Venue: Council Chamber, Guildhall
Contact: Democratic Services, (01792) 637292
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Yvonne Jardine |
Apologies for Absence. Presented By: Yvonne Jardine Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A M
Cook, P Downing, T J Hennegan, P M Meara and Mrs S Joiner. It was noted that Councillor Andrew Jones had now stood down from the committee. The chair paid thanks to his contributions on behalf of the committee. Actions: Yvonne Jardine |
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Yvonne Jardine |
Disclosures of Personal & Prejudicial Interest. PDF 30 KB Presented By: Yvonne Jardine Minutes: In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City
and Actions: Yvonne Jardine |
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Yvonne Jardine |
Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips. Presented By: Yvonne Jardine Minutes: In accordance with the Local Government ( Actions: Yvonne Jardine |
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Yvonne Jardine |
To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 16 February, 2015. Presented By: Yvonne Jardine Minutes: RESOLVED that the minutes of the Scrutiny Programme Committee held on 16 February, 2015, be agreed as a correct record. Actions: Yvonne Jardine |
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Cabinet Member Question Session: PDF 82 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: a. Cabinet
Member for Anti Poverty The Committee took the opportunity to question Councillor W
Evans, Cabinet Member for Anti Poverty. Members noted the short report on ‘headlines’ in relation to
portfolio objectives which assisted the Committee in focusing on priorities,
actions, achievements and impact. The Cabinet Member referred to poverty as being far reaching
and detailed the Joseph Rowntree Foundation definition of poverty. He advised that Poverty was one of the
Council’s 5 Corporate Priorities. Members noted the increasing number of food banks within the
Members asked questions of the Cabinet Member who responded
accordingly. The Cabinet Member stated that he would provide written
responses in relation to: · The
development of the LIFT Programme and difference between the Communities First
Programme and LIFT Programme in relation to work carried out to get adults into
work; · Timescales
for developing and implementing a Local Delivery Framework in respect of the
first phase of roll out of Universal Credit; · Changes
to the Target Areas approach previously established by the Cabinet; · Cuts
to the Community Food and Growing Team and the proposed establishment of a
Community Interest Company; and · The
source of the data and clarification about boundaries when talking about the
difference in life expectancy figures between East and The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for attending. RESOLVED that the Chair of
Scrutiny Programme Committee write to the Cabinet Member reflecting the
discussion and sharing the views of the Committee. COUNCILLOR R V
SMITH (VICE CHAIR) PRESIDED FOR THE FOLLOWING ITEM ONLY b. Cabinet
Member for Housing & Communities The Committee took the opportunity to question Councillor D
Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities. Members noted the short report on ‘headlines’ in relation to
portfolio objectives which assisted the Committee in focusing on priorities,
actions, achievements and impact. The Cabinet Member referred to the diverse range of services
covered by his Portfolio which included Council housing; preventing
homelessness; improvements in renewal areas; Disabled Facilities Grants and
energy efficiency schemes; Welsh Housing Quality Standard and Bricks and
Mortar. He referred to the additional resources from the Housing Revenue
Account, the exact amount would be known by the end of the month.
He stated that there was considerable investment in affordable housing and he
welcomed any assistance scrutiny could provide in the future. Members asked questions of the Cabinet Member who responded
accordingly. The Cabinet Member stated that he would provide a written
response in relation to: · The ability to control number of
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in areas where there is already a high
density; · Issues
associated with the amalgamation of Council housing waiting lists with
registered social landlords; and · Progress
on the suspension of the right to buy scheme. The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member for attending. RESOLVED that the Chair of Scrutiny Programme Committee write to the Cabinet Member reflecting the discussion and sharing the views of the Committee. |
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Scrutiny Performance Panel Progress Report - Schools (Councillor Fiona Gordon attending). PDF 31 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Gordon, the Convenor of the Schools Scrutiny Performance Panel presented her third update to the Scrutiny Programme Committee.
She advised that the Panel currently meets on a monthly basis and the work completed since the last update in December included:
· In December a session dedicated to looking at the Annual Education Performance Data was held and included the Cabinet Member for Education and the Chief Education Officer. ·
In January the panel met with the Challenge Advisor, Head teacher and Chair of
Governors for ·
In February the Panel looked at how Pupil Deprivation Grant has been
spent in schools across ·
Over this period the Panel had kept up to date
with individual school Estyn
Inspections publications and any advisory/practice documents including for
example: relevant Estyn
Inspection outcomes for
Councillor Gordon referred her letters to letters and responses received from Cabinet Members. Some of the issues raised and responded to included:
· The · Concern about the possible ‘super’ education budget allocation, with part of the education budget potentially being allocated to the region and decisions being made and monies shared with authorities who have different needs and priorities. · The panel had been (and would be) following up on a number of issues that had been highlighted by schools when they have met with them including: - The issue of children being put on a school roll but never actually attending that school because they are on an educated other than at school pathway. Some schools are concerned that these children are on their roll but they have no control over their outcomes or attendance and that in turn skews their performance figures. - Recruitment of and dealing with competency issues in relation to teaching staff. - The Special Educational Needs budget formula and its allocation to schools.
Councillor Gordon referred to the future work programme which included the Panel examining the Education Funding Formula and particularly SEN Funding. It will also assess their years work and start to plan for the next municipal year. Contact had been made by email with Councillors, Head teachers and School Governors around future topics for education scrutiny which the Panel will consider at this meeting.
Members discussed:
· the role of the Head teacher and expressed concern regarding the amount of time Head teachers may be spending away from attainment matters dealing with Social Services (e.g. as designated named officer for child protection) and buildings issues and questioned whether there would be a more efficient manner in working; and · the education funding formula. A specific issue was raised in respect of schools where there is a transient population (e.g. close to the University) and impact this has on the school budget not adequately dealt with by the funding formula.
It was noted that the March meeting of the Panel (which planned to look at the Education funding formula) had to be cancelled because of short term resources issues within the Education department. There was also concern raised in respect of the Transformation of Adult Social Services Panel about difficulties in obtaining information and attendance that has also led to cancelled meetings. The chair advised that if there are issues with the scrutiny process that cannot be resolved by conveners then these should be referred to the committee for action. The Chair thanked the Councillor F M Gordon for the update
and the Panel for its work.
RESOLVED that the updated be NOTED. |
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Scrutiny Work Programme 2014 - 15. PDF 53 KB Includes: a) Committee Work Plan; b) Progress of Panels / Working Groups; c) Forward Look (Cabinet Business). Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair presented an update on the Scrutiny Work Programme
which explained the background and purpose of the Work Programme and the
current position of all scrutiny activities. She referred to the work
currently active and progress with the established Scrutiny Panels and Working
Groups. The Work Plan Timetable for future Committee Meetings was also
provided. She advised that: ·
Cabinet had now made a decision on the Public
Engagement Scrutiny Inquiry report. On 17 February it agreed 15 out of
the 16 recommendations (1 in part) and agreed an action plan. The Scrutiny
Panel would reconvene for the purpose of following up on the action plan and
impact of this inquiry. The committee noted that a response to the Street Scene
Inquiry was also scheduled for 14 April Cabinet. ·
The Corporate Culture Scrutiny Inquiry was
almost at the point of concluding evidence gathering. The inquiry is projected
to complete in May. ·
The pre-inquiry Working Group which met to
consider School Governance has agreed to proceed with an inquiry – terms of
reference being drawn up and will be reported to the committee as soon as
possible. ·
The Sustainability Working Group had met on 9
March and following initial discussion agreed to hold a second meeting to look
at further information requested and to discuss conclusions and recommendations
for the Conveners letter. Further information requested
included: 1. looking at an issue
in more practical terms, a case study on sustainability in relation to Food
Security 2. looking at the
document/tool used to for sustainability impact assessments 3. looking at examples
of some future trends and how we are addressing these. It was noted that further correspondence had also been
received in relation to RESOLVED that the further correspondence received in relation to Parkland Primary School be forwarded to the Cabinet Member for Education with a reminder to respond to the committee’s letter. |
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Membership of Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups. PDF 23 KB Minutes: The Chair presented a report which advised of changes
required to the membership of Scrutiny Panels and Working Groups. RESOLVED that: a. Councillor
A C S Colburn be appointed as Convenor of the Sustainability Scrutiny Working
Group; and b. Councillor J W Jones be added to the Membership of the School Governance Inquiry Panel and Sustainability Working Group. |
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Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair reported the updated Scrutiny Letters Log and
referred to the recent correspondence between Scrutiny and Cabinet Members. There was some concern regarding the Cabinet Member for
Education’s response to the Committee’s letter following the session in
December. The issues were detailed as follows: -
EMLAS Review – there was concern that the review which began 18 months
ago still does not have a completion date.
This was particularly important given the cuts to schools budgets and to
the EMLAS service and the impact on schools with large numbers of children from
ethnic minorities and those with English as a second language. -
EOTAS Review - the Cabinet member’s letter states that there has been a
meeting of the Education Inclusion Inquiry Panel on this. Although that is
positive it would be helpful to know the status of the internal review. RESOLVED that: a.
The Chair write to the Cabinet Member for Education seeking further
information in relation to the EMLAS and EOTAS reviews; and b. the Scrutiny Letters Log be NOTED. |
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Feedback from Recent Scrutiny Events: PDF 50 KB Minutes: The Chair referred to the recent visit to the National
Assembly for Members expressed frustration about progress in relation to
scrutiny of the regional Western Bay Programme. It was noted that governance
has only recently been confirmed by leaders / portfolio holders and that a
report back from organisers of the seminar is awaited that will inform further
discussion on scrutiny of the |
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Upcoming Scrutiny Events: Minutes: The following upcoming
events were noted: ·
Scrutiny Improvement
Workshop on 18 March ·
National Conference on Scrutiny, Partnership,
Collaboration and Regulation. The chair also informed committee members about regional
engagement events being organised by the Welsh Government to raise awareness of
proposals set out in the White Paper (Reforming Local Government). The event
for the |
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For Information: Audit Committee Work Plan. PDF 22 KB Minutes: RESOLVED that the Audit Committee Work Plan be NOTED. |
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Date and Time of Future Committee Meetings for 2014/15 Municipal Year (all at 4.30 p.m. except where noted):
Minutes: The date and time of the last meeting of the 2014/2015 Municipal Year was submitted for information. |
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Date and Time of Upcoming Panel / Working Group Meetings:
Minutes: The date and time of upcoming Panel/Working Group meetings were submitted for information to help increase the visibility of this work and encourage participation. |