Meeting documents

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on16 June 2014.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 June 2014 were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

To receive a progress report from the Chairman of the Modern Councillor project.

The Committee considered a report providing feedback on the work carried out by the Task and Finish Group set up to consider how the Council could best support the "modern" Councillor following the 2015 district elections and endorsed  the contents of an indicative timetable for events as set out in the appendix A. The Committee particularly noted the intention to circulate details of the induction programme to all candidates in the District Election thus giving them advance notice of the events.

Following a suggestion the Chief Executive agreed to see if a number of informal sessions for members, particularly involving newly elected members, could be included in the timetable of events.

The Chairman referred to the responses to the questionnaire completed by members as set out in appendix b and confirmed that a number of useful suggestions had been made including mentoring, training and development (scrutiny skills) and making greater use of social media allof which would be the subject of further consideration.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive an oral update.

During the update the Corporate Information Officer explained that whilst the performance standards set by the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) were known there were still difficulties in obtaining information on ambulance response rates specifically for the District. 

Attendance at the Annual Meeting of SCAS on 24 September had been useful in obtaining some general information including the Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14 the governance arrangements and the names of the three Governors representing the Buckinghamshire Constituency on the Council of Governors. One of these representatives had indicated a willingness to attend a meeting of the Committee to explain what the Governor’s role is and how they are seeking to work more closely with partners to provide an improved service response.

The issue of ambulance response times had also been addressed at the meeting of the Chiltern Clinical Commissioning Group held on 11 September 2014 in Section 4 of a report on Integrated Quality and Performance a copy of which was circulated at the meeting. The extract indicated that responses for June had not met three performance targets and the Committee again noted that the performance figures were not broken down into Districts although a reference was made to the growth in calls from Chiltern as being a contributing factor to the performance.

Councillor Matthews, attending the meeting in her capacity as the Council’s representative on the BCC Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee, said that she had met with SCAS as a result of which she had established that South Bucks had not been included in the Urgent Care Pathway set up for the High Wycombe area - hence the lack of performance information. It was not clear when this omission would be corrected and the South Bucks area included in an Urgent Care Pathway.

The Committee, in agreeing that the absence of specific information relating to the District was both disappointing and unsatisfactory, agreed that the Council should make representations to SCAS, through the Chiltern Clinical Commissioning Group if necessary, for an Urgent Care Pathway to be set up for the District thus providing a structured mechanism for patients to be directed to appropriate facilities and for obtaining information on ambulance response rates in South Bucks and the services provided to its residents.

To consider report of the Chief Executive.

The Committee considered the Annual Report 2014 which incorporated the comments made by the Cabinet at its meeting on 15 July 2014. The report included census details, aims and priorities, key achievements, and financial summary.

A full set of performance indicator tables was included and divided between each Portfolio responsibility.

During the discussion on affordable housing the Chief Executive agreed to make arrangements for members to receive a copy of the report on Commuted Sums submitted to the meeting of the Health and Housing PAG on 25 September

RESOLVED – that the Annual Report be noted.

To note the minutes of the meetings of the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel held 16 May and 11 July 2014.

After noting the minutes of the meetings of the Police and Crime Panel held on 16 May and 11 July 2014 the Committee wished to congratulate Councillor Egleton on his election as Chairman of the Panel.

To note the minutes of the meetings held on 20 May and 24 June 2014.- previously circulated.

The Committee noted the minutes of the meetings of the Select Committee held on 20 May and 24 June 2014.

Councillors Matthews referred to the minutes of the meeting on 20 May 2014 and in particular minute 8 – Wexham Park Hospital – and explained that the Hospital had been taken over by Frimley Hospital Trust with effect from 1 October 2014 as a result of which the Board of Governors, of which she was a member as the Council’s representative, no longer existed. The governance arrangements for the new Trust, including local authority representation, were not clear at this stage and Councillor Matthews said she would keep the Committee abreast of developments.

None received.

To note:

The Committee’s Work Programme

The Forward Plan

Councillor Hollis, attending the meeting in his capacity as Chairman of the Audit Committee, explained that the Audit Committee on 18 September whilst considering a report on the SBDC Accounts had expressed concern about the level of the accumulated pension fund deficit

As a result of this concern he undertook to see if the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had capacity to subject the issue of the pension fund deficit and its implications to a scrutiny review at a future date.

Following a discussion the Committee agreed to add such a  review to its Work Programme and  asked that a scoping paper  be submitted to the next meeting setting out, amongst other things, proposals for progressing the review, a timetable and resource implications.

The following items were also added to the Work Programme for the meeting in January 2015:

·         Annual Report of the Chiltern and South Bucks Joint Committee

·         Report of the Corporate Peer Challenge  – if available.

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act."

The Committee noted a report providing an update on the HS2 Project and the Council’s position in the light of its petition on the Scheme.