Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Tammy Bisset.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the above meeting, having been circulated, be approved as a correct record.

None.

Report of the Democratic Services Officer.

2016/17 PROGRAMME OF PORTFOLIO HOLDER ATTENDANCE

The committee welcomed Councillor Gregory, Portfolio Holder for Community to discuss a range of issues relating to his portfolio accompanied by Lance Juby, Service Manager Community Relations.

Councillor Gregory circulated outcomes for Quarter 4 for his Portfolio and provided information on topics previously identified by members as follows:

Performance Indicators

Councillor Gregory explained the lack of performance indicators was because actions in the portfolio cannot be worked out numerically.

Gedling Youth Council – How are they included in the Council’s decision making process?

The Gedling Youth Council is independent of the authority and is made up of young people elected by their peers. The authority just facilitate the meetings, the young people decide their own agenda and work programme.

The Youth Council has recently undertaken the Children’s Commissioner Takeover Challenge and led a Senior Leadership Team meeting, delivering a presentation and discussing the key priorities set by the Youth Council.  These include  young people’s mental health, loneliness and isolation, emerging racial and cultural intolerance, peer pressure , stress caused by social media , issues of body image, new perceptions of gender,  the generation gap caused by new technology and a subsequent need to develop a curriculum for life to address these issues.

The Gedling Conversation will be supported by the Youth Council members and will involve their contributions from their own school or youth group.

Members agreed that the young people should be invited to be included in any scrutiny reviews which are relevant, and commented that Youth Council members had been very helpful on the Bonington Theatre and Transport reviews.

Building Positive Relationships with Parish Councils

The authority facilitates a network for parish clerks which offers a forum for discussion, information sharing and support.  The next meeting is scheduled later this month will discuss the Playing Pitch Strategy.

Minutes from Parish Councils are available on the website.

Senior leadership team members and service managers will be going out into the community during this year’s Gedling Conversation.  Ward members will be invited to join in the visits.  This will not include attending Parish Council meetings, but will include visiting community hubs, where people meet to find out what it is like to live in the area.  Dates for this have not been finalised.

The locality coordinator in Newstead has developed a positive relationship with the Parish Council.

Progress of Asset Transfer

The Council has adopted a community asset transfer policy; any interested party has to develop a robust business plan and prior to disposal the Council assesses the condition of the building to ensure that it is fit to transfer.

The transfer will enable the community to manage their own centre.

Centres currently moving towards being transferred include

·         Arnold Hill by the Eagles Nest Church.  All existing bookings will be honoured and it will continue to function as a community centre.

·         Pond Hills by the Arnold Arts Society.  Issues relating to resources and manpower to enable the transfer are being addressed, and it is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 165.

Report of the Democratic Services Officer.

Members considered a report that had been circulated in advance of the meeting which discussed the continuation of the system of audio recording.

Helen Barrington, Director of Organisational Development and Democratic Services introduced the report and discussed some of the issues that influenced the recommendation to conclude the trial. As the trial arose from a recommendation from the committee, Cabinet requested that the committee consider how they would like to take this forward.

Members commented that:

·         a lack of advertising may have had an influence on the low number of people who had listened to the recordings, and this may not have been a fair trial 

·         this method of recording had never worked properly due to technical problems, and that unless the technical issues could be resolved there would be no reason to continue with the trial

·         they considered the trial was first introduced as a mechanism to protect them from malicious recording, rather than a means to increase transparency of the work of the Council

·         other options to increase interest and transparency should be considered in particular the use of new forms of technology.

Councillor Andrews left the meeting at 6.35pm.

RESOLVED:

·         That the present system of recording should cease.

·         That a working group be established to consider options available to promote the openness of the Council.

Report of the Democratic Services Officer.

Members considered the Annual Report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting.  As part of the work programme, the committee is required to prepare a report which highlights work undertaken by the committee over the preceding year.

The report was discussed and it was agreed that it would be presented to Council.

RESOLVED:

·         To submit the Scrutiny Annual Report to Council

Report of the Democratic Services Officer.

COMPLETED SCRUTINY REVIEWS 2015/16

Obesity Report

Members noted the progress of the recommendations, and requested updates on the recommendations were no information was available.

SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME

Scrutiny working groups

Updates were given on current working groups:

·         Issues of an Ageing Population and Income Generation.

Both these reviews were concluding and recommendations were currently being developed.  Reports would be available for the July Committee.

·         The Gedling Councillor Standard

The working group would commence after the General Election.

Scrutiny in Committee

Members discussed the continuation of the programme of portfolio attendance currently used as a mechanism to hold the Executive to account. The committee agreed that they would continue with the current programme, and that a working group would be convened at the July Committee to look at the effectiveness of this programme, and to explore other ways of evaluating performance.

RESOLVED:

·         To note the information relating to the Obesity review and request additional information.

·         Note the information regarding the current reviews.

·         Establish a working group to evaluate the effectiveness of the portfolio holding to account programme, and consider alternative ways to hold the Executive to account.

Report of the Democratic Services Officer.

Members considered a report which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, giving information on matters referred to the Chair as required by the constitution.

None.