Issue - meetings

This item presents the final report arising from the York Museums Trust (YMT) scrutiny review and Cabinet is asked to approve the recommendations arising from the review.

RESOLVED:       That Cabinet agree to:

i)             Note the contents of the final report.

ii)            Request the Assistant Director (Communities, Culture and Public Realm) to arrange a meeting, at the earliest opportunity, of the Scrutiny Task Group, the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism and Officers to go through the review recommendations in more detail to enable a report back to the Leisure, Culture and Overview Committee on 23 January 2013.

iii)          Delegate approval of the final recommendations of the review to the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism at a future Decision Session.  

               REASON:           To conclude the Scrutiny Review in line with CYC Scrutiny procedures and protocols

Consideration was given to the final report of the York Museums Trust (YMT) scrutiny review, attached at Annex 1 of the report.

The background to the review and its remit were set out at paragraphs 3 to 5 with the reviews conclusions and recommendations at paragraphs 6 and 7.

In the absence of Cllr Reid, Cllr Fitzpatrick as Vice Chair of the Scrutiny Committee presented the report and its recommendations following agreement of the full Committee and she commended it for Cabinet approval. She confirmed that although a large report it reflected the considerable work undertaken by the Task Group.

Cllr Taylor, as Chair of the Task Group, confirmed his interest in the topic which had been considered very worthy of investigation. He expressed his appreciation to staff for their help and, in particular, the Scrutiny Officer. He went on to explain how the Group had gone about their work with the outcome being very supportive of the YMT and Cabinet were requested to approve the recommendations.

The Leader questioned whether the remit of the scrutiny review been met and Cllr Taylor confirmed that this was part of an ongoing process and that accreditation standards were being met.

The Cabinet Member thanked the Task Group for their hard work and the production of such an in depth report. With little time to fully digest the contents, including the concerns raised, she requested additional time to review the report to gain a better understanding prior to approval of the recommendations. As the Cabinet Member responsible for this area she required a clear audit trail and evidence base to back up the Committee’s recommendations.

Task Group Members reiterated that the recommendations had received the approval of the full Scrutiny Committee but confirmed their willingness to undertake further discussions with the Cabinet Member in order to clarify any ambiguous points. They did however point out that any changes would require the agreement of the full Scrutiny Committee.

Following further discussions it was

RESOLVED:       That Cabinet agree to:

i)             Note the contents of the final report.

ii)            Request the Assistant Director (Communities, Culture and Public Realm) to arrange a meeting, at the earliest opportunity, of the Scrutiny Task Group, the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism and Officers to go through the review recommendations in more detail to enable a report back to the Leisure, Culture and Overview Committee on 23 January 2013.  ^1.  

iii)          Delegate approval of the final recommendations of the review to the Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism at a future Decision Session. ^2.  

               REASON:           To conclude the Scrutiny Review in line with CYC Scrutiny procedures and protocols

[Cllr Levene abstained from the discussion and voting on this report as a previous member of the Scrutiny Task Group]