Agenda, decisions and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

Nominations will be sought for a Vice-Chair for the Committee.

That Councillor C.S. Carver be Vice-Chair for the Committee. 

            The Chairman sought nominations for the appointment of Vice-Chair for the Committee.  Councillor N.R. Steele-Mortimer nominated Councillor C.S. Carver which was duly seconded.  On being put to the vote, the nomination of Councillor Carver for Vice-Chair was carried. 

RESOLVED:

That Councillor C.S. Carver be Vice-Chair for the Committee. 

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 22 March 2012. 

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

            The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 22 March 2012 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

            Matters Arising

            Councillor I. Dunbar referred to page 7 and, on behalf of ex-Councillor D. Barratt, asked whether the Council’s complaints procedure had been implemented.  The Head of ICT and Customer Services responded that it had been due to go live in April 2012 but that he would confirm whether this had been achieved. 

RESOLVED:

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

That the report be noted. 

                        The Chairman introduced a report to inform the Committee of its Terms of Reference, set in the context of Terms of Reference of all of the Overview & Scrutiny Committees. 

                        Members were advised of the scope of the Committee which was detailed on page 15 of the report. 

            In response to a query from Councillor P.G. Heesom, the Member Engagement Manager said that the role and specific functions of Overview and Scrutiny Committees were reported on pages 11 to 13. 

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted. 

That the Forward Work Programme be amended to reflect the suggestions made.   

            The Chairman introduced the report to consider the Forward Work Programme for the Committee. 

            He detailed the issues considered by the Committee on a quarterly basis which included the Capital Programme and reports on Performance and Workforce Information.  Other reports which were submitted on a six monthly basis, and where possible before they were considered by Cabinet, included Asset Strategy, People Strategy, Customer Service Strategy and Improvement Priorities.  He also highlighted further items which were within the remit of this Committee such as iTrent Implementation, Compact for Change and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). 

            The Leader of the Council said that Cabinet’s Forward Work Programme would be developed and reviewed based on the priorities set by Cabinet.  He also gave a commitment that the Revenue Budget Monitoring Reports would continue to be submitted to this Committee before they were considered by Cabinet.  He felt that there was a need to review the MTFS and suggested that an update report be provided to the Committee meeting on 5 July 2012 to allow for their input into its continued development.  The Chairman explained that he had spoken to the Head of Finance about this and it had been suggested that a special meeting be held for the MTFS. 

            Councillor I. Smith queried why all of the meetings were scheduled for 10am.  The Member Engagement Manager responded that the timings had been based on what had occurred in the past but that the Democracy & Governance Manager was circulating a questionnaire to all Members about their preferences for timings of meetings.  Councillor C.S. Carver expressed concern that not all 70 Members would respond.  The Chairman said that moving the meetings of this Committee to the afternoon on the scheduled days could be considered.  He also suggested that the special meeting for MTFS could be held on the afternoon of 5 July 2012 with the meeting to consider the items detailed in the Forward Work Programme still being held on the morning of the same day.  The Member Engagement Manager concurred and said that it was hoped that the questionnaires would be returned shortly to allow a decision to be made for future meetings. 

            In response to a comment from Councillor P.G. Heesom seeking assurance that Members could refer issues to the Committee, the Member Engagement Manager advised that the Local Government Measure put into law what was already available in Flintshire County Council protocol; this was that Members could put issues forward to Overview and Scrutiny Committees regardless of whether they were a Member of that Committee.  He reminded the Committee of the standard practice that the Chairman and Vice-Chair, in discussion with himself, could put items onto the Forward Work Programme as necessary and would be responsive to Members’ concerns. 

The Chairman said that the Strategic Assessment of Risk and Challenges (SARC) and the Annual Improvement Report also needed to be included in the Forward Work Programme.  Councillor Heesom suggested that a report be brought forward on Flintshire Futures but the Chairman explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The meeting commenced at 2.00 p.m. and ended at 2.40 p.m.

There were no members of the public or press in attendance.