Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from:

·         Councillor Colin Sharples – substituted by Councillor Chris Lomax

·         Councillor Colin Coulton

·         Councillor Mal Donoghue

Members are requested to indicate at this stage in the proceedings any items on the agenda in which they intend to declare an interest. Members are reminded that if the interest is a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (as defined in the Members’ Code of Conduct) they must leave the room for the whole of that item. If the interest is not a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, but is such that a member of the public could reasonably regard it as being so significant that it is likely that it would prejudice their judgment of the public interest (as explained in the Code of Conduct) then they may make representations, but then must leave the meeting for the remainder of the item.

There were none.

To be agreed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the minutes of the last meeting be agreed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

To follow.

The Committee noted the minutes of the last Scrutiny Budget & Performance Panel, held on Monday 13 March 2023.

Report attached.

Members received an update on recommendations made at previous meetings of the Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee agreed to remove recommendation 100.5 – South Ribble breakdown of multi-agency risk assessment conference and that 101.3 – Internal audit report of waste services would also be removed but that it may be considered again at a future Committee meeting.

Report of the Director of Change and Delivery attached.

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council and the Interim Head of Policy and Performance to the meeting to present an update on the work of the Partnership and answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee heard that there was a wide range of organisations that formed the Partnership, noting such examples as Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Lancashire Police and Fire Services, Primary Care Networks, Runshaw College and BAE Systems. Membership was designed to cover public, private and charity sectors and whilst they didn’t sit on the board, other partners were invited to attend and engaged with on specific issues. Members queried the involvement of the Members of Parliament covering the Partnership area and asked that ways to engage with them be considered. Questions were raised over the lack of a Lancashire County Council representative. The Committee were advised that a seat was open to the County Council and that this would be reviewed to identify the right individual.

With the Chorley and South Ribble Partnership being relatively new it was challenging to fully assess the Partnership’s effectiveness at this early stage. It was however noted that combining with Chorley had provided the Partnership with a greater voice and had facilitated better engagement with partner organisations, including contact with more senior officers. The Committee heard that more details and assessment of the Partnership would be available within the next 12 months.

On meeting the diverse needs of communities across Chorley and South Ribble, the Committee were advised that the Partnership didn’t necessarily focus on boundaries but sought to identify areas of need and address them on a strategic level. As the different partners had different boundaries to each other the approach was data driven and utilised the networks the Partnership engaged with.

It was acknowledged that language and terminology used within the report could be simplified and made more accessible for future reports.

Members heard that now the data had been collated, the next phase the Partnership would be focusing on would be identifying and developing targets and performance indicators in order to measure the impact the Partnership was having on communities. This would be supported by the common intelligence framework which all key partners would have access to and would be a vital tool in highlighting trends and needs in particular areas so that resources could be directed to support residents.

South Ribble Together had focused on individual projects such as a population health management project post Covid. This sought to identify and target vulnerable residents and work with partners to provided additional support where required. Working with primary care networks, further work to review social prescribing had also been undertaken. The Partnership was keen not to interrupt changes in NHS structures and to avoid duplication of work in this period had adopted a flexible approach while these new structures were embedded.

Clarification was sought on what a primary care network was and the role they played. Members heard that primary care networks were a group of GP  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.

Report of the Director of Communities attached.

Item withdrawn from the agenda prior to the meeting.

Final report of the Scrutiny Review Task Group attached.

The Chair invited Councillor Michael Green, Chair of the Scrutiny Task Group to present their final report.

The Committee were reminded that the Task Group was formed to review and consider the impact of new developments on the borough and its residents. In forming the recommendations within the report, the Chair of the Scrutiny Task Group wished to thank colleagues, officers and a range of witnesses who had attended meetings and provided valuable insight.

Members were advised of a minor amendment to remove the words ‘to seek’ from the fourth paragraph on page 42 which it was felt would strengthen the suggestion. It was subsequently;

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the Committee agreed the report, subject to the proposed amendment, for consideration at a future meeting of Full Council.

The Council’s representative on Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Lou Jackson agreed to circulate an update to the Committee following the next meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

No training had been attended by Committee members since the last meeting.

The latest version of the Forward Plan can be found on the Council’s website by clicking here.

The Forward Plan was noted.