Apologies were receiced from Councillors Elizabeth Mawson and Barrie Yates.

Held on 28 June 2018 – to be confirmed as a correct record.

RESOLVED (Unanimously):

That the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 28 June 2018 be signed as a correct record.

Report attached.

The Committee received an update of the progress made against matters arising from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED (Unanimously):

To note the updated information.

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 no declarations of any interests.

The report of the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development to be presented with the Cabinet Member (Public Health, Leisure and Wellbeing) attached.

The Cabinet Member (Public Health, Leisure and Wellbeing), Councillor Karen Walton, the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development (Jennifer Mullin) and the Head of service Transformation (LCFT) (Louise Giles) addressed the Committee and responded to comments and enquiries relating to the new service delivery model of preventative health.

It was noted that attendance at a recent partner workshop appeared to have been quite limited, with key organisations such as the Clinical Commissioning Group, Hospitals Trust and Healthwatch not being mentioned. Assurance was given that these partners were engaging in the process and the Committee were informed of the engagement process and what commitment had been given by organisations to the new preventative model. It was also explained how the preventative health approach linked with the ‘Our Health, Our Care’ acute services review of central Lancashire.

Although other authorities such as Chorley were undertaking similar preventative health approaches, this model is unique to this Authority and builds on many of the lessons learnt by others.

Members of the Committee commented that the Council and been looking into this issue for some years now and highlighted a previous report of Scrutiny, ‘Mind the Gap’ which had made several recommendations around preventative health care, asking how the current proposals were different.

It was explained that it is now time for the Council to position itself at the forefront of the discussion of re-shaping the debate on wellbeing and prevention. The most ambitious form of care aims to improve health by tackling the causes of illnesses and the wider determinants of health.

There was general agreement that a Cross Party Community Health and Wellbeing Working Group would help shape the new service delivery model of preventative services. The new Community Strategy would also be published shortly that would provide detail on were our resources need to be allocated.

The Chair on behalf of the Committee asked to be kept informed of progress made.

RESOLVED: (Unanimously)

1.    That the Committee welcomes the Council taking the Health and Wellbeing of residents seriously through the model in the report.

2.    That more clarity on the cross party working group be provided within the report, to include its terms of reference, its role and the timescales involved.

3.    That the Preventative Strand of Our Health, Our Care programme paper be provided to all Members.

4.    That additional work be carried out to engage better with the Clinical Commissioning Group and other health partners as part of the new service model.

5.    That future reports include more plain English and acronyms, if used, be explained.

6.    That the Council ensures that the new service does not duplicate the work of the Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Service.

Report of the Chief Executive to be presented with the Leader of the Council, Councillor Mary Green attached.

The Committee received a report of the Chief Executive that provided an update on progress made on the recommendations from the LGA Peer Review from 2017 and recent revisit in March 2018. The report also addressed the recommendations recently made by the Council’s External Auditors, Grant Thornton PLC, which was contained within the Annual Audit of the Statement of Accounts for 2017/18.

The External Auditors had issued a statutory recommendation for the Council that set out progress made against the LGA findings and under the relevant regulation, the Council was required to submit a formal response within prescribed timelines.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Mary Green attended the meeting along with the Chief Executive, Heather McManus to present the report. They considered that the findings made by the External Auditor was largely out of date and reported that nearly all the recommendations made by the Peer Review had been completed or were well in hand. The recruitment process for the senior management positions was currently underway and the Council were confident that they would be appointing to the two Deputy Chief Executive posts the day after this meeting.

The Leader explained, that after a slow start to proceedings, actions to progress the Shared Services arrangements with Chorley was also now moving at pace and advancing well. At a meeting of the Improvement Reference Group (IRG) in July, Members had agreed an action plan, with most tasks already showing as completed with Peer representatives of the Local Government Association being satisfied with the measures put in place.

Clear leadership could now be evidenced by the Council and it was disappointing that the Auditor had not taken a more positive forward view of the current situation.

The Chair of Scrutiny, Councillor Matthew Tomlinson expressed his concern that Members had not been informed of the Peer Review revisit and asked if communications of this nature could be improved upon in future.

The Committee also expressed their concern at the slow pace of tackling the recommendations in the Peer Review at the very start of the process particularly in relation to the management restructure and felt that the Council would not be in this position had things been progressed quicker. It was their understanding that the IRG had only met more recently to progress things and the Chair questioned that the actions, being implemented were merely in implementation stage and not necessarily complete. There was also an understanding that the review on the roles and responsibilities of the Governance Committee had not yet started.

In response to Members concerns about the possible repercussions for the Council were in relation to the issuing of the Section 24 letter and their disappointment at receiving an unqualified opinion for the third year running, it was explained that South Ribble Council were the only Council to have received such a notice for issues that did not relate to financial matters. The Auditors were content to receive the Council reply at its next scheduled meeting and had amended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The Chief Executive will provide an update at the meeting.

The Scrutiny Committee requested a written report to be presented to its next meeting.

Information from the Director of Planning and Property attached.                

The Director of Planning and Policy (Jonathan Noad) provided the Committee with an update on progress relating to Worden Hall. Due to holiday commitments of the appointed contractor, the process had been delayed by three weeks. However, following an initial meeting the consultants are currently undertaking a number of surveys and had met with all the relevant stakeholders who have expressed an interest in using Worden Hall.

A range of options would be determined by the end of September, with a preferred detailed option to be completed by the end of October for submission to Cabinet and Scrutiny by the end of the year.

RESOLVED:

That a more detailed progress report be brought back to the next meeting of Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee were informed that LCC Committee had not met since the last meeting.

There was nothing to report.

Forward Plan attached.

The Scrutiny Committee considered by the Forward Plan for 2018/19.

Following a Scrutiny Workshop delivered by North West Employers, a number of potential topics had been highlighted for further scrutiny and the following task groups were agreed to be undertaken at the meeting:

·         Emergency Planning

·         Commercialisation Strategy

·         Member Induction

·         Chorley/Preston/South Ribble – Our Health Our Care

·         Information sharing with Lancashire County Council

·         Facilities for Young People and the South Ribble Partnership

RESOLVED (Unanimously):

1.    That the Forward Plan for Scrutiny Committee be noted.

2.    That the suggested task group topics for 2018/19 be approved.

Forward Plan attached.

The Committee noted the Cabinet Forward Plan for the four month period 1 September to 31 December 2018.