Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Jasbir Jaspal.

There were no declarations of interest.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

6. The Youth Council

The Scrutiny Officer advised the panel that further to presentation about Make your Mark at the last meeting the Youth Council are discussing the possibility of holding two mini reviews in February 2018 to investigate topics selected as a priority. The Scrutiny Board to be advised of further progress.

[To consider the draft budget and medium term financial strategy for 2018/19 to 2019/20 and to provide feedback for the Scrutiny Board to consider]

Councillor Andrew Johnson, Cabinet Member Resources, introduced the report. The Cabinet Member advised the Board that there had been a quiet response to the main consultation events. The consultation ends on 31 December 2017. The public responses on the budget proposals submitted online survey will be analysed in early January and included in the report to Cabinet.

The Cabinet Member commented that there had a been a lively discussion with members of Youth Council when the budget proposals were presented to them as part of the consultation event. The Cabinet Member welcome the contribution and interest shown in the budget issues. The Cabinet Member thanked all the Chairs for their comments on the budget proposals that have been included in the report.

The panel queried the reasons for the overspend on the ring-fenced budget for Public Health. The Cabinet Member explained that the Council have used £1.7 million reserves from the Public Health budget to meet the expected shortfall. The Council can carry forward reserves from the Public Health budget to future years. The Cabinet Member explained that action was necessary to bring the public health budget into balance and support the new approach to future work detailed by the Director of Public Health.

The Scrutiny Officer advised the Board that the Director of Public Health had agreed to present a report to Health Scrutiny Panel detailing plans for the future of the service. The Board requested that a similar report be presented for discussion at a future meeting.

Resolved:

             The comments of Board on the draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2018-19 to be included in the feedback report to Cabinet.

[Jaswinder Kaur, Democratic Services Manager, to present update on petitions received and actions taken over the last municipal year.]

Jaswinder Kaur, Democratic Services Manager, presented an update on all petitions received by the Council during the last six months. The Democratic Services Manager advised the panel that the issue about speeding on Lea Road may have been resolved following the intervention of Cllr Gakhal but at this stage it is not clear if the petition is still active.

The Board queried the outcome of the petition relating to Dukes Park play area. The Democratic Services Manager agreed to investigate the outcome of the petition and report the findings to a future meeting of the Board.

The Board discussed the impact of changes in the threshold for petitions had on panel workload. The Board were referred to para 3.3 of the report which gave further details about the process for responding to petitions submitted to the Council.

Resolved:

1. The Board agreed note the actions in relation to petitions received by the Council.
2. The Democratic Services Manager to update the Board on the outcome of a petition submitted about Dukes Park play area.

[Anna Zollino-Biscotti, Information Governance Manager, to present update report on Q2 performance of information governance]

Anna Zollino-Biscotti, Information Governance Manager, presented an update report on the performance of the service. The Information Governance Manager briefed the Board on the plans to comply with the requirements of the General Dara Protection Regulations. The regulations are due to come into effect on 25 May 2018. A briefing paper detailing the changes will be sent to all Councillors in January 2018.

The Chair recommended that future performance reports will be submitted for information and that the Information Governance Manager will not be required to attend. The Information Governance Manager advised the Board on performance for Quarter Two and commented that the response rate by the service had been very good. The service continues to receive freedom of information requests from the local and national press.

The Council is due to appoint a new Data Protection Officer (DPO)in early January.

The panel welcomed the report and progress made.

Resolved:

1.    The Board comments of the performance of Information Governance to considered.

2.    The Board agreed to note the progress update on preparations for the implementation of General Data Protection Regulations.

3.    The Information Governance Manager to update the Board on progress in recruiting a Data Protection Officer.

[Earl Piggott-Smith, Scrutiny Office, to present Scrutiny Board’s work programme for future meetings.]

The Scrutiny Officer briefed the board on the current work programme and invited member comments. The Scrutiny Chairs briefed Board on the work of their individual panels.

The Board discussed different approaches to scrutiny and agreed that lessons learnt could be presented to a future meeting. The Chair suggested that the issues could be considered at the annual scrutiny planning event but it was open to each panel to decide how they want to manage their work programme. The Chair encouraged scrutiny board members to discuss the items with their panel.

Resolved:

            The Board agreed to the note updates to the annual scrutiny work programme.