Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

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Agenda and minutes

Venue: King Edmund Chamber, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich. View directions

Contact: Committee Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Minutes:

1.1               There were no declarations of interests.

2.

TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF PETITIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNCIL'S PETITION SCHEME

Minutes:

2.1               None recieved.

3.

QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC

To consider questions from and provide answer to members of the public on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

 

Minutes:

3.1               None received.

4.

QUESTIONS BY COUNCILLORS

To consider questions from and provide answer to Councillors on any matter in relation to which the Committee has powers or duties and of which due notice has been given in accordance with the Committee and Sub-Committee Procedure Rules.

 

Minutes:

4.1               None received.

5.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY TRAINING FOR MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Janice Robinson, Assistant Director for Democratic Services will provide scrutiny training for Members

Minutes:

5.1               The Corporate Manager for Democratic Services provided Members with training on good scrutiny, councillor call for action and the Call-in procedure.

 

5.2               Members discussed a couple of case studies which focussed on topics covered in the training

 

 

 

6.

CHAIR'S UPDATE ON THE CfPS SCRUTINY SYMPOSIUM

The Chair to provide an update on the new Government Scrutiny Guidance, which was presented at the Centre for Public Scrutiny Symposium

Minutes:

6.1               The Chair provided a verbal update on the new Government Scrutiny Guidelines. Members were provided with a copy of the guidelines at the meeting.

 

6.2               The Chair stated that since the Council had only recently adopted the Cabinet-leader model, the scrutiny committee adhered to many of the statutory guidelines in the document including:

 

·       The culture of the authority, which had recognised scrutiny as an important part of the decision-making process

·       Communicating the role and work of the committee to the public

·       Resourcing

·       Selecting members of the Committee. The Chair suggested that a skills questionnaire was sent to committee members to establish the skills set of the committee

·       Training

·       Access to documents and reasonable refusal or access to draft documents in relation to council business.

·       The planning of work and the Workplan

·       Evidence scrutiny. The committee achieved this by inviting witnesses to support the scrutiny process

·       The appendices which contained good case studies

 

 

7.

BOS/19/1 BABERGH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE TIME TABLE 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Members to agree the Committee Time Table for 2019/20

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Timetable be agreed

8.

BOS/19/2 THE 2019/20 OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 437 KB

Members to agree the 2019/20 Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan

Minutes:

7.1               The Chair advised that further topics would be added to the workplan during the year but asked if any Members had any suggestions to be added to the work plan.

 

Councillor Adrian Osborne provided the following topics:

 

·       Home Ownership review

·       Efficiency of CA

·       The impact on the Council when patients are discharged from hospital

 

7.2               Members discussed the topics and it became apparent that funding was an issue for Citizens Advice (CA). The concern was that the reduced funding would have an effect on the service provided by the CA. There had previously been a presentation provided to the Council on CA, however the funding issues had changed, and Members were concerned how this would affect CA. 

 

7.3               Babergh provided funding to CA in Ipswich and Sudbury, and some Members felt that scrutiny of the value for money would be one way to scrutinise CA. Others felt that data to establish what the funding was used for should be provided to determine if further scrutiny was required.

 

7.4               The Chair suggested a joint County scrutiny of the funding for CAs and the service they provided.  Members agreed and asked that East Suffolk Council, Ipswich Borough Council, West Suffolk Council, Mid Suffolk District Council and Suffolk County Council were approached to determine if they would be interested in a joint scrutiny process. 

 

7.5               The Chair suggested that one Member from each council could form part of a Task and Finish group and report back to their respective committees on the funding for Citizens Advice Bureau in the County.

 

7.6               Councillor Sue Ayres suggested that scrutiny was conducted around the lack of Travellers site in Babergh.  It was established that a report or presentation had been provided to the Council in 2011.

 

7.7               Members discussed the issues regarding Travellers’ sites.  The Council appointed Members to the Gypsy and Travellers Steering Group and the Strategic Director suggested that there would be useful information in the Joint Local Plan and the Joint Homelessness Reduction Strategy document.

 

7.8               It was agreed that an Information Bulletin on the issue of Travellers sites should be added to the Work plan and be provided to the Committee in due course.

 

7.9               Members then returned to the topic of Home ownership Review or a review of the homes across the District.  There was data available to Members on this issue and it was agreed that officers should put an Information Bulletin together for the committee.

 

 

9.

BOS/19/3 FORTHCOMING DECISIONS LIST

To review the Council’s Forthcoming Decisions List and identify any items to be brought before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

The latest version can be located on the Council’s Website via the following link:

 

https://www.babergh.gov.uk/the-council/forthcoming-decisions-list/

 

Paper copies will be available at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

The Forthcoming Decisions List was noted.

10.

BOS/19/4 MSDC OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 623 KB

For information.

 

Minutes:

It was RESOLVED: -

 

That the Mid Suffolk Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan be noted