Agenda item

(To consider a report by Tracy Johnson (Senior Scrutiny Officer), which invites the Committee to consider the content of its own work programme and the work programmes of the Council's other scrutiny committees)

Councillor Marc Jones, Executive Councillor for Finance and Property was present to discuss defibrillators and winter pressures, issues which had been raised at a previous meeting of the Committee.

 

At present there were no defibrillators available for use at County Offices or other County Council buildings. It was also noted that County Offices did not have a deaf alert system.  The Committee discussed, with Councillor Jones, the logistics and pre-requisites of installing defibrillators such as:

·         How many should be in each building;

·         Where should they be situated to be most useful;

·         Who would service them;

·         How much would they cost, including servicing;

·         Would the Council need a policy to clarify the above before purchasing them.

 

It was widely felt that progress could often be halted by the need to write policies and procedures, when the appropriate action could just be taken and resolved.

 

Councillor Jones noted the points made by the Committee and agreed to report back to Members, in writing, before the next meeting.

 

i)             Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

 

The Committee discussed the next meeting on Monday, 21 December, 2015 and whether, with no additional items scheduled, it should be cancelled.  This sparked a debate regarding the purpose of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee and its role within the Scrutiny Function.  Members were reminded that the Committee would have a key role within scrutiny once the outcome of the Scrutiny Review had been implemented.  The Committee agreed that a discussion of the Scrutiny Review should be added to the agenda for its meeting on 21 December 2015.

 

In addition to this, the Committee also wished to see the Meeting of Scrutiny Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen re-formed as it would discuss the cross-cutting issues that overlapped with the Committee.

 

For its meeting on 28 January 2016, the Committee agreed to add the following to the agenda:

 

·         Outcomes and Actions from the Review of Scrutiny;

·         The Boundary Review; and

·         The Budget.

 

It was highlighted that there had been national changes to rules concerning FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).  It was agreed that updates regarding the issue should be sent to the Chairmen of Scrutiny Committees to make Councillors aware in their role as corporate parents.

 

ii)            Adults Scrutiny Committee

 

There were no changes to the items listed for 9 December 2015. 

 

The Committee was looking to schedule an item on Adult Care to Seasonal Resilience at its January meeting.

 

The Committee was also looking to schedule items on IT Support for Adult Care and Adult Care Workforce Development at future meetings.

 

iii)          Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee

 

There was one amendment to the work programme: the report on the potential closure of Saltfleetby Primary School had been deferred from the meeting scheduled for 4 March 2016, to the meeting on 15 April 2016, with the Executive Councillor decision now being taken on 29 April 2016.

 

iv)        Community and Public Safety Scrutiny Committee

 

There was one amendment to the work programme.  A report on Neighbourhood Policing had been brought forward from the meeting scheduled for 13 April 2016 to the meeting on 13 January 2016.

 

The Committee met on 25 November 2015, where Members had considered the Executive report on the contract award for the libraries service.  The Executive would be asked to approve the award of a contract to Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).  Following a lengthy discussion on the report, the Committee unanimously supported the recommendations to the Executive with a number of comments put forward for consideration.

 

v)         Economic Scrutiny Committee

 

There were a few amendments to the work programme.  A report on "Agreement to participate in a pan-county financial instrument which provides finance to businesses" had been added to the agenda for the meeting scheduled for 8 December 2015.  This report was for pre-decision scrutiny with a decision being taken by Councillor C J Davie on 8 January 2016.

 

In addition, a verbal update on the outcomes from the Comprehensive Spending Review had been added to the agenda for 8 December 2015.

 

The report on the "Agreement of EU Funding bids for schemes that meet the Council's priorities had been deferred from the meeting on 8 December, to the meeting on 12 January 2016.  The report on EU Funding Update which was listed for 12 January 2016 has been removed.

 

vi)        Environmental Scrutiny Committee/Flood and Drainage Management Scrutiny Committee

 

The Environmental Scrutiny Committee's agenda for 4 December 2015, did not include a progress report on Low Carbon Heating, but did include two other items: an item on Fly Tipping Enforcement, being led by North Kesteven District Council; and an item on the performance of the Energy from Waste Plant.

 

There was a full agenda for the Flood and Drainage Management Scrutiny Committee on 11 December 2015.  The item on Raising Sea Banks would now include a paper from Peter Bateson, Chief Executive of the Witham Fourth District Internal Drainage Board.

 

The February meeting of the Committee would now include an item on the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (GLLEP) Coastal Vision and Water Management and a possible item on the impact of devolution on flood and drainage management.

 

vii)       Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire

 

16 December 2015

 

The one change to the programme on 16 December was that it would not be possible to receive a general Update from South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group.    This item would be rescheduled to a future meeting. 

 

Boston West Hospital – The Chairman emphasised that the reason for including Boston West Hospital, operated by Ramsay Healthcare, as part of the Committee's work programme was that Boston West Hospital undertook a significant amount of NHS?funded health care and also produced a Quality Account each year in accordance with the legal requirement.    

 

CAMHS – There were two CAMHS items on our December agenda, and Allan Kitt, from South West Lincolnshire CCG, the lead commissioner for mental health, and John Brewin, the Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust had been invited to attend for these items. 

 

20 January 2016

 

There were two significant items on the Committee's 20 January, 2016 agenda.

 

Firstly, the Committee would be considering the Cancer Strategy.  Cancer is also a key element of Theme 3 of the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which included a priority to reduce mortality rates from cancer and improve the take up of screening programmes.

 

Furthermore, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust had a previous record of regularly missing most of the nine Constitutional Standards for Cancer, although other hospitals used by Lincolnshire residents such as Peterborough City Hospital performed much better.  The item in January was from a commissioner perspective and the Committee would be seeking assurances that patients, wherever they lived in Lincolnshire, could access cancer treatment and care in line with the nine constitutional standards.  

 

Also on the agenda in January was the Lincolnshire Recovery Programme, where the Committee would be seeking contributions from NHS England and Trust Development Authority on how they were supporting both commissioners and providers in Lincolnshire to improve across a range of services. 

 

New Contract For Junior Doctors

Finally, strikes by junior doctors had been called on three dates in relation to the new contract.  The Chairman stressed that ULHT's A&E departments would remain open on these dates, but planned operations and outpatient appointments would be cancelled.  The Chairman understood that there would be media releases, which would emphasise that patients should only use A&E if it was a genuine emergency. 

 

viii)      Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee

 

The only change to the Work Programme was that the Committee would be considering a report on complaints and compliments received by the Highways and Transport departments rather than a quarterly performance report. The reason for this was that the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee received its performance information via the Highways Alliance performance report and the Major Schemes update.

 

Following a question, it was confirmed that there was no capacity for gritting any additional routes.  If new routes needed to be added, then some would have to be removed in order to accommodate them.

 

ix)        Value for Money Scrutiny Committee

 

There were no changes to the work programme.  Comments from the discussion of the Serco contract would be forwarded onto the Executive.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the content of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee work programme, as detailed at Appendix A to the report, be approved;

 

2.    That the work programmes from the Council's other Overview and Scrutiny Committees, as detailed at Appendix B to the report, be approved;

 

3.    That the Working Group activity, as detailed at Appendix C to the report, be noted;

 

4.    That the Forward Plan of Key Decisions from 1 December 2015, as detailed at Appendix D to the report, be noted.