Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from District Councillors Jill Bull and Jo Robb.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Mike Fox-Davies, who had replaced Councillor Jeannette Matelot and District Councillor Phil Chapman who had replaced Councillor Kieron Mallon as representative for Cherwell District Council since the last meeting.

Dr Alan Cohen is a Trustee of Oxfordshire Mind.

This meeting will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9 am on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e. 9 am on Monday 8 March 2021. Requests to speak should be sent to colm.ocaomhanaigh@oxfordshire.gov.uk together with a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9 am 2 working days before the meeting.

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate virtually their written submission will be accepted.

The Chairman had accepted the following request to speak:

Item 4: Councillor Jane Hanna.

To consider amendments to the Terms of Reference to recommend to the March meeting of Full Council.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to

a)                     SUPPORT the revisions to the draft Terms of Reference for a health scrutiny committee for health system-wide issues across the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) area.

b)                     RECOMMEND that the revisions to the Terms of Reference are approved by Council.

c)                     RECOMMEND that a delegation is sought from Council to enable the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview Scrutiny Committee, to make minor changes to the Terms of Reference after 23 March 2021 should other BOB councils request them as part of their own approval process.

The Committee had before it revisions to the Terms of Reference for a health

scrutiny committee for health system-wide issues across the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) area.  The Committee was asked to consider the revisions, recommend to Council to agree the revisions and provide for a delegation to make any further minor amendments.

The Chairman had agreed to the following request to speak:

Councillor Jane Hanna stated that she believed that there were risks to consider in relation to a lack of clarity in governance and public accountability surrounding the decision structures for shared services in the region.  She was concerned that the toolkit for deciding which issues should be taken to the BOB JHOSC had not yet been agreed.

Councillor Hanna added that the terms of reference stated that meetings would be conducted under the standing orders of the host authority but it was unclear if their Constitution would be used to decide on any issues around conduct or gaps in the rules.  She was concerned that the new committee would have no co-opted members which were a requirement for the Oxfordshire committee.

Councillor Hanna asked Members to reject the revisions.  She was concerned that there was no definition in the delegation of authority as to what constituted a minor amendment.  She believed that there should be a review required given that HOSC at the regional level was a new development.

The Chairman introduced the item.  He stated that there had been a meeting between the Chairs of the five HOSCs and that it was clear there that they had a common goal in a robust scrutiny of health and care developments at the BOB level.

The Chairman described a number of changes as being necessary to accommodate the fourth “locality” tier of health scrutiny in West Berkshire which did not exist in the other authorities.  There was also a change to allow substitutes to help ensure that there would be at least one representative present from each authority which is required for a meeting to be quorate.

The specification that Healthwatch will be a recognised stakeholder with a standing agenda item to report, rather than being represented on BOB JHOSC, was in line with the approach taken in Oxfordshire.  The provision to allow for temporary co-opted members would provide an opportunity to demonstrate the value of having co-opted members which has been the experience in Oxfordshire.

With regard to the concern expressed that the toolkit had not been finalised, the Chairman noted that the Oxfordshire JHOSC toolkit was not in its Constitution.  He added that it was felt to be better to have two meetings each year in the diary for BOB JHOSC given how difficult it would be to arrange a date at short notice across five authorities.  If there was nothing to discuss then the dates could be cancelled.

Anita Bradley, Director for Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer, confirmed that councillors could only be held accountable to the Constitution and Code of Conduct of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12/21