Agenda and minutes

1.         This meeting is to be webcast. Members are reminded of the need to activate their microphones before speaking.

2.         The Chairman will read the following announcement:

“I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be broadcast live to the Internet and will be capable of repeated viewing and copies of the recording could be made available for those that request it.

If you are seated in the lower public seating area it is likely that the recording cameras will capture your image and this will result in the possibility that your image will become part of the broadcast.

This may infringe your human and data protection rights and if you wish to avoid this you should move to the upper public gallery”

The Chairman made a short address to remind all present that the meeting would be broadcast on the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings. The Sub-Committee noted the Council’s Protocol for Webcasting of Council and Other Meetings.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

It was reported that Councillor K Chana was substituting for Councillor J Hart and Councillor Mrs J Whitehouse was substituting for Councillor Mrs A Haigh.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a personal or a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

No declarations of interest were reported pursuant to the Councils Code of Conduct.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Mrs H Harding be appointed as the Vice – Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

Decisions required:

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 8 November 2007.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 8 November 2007 be taken as read and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Recommendation:

To received a presentation from Princess Alexandra Hospital on their bid for Foundation Status. 

(Deputy Chief Executive) Mr Robert Powell of Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) will be attending this meeting to report on their intention to bid for Foundation Trust status.

Aidan Thomas, Chairman of the West Essex PCT alongside John Carr, of the West Essex PPI and Local County Councillors will also be presenting their views on the application.

Members are invited to consider the case and submit their views accordingly.

A copy of the consultation document has been sent to all Members for information.

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Mr R Powell and Mr J Day of the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) who was in attendance to report on their application for Foundation Trust Status. Also in attendance was Aidan Thomas, the Chief Executive of the West Essex PCT and Mr John Carr of the West Essex Public Involvement Forum who reported the views of their respective organisations on the proposals.

It was noted that NHS Foundation Trusts were ‘not for profit’, public benefit corporations which were still part of the NHS ‘family’ (a copy of the PAH presentation is attached). He advised on the key features of the applications which provided for the hospital to:

·         exercise more say in how the hospital was run and financed;

·         consolidate and enhance their role as the local hospital of choice;

·         enable staff and members of the public to be more involved in decision making and the planning of services;

He reported on the consultation process for the plans for trust status involving the provision of information, a newsletter, events for feedback and opportunities to elect representatives and stand for elections on the Council of Governors for the Trust. A Public meeting would be held in each constituency. The deadline for responses to the plans was 13 January 2008. 

·                     Governance Arrangements

Mr Powell advised that the plans provided for PAH to be governed by an elected Board of Directors, a Council of Governors chaired by the Chair of the Trust and a membership drawn from staff, local people and partners.

The Board and Governors would be accountable to the membership who would have the choice of being actively involved in the Trust. The Electoral Reform Society had undertaken to run the elections and provide information on ways of voting.

It was planned that the Board of Directors would meet on a monthly basis and the Council of Governors on a quarterly basis. It was suggested that the meetings should be webcast to open them up to the public.  A Member questioned the Boards ability to hold the Trust to account given they shared the same Chairman? It was clarified that this element of the structure was determined by government legislation. The hospital would continue to be monitored by the Healthcare Commission.

·                     Membership

The Trust aimed to have a membership of 7,500 by the summer of 2008. There was no upper age limit on membership but the minimum age was 14.

The Committee noted that the hospital was encouraging both Council Members and staff to take up membership of the Trust to enable them to report the views of the local constituents and scrutinise performance. It was recommended that steps should be taken to encourage such involvement.

·                     Funding

The proposals would enable the PAH to exercise more control over their budget, invest surplus funding into their own services and borrow money for services. However, they would still have to achieve balanced budgets.

The plans would also enable the hospital greater freedoms to run their services. The Strategic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive) to consider the attached report.

This item was raised with the Local Councils Liaison Committee on 28 November, who asked that they be given more time to consider this report as they could not possibly consult their members in the short time between their meeting and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee scheduled for 13 December 2007. They would like this item deferred and brought to the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee at the end of January 2008.

The Chairman of the Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel, Councillor R Church, invited the Committee to consider and the Panels recommendations on their review of the frequency of Area Plans Sub – Committees.

The Panel had been asked by the Director of Planning and Economic Development to review arrangements for the frequency of Area Plans Sub – Committee. The Panel noted that it was his view that changes in the frequency of meeting would assist in achieving top quartile performance in dealing with planning applications.

The report recommended that with effect from 2008/09 provision be made in the Council’s calendar of meetings for a meeting of each Area Plans Sub Committee every three weeks. 

The Committee noted that the Local Town and Parish Council had been invited to respond to the proposals. The Committee received written responses from a number of Local Councils – (North Weald, Loughton TC) and comments from Councillor Mrs C Pond. A key concern was that the proposed changes did not allow them sufficient time to respond. They were also of the view that a three weekly cycle could restrict their ability to properly consider cases and submit comments in time for inclusion on the Area Sub agenda.

The Committee heard that assessments had been carried out to identify the accommodation, staffing and printing costs of the additional meeting. The proposals would require an additional 14 meetings of Area Plans South and officer support from Planning and Democratic Services for each of the additional meetings, together with rent and printing costs.

The Committee felt that the Council should aim to deliver a first class services to its residents. However in order to enable them to carry out a proper cost/benefit assessment of the options, they agreed that a further report on the following points needed to be prepared:

• costs of moving to a three weekly cycle;

• implications of using the ‘fallow week’ in the calendar (where there was no meeting of the Area Plans Sub – Committees) for extra meetings of Area Plans South;

• implications of the plans to provide extra April/May meetings of the Sub – Committees during the Electoral period. It was suggested that the Council should test out this step before considering the need for a three weekly cycle;

• referring the matter to the Task and Finish Panel for the Provision of Value for Money in Planning Services who were currently reviewing the Development Control Service.

• revising the delegated powers scheme to enable more cases to be dealt with under such powers;

It was also suggested that the reports should cover:

• customer views on performance;

• the numbers of applications deferred at meetings;
• the Planning Services Improvement Plan – measures and indicators for improving performance;

The Committee also expressed a wish to give Local Council’s more time to consult their Members on the proposals and submit comments.

In view of these issues, the Committee agreed to defer the item for consideration at their next meeting on 31 January 2008 to allow for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

(Assistant to the Chief Executive). To consider the attached report.

It was reported that at their last meeting, the Constitution and Members Services Panel considered a request submitted by Councillor Mrs Cooper for scrutiny of communication and access to information arrangements. This request had been referred to the Panel by this Committee.

The Panels proposals indicated a pragmatic approach to the issues raised. Recommendations (1) and (6) would require further reports to members. The other recommendations could be programmed and/or actioned as appropriate. There were no Constitutional issues.  

The Committee supported the proposals.

RESOLVED:

(1)          That a review of the use of ward Councillors forms be undertaken and reported back to the Panel;

(2)          That consideration be given to including a session within the Members Training Programme about how issues are considered by the Councils Committee and where to go for information about services;

(3)          That a hierarchy chart of the Council staff and structure be provided for members on completion of the Senior Management review;

(4)          That officers be reminded of the desirability of reports from meetings not attended by Members appearing in the Council Bulletin as and when appropriate;

(5)          That a ‘new documents’ shelf be created in the Members Room together with work to remove old and obsolete materials to enable faster location of documents;

(6)          That consideration be given to including a summary box on committee reports;

(7)          That future planning training sessions cover the main aspects of the various local and national plans and related current issues; and

(8)          That consideration is given to strengthening the advice to potential Councillors about the need for attending new Councillor induction sessions following their election.

(a)        Work Plan Monitoring

To consider the attached revised work plan.

At its last meeting, the Committee considered recommendations made by the OS review seminar held on 18 September 2007.

During which they decided that their full work plan should not be submitted to every meeting as this often resulted in lengthy repetitive discussions and duplicated other parts of the agenda. Instead it should focus on monitoring the most pressing deadlines and current work to ensure better use of time.

 As a result, officers have formulated the attached for consideration. The plan simply specifies which reports should be ready for reporting to this Committee and flags up areas of slippage against these deadlines.

The Committee also decided that their full work plan should be submitted to the OSC on a quarterly basis for review.

(b)            Reports of Panel Chairmen

Progress reports are expected from the Chairmen of the following meetings:

Constitution and Member Services Standing Panel – 20 November/11 December 2007 (Councillor R Church)

Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel - 13 November 2007

(Councillor J M Whitehouse)

Provision of Value for Money Task and Finish Panel - 3 December 2007

(Councillor Mrs L Wagland)

Environmental and Planning Services Standing Panel – 6 December 2007

(Councillor Mrs Mrs P Smith)

Aside from this, Panel Chairmen are reminded to report on an exception basis

The Committee reviewed and noted the work programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and it’s standing panels.

(i)            Finance and Performance Management Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Panel, Councillor J M Whitehouse, reported that the Panel had considered figures for KPIs performance during the first six months of this year. He advised that the target set by the Cabinet of achieving 75% in the top quartile was ambitious.  The Panel had undertook to review the targets next year. The Panel had also considered proposals for next years Fee and Charges and referred these to the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee. The Panel also considered a report on the Land Assessts Review and agreed to keep a watching brief over the emerging plans.

(ii)            Environmental and Planning Services Standing Panel

The Chairman of the Panel, Councillor, Mrs P Smith,  reported that the Panel had last met on 6 December 2007. The meeting was held to consider the findings of their sub group on the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Act 2005 and the Rogers Review of Enforcement Priorities. It was noted that the Panel had made some changes to their recommendations to clarify the aims of the review. They  would be submitting their formal report to the next meeting on 31 January 2008. 

(iii)       Crime and Disorder Task and Finish Panel

The Panel was currently being held in abeyance as it was awaiting to receive directions from government. The Committee expressed concern at this and asked that its Terms of Reference be reviewed at the annual review of the plan in March 2008.

Recommendations:

(1)             To review the Cabinet agenda and indicate matters of concern/comment for the Chairman to discuss with the Cabinet; and

(2)            To raise any further matters to be discussed with the Cabinet at their next meeting on 17 December 2007.

The Executive Procedural Rules (Rule 2.2 (iii) and (v) provide an opportunity at Cabinet meetings for Members of this Committee to raise any matters for consideration by the Cabinet (Overview and Scrutiny Rule 16). This items provides an opportunity to raise such matters either in relation to proposed Cabinet items or other matters of concern. 

The Chairman of the Committee will report accordingly to the Cabinet at its next meeting.

The Committee considered the Cabinet agenda for its meeting on 12 November 2007. No further issues were raised for consideration by the Cabinet.