<div class="mgLinks">
<ul class="mgActionList">
<li><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgMeetingAttendance.aspx?ID=2389" class="external" title="Link to attendance details for the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny CommissionThursday, 27th May, 2010 2.15 pm">Attendance Details</a></li>
<li><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=2389&T=0" class="external" title="Link to agenda frontsheet pdf file">Agenda Frontsheet
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 123 KB</span> </a>
</li>
<li><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgChooseDocPack.aspx?ID=2389" class="external" title="Link to agenda reports document pack">Agenda reports pack
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 346 KB</span> </a></li>
<li><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2Pdf.aspx?ID=4821&T=9" class="external">Agenda Supplement <span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 156 KB</span> </a></li>
<li><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=2389&T=1" class="external" title="Link to printed minutes pdf file">Printed minutes
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 82 KB</span> </a>
</li>
</ul>
</div><div class="mgContent">
<p><span class="mgLabel">Venue: </span>Innovations Centre, Croxton Road, Thetford IP24 1JD</p>
<p><span class="mgLabel">Contact: </span>Committee Services
01362 656870
</p>
Items
No.
Item
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10292"></a>45.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10808" title="Link to document 'Minutes' pdf file" class="external">Minutes <span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 101 KB</span> </a></p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
29 April 2010.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer advised Members that the
recommendation at Minute No 37/10 (Parking Task & Finish Group)
had been agreed in principle by Cabinet, subject to <span class="SpellE">costings</span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With reference to Minute No 36/10 (Executive
Member Update) the Vice Chairman asked that in future the minutes
should more clearly reflect the interactions between the Commission
and the Executive Member in a question and answer format.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The minutes of the meeting held on 29 April
2010 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chairman.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10293"></a>46.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Apologies</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To receive apologies for absence.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Apologies for absence were received from Mr S
Chapman-Allen, Mr K Gilbert and Mr B Rose.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10294"></a>47.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Urgent Business</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To note whether the Chairman proposes to
accept any item as urgent business pursuant to Section
100(B<span class="GramE">)(</span>4)(b) of the Local Government Act
1972.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">There was no urgent business, however, at this
point a Member requested that in future, Substitute Members should
be included on the Agenda front page and that it should be up to
individual Members who were unable to attend to contact their
substitute.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members also agreed that a paragraph to this
effect should be added to the protocol on the agenda<span class="GramE">.<</span>1></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10295"></a>48.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Declaration of Interest</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Members are asked at this stage to declare any
interests that they may have in any of the following items on the
agenda.<span> </span> The
Members’ Code of Conduct requires that declarations include
the nature of the interest and whether it is a person or
prejudicial interest.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">No declarations were made.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10296"></a>49.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Non-Members wishing to address the Meeting</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">To note the names of any
non-members or public speakers wishing to address the
meeting.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">None.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10321"></a>50.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Sickness Absence Task & Finish Group</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">To consider the report and
recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Additional documents:</p>
<ul class="mgBulletList">
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10912" class="external" title="Link to document 'SicknessAbsence_ReporttoOSC_270510' pdf file">SicknessAbsence_ReporttoOSC_270510, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 63 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10915" class="external" title="Link to document 'SicknessAbsence_Report_0410' pdf file">SicknessAbsence_Report_0410, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 90 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10913" class="external" title="Link to document 'Sickness_absence_policy' pdf file">Sickness_absence_policy, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 38 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10914" class="external" title="Link to document 'sickness_absence_procedure' pdf file">sickness_absence_procedure, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 100 KB</span> </a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer presented the findings of
the Task and Finish Group which had met over four meetings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Group had concluded that there was not a
great deal wrong with the existing system and that the
Council’s sickness levels over the last ten years compared
favourably with other similar authorities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It had been noted that long-term sickness
could significantly alter the appearance of the figures and that in
most cases long-term sicknesses were not work-related.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Problems associated with the Return to Work
interview system had been investigated and proposals to address
this issue were made in the conclusions on page 27.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Member asked what was being done about the
problem of stress-related illnesses and was told that the Council
used Occupation Health and Counselling to try to address
this.<span> </span> The HR department
also had various processes and programmes in place to promote
healthy living.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mrs <span class="GramE">Irving</span> who had
been a member of the Group, said that she thought it had been very
positive and had looked at a lot of preventative measures,
including encouraging people to report their concerns before their
health was affected.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Vice-Chairman agreed that the Group had
done a worthwhile job.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was confirmed that the Group’s
scrutiny had fulfilled the requirement to review the policy, which
had originally been approved in 2008.<span> </span> The Group’s report and four
recommendations would be passed on to Cabinet.<span> </span> It was agreed that paragraph 26 of
the report should be deleted<span class="GramE">.<</span>1></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>RECOMMEND TO CABINET</b> that</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
(1)<span> </span></span></span>
<span>the existing policy be
updated with minor changes as shown at Appendix 1 to the
report;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
(2)<span> </span></span></span>
<span>an electronic version of the
return to work interview form should be provided, as this would
save time and paper and would also allow for automatic generation
of e-mail reminders and flagging of non-returns;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
(3)<span> </span></span></span>
<span>an accident information card
be produced for use by officers working out of the office,
and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
(4)<span> </span></span></span>
<span class="GramE"><span>a</span></span> <span>review of the Out of Hours service be
carried out, to safeguard staff and to ensure that staff and the
service providers were aware of the respective
responsibilities.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10313"></a>51.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10873" title="Link to document 'Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee' pdf file" class="external">Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee <span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 11 KB</span> </a></p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Report of Councillor John Labouchere.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Mr Labouchere was not in attendance to present
his report.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Member pointed out that the Norfolk and
Waveney Mental Health Trust did not cover Thetford.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
The report was noted.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10322"></a>52.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Breckland Council Petitions Scheme</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Report by the Scrutiny Officer.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Additional documents:</p>
<ul class="mgBulletList">
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10916" class="external" title="Link to document 'OSC_Report_PetitionsDuty_270510' pdf file">OSC_Report_PetitionsDuty_270510, item 52.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 173 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10918" class="external" title="Link to document 'Petitions_BrecklandPetitionsScheme_May10' pdf file">Petitions_BrecklandPetitionsScheme_May10, item 52.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 165 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10917" class="external" title="Link to document 'Petitions_TermsandConditions_May10' pdf file">Petitions_TermsandConditions_May10, item 52.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 95 KB</span> </a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer presented the report.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He explained that the Local Government,
Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 placed a duty on
Councils to devise a petition scheme.<span> </span> The scheme had to be implemented
by 14 June 2010 and a facility for members of the public to submit
petitions electronically had to be in place by 15 December
2010.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members were asked to approve a draft scheme
which was based on a model scheme and Government guidance issued by
the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were four major issues for local
determination which Members were asked to decide:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
1)<span> </span></span></span>
To set a specified minimum number of signatures for the petition
scheme to apply.<span> </span> The
guidance suggested 20 as a minimum threshold.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
2)<span> </span></span></span>
To set a specified minimum number of signatures to trigger a debate
at full Council.<span> </span> The
guidance suggested 1500 signatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
3)<span> </span></span></span>
To set a specified minimum number of signatures to require a senior
officer of the Council to attend a meeting of the Overview and
Scrutiny Commission.<span> </span>
The guidance suggested 750 signatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span><span>
4)<span> </span></span></span>
To determine which senior officers would be liable to be called to
account in that way.<span> </span>
The guidance suggested the Chief Executive and Directors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members discussed the requirements and were
concerned that if specific thresholds were set, people
(particularly special interest groups) would work to those
numbers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Vice-Chairman agreed and asked if specific
numbers could be avoided.<span> </span> He suggested that the wording
should be amended to allow the Chairman of the Council to determine
what constituted a significant number on an issue by issue
basis.<span> </span> He also
suggested that a caveat be included to only consider issues that
were of significance to the District.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was also against the proposal to require a
senior officer to give evidence if a specific threshold was
reached.<span> </span> He felt that
this was another matter that should be at the discretion of the
Chairman or Leader of the Council.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other Members agreed and it was suggested that
the Overview and Scrutiny Chairman in consultation with other
members of the Commission, should act as arbiters in deciding which
petitions merited action and what that action should
be.<span> </span> This could be a
standing item on the Commission’s agenda.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members acknowledged that petitions were an
opportunity for the public to get their concerns heard by the
decision makers.<span> </span> The
Chairman said that the Terms and Conditions needed to clearly set
out the criteria and Members suggested that a flow chart should be
used to show the public how to meet the basic criteria.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Amendments to the order and wording of the
criteria listed were suggested:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span>
<span>§<span> </span></span></span>
Moving bullet point 5 (response by senior officer) above bullet
point 4 (being heard by full council);</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<span>
<span>§<span> </span></span></span>
Modifying the wording of that clause to say that ‘if deemed
necessary by the relevant Committee of the Council an officer would
be required to answer questions (<span class="SpellE">eg</span> if
the petition related to a planning matter it should be at the
discretion of ... <a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=10322" class="external" title="Link to view the full item text for item 52., Breckland Council Petitions Scheme">
view the full minutes text for item 52.</a></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10330"></a>53.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Verbal update on the meeting held on 18 May
2010.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Chairman updated Members on the meeting of
the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee held at <span class="SpellE">Attleborough</span> on 18 May 2010.<span> </span> He said that the meeting had been
well attended by officers and Members from both Councils. There had
been a good debate and South Norfolk’s contributions had been
very positive.<span> </span> The
Chairman thought that the Members had agreed to commend the
Business Case to their respective Full Councils.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There had been concerns about governance
arrangements which needed to be sorted out and the Chairmen of the
respective Audit Committees had arranged to have a meeting to
discuss those matters.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Chairman said that he had therefore been
very surprised to hear that South Norfolk were not intending to
progress shared services with Breckland.<span> </span> The projected savings of
£8.5 million had been a conservative estimate and further
savings could have been generated by critical mass producing
discounts and contract efficiencies.<span> </span> Although it had not been clear
exactly how those savings would have been split, that did not
matter as they would have been of benefit to both sets of
residents.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As changes had been made to the Constitution
at the last Full Council meeting relating to shared services, there
would now need to be an Extraordinary meeting of Full Council on 8
June 2010 to change back the portfolio and management
structure.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10299"></a>54.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Scrutiny Call-ins (Standing Item)</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To note whether any decisions have been
called-in for scrutiny.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">None.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10300"></a>55.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Councillor Call for Action (Standing Item)</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To consider any references.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">None.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10301"></a>56.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10874" title="Link to document 'Scrutiny Work Programme and Refresh' pdf file" class="external">Scrutiny Work Programme and Refresh <span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 25 KB</span> </a></p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Discussion document.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Additional documents:</p>
<ul class="mgBulletList">
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10875" class="external" title="Link to document 'OSC_WorkProgramme2010-11_Report_App1_010410' pdf file">OSC_WorkProgramme2010-11_Report_App1_010410, item 56.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 58 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10876" class="external" title="Link to document 'Work Programme - Appendix 2' pdf file">Work Programme - Appendix 2, item 56.
<span class="mgFileSize"> PDF 35 KB</span> </a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer presented the report
which was a discussion paper resulting from the half day workshop
held in March, and asked Members to consider some changes of
approach to enable more focussed and effective scrutiny.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was felt that fewer items should be
included on the work programme to allow those that were included to
be discussed in greater detail.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Various subjects had been put forward for
future consideration by Task and Finish Groups, including
Contaminated Land, the road/transport system, anti-social behaviour
and drainage/flooding issues.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Under the revised Committee Structure, the
number of Task and Finish Groups running concurrently had been
limited to three.<span> </span>
Chairmen of the Groups had to be sitting members of the Commission
but all other non-executive Members would be encouraged to
participate.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The LDF and the
Joint Shared Services Task and Finish Groups (JOSC) did not count
towards the three Groups allowed by the Committee restructure and
in any case the latter had now ended.<span> </span> The LDF Group was not meeting at
present but was expected to resume in September.<span> </span> The Joint ARP Group was only
expected to require one more meeting before completion of its
task.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The Parking
Task and Finish Group had four more market towns to assess and
would therefore be on-going for the foreseeable future.<span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members had received a presentation about
Contaminated Land in March and had been asked for their input into
<span>the
different options which the Council could use to carry out its
inspections of contaminated land and reviewing the Contaminated
Land Strategy.<span> </span> The
deadline for this work was fast approaching and members needed to
decide whether to establish a dedicated task and finish
group.<span> </span> It was agreed
that a Contaminated Land Task and Finish Group would be set up
immediately to meet three times with a July 2010 finish.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Commission had taken on responsibility for
scrutiny of Crime and Disorder reduction and there would need to be
at least one meeting of that Committee each year, to fulfil the
Council’s minimum statutory requirement.<span> </span> It was suggested that anti-social
behaviour could be included on the agenda for that meeting rather
than being dealt with by a task and finish group.<span> </span> The Vice-Chairman also requested
that witnesses from the police be requested to attend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Member noted that her local LAG was no
longer functioning and was advised that this was another matter
that could be discussed by the Crime and Reduction Committee.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee
<span class="GramE">was</span> unlikely to meet again, due to the
decision by South Norfolk to step back from shared services, there
was capacity for another Task and Finish Group.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members discussed other matters for inclusion
on the work programme.<span> </span>
A Member noted that Partnership scrutiny was not
mentioned.<span> </span> He asked if
a member from the PCT would be co-opted to the Commission.<br />
<br />
The Chairman thought that the work programme needed to be clearly
defined first.<span> </span> With
changes to Portfolio Holders he felt it was important to maintain
Cabinet scrutiny.<span> </span> He
... <a href="http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=10301" class="external" title="Link to view the full item text for item 56., Scrutiny Work Programme and Refresh">
view the full minutes text for item 56.</a></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10302"></a>57.</p>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Next Meeting</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">To note the arrangements
for the next meeting to be held on 15 July 2010.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The arrangements for the next meeting on
Thursday, 15 July 2010 were noted.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="mgHelpLine">
</div>
</div>
2010-07-07T21:37:36+01:00
28966
Meeting
Minutes
30077
Attendance Details
Agenda Frontsheet
PDF 123 KB
Agenda reports pack
PDF 346 KB
Agenda Supplement PDF 156 KB
Printed minutes
PDF 82 KB
Venue: Innovations Centre, Croxton Road, Thetford IP24 1JD
Contact: Committee Services
01362 656870
Items
No.
Item
45.
Minutes PDF 101 KB
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
29 April 2010.
Minutes:
The Scrutiny Officer advised Members that the
recommendation at Minute No 37/10 (Parking Task & Finish Group)
had been agreed in prin...
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</div><div class="mgContent">
<p><span class="mgLabel">Venue: </span>Innovations Centre, Croxton Road, Thetford IP24 1JD</p>
<p><span class="mgLabel">Contact: </span>Committee Services
01362 656870
</p>
<table class="mgItemTable" id="mgItemTable" summary="Table of agenda items">
<caption class="mgSectionTitle">Items</caption>
<tr>
<th scope="col" abbr="No">No.</th>
<th scope="col" abbr="Item">Item</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10292"></a>45.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10808" title="Link to document 'Minutes' pdf file" class="mgAiTitleLnk">Minutes <span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 101 KB</span> </a></p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on
29 April 2010.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer advised Members that the
recommendation at Minute No 37/10 (Parking Task & Finish Group)
had been agreed in principle by Cabinet, subject to <span class="SpellE">costings</span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With reference to Minute No 36/10 (Executive
Member Update) the Vice Chairman asked that in future the minutes
should more clearly reflect the interactions between the Commission
and the Executive Member in a question and answer format.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The minutes of the meeting held on 29 April
2010 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the
Chairman.</p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10293"></a>46.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Apologies</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To receive apologies for absence.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Apologies for absence were received from Mr S
Chapman-Allen, Mr K Gilbert and Mr B Rose.</p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10294"></a>47.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Urgent Business</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To note whether the Chairman proposes to
accept any item as urgent business pursuant to Section
100(B<span class="GramE">)(</span>4)(b) of the Local Government Act
1972.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">There was no urgent business, however, at this
point a Member requested that in future, Substitute Members should
be included on the Agenda front page and that it should be up to
individual Members who were unable to attend to contact their
substitute.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members also agreed that a paragraph to this
effect should be added to the protocol on the agenda<span class="GramE">.<</span>1></p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10295"></a>48.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Declaration of Interest</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Members are asked at this stage to declare any
interests that they may have in any of the following items on the
agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The
Members’ Code of Conduct requires that declarations include
the nature of the interest and whether it is a person or
prejudicial interest.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">No declarations were made.</p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10296"></a>49.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Non-Members wishing to address the Meeting</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">To note the names of any
non-members or public speakers wishing to address the
meeting.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">None.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10321"></a>50.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Sickness Absence Task & Finish Group</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">To consider the report and
recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Additional documents:</p>
<ul class="mgBulletList">
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10912" title="Link to document 'SicknessAbsence_ReporttoOSC_270510' pdf file">SicknessAbsence_ReporttoOSC_270510, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 63 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10915" title="Link to document 'SicknessAbsence_Report_0410' pdf file">SicknessAbsence_Report_0410, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 90 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10913" title="Link to document 'Sickness_absence_policy' pdf file">Sickness_absence_policy, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 38 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10914" title="Link to document 'sickness_absence_procedure' pdf file">sickness_absence_procedure, item 50.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 100 KB</span> </a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer presented the findings of
the Task and Finish Group which had met over four meetings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Group had concluded that there was not a
great deal wrong with the existing system and that the
Council’s sickness levels over the last ten years compared
favourably with other similar authorities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It had been noted that long-term sickness
could significantly alter the appearance of the figures and that in
most cases long-term sicknesses were not work-related.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Problems associated with the Return to Work
interview system had been investigated and proposals to address
this issue were made in the conclusions on page 27.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Member asked what was being done about the
problem of stress-related illnesses and was told that the Council
used Occupation Health and Counselling to try to address
this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The HR department
also had various processes and programmes in place to promote
healthy living.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mrs <span class="GramE">Irving</span> who had
been a member of the Group, said that she thought it had been very
positive and had looked at a lot of preventative measures,
including encouraging people to report their concerns before their
health was affected.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Vice-Chairman agreed that the Group had
done a worthwhile job.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was confirmed that the Group’s
scrutiny had fulfilled the requirement to review the policy, which
had originally been approved in 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The Group’s report and four
recommendations would be passed on to Cabinet.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> It was agreed that paragraph 26 of
the report should be deleted<span class="GramE">.<</span>1></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt"><b style="q-bidi-font-weight: normal">RECOMMEND TO CABINET</b> that</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:72.0pt;text-align:left; text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list 72.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
(1)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
<span style="q-bidi-font-family:Arial">the existing policy be
updated with minor changes as shown at Appendix 1 to the
report;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="q-bidi-font-family: Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:72.0pt;text-align:left; text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list 72.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
(2)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
<span style="q-bidi-font-family:Arial">an electronic version of the
return to work interview form should be provided, as this would
save time and paper and would also allow for automatic generation
of e-mail reminders and flagging of non-returns;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="q-bidi-font-family: Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:72.0pt;text-align:left; text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list 72.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
(3)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
<span style="q-bidi-font-family:Arial">an accident information card
be produced for use by officers working out of the office,
and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-align:left">
<span style="q-bidi-font-family:Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:72.0pt;text-align:left; text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list 72.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
(4)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
<span class="GramE"><span style="q-bidi-font-family: Arial">a</span></span> <span style="q-bidi-font-family:Arial">review of the Out of Hours service be
carried out, to safeguard staff and to ensure that staff and the
service providers were aware of the respective
responsibilities.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10313"></a>51.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10873" title="Link to document 'Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee' pdf file" class="mgAiTitleLnk">Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee <span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 11 KB</span> </a></p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Report of Councillor John Labouchere.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Mr Labouchere was not in attendance to present
his report.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Member pointed out that the Norfolk and
Waveney Mental Health Trust did not cover Thetford.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
The report was noted.</p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10322"></a>52.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Breckland Council Petitions Scheme</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Report by the Scrutiny Officer.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Additional documents:</p>
<ul class="mgBulletList">
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10916" title="Link to document 'OSC_Report_PetitionsDuty_270510' pdf file">OSC_Report_PetitionsDuty_270510, item 52.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 173 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10918" title="Link to document 'Petitions_BrecklandPetitionsScheme_May10' pdf file">Petitions_BrecklandPetitionsScheme_May10, item 52.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 165 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10917" title="Link to document 'Petitions_TermsandConditions_May10' pdf file">Petitions_TermsandConditions_May10, item 52.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 95 KB</span> </a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer presented the report.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He explained that the Local Government,
Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 placed a duty on
Councils to devise a petition scheme.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The scheme had to be implemented
by 14 June 2010 and a facility for members of the public to submit
petitions electronically had to be in place by 15 December
2010.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members were asked to approve a draft scheme
which was based on a model scheme and Government guidance issued by
the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were four major issues for local
determination which Members were asked to decide:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list 36.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
1)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
To set a specified minimum number of signatures for the petition
scheme to apply.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The
guidance suggested 20 as a minimum threshold.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list 36.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
2)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
To set a specified minimum number of signatures to trigger a debate
at full Council.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The
guidance suggested 1500 signatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list 36.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
3)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
To set a specified minimum number of signatures to require a senior
officer of the Council to attend a meeting of the Overview and
Scrutiny Commission.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>
The guidance suggested 750 signatures.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list 36.0pt">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;q-bidi-font-family:Arial"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">
4)<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
To determine which senior officers would be liable to be called to
account in that way.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>
The guidance suggested the Chief Executive and Directors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members discussed the requirements and were
concerned that if specific thresholds were set, people
(particularly special interest groups) would work to those
numbers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Vice-Chairman agreed and asked if specific
numbers could be avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> He suggested that the wording
should be amended to allow the Chairman of the Council to determine
what constituted a significant number on an issue by issue
basis.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> He also
suggested that a caveat be included to only consider issues that
were of significance to the District.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was also against the proposal to require a
senior officer to give evidence if a specific threshold was
reached.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> He felt that
this was another matter that should be at the discretion of the
Chairman or Leader of the Council.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other Members agreed and it was suggested that
the Overview and Scrutiny Chairman in consultation with other
members of the Commission, should act as arbiters in deciding which
petitions merited action and what that action should
be.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> This could be a
standing item on the Commission’s agenda.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members acknowledged that petitions were an
opportunity for the public to get their concerns heard by the
decision makers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The
Chairman said that the Terms and Conditions needed to clearly set
out the criteria and Members suggested that a flow chart should be
used to show the public how to meet the basic criteria.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Amendments to the order and wording of the
criteria listed were suggested:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:54.0pt;text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops:list 54.0pt">
<span style="q-family:Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family:Wingdings;q-bidi-font-family:Wingdings">
<span style="mso-list:Ignore">§<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
Moving bullet point 5 (response by senior officer) above bullet
point 4 (being heard by full council);</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:54.0pt;text-indent:-36.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo4; tab-stops:list 54.0pt">
<span style="q-family:Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family:Wingdings;q-bidi-font-family:Wingdings">
<span style="mso-list:Ignore">§<span style="font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\""> </span></span></span>
Modifying the wording of that clause to say that ‘if deemed
necessary by the relevant Committee of the Council an officer would
be required to answer questions (<span class="SpellE">eg</span> if
the petition related to a planning matter it should be at the
discretion of ... <a href="mgAi.aspx?ID=10322" title="Link to view the full item text for item 52., Breckland Council Petitions Scheme">
view the full minutes text for item 52.</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10330"></a>53.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Verbal update on the meeting held on 18 May
2010.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Chairman updated Members on the meeting of
the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee held at <span class="SpellE">Attleborough</span> on 18 May 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> He said that the meeting had been
well attended by officers and Members from both Councils. There had
been a good debate and South Norfolk’s contributions had been
very positive.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The
Chairman thought that the Members had agreed to commend the
Business Case to their respective Full Councils.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There had been concerns about governance
arrangements which needed to be sorted out and the Chairmen of the
respective Audit Committees had arranged to have a meeting to
discuss those matters.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Chairman said that he had therefore been
very surprised to hear that South Norfolk were not intending to
progress shared services with Breckland.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The projected savings of
£8.5 million had been a conservative estimate and further
savings could have been generated by critical mass producing
discounts and contract efficiencies.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> Although it had not been clear
exactly how those savings would have been split, that did not
matter as they would have been of benefit to both sets of
residents.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As changes had been made to the Constitution
at the last Full Council meeting relating to shared services, there
would now need to be an Extraordinary meeting of Full Council on 8
June 2010 to change back the portfolio and management
structure.</p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10299"></a>54.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Scrutiny Call-ins (Standing Item)</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To note whether any decisions have been
called-in for scrutiny.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">None.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10300"></a>55.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Councillor Call for Action (Standing Item)</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">To consider any references.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">None.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10301"></a>56.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10874" title="Link to document 'Scrutiny Work Programme and Refresh' pdf file" class="mgAiTitleLnk">Scrutiny Work Programme and Refresh <span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 25 KB</span> </a></p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="q-bidi-font-size:10.0pt">Discussion document.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Additional documents:</p>
<ul class="mgBulletList">
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10875" title="Link to document 'OSC_WorkProgramme2010-11_Report_App1_010410' pdf file">OSC_WorkProgramme2010-11_Report_App1_010410, item 56.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 58 KB</span> </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=10876" title="Link to document 'Work Programme - Appendix 2' pdf file">Work Programme - Appendix 2, item 56.
<span class="mgFileSize"><img src="mgimages/logo-pdf-1.gif" height="10" alt="pdf icon" width="10" /> PDF 35 KB</span> </a> </li>
</ul>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The Scrutiny Officer presented the report
which was a discussion paper resulting from the half day workshop
held in March, and asked Members to consider some changes of
approach to enable more focussed and effective scrutiny.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was felt that fewer items should be
included on the work programme to allow those that were included to
be discussed in greater detail.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Various subjects had been put forward for
future consideration by Task and Finish Groups, including
Contaminated Land, the road/transport system, anti-social behaviour
and drainage/flooding issues.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Under the revised Committee Structure, the
number of Task and Finish Groups running concurrently had been
limited to three.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>
Chairmen of the Groups had to be sitting members of the Commission
but all other non-executive Members would be encouraged to
participate.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="q-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;q-bidi-font-family: Arial">The LDF and the
Joint Shared Services Task and Finish Groups (JOSC) did not count
towards the three Groups allowed by the Committee restructure and
in any case the latter had now ended.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The LDF Group was not meeting at
present but was expected to resume in September.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The Joint ARP Group was only
expected to require one more meeting before completion of its
task.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="q-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;q-bidi-font-family: Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="q-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;q-bidi-font-family: Arial">The Parking
Task and Finish Group had four more market towns to assess and
would therefore be on-going for the foreseeable future.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="q-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;q-bidi-font-family: Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members had received a presentation about
Contaminated Land in March and had been asked for their input into
<span style="q-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;q-bidi-font-family:Arial">the
different options which the Council could use to carry out its
inspections of contaminated land and reviewing the Contaminated
Land Strategy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The
deadline for this work was fast approaching and members needed to
decide whether to establish a dedicated task and finish
group.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> It was agreed
that a Contaminated Land Task and Finish Group would be set up
immediately to meet three times with a July 2010 finish.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="q-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;q-bidi-font-family: Arial"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Commission had taken on responsibility for
scrutiny of Crime and Disorder reduction and there would need to be
at least one meeting of that Committee each year, to fulfil the
Council’s minimum statutory requirement.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> It was suggested that anti-social
behaviour could be included on the agenda for that meeting rather
than being dealt with by a task and finish group.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> The Vice-Chairman also requested
that witnesses from the police be requested to attend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Member noted that her local LAG was no
longer functioning and was advised that this was another matter
that could be discussed by the Crime and Reduction Committee.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee
<span class="GramE">was</span> unlikely to meet again, due to the
decision by South Norfolk to step back from shared services, there
was capacity for another Task and Finish Group.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Members discussed other matters for inclusion
on the work programme.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>
A Member noted that Partnership scrutiny was not
mentioned.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> He asked if
a member from the PCT would be co-opted to the Commission.<br />
<br />
The Chairman thought that the work programme needed to be clearly
defined first.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> With
changes to Portfolio Holders he felt it was important to maintain
Cabinet scrutiny.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> He
... <a href="mgAi.aspx?ID=10301" title="Link to view the full item text for item 56., Scrutiny Work Programme and Refresh">
view the full minutes text for item 56.</a></p>
</div>
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</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="mgItemNumberCell"><p class="mgAiTitleTxt"><a name="AI10302"></a>57.</p></td>
<td>
<p class="mgAiTitleTxt">Next Meeting</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="GramE">To note the arrangements
for the next meeting to be held on 15 July 2010.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="mgSubItemTitleTxt">Minutes:</p>
<div class="mgWordPara"><div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal">The arrangements for the next meeting on
Thursday, 15 July 2010 were noted.</p>
</div>
</div>
</td>
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<div class="mgHelpLine">
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Minutes for Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting, May 27 2010, 2.15PM
2010-07-07T21:37:36+01:00
http://democracy.breckland.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=143&MId=2389&Ver=4
Minutes for Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting, May 27 2010, 2.15PM
http://openlylocal.com/documents/30077-Minutes-for-Overview-and-Scrutiny-Commission-meeting-May-27-2010-2-15PM