Meeting documents

To consider report.

The Committee considered the report from the Scrutiny Manager, Jamie Jackson which presented the findings of the Scrutiny at Somerset Council Task and Finish Group which had been Chaired by Cllr Theo Butt Philip and Cllr Leigh Redman as Vice Chair.  The report outlined the recommendations from the Task and Finish Group for the proposed scrutiny arrangements for the new Somerset Council and the draft Terms of Reference, which will from Part G (Overview and Scrutiny arrangements) of the Constitution.

During the debate the following points were highlighted: -

·         Draft Terms of Reference – would require some amendment to ensure the scrutiny functions were in line with the new Directorates / areas of responsibility

·         Proposal that there would be a review of the revised scrutiny structure within 12 months of vesting day to ensure it was fit for purpose (could take lace sooner if required)

·         Clarification that the Constitution would specify that all scrutiny Chairs should be a member of an opposition party

·         Dedicated scrutiny support team and ‘buy in’ from the ‘top’ needed was referred to and the importance and value of scrutiny mentioned

·         Going forward would like any changes to the document to be ‘tracked’ – Scrutiny Manager to highlight if possible ahead of next meeting what elements were due to change compared to how scrutiny operated currently; and this was to be going forward as well

·         Query on the Climate and Place Committee and functions and it was suggested that it would be better if the Scrutiny Committee was changed to ‘Environment and Place’ and the Directorate title changed to that as well

·         Part G, section 1.18 onwards – noted Councillor ‘Call for Action’ was proposed to be included in the new Constitution

·         Call in and value of pre scrutiny of decisions, use of special urgency provision, consultation and that pre scrutiny was more critical than ever– The Monitoring Officer confirmed that they needed to ensure that the key principles of decision making were not ‘lost’ in the new Constitution coming before the Committee

·         Designated Statutory Scrutiny Officer post / role highlighted – would be included as one of the Proper Officers, set out in a later agenda item

·         Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) - would be involved in the review mentioned earlier

·         Resourcing of the 5 council scrutiny functions – this was around best use of the combined democratic services resource

·         If there were any future plans for the Task and Finish Group – the group had included current Chairs and Vice Chairs and had completed its work and referenced the proposed 6^th scrutiny committee which would comprise of the scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs and will fulfil an oversight and steering role for the 5 formal committees

·         Confirmed that Part G would need to also include reference to ‘task and finish groups’ as an appendix

·         Needed to ensure that the right delineation was between the Corporate Committee and Audit Committee functions

The Committee:

1. NOTED the following recommendations from the Task and Finish Group:

(1)           There should be a full review of the revised scrutiny structure within 12 months of Vesting Day to ensure it was fit for purpose. This review should take place sooner if required.

(2)           The Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee and the Children and Families Scrutiny Committees to remain as they were currently constituted.

(3)           To create a Corporate and Resources Scrutiny Committee, whose portfolio would include Finance and Procurement, Strategic Asset Management, ICT, Partnerships and Localities and Strategy and Performance. This committee would have specific responsibility for budget monitoring and financial scrutiny.

(4)           The new Corporate and Resources Scrutiny Committee would form part of an increase to 5 formal Scrutiny Committees – Adults and Health, Children and Families, Communities, Corporate and Resources and Climate and Place. The Task and Finish group had endeavoured to reflect the revised Senior Officer/Director’s structure within the Scrutiny Committee division of responsibilities.

(5)           The 5 Scrutiny Committee model would be supported by an informal 6^th ‘committee’ which would comprise the 5 Scrutiny Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs who would fulfil an oversight and steering role for the 5 formal Committees to ensure no duplication, efficiency of meeting time and allocation of work to Joint Scrutiny Committees. This group would also assume the responsibility for the review detailed in Recommendation 1 and would meet initially on a bi-monthly basis.

(6)           Specific Joint Scrutiny Committee meeting dates were to be established as part of the committee meetings calendar and an on-going forward work programme to be maintained for each of them.

(7)           To Create a dedicated scrutiny resource from the post Vesting Day Democratic Services team, to consist of a minimum of 1 x Service Manager, 1 x Governance Specialist/Team Leader, 2 x Committee clerks and 2 x Scrutiny Researchers. This would allow for much more effective and efficient scrutiny and greatly increase scrutiny opportunities, whilst ensuring resilience within the officer cohort.

2. NOTED the amendments to be made to Part G of the Constitution set out as an Appendix to the report, as detailed at the meeting.