Issue - items at meetings - Health & Wellbeing Board Development (Shadow Year)

Joint report of the Directors of Public Health and Adult Social Care and the Strategic Director: People (copy attached).  Extract from the proceedings of the Governance Committee meeting held on the 10^th January 2012 (to be circulated separately).

(1)       That the report and the extract from the Governance Committee be noted.

169.1    The Chair introduced the report which concerned the establishment of a Health and Wellbeing Board from 2013 and the proposed creation of a Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board in April 2012 to enable the necessary changes for the new Board to be developed and put into place prior to it coming into operation.  The Chair also noted that an amendment to the make-up of the Board had been proposed and accepted at the Governance Committee meeting held on the 10^th January, and that an extract from the minutes of the meeting was included in the agenda papers.

169.2    RESOLVED: That the report and the extract from the Governance Committee be noted.

RESOLVED

1        That Governance Committee recommends to Council the establishment of a Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board from April 2012 as set out in the report and in accordance with the draft Terms of Reference attached at Appendix One, with the following amendment:

‘That the second bullet point in paragraph 3 (Membership) reads: ‘Six additional elected Members which, taken together with the Elected Member as Chair set out above, will be allocated to the different groups in proportion to the number of seats they have at Council.’

2.      That Governance Committee refers the report to the Cabinet for information.

57.1  The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director, People and Director of Public Health and Adult Social Care concerning the establishment of a Health and Wellbeing Board. The report summarised the proposed approach to establishing a Health and Wellbeing Board, and sought approval for the approach outlined for the establishment of a Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board in April 2012 as set out in the Terms of Reference.

57.2  An amendment to the draft Terms of Reference was proposed by Council Randall and seconded by Councillor Kitcat. The proposed amendment was circulated to the members. The amendment related to the second bullet point in paragraph 3 ‘Membership’ of the draft Terms of Reference and read:

            ‘Six additional elected Members which, taken together with the Elected Member as Chair set above, will be allocated to the different groups in proportion to the number of seats they have at Council’.

            Council Kitcat spoke on the amendment and said the six additional members would ensure that there would be a majority of councillors on the Health and Wellbeing Board, which would make the Board as democratic as possible.

57.3 Councillor A Norman noted the proposed amendment and whilst agreeing that it would allow councillors to be more involved, had concerns that a great deal of consultation had taken place and the working group had carefully considered the membership. Councillor Norman suggested it might be more appropriate for the proposed amendment to be considered first by the working group.

57.4         Councillor Bowden supported the amendment as, whilst he did not want the Board to be too big and unwieldy, he felt additional Members on the Board would allow for a more democratic decision making process and would assist officers who may find themselves in a difficult situation having to vote on certain issues.

57.5         Councillor Mitchell had hoped that membership of the Board would be small, but accepted that it was important to protect officers from having to make some decisions. Councillor Mitchell asked whether the Board would be able to monitor and comment on the spend of the partner agencies.  The Committee were advised that the Board would be able to look at health outcomes for the city, and consider the proposals of how to meet them, but would not be looking at the actual contracts etc.

57.6         Councillor Cobb noted the suggested amendment and stated that she had similar concerns to Councillor Norman, and felt that the working group should have considered them first. Councillor Cobb suggested that another option would be to remove the voting rights of the three Directors (as listed in the Terms of Reference Membership), and allow the Chair to have the casting vote. This would alleviate the need for officers to make decisions.

57.7         Councillor Morgan asked for clarification on whether the Board would be looking at issues such as alcohol abuse, mental health etc and whether there would be any overlap with other committees or boards. Councillor Morgan was advised that the Board would be looking at those types of areas, and if there were any overlaps they should become apparent during the shadow year.

57.8         Councillor Powell asked whether it was the intention for the Board to replace the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee or the Adult Social Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Councillor Powell was advised that the proposals for the new committees would be agreed in April, and the role of the Health and Wellbeing Board would be looked when proposing the new committees. Councillor Powell asked if there would be a scrutiny function within the Board, and was advised that the Board would be focusing on the health needs of the city and looking at whether those needs were being met.

57.9         Councillor Bowden referred to the suggestion made by Councillor Cobb that the directors on the Board don’t have the right to vote and asked if that were legally possible. Councillor Bowden was advised that the directors were required to be full members with equal rights and therefore they would have to be able to vote.

57.10    The Head of Legal and Democratic Services confirmed that it was intention for the arrangements of the shadow board to be as close as possible to the final board. It was not the intention for the Health and Wellbeing Board to replace other boards or committees, and having the shadow board would allow for any overlaps to be noted.

57.11    Councillor Norman noted that the government recommendations were to have one Member on the Board, and the working group had increased that to three Members. The suggested further increase was on the recommendation of the administration and not the working group and was concerned that to agree an increase at the meeting was inappropriate without it being looked at again by the working group.

57.12    Councillor Kitcat stated that the Health and Wellbeing Board would not be reporting to Council and it was important that councillors came first in any making any decision.

57.13    Councillor Randall confirmed that the suggested change to the membership had been discussed at the recent Leaders Group meeting.

57.14    Councillor Littman noted that there would be 14 members on the Board and therefore all the councillors, representing the political parties, would need to agree for issues to be agreed by the Board.

57.15    A vote was taken on the proposed amendment and the amendment was agreed.

RESOLVED

1        That Governance Committee recommends to Council the establishment of a Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board from April 2012 as set out in the report and in accordance with the draft Terms of Reference attached at Appendix One, with the following amendment:

‘That the second bullet point in paragraph 3 (Membership) reads: ‘Six additional elected Members which, taken together with the Elected Member as Chair set out above, will be allocated to the different groups in proportion to the number of seats they have at Council.’

2. That Governance Committee refers the report to the Cabinet for information.