution and favoured status, then it had to have an elected mayor. If there was no mayor, then there was the possibility of some devolution but not to the extent proposed in the Deal.

·         The Government wanted an elected mayor for the Combined Authority so that there was a single point of accountability.

·         All ten constituent councils had to agree to the devolution scheme for Lincolnshire for it to proceed.

·         If there was no unanimous agreement, then there may be the option for re-consultation on a new scheme for those councils who wished to proceed. If any of the upper tier councils, namely North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire Council or Lincolnshire County Council, were not in favour of a revised scheme then it was highly likely that it would not go ahead. However, if one or two of the district councils were not in favour of a revised scheme, then there could be the option to continue after re-consultation by those councils who wished to proceed.

·         If any of the councils rejected the scheme, then there was a risk that there might be a reduction in the £15million offered in a new deal.

·         Any district council which rejected the current scheme could potentially join a new devolution scheme in future.

·         If there was a re-consultation on a new devolution scheme, this would not take place until June 2017 which would mean that the mayoral election would not take place until May 2018.

·         The Combined Authority would be entitled to levy for costs and expenses against each of the councils. The Mayor would be entitled to issue a precept to cover expenses.

·         The estimated cost of running the Combined Authority was £2.2million for 2017/18, some of which could come out of the £15million which Greater Lincolnshire would receive if devolution proceeded. This cost included the mayoral election. If the devolution deal was accepted, then the first £15million could be received before 31 March 2017 and the second £15million in the new financial year.

·         A second devolution bid had been submitted for Greater Lincolnshire but would not proceed in the absence of a Combined Authority.

·         There was no option for including a break clause as part of the scheme.

·         Cornwall was the only area to proceed with devolution without an elected mayor. However, Cornwall’s devolution deal was less than other areas in the country, and it was now looking at the possibility of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

(To receive a report by the County Finance Officer which invites the Committee to consider a report on the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2016/17, which is due to be considered by the Executive on 4 October 2016)

A report invited the Committee to consider the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2016/17 which was due to be considered by the Executive on 4 October 2016.  The views of this Scrutiny Committee would be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item.

The Committee supported the recommendations contained in the report and agreed that the following comments be passed to the Executive: -

·         A Councillor highlighted the reported slippage in the capital programme and queried if there was a role for more effective oversight by members, and whether this would be beneficial to the organisation.  Officers confirmed that the Council would undertake to review the phasing of spending in the Capital Programme in the autumn to realign capital budgets with current spending plans.

·         The Committee highlighted the £1.039m underspend under Wellbeing due to reduced costs following the recommissioning of Wellbeing Services. The Committee supported more effective commissioning of contracts but highlighted the need to ensure that a comparable quality of service was being provided on the ground. Officers confirmed that the savings had been achieved through re-specifying contracts during the retendering process, and that levels of services had been maintained.

·         The Committee highlighted a potential pressure due to the large volume of Safeguarding reviews currently in progress, as reported at the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group on 28 September 2016, and queried whether additional resources could be accessed to ensure this work progresses in a timely manner. Officers confirmed that a contingency budget was in place for service areas to bid for additional funds to cover short term demand.

·         The Committee queried the capital programme underspend on the Broadband Project and highlighted concern that there was a risk that broadband would not be delivered to an adequate level. The Committee also suggested that improved '4G' connectivity should be considered as part of this project in the future.

·         The Committee highlighted the forecasted overspend of £0.568m under Protecting and Sustaining the Environment and whether budgets had been set appropriately. Officers confirmed that this was a result of a budget pressure on Waste Disposal due to increased costs in this service area.

·         The Committee acknowledged the reported problems with the Agresso system and welcomed the return of monthly budget monitoring as a way to ensure that both revenue and capital funds were well managed and allocated appropriately.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the Committee supports the recommendation to the Executive as set out in the report;

(2)  That the above comments be passed onto the Executive for its consideration.

(To receive a report from the Devolution Programme Manager, which invited the Committee to review, scrutinise and comment on the Quarter 1 performance)

The Committee considered a report which presented Quarter 1 performance information against the Council Business Plan. 

The commissioning strategies which had performed well and those which had seen mixed performance were highlighted in the report and brought to the Committee's attention.

In the absence of the Council's Performance and Equalities Manager, answers to questions raised on the following topics would be clarified outside of the meeting:

·    Child safeguarding;

·    Primary fires;

·    Adult frailty in relation to delayed hospital discharge;

·    The removal from the Plan of Crimestopper reports received from the public.

The Committee felt that transposing care performance into numbers was dangerous.  Mental health was already underachieving and the failure to hit targets was a matter of life or death in some cases.

RESOLVED

          That the report and comments made be noted.

To receive a verbal update from the Head of Democratic Services and Statutory Scrutiny Officer on the work of the Review of Scrutiny Working Group)

The Committee received a verbal update on the Review of Scrutiny Working Group from Nigel West, Head of Democratic Services and Statutory Scrutiny Officer.

The scrutiny structure had been the main topic at recent meetings and the working group would be considering options based on the 5+1 model recommended by Dr Stuart Young in a recent report to Council.  Other issues for the working group to consider were those of safeguarding and corporate parenting and where they sit within the structure.  The next meeting of the working group was scheduled for the afternoon of 29 September.

The proposed next step for the Working Group was to take a report to the December meeting of Full Council for its agreement in time to take effect in time for the new Council in 2017.

RESOLVED

          That the verbal update be noted.

(To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services and Statutory Scrutiny Officer, which enables the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee to consider both its own work programme and the scrutiny committee work programmes for 2016/17)

Consideration was given to a report which enabled the Committee to consider its own work programme and the work programmes from the scrutiny committees for 2016.

Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

Following a discussion on broadband provision in various parts of the county, it was agreed that the issue of broadband, focussing on BT be brought to a future committee.

It was suggested a further report on devolution be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

Adults Scrutiny Committee

There were no changes to the published work programme.

Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee

There was one amendment to the work programme which was the report on the Government's white paper "Educational Excellence Everywhere"  had been deferred from the meeting on 21 October 2016 due to a lack of movement nationally on it.  In place of this, the Committee would be receiving a report on the new Government consultation "Schools that work for Everyone" to provide input into the Council's response to the consultation which closed on 12 December 2016.

Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee

There were no changes to the published work programme.

The next meeting on 2 November 2016 would be a site visit to Sleaford Library and Heckington Community Hub and would include a session with Greenwich Leisure Limited.

The Committee had also highlighted some possible changes to the way the performance information was collated.  This was something which the Committee would be looking at over the coming weeks to see how the infographics could better indicate which service area and officers were responsible for each measure.

To be included on the work programme for 2017 was a visit to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, a visit to Fire and Rescue Training Facility at Waddington and an update on HMP Lincoln.

Economic Scrutiny Committee

There were no changes to the published work programme.

The next meeting would be on 18 October 2016 and would be held off site at the National Centre for Food Manufacturing in Holbeach to allow the Committee to have a tour of the facility after the meeting.

In addition, before the meeting, there would be a site visit to Peppermint Junction which would then be discussed as part of the South Lincolnshire Food Enterprise Zone report.

Environmental Scrutiny Committee

The Household Waste Recycling Centres Update scheduled for the meeting on the 14 October 2016 would be moved to the 2 December meeting to allow a more comprehensive update from Sean Kent, Group Manager – Environmental Services, to the Committee.

It had also been suggested that the 'Implementation of the Public Rights of Way sections of the Deregulation Act 2015' would be better being considered by the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee.

Flood and Drainage Management Scrutiny Committee

An additional item from Severn Trent Water had been added to the Flood and Drainage Management Scrutiny Committee on 9 December 2016.  Severn Trent had now arranged to send a representative to Flood and Drainage Management Scrutiny Committee which was the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.