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ITEM CC11 Supplement

COUNTY COUNCIL – 4 NOVEMBER 2003

SCRUTINY CO-ORDINATING GROUP

SCRUTINY DEVELOPMENT ACTION PLAN

(Updated as at November 2003)

Note: Updated actions in bold

1. The Co-ordinating Group in November received a report from Peter Binns (an independent consultant) following his evaluation of the development of scrutiny working. The Co-ordinating Group agreed that I would bring a Scrutiny Development Action Plan to this meeting, addressing the issues raised in Peter Binns’ report and other matters. Since then the final Audit Commission Corporate Assessment of the County Council (CPA) was published in December 2002. The recommendations within the report on scrutiny are set out below:-

• provide further training to all councillors and appropriate officers on the practical application of all scrutiny powers (see action points in paragraphs 4 and 5 below);
• review how the Scrutiny and Best Value Committees interact (actioned – reports adopted by Best Value Committee and Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group Winter/Spring 2003);
• consider how best to involve co-opted members, rather than substitute councillors, to ensure continuity of the work of scrutiny is maintained (to be considered a part of future review of Constitution);
• review the constitution to improve the effective use of the call-in mechanism (to be considered a part of future review of Constitution); and
• pilot joint working between the executive and scrutiny committees using the recommendations of this report to improve their inter-relationship in policy development and performance review (Regular attendance by an Executive member at Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group and at Scrutiny Committees – see also paragraphs 8 and 9 below in relation the Scrutiny Committees’ work programmes).

2. The research which underpinned the CPA report was undertaken during the Spring of 2002 when the scrutiny committees had only been operational for 6 months. The research for Peter Binns’ report was undertaken in October 2002 and demonstrated that, whilst there was still much to be done to develop the full potential of the scrutiny function, considerable development had taken place in the intervening period. There are now some very encouraging developments taking place which given time will lead to an effective scrutiny function if they can be sustained. Some elements of the CPA report concern structural issues which affect the Council’s Constitution, in particular bullet points 3 and 4 above. These issues will be looked at as part of the review of the Council’s political management arrangements which will be considered by the Council in January 2004. Otherwise, the recommendations of both reports are addressed in the Scrutiny Development Action Plan set out below. It should be stressed if the scrutiny function is to work effectively and the action plan is to be delivered then members need to "own" the actions and ensure that the outcomes are supported.

Scrutiny Development Action Plan

3. There are 4 main areas for development, training and development, scrutiny committee meetings, work programmes and community engagement. Each of these areas is interlinked. The action plan also builds on the issues arising out of previous scrutiny progress reports considered by the Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group and the Scrutiny Committees and reflects the oral and written comments received from members.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

4. Comment: both the CPA report and the Binns report emphasise the need to continue with the training and development programme for officers and members in order to both raise the awareness and understanding of the role and powers of the scrutiny function and the tools and techniques for undertaking effective scrutiny work. Since the CPA report was published the Scrutiny Handbook has been developed and published, this provides an easy guide to the scrutiny function for officers and members.
5. Action agreed:

1. Proceed with the development programme for members as previously approved and include more practical training activities in the application of tools and techniques for effective scrutiny perhaps in conjunction with District Councils;
2. Democratic Services to develop a training and development programme for officers to include some joint activities with members – the outcome of the current District Audit review of officers’ understanding of the Council’s political management arrangements will feed into this.

6. Comment: both the CPA and the Binns reports raise issues about how the scrutiny committees are working. They both raise cultural issues and the need to change the way in which the committees function and the dangers that they may be seen as still being old style service committees and operating on political lines. All the responses from members said that the coloured name plates currently used at meetings which identify the name and political affiliation of members should be replaced at all scrutiny meetings of the Council with plain name plates, showing name and electoral division only, this was thought to be a visible symbol that the nature of scrutiny committees was different. Peter Binns raised particular issues that the scrutiny committees were becoming paper bound which was inhibiting the more investigative, exploratory and challenging ways in which they needed to work if scrutiny was to be effective. He considered that the committees should work much more like the scrutiny review panels in the collaborative way in which they take oral evidence and interview witnesses.
7. Action agreed:

1. Except for the scrutiny committee’s own scrutiny review draft reports, in relation to Committee meetings:-

1. Where possible, limit the number and length of reports and background papers submitted for meetings word length not to exceed 10,000 words for the documentation of any one meeting.
2. Insist on all submitted papers having short executive summaries
3. Plan meetings more rigorously: agree the key purpose of the Scrutiny Committee and ruthlessly exclude extraneous items.
4. Where possible, limit the length of meetings to a maximum of 3 hours.

ii. encourage Executive members and officers to give presentations and use more oral evidence when forming their views on issues proceeding to the Executive;

iii. Scrutiny committees should adopt more of the working practices of the scrutiny review panels and also experiment in working in different ways;

iv. Ensure that the agenda planning process between the scrutiny committee officer and the chair, vice chair and third group spokesperson undertakes a rigorous review of prospective committee agendas and establishes clear reasons why items are on the agenda;

v. Scrutiny committee agendas should clearly state why an item is on an agenda and what the scrutiny committee are expected to do with it;

vi. Do not use the members’ coloured name plates at any scrutiny meetings replacing them with plain white showing a member’s name and electoral division only;

8. Comment: both the CPA and the Binns reports raise issues about the balance of the scrutiny committees’ work programmes. Agendas for individual meetings should be developed from the overall work programme agreed by the Committees. They both indicate that there should be a clearer focus to the work programmes and that they should be more clearly linked to performance review and policy development. The Executive has agreed a raising our performance and CPA action plan, which will enable a focus on these issues to be developed by the scrutiny committees. The outcomes from the scrutiny review programme are now clearly showing the links between these issues and the links between scrutiny and the Executive. There have also been improvements in co-ordination between the Scrutiny and Executive functions, although the scrutiny committees will need to take care that their work programmes are not merely just responding to the Executive’s agenda. The Binns report acknowledges that the review process is working well. Scrutiny Committees also need to be more rigorous in deciding not only what goes into their work programmes, but also what the best method of dealing with each item is i.e. whether a full blown review, an investigation over several full committee meetings, inviting interest groups and others to give evidence at committee meetings etc. Further training for members on scrutinising performance issues is planned for the early Spring.
9. Action agreed:

1. Each Scrutiny Committee should at its next scheduled meeting, as its first main item of business, undertake a fundamental review of its work programme to ensure that it is adding value to the Council’s work, is outcome focussed and the best method of working to achieve that;
2. Issues suggested for inclusion, particularly those for an in-depth review in the work programme should be rigorously assessed by the committee before any time or resources are committed to them and an assessment criteria to help the committee should be developed;
3. When an item is put into the work programme the method for dealing with it should also be decided;
4. During the Spring/Summer period each Executive Member (with the relevant Director or Head of Service) should be invited to present to the relevant scrutiny committee what they see as the key issues and drivers facing their areas of responsibility over the next 2-3 years.
5. Further consideration needs to be given as to how scrutiny committees will scrutinise the budget and the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee should look at the how the budget process from a scrutiny perspective can be improved. Further training on budget scrutiny is to be organised as part of the development programme.

10. Comment: one of the key issues for future development identified by the Co-ordinating Group last year was the issue of community engagement and involvement in the scrutiny process. A Protocol has been included in the Constitution and scrutiny review panels have been using a variety of techniques to engage the public in their reviews. There is still though a feeling within the Binns report particularly that the scrutiny function is still lacking an outward facing focus.
11. Action agreed:

1. 2-3 members of the Co-ordinating Group should be tasked with working with the Head of Democratic Services in producing an action plan for approval by a future Co-ordinating Group meeting on engaging the community in scrutiny work;
2. Members of scrutiny committees should be encouraged to raise community concerns when scrutiny committees are reviewing their work programmes;
3. When undertaking their activities, Scrutiny Committees should be encouraged to raise their visibility within the community by such things as undertaking visits or holding their meetings in locations or venues which facilitate the issues they are investigating.

Derek Bishop
Head of Democratic Services

Revised November 2003

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