Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and to note the attendance of any substitute members.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Commission held on 18 May 2006.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission, held on 18 May 2006, be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are required to declare any personal or prejudicial interests and the nature of that interest, including the existence and nature of the party whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest or indications that Members would be participating whilst under the party whip.

Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman decides are urgent.

There were no urgent items intimated.

To consider the overall performance of the Council over the fourth quarter of 2005/06 as summarised in the Corporate Performance and Overview Report for that quarter.

The Commission considered a report by the Chief Executive to inform the Executive of the performance of the Council over the fourth quarter of 2005/2006 which covered the months of January to March 2006.  The Corporate Performance Overview Report was appended as Annexe A to the Chief Executive’s report.

The Commission welcomed Alison Sanders, Director of Corporate Services, to the meeting.  She stated that where answers could not easily be provided, officers would be asked to provide the information for circulating amongst Members.

The Corporate Performance Overview Report was the fourth and final report of the Chief Executive for the 2005/2006 financial year and the summary contained therein was based on more detailed information arising from each Director’s Quarterly Operations Reports for the period January to March 2006 which had been previously circulated to Members.

The Overview report provided the Executive with a high-level summary of progress and performance in respect of the Council’s services and, in doing so, to identify both the achievements and those areas where there may have been concerns raised.

It was reported that, overall, the quarter showed continued good performance across the Council’s services and, at a corporate level, the report drew Members’ attention to work which had, or was currently being done in respect of:

• The Town Centre Redevelopment Programme
• Elected Member Development Charter Mark
• Budget 2006/2007
• Older People’s Services Inspection

The report highlighted some areas of notable performance at departmental level over the last quarter, however, the following three areas had not performed as well as expected:

• Risk-based Inspections in Environmental Health
• Housing Benefits
• Reported Crime

The Commission noted that the Council continued to make sound progress towards the achievement of its objectives and that the report served to highlight the Council’s successes and to focus on some of the more challenging issues the Council faced.

The following points emerged from discussion around the report.

• It was welcomed that the decision to grant outline planning permission in respect of the Town Centre Redevelopment Project had not been called-in by Ministers and that this was good news.

• On the matter of the £717,000 pump-priming grant, the Director of Corporate Services was requested to seek an explanation as to how this money was to be spent and to identify the ten targets agreed by the Government and partners, as referred to in the report.  The Assistant Borough Treasurer advised Members that the funding was in addition to the budget allocation and would be used to support the delivery of the targets set and that the process had been discussed with partners.  He added that the report to the Executive showed how the money was to be allocated amongst departments to achieve targets set.

• A Member sought clarification as to the difference between “recorded” crime and “reported” crime and how, if different, were these measured.

To receive an update on the implementation of the Best Value Review of Transport.

The Commission is invited to note developments around Audit Committees within local government and consider whether any change to the Council’s existing arrangements would be desireable.

To consider other overview and scrutiny activity including updates from Panel Chairman.