Meeting documents

CHILTERN DISTRICT COUNCIL

MINUTES of the Meeting of the SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

held on 16 OCTOBER 2001

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Councillors Ms J E Bramwell, L A Hodgkinson and     A H Reed.

IN ATTENDANCE Councillor Mrs E P Stacey

27.     MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 September 2001, copies of which had been previously circulated, were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

A point was raised regarding the approval of minutes that were before a committee for approval, after they had been to Full Council.  The Head of Legal Services explained that when minutes were on the agenda for Full Council it was to approve the items that were not within the delegated authority of that committee.  The minutes then came to the originating committee for confirmation that they were a correct record of the meeting.  

28.     DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

     None were declared

29.     BEST VALUE SUB-COMMITTEE

The Minutes and Recommendations of the meeting of the Scrutiny Best Value Sub-Committee held on 18 September 2001, copies of which had been previously circulated, were submitted and considered.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes and Recommendations of the meeting of the Scrutiny Best Value Sub-Committee held on 18 September 2001, be approved and accepted.

30.     FORWARD PLAN OF THE EXECUTIVE

Copies of the Forward Plan had been circulated with the report to the Executive meeting on 9

October 2001.  The Plan had been updated and a copy circulated at the meeting.

Members asked why the decision dates on some items had been moved forward.  It was explained that documents from outside organisations were sometimes received late and therefore decisions on some items had to be estimated. In another instance quotations from outside companies were not received in time.

     RESOLVED -

     That the Forward Plan be noted.

31.      URGENCY REQUEST FROM THE EXECUTIVE

Arising from the Executive meeting on 7 October 2001, agenda item 7, an urgent item regarding ad-hoc property purchase was referred to the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee.  The matter was dealt with under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Rules and Rule 12 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

The Executive were required to make a key decision that was not included in the Forward Plan.  Consequently this decision required the consent of the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee.  The Chairman discussed the matter with both the Vice Chairmen and as a result gave formal consent under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Rules, that the taking of a decision in respect of the Ad-Hoc Property Purchases - Starter Homes Initiatives could not reasonably be deferred. The Chairman later gave his consent under Rule 12 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules that the matter was urgent and should not be subject to Call In as a delay would result in the Council incurring unnecessary expenditure.

The request from the Executive had enabled the Chairman of Scrutiny Committee to test two important procedures in the new Constitution and the report set out how the procedures had operated in this particular case. The Head of Legal Services explained that, just because the Chairman had given his consent under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Rules permitting the Executive to make a key decision in respect of a matter not appearing in the Forward Plan, it did not follow that the Chairman should also give his consent under Rule 12 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules that the matter was urgent (thereby avoiding Call In).  The tests were different under each Rule, reflecting the particular requirement of the modernising Regulations and each had to be considered on its own terms.  

Members expressed concern that the Chairman of Scrutiny was the sole arbiter on urgent business.  In fact, the Chairman had obtained the agreement of both his Vice-Chairmen to the request that the Executive be permitted to consider the matter, but there had been insufficient time to discuss the request that the matter also be treated as urgent and not subject to Call In. Members considered that urgency requests should include the financial implications of delaying the decision and that a protocol on how to manage such requests should be drawn up.

     RESOLVED -

That officers draft a protocol to deal with any future urgency requests from the Executive.

32.     ADOPTION OF SCRUTINY PROTOCOL

     Members were requested to consider the adoption of two draft protocols for the conduct of Scrutiny Reviews.

     Members agreed that the draft protocols should be adopted but kept under review.

     RESOLVED -

     That the draft protocols be agreed and kept under review.

33.     REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN

     The Chairman gave a verbal report on the need for a programme of work for this Committee.

Officer time was presently allocated between Executive and Best Value, with Scrutiny Committee

at present having no officer time.  A programme would give evidence of work that this Committee would wish to undertake and could be used to support a bid for officer time. Members agreed that unless officer time was allocated the Committee would be unable to fulfil its role to its full potential.

Members agreed that a case should be made for officer support and to this end the matter should be referred to Management Team. Members also confirmed their support of the Chairman in any tripartite discussions.

     RESOLVED -

That the Chairman discuss with the Chief Executive the requirements of this Committee and a request be put to Management Team, this to be reported back to the Committee.

34.     FUTURE SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME

A table of the work of the Scrutiny Committee split between the main Committee, the Sub-Committee and the Best Value Sub-Committee was circulated at the meeting.

Members discussed other items that could be included in the work programme. A concern was raised that the Policy Advisory Groups were not being used in the manner in which they were originally set up.

Members agreed that this Committee would scrutinise the working of the Policy Advisory Groups by collecting factual evidence and report the findings to the Constitution Review Committee.

     RESOLVED -

The meeting ended at 8.05pm.