Agenda, decisions and minutes

That Councillor N.R. Steele-Mortimer be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

In the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, the Member Engagement Manager sought nominations for a chairman for the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor N.R. Steele-Mortimer be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting.

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 28 May 2012, had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

No declarations of interest were made.

That the report be received and each of the service Scrutiny Committees be encouraged to engage with the Partnerships with their respective remits.

The Chief Executive introduced a report to provide the Committee with a mid year overview of the progress of the Strategic Partnerships; the priorities for each of the Strategic Partnerships and key milestones for the year ahead.  

The Chief Executive provided background information and a synopsis of the remit of each Partnership.  He advised that some were statutory whilst others were discretionary and made reference to the eight key Strategic Partnerships working alongside the Flintshire Local Service Board (LSB). 

The Chief Executive commented that the Authority’s record of partnership working with regulators and the Welsh Government (WG) was considered positive, constructive and successful, and the LSB had also received support and interest from the WG as a working model. 

The Leader of the Council commented on the activity which had taken place during the last year and the opportunities presented through partnership working to feed into the Council’s priorities.  He said that a number of  Partnerships were key in terms of welfare reforms and provided feedback on the meeting of the LSB which he had recently attended. The meeting had also provided an opportunity to share good practice and consider how best to prepare the Authority for the challenges ahead.  

Councillor A.I. Dunbar commented on the Health, Social Care and Well-Being Strategy and the needs of older frail people.  He raised concern that some people were reluctant to request or accept health and social services to support them at home and asked how this could be addressed.  In his response the Chief Executive made reference to the range of support services provided by the Authority for older people in need of care and for carers.  He advised that the Authority was amongst one of the five top performers for managing hospital discharges and reablement to assist individuals to return home, all of which were in North Wales.   Where specific cases of concern arose regarding vulnerable older people the Authority encouraged individuals to undertake assessment.

Councillor W.P. Shotton made reference to the Children and Young People’s Partnership and said that he had raised concerns around obesity in children and young people and the risk of diabetes at the last meeting of the Lifelong Learning Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  He had requested that an item on this matter be included on the Forward Work Programme for consideration by the Committee and looked forward to receiving the Public Health Wales (PHW) action plans. 

A number of further concerns were raised by Councillor Shotton around youth unemployment and the number of young people who were not in Employment Education or training.  The Chief Executive referred to further development of the Deeside Enterprise Zone and the work being undertaken on advanced skills planning and skills matching.  He expressed the view that the Authority may not be proactive enough in promoting vocational as well as academic routes at post 16.

During discussion the Chief Executive responded in detail to the queries raised by Councillor C.J. Dolphin around youth reoffending.  He commented on the work undertaken around individuals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

That the report be noted and that further reports be made as information becomes available.

The Chief Executive introduced a report to inform the Committee (in its role as the Council’s statutory Crime and Disorder Committee) of the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners and Police and Crime Panels and the implications.

                        The Chief Executive provided background information and advised that on 15 November 2012 voters across Wales and England would be electing Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) for the first time.  The Commissioner would be elected for a four year period and was required to publish a police and crime plan setting out police and crime objectives for the area.

The Chief Executive gave an overview of the key considerations, as detailed in the report, for policing and its governance.  He outlined the arrangements for the transition period to ensure continuity of planning and performance and the establishment of a Transition Board to oversee changes. He also advised that the Authority would still retain a statutory duty on Crime and Disorder Planning and that the partnership duty remained.    It was agreed that further reports on the Police and Crime Commissioners would be made as information becomes available. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and that further reports be made as information becomes available.

That the Forward Work Programme be agreed.

The Member Engagement Manager introduced a report to enable the Committee to consider the Forward Work Programme.  He commented that the Authority was still awaiting Welsh Government guidance on the implementation of s.59 of the local Government (Wales) Measure 2011 which dealt with ‘scrutinising designated persons’.

Members reviewed the current programme and agreed that the following items be considered at the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 6 September 2012: 

·         Clwyd Theatr Cymru

The Member Engagement Manager made a number of suggestions for topics to be considered at future meetings of the Committee and it was agreed that he would populate the Forward Work Programme in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair. 

RESOLVED:

That the Forward Work Programme be agreed.

There were no members of the public and two members of the press in attendance.