Agenda item

(To receive a report by Simon Evans (Health Scrutiny Officer) which invites the Board to endorse the terms of reference and review completion dates of the two scrutiny reviews currently being undertaken – "Future IT Provision to Support Council Working Practices (Scrutiny Panel A)"; and "Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy (Scrutiny Panel B)")

Consideration was given to a report by the Director responsible for Democratic Services which invited the Board to endorse the terms of reference and completion dates of the two scrutiny reviews currently underway:-

·       Scrutiny Panel A – Future IT Provision to Support Council Working Practices; and

·       Scrutiny Panel B – Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy.

The membership of each scrutiny panel had been confirmed and discussions with the respective Chairmen and key participants had taken place in order to provide detail on the direction of each review.  Initial meetings of each panel had also taken place.

Scrutiny Panel A (Future IT Provision to Support Council Working Practices)

The Health Scrutiny Officer advised that the second meeting of Scrutiny Panel A had been arranged for 13 December 2017.  The Terms of Reference had been based on the detailed scoping document considered by the Panel at the first meeting.  Assurance was given that the Panel would not be involved in the activity of any other committee in relation to contracts with suppliers.

The Chairman of Scrutiny Panel A, Councillor Mrs J Brockway, confirmed that this review was a much larger topic than initially anticipated.  She asked that her thanks to the Health Scrutiny Officer for the work undertaken to-date be noted.

The main issue raised by the Panel to-date was that the Council did not currently have an IT Strategy.  The Executive Director of Environment and Economy explained that there was not an IT Strategy but that this was in development.  It was also acknowledged that more money was required in this area to ensure service delivery was as efficient as possible.

During discussion, the following points were noted:-

·       It was agreed that the review was not only about cost effectiveness but also timeliness, safety and service provision to enable frontline staff to deliver services safely;

·       It was suggested that Apps were essential in order to engage young people who tended to use phone apps rather than the internet and websites.  It was acknowledged, however, that this would require a large programme of upskilling and investment to enable app development.

Scrutiny Panel B (Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy)

The Scrutiny Officer advised that two meetings of this panel had been held and a third arranged for 6 December 2017.

The Chairman of the Panel, Councillor Mrs A M Newton, reported that the police had commissioned a report on street lighting which suggested that the part-night lighting across the county had not affected crime.  The Assistant Chief Constable had been invited to attend the next meeting to address the Panel with the report findings.

The Board was advised that the views of residents had been requested via an online survey, within the press, on the Council's website and within County News.  It was reported that, to-date, 2400 responses had been received.

RESOLVED

1.    That the terms of reference and completion date of the review of Future IT Provision to Support Council Working Practices (Scrutiny Panel A) be endorsed; and

2.    That the terms of reference and completion date of the review of the Impact of the Part Night Street Lighting Policy (Scrutiny Panel B) be endorsed.