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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Town Hall, Queen's Square, Priory Meadow, Hastings TN34 1QR
Contact: Michael Courts on 01424 451764 Email: mcourts@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Appointment of Chair
The Senior Corporate and Democratic Services Officer will invite nominations for the appointment of a Chair for the duration of the meeting.
Minutes:
The Senior Corporate and Democratic Services Officer invited nominations for the appointment of Chair for the duration of the meeting. Councillor Webb moved that Councillor Davies should take the Chair, which was seconded by Councillor Batsford.
RESOLVED that Councillor Davies be appointed as Chair for the duration of the meeting.
Declarations of Interest
Minutes:
The following councillors declared an interest in the minutes as follows:
Councillor
Minute
Interest
Pragnell, Scott and Webb
4
Personal – they are Members of East Sussex County Council
Davies
4
Personal – he was formerly a National Union of Teachers representative.
Pragnell
4
Personal – Member of East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Webb
4
Personal – Member of the East Sussex Health and Well Being Board
Additional documents:
- Appendix A - Update on 2013/14 Work Programme , item 7. PDF 16 KB
- Appendix B - Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme Ideas for 2014/15 Municipal Year , item 7. PDF 36 KB
Minutes:
The Senior Corporate and Democratic Services Officer, presented an update report on the 2013-14 work programme, highlighting that members had completed both of the detailed reviews they had identified as high priorities at the 2013 annual meeting. A management response to the scrutiny review of changes to the welfare system was due to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting in July. Members had also formulated and published an Overview and Scrutiny Charter, which set out the key principles and objectives of the Overview and Scrutiny function.
The Chair gave thanks to all those involved in the 2013-14 work programme, including members and officers.
The Chair presented the recommendations of the Chairs and Vice Chairs, and introduced the topics which had been identified as a high priority for the 2014-15 work programmes. The recommendations included proposed topics for updates within the quarterly committee meetings schedule.
The committee’s views were sought on all the future work programme ideas. Members remained as one joint committee to consider the topics put forward for consideration. Senior officers aided the committee in their discussion on the suggested reviews.
Councillor Batsford proposed an additional review to consider the role of academies as education providers in the town. The review would seek to develop a framework to enable the Council to engage with the academies proactively. Members were mindful that the review would require a significant contribution from key partners, including the education authority and senior staff at the academies.
Members discussed the proposal for a review of the Council’s organisational transformation in some detail. Whilst Members agreed that this area is a key priority, they accepted that a full review of this subject would have significant resource implications. Members agreed that it would be preferable to receive an update from the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council and that the Scrutiny Steering Group would work up questions for them based on the review suggestion put forward by Councillors Davies and Webb. Members would then undertake further monitoring of the ongoing organisational changes, particularly those brought about by the pending refurbishment of Aquila House, through their quarterly committee cycle and consider the outcomes of their findings at the end of the municipal year.
The committee agreed that the title of the proposed review of privatised contracts should be amended to outsourced services, to better reflect the purpose and objectives of the review.
After discussion, members decided on conducting reviews collectively, allowing members from both Resources and Services Committees to sit on any review.
The committee decided on the following issues for their 2014-15 work programme:
SCRUTINY REVIEWS
TOPIC
LEAD OFFICER
TIMESCALE
MEMBERSHIP
REPORTS TO
1.
Outsourced contracts
TBC
TBC
TBC
Resources
2.
Engaging with academies
TBC
TBC
TBC
Services
COMMITMENTS FROM 2013-14 WORK PROGRAMME
TOPIC
REASON
PROPOSER
REPORTS TO
1.
Scrutiny Review of Hastings Castle Future Management Options
Members suggested that the review team is reconvened in autumn 2014, to review the summer season.
Members of the Scrutiny Review of Hastings Castle Future Management ... view the full minutes text for item 7.
Invitation to Lead members for 2014/15
Members will be asked to invite Lead Members to quarterly committee meetings in 2014/15.
Minutes:
The Senior Corporate and Democratic Services Officer, asked for the committee’s approval to invite Lead Members to the quarterly Overview and Scrutiny performance monitoring committees for the 2014-15 municipal year.
RESOLVED that Lead Members be formally invited to attend their respective Overview and Scrutiny Committees for the 2014-15 municipal year.
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