Venue: Committee Room 1 - Civic Centre, Swansea. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services - Tel: (01792) 637292
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Apologies for Absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors S E Crouch, N J Davies, A J Jones, P M Meara and Mr D
Anderson-Thomas. |
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Disclosures of Personal & Prejudicial Interest. PDF 31 KB Minutes: In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City
and County of Swansea, no interests were declared. |
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Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips. Minutes: In accordance with the Local
Government (Wales) Measure 2011, no declarations of Whipped Votes or Party
Whips were declared. |
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To approve and sign as a
correct record the Minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 29
September, 2014. Minutes: RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Scrutiny Programme
Committee held on 29 September, 2014, be agreed as a correct record. Minute No. 70 (d) The Chair advised that a Special Scrutiny Programme
Committee would be convened for Thursday, 13 November, 2014 to examine the
upcoming Cabinet report in respect of the Proposed Lease of Underhill Park to
Mumbles Community Association. Minute No. 72 (b) The Chair advised that he would be meeting with the Leader on 29 October, 2014, to discuss timescales for Cabinet Member responses to Scrutiny Letters. |
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Final Scrutiny Inquiry Report: PDF 30 KB Streetscene (Councillor John Bayliss, convener - attending). Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor J C Bayliss, Convenor of the Street Scene
Scrutiny Inquiry Panel, presented the final report and sought approval for its
submission to Cabinet. Councillor J C Bayliss detailed the aims of the inquiry, the
evidence considered and the conclusions and recommendations. The key issues arising from the review included: · Alternative
models of service delivery and community development initiatives have the
potential to reduce service demand and provide additional service delivery
resources; these should be identified, developed and supported where possible; · The
Highways and Transportation and Waste Management services area are currently
facing significant budgetary pressures and this will continue into the future; · Maintaining
a clean and safe street scene environment is important to residents and for the
Council’s reputation; and · Residents,
tenants and community groups are important stakeholders; they value good
quality communication and information and are a good source of feedback on
services. Councillor J C Bayliss highlighted that a number of public engagement
events were held as part of the review. He stated that there were some serious
challenges because of reduced funding and required new ways of providing
services. The importance of communicating well with residents who report issues
was also highlighted, and providing feedback. The report also argued that there
should be better coordination between street cleansing and refuse collections
to improve the street scene. The Panel was concerned that the emphasis should
be on quality rather than speed. There was endorsement for the Winter Wardens
scheme that encourages residents to take some responsibility for maintenance
issues e.g. salt bins. The committee discussed the important work of council
enforcement officers and how 'bodycams' have helped with their understanding of
the role. Cllr Bayliss highlighted the contribution of Gordon Gibson
who was a co-opted member of the Panel. The Committee debated the report and asked questions of
Councillor J C Bayliss who responded accordingly. The Chair summarised the discussions and requested that the
covering report, which will accompany the report, emphasise the following: a. street
scene services are critical - street cleanliness is always high on the list of
community priorities and affects everyone b. the
evidence gathered by the Panel included consultation with the public and
residents groups, and generated a good response c. the
public value good communication and residents would benefit from information
about contacts within the street scene service d. it
is important to give feedback to customers when they report issues e. better
coordination between refuse collection and street cleansing operations was
necessary The Committee thanked the convener and Panel for its work. RESOLVED that the report along with a covering report emphasising the Committee’s discussions, proceed to Cabinet. |
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(Councillor Paxton Hood-Williams, convener - attending). Additional documents: Minutes: The Convenor of the Child & Family Services Scrutiny
Performance Panel, Councillor Paxton Hood-Williams, presented a progress report
on the work of the Panel. The committee
discussed the work of the Panel and reflected on the decision to split the work
of the former Wellbeing Performance Panel and benefit of that change.
Councillor Hood-Williams stated that it was a sensible decision to renew focus
on Child & Family Services. He advised that the Panel had met on one
occasion since the committee’s decision to re-establish this Panel, and
summarised the issues raised following its recent consideration of performance: ·
Referrals trending upwards; ·
Improved/increased use of the
Regional Integrated Family Support Service; ·
Drop off in the number of
initial and core assessments completed with timescale; ·
Staff supervision; ·
Numbers of children ceasing to
become looked after has dropped compared to the previous year; ·
Approval rates for foster carers
and adopters. Councilllor Hood-Williams
mentioned that the Panel received its second follow-up report on the previous
scrutiny review of leaving care services. The panel remained concerned
about the effectiveness of the contract/partnership to provide leaving care
services and had requested that a further report be brought back to the panel
in 3 months on the issue. The panel felt unable to sign off the review as
completed until it was satisfied that the services provided were effective. The Chair stated that he was very interested in the interaction between performance panels and cabinet members, and there was an expectation that conveners would focus their future reports on the impact of their work and effect on services. |
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Future Trends for Swansea. PDF 30 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Sustainable Development Team Leader assisted by the
Sustainable Development Policy Officer, presented ‘Future Trends for Swansea’
which gave an insight into current understanding of future trends likely to
impact the planning and delivery of Council Services. The Chair stated that this work was intended to support the
development of scrutiny by building long term thinking, future risks and
sustainability principles into scrutiny activities. In order to focus on
sustainability a Working Group has already been agreed by the committee in the
work programme and expressions of interest were to be sought to confirm the
convener / membership. The committee had also agreed to ensure that the issue
of sustainability and long term thinking should be a recurring theme for future
cabinet member questions sessions. Members were also encouraged to use the
information to support any other scrutiny activities they are involved in. The chair stated that it was important that the information
on future trends should inform future scrutiny work programmes, and that
longer-term thinking should be integrated into all scrutiny activities, so that
scrutiny asks the right questions. The Sustainable Development Team Leader referred to the
‘Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Bill which seeks to strengthen existing governance
arrangements for improving the well-being of Wales to ensure that present needs
are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs. She advised that trend forecasting was not a new concept and
had been used previously in Planning and Housing to help inform and develop
services. The Council had been chosen as a ‘model’ authority to work
with the WLGA in advance of the Future Generations ( The purpose of the document was to be used as an informative
tool in terms of shaping services for the future. She stated that whilst the data itself was not absolute or definitive
the paper aimed to paint a picture of future to stimulate thinking about future
policies and services and preparing for the challenges ahead. It
highlighted the questions that should be asked of decision-makers that would be
very useful for scrutiny. The Future Trends
report stimulated much debate. The Committee talked about the difficulties
sometimes of getting national and local statistics to match. There was a
particular focus now on the housing figures in the report. Questions about
demographics (migration /social trends), rural deprivation and digital
inclusion was also raised. Members were interested on
the various sources of information used to compile the paper. In response to questions, the Sustainable Development Team Leader confirmed that the paper, as it is updated, will include reference to issues around rural deprivation and access to services (e.g. library services). It was noted that the purpose of the document was to stimulate discussion and further in-depth inquiries into areas of concern. |
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Schedule for Future Cabinet Member Question Sessions. PDF 28 KB Minutes: The Chair presented the Committee with a draft schedule of
future Cabinet Member Question Sessions following recent Cabinet changes. RESOLVED that the timetable of future Cabinet Member Question Sessions be APPROVED. |
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Scrutiny Work Programme 2014-2015. PDF 50 KB includes: 1) Committee Work Plan 2) Progress of Panels
/ Working Groups 3) Forward Look (Cabinet Business) Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair presented the Scrutiny Work Programme for
2014-2015. The report explained the background and purpose of the
Scrutiny Work Programme and the current position of all scrutiny
activities. The Work Programme referred to the work currently active,
showing progress and the established Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups.
The Work Plan timetable for future Committee meetings was also provided. The Chair updated colleagues in respect of progress with
pre-decision scrutiny of the scheduled Cabinet report titled ‘Proposed Lead of
Underhill Park to Mumbles Community Association’. The report was
currently scheduled for consideration by Cabinet on 18 November, 2014 and
proposed that a special committee meeting be arranged for 13 November at 2.00
pm. The Chair also mentioned that: a) the Education Inclusion Inquiry Panel met on 23 Oct. The
Panel discussed the findings of the departmental review and gave views which
will feed into the development of an action plan. The Panel will meet again to
consider that action plan – anticipated before the end of this calendar year
and will then give its view about whether further scrutiny is required. b) A
response to the Planning Services Working Group letter has now been received
and will be on the agenda for the next committee meeting for discussion. c) The
Transforming Adult Social Services Panel is aiming to structure its work plan against key decisions in the TASS process and
will be receiving ongoing support from the Centre for Public Scrutiny. It was noted that a copy of the independent
review report on older people’s services was now available and would be
discussed by the Panel. There was some interest shown in the Tidal Lagoon project
from the point of view of the impact this may have on The Committee restated its commitment to getting the public
more involved in and raising awareness of the work of scrutiny. The chair
stated that councillors could do more to champion this. He also stated that
panels and working groups should be proactive in considering the best form of
engagement e.g. co-option, consultation. The chair was asked to consider
whether it would be effective to take Scrutiny Programme Committee meetings out
into the community. RESOLVED that the Chair write to the relevant Cabinet Member regarding the interest from scrutiny on the Tidal Lagoon project. |
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Membership of Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups. PDF 29 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair presented a report which advised of changes
required to the membership of the various Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups. RESOLVED that: a. Councillor
P R Hood-Williams be appointed as convenor in respect of Child & Family
Services Performance Panel; b.
Councillor U C Clay be appointed as convenor in
respect of the Social Care at Home Inquiry Panel; c.
Councillor U C Clay be appointed as convenor in
respect of the Transforming Adult Social Services Panel; d.
Councillors S M Jones, J P Curtice and E T Kirchner be
added to the Child & Family Services Performance Panel; e. Councillors
K E Marsh and D W Cole be added to the Service Improvement and Finance Scrutiny
Performance Panel; and f. Councillor C L Philpott be removed from the Social Care at Home Inquiry Panel. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair reported the updated Scrutiny Letters Log and
referred to the recent correspondence between scrutiny and the Cabinet Member
for Finance and Strategy. In terms of the letters shown as outstanding the Chair stated that: a) a
response to the Planning Services Working Group had now been received and will
be on the next committee agenda b) the
letter sent by the former Wellbeing Panel was being reviewed by the new Child
& Family Services Panel and any outstanding issues would be incorporated
into a fresh letter from that Panel. c) Committee
letters from the July and August meetings, and the letter from Schools Panel
sent on 9 Sep have been referred to new cabinet members for response and were
expected to be received in time for next committee agenda. Further to the committee’s request to amend the deadline
given to cabinet members for responding to letters, the chair of the committee
stated that he was meeting with the Leader to discuss. It was accepted that a
slight adjustment to 21 days would represent 3 calendar weeks and would ensure
that a deadline for response would never fall on a weekend. The change itself
required an amendment to the constitution which would be reported to a future
council meeting. RESOLVED that the letters and action log be noted. |
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Scrutiny Dispatches - November 2014. PDF 24 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair reported the draft Scrutiny Dispatches for
agreement. Councillor Hennegan wanted the committee to note the recent
interviews involving some members as part of the recent WLGA peer review and
reflected positive comments about the Scrutiny Team and support provided to
members. RESOLVED that the contents of the report be agreed and submitted to Council on 2 December, 2014. |
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Scrutiny Development Session: Making Scrutiny More Effective: Wednesday 5 November, 4.00-6.00pm, Rooftop Café Bar, Grand Theatre Workshop to support scrutiny members, looking at how those involved with working groups, panels and the Scrutiny Programme Committee can ensure that questioning, evidence gathering and recommendation making are all effective. The session will be supported by the Centre for Public Scrutiny. Minutes: The Chair referred to the forthcoming Scrutiny Development
Session which would be supported by the Centre of Public Scrutiny on Wednesday,
5 November, 2014. There was some concern about the date and time of the session
and a number of apologies had been received. RESOLVED that the session be rescheduled to ensure maximum attendance. |
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Date and Time of Future Committee Meetings for 2014/15 Municipal Year (all at 4.30p.m. except where noted):
Minutes: The date and time of upcoming Panel/Working Groups meetings were submitted for information. These were listed to help increase the visibility of this work and encourage public engagement. It was suggested that information about venue of meetings should also be provided in future committee agendas. |
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Date and Time of Upcoming Panel/Working Group Meetings. Minutes: The date and time of upcoming Panel/Working Groups meetings
were submitted for information. |