Agenda and minutes

At this point in the meeting, Members will be invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2007.

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Management Committee held on 17 September 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record, with an amendment to include Cllr Galvin once, rather than twice, in the attendance list.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is 19 September 2007 at 5 pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides Members with an update on the implementation of recommendations made as a result of a scrutiny review of Takeaways: Powers of Enforcement, completed in October 2005.

Note: Annex A to the above report was published on 19 October.

Members received a report which provided them with an update on the implementation of recommendations made as a result of a scrutiny review of Takeaways: Powers of Enforcement, completed in October 2005.

Members expressed concern that two years after the conclusion of the scrutiny little progress appeared to have been made.  They were particularly concerned about the lack of any information on the implementation of recommendations 1 and 3, and the inadequate information supplied on some of the others, such as recommendation 9, which just listed equipment issued to planning enforcement officers but did not address the issue raised regarding the variable levels of equipment between departments.  They highlighted that a number of the recommendations appeared to have been ignored, such as recommendation 6, regarding the need for “unmarked” pool cars to available without pre-booking, and recommendation 7, regarding the need for planning enforcements officers to process their own prosecutions.  They also noted that the responses to recommendations 2 and 8 had a single departmental focus, on planning, rather than the multi-departmental approach the Scrutiny Board had advocated.  Given that no officers had attended the meeting to deal with the Committee’s queries and concerns, it was suggested that consideration of the item be deferred for provision of all of the necessary information.

RESOLVED:That consideration of this item be deferred until the next meeting of the Committee, for the provision of detailed and accurate information about if and when the recommendations would be implemented, and, if they would not be implemented, the reasons why.

REASON:      To raise awareness of those recommendations which have still to be implemented.

This report introduces an update report from Cllr Tina Funnell as Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee, on the activities and work to date of the Committee.

Members received a report which had been intended to introduce an update report from Cllr Tina Funnell as Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee, on the activities and work to date of the Committee.  However Cllr Funnell was unable to attend the meeting owing to illness and a copy of the Committee’s work programme was therefore circulated at the meeting for consideration instead.

The report made reference to the following:

·  A work planning event in which Members had learned about the plans and priorities of health partners;

·  A community consultation event in which Members had listened to the concerns of patient and community groups;

·  Planned work for the remainder of the  municipal year;

·  Other relevant issues connected with the health of the citizens of York.

The Committee’s programme of work for the remainder of the year was likely to include some or all of the following:

·  Contributing to the “Annual Health Check” – the assessment process for NHS Trusts;

·  Working with Council Officers who were responsible for procuring the host organisation for the new Local Involvement Network (LINk);

·  Considering alternatives to in-patient hospital treatment, particularly in relation to the care and management of one or more long-term conditions;

·  Considering the work of North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust’s  (NYYPCT) Exceptions Panel;

·  Receiving updates on issues investigated previously by the Health Scrutiny Committee, i.e. dental services in York and the financial status of NYYPCT.

RESOLVED:That the report on the progress of the Health Scrutiny Committee be noted and future updates be received every 3 months.

REASON:      To inform Scrutiny Management Committee of the work and progress of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

This report presents the feasibility study for the proposed new scrutiny topic on drainage in York and seeks a decision on whether to proceed with a scrutiny review.

Members received a report which presented the feasibility study for the proposed new scrutiny topic on drainage in York and sought a decision on whether to proceed with a scrutiny review.

Officers updated Members, in relation to paragraph 9 of the report, that the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group had responded to the consultation and had no objection to the topic proposed.

A resubmitted version of Annex A, the scrutiny topic registration form, was circulated at the meeting, and Cllr Moore, the proposer of the topic, spoke in its support. [As amended at the meeting on 26/11/07]

The Assistant Director (City Development & Transport) and the Head of Engineering Consultancy attended the meeting.  They briefed Members on work currently being carried out to implement the motion passed by Full Council in October and on an officer review of the flooding in June, which would be reported to the Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services and Advisory Panel (EMAP) in December.  They also reported that the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was carrying out a number of studies across the country on the inter-relationship between the different agencies involved in dealing with flooding.

Some Members expressed the view that scrutiny of this topic at the current time would be premature pending the outcome of work at local and national levels.  It was suggested that the topic be rejected now and that a new registration form be submitted after the report to Neighbourhoods Services EMAP had been considered, focused on the specific areas which might require further review in the light of the contents of this report.

RESOLVED:That it be agreed not to proceed with a review of the topic on drainage in York at the present time, and Cllr Moore be advised that a new registration form could be submitted following the consideration of the officer review report at Neighbourhood Services EMAP.

REASON:      Given that any scrutiny review of this topic would be premature, pending the findings emerging from the existing officer review and the work being done to respond to the Council motion.

The Chair has agreed to consider under this item a report which requests Members to consider formally co-opting Matthew Page, a lecturer at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, onto the Traffic Congestion Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

Note: The above  report was published on 19 October.

Members received a report which requested them to consider formally co-opting Matthew Page, a lecturer at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, onto the Traffic Congestion Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

The Chair had agreed to accept this item onto the published agenda under urgent business as it had been outstanding for some time and Mr Page required clarity as to his role and position with regard to his work with the Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED:That Matthew Page be formally appointed as a non-voting co-opted Member for the duration of the Traffic Congestion Ad Hoc Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

REASON:            In keeping with other existing co-option practices.