Agenda for Overview & Scrutiny Commission on Tuesday, 9th September, 2008, 4.00pm

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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall. View directions

Contact: Mary van Beinum, Scrutiny Support Officer 

Items
No. Item

30.

PROCEDURAL BUSINESS

     

    Declaration of Substitutes

     

    Where a Member of the Commission is unable to attend a meeting for whatever reason, a substitute Member (who is not a Cabinet Member) may attend and speak and vote in their place for that meeting. Substitutes are not allowed on Scrutiny Select Committees or Scrutiny Panels.

     

    The substitute Member shall be a Member of the Council drawn from the same political group as the Member who is unable to attend the meeting, and must not already be a Member of the Commission. The substitute Member must declare themselves as a substitute, and be minuted as such, at the beginning of the meeting or as soon as they arrive.

     

    Declarations of Interest

               

    (1)  To seek declarations of any personal or personal & prejudicial interests under Part 2 of the Code of Conduct for Members in relation to matters on the Agenda.  Members who do declare such interests are required to clearly describe the nature of the interest. 

                           

    (2)    A Member of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission, an Overview and Scrutiny Committee or a Select Committee has a prejudicial interest in any business at meeting of that Committee where –

     

    (a) that business relates to a decision made (whether implemented or not) or action taken by the Executive or another of the Council’s committees, sub-committees, joint committees or joint sub-committees; and

     

    (b) at the time the decision was made or action was taken the Member was

     

                (i) a Member of the Executive or that committee, sub-committee, joint committee or joint sub-committee and

                (ii) was present when the decision was made or action taken.

     

    (3)      If the interest is a prejudicial interest, the Code requires the Member concerned:-

    to leave the room or chamber where the meeting takes place while the item in respect of which the declaration is made is under consideration. [There are three exceptions to this rule which are set out at paragraph (4) below].

    not to exercise executive functions in relation to that business and

    not to seek improperly to influence a decision about that business.

     

    (4)    The circumstances in which a Member who has declared a prejudicial interest is permitted to remain while the item in respect of which the interest has been declared is under consideration are:-

     

    for the purpose of making representations, answering questions or giving evidence relating to the item, provided that the public are also allowed to attend the meeting for the same purpose, whether under a statutory right or otherwise, BUT the Member must leave immediately after he/she has made the representations, answered the questions, or given the evidence,

     

    if the Member has obtained a dispensation from the Standards Committee, or

     

    if the Member is the Leader or a Cabinet Member and has been required to attend before an Overview and Scrutiny Committee or Sub-Committee to answer questions.

     

    Declaration of Party Whip

     

    To seek declarations of the existence and nature of any party whip in relation to any matter on the Agenda as set out at paragraph 8 of the Overview and Scrutiny Ways of Working.

     

    Exclusion of Press and Public

     

    To consider whether, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, or the nature of the proceedings, the press and public should be excluded from the meeting when any of the following items are under consideration.

     

    NOTE:  Any item appearing in Part 2 of the Agenda states in its heading the category under which the information disclosed in the report is confidential and therefore not available to the public.

     

    A list and description of the exempt categories is available for public inspection at Brighton and Hove Town Halls.

     

    Minutes:

    30a Declarations of Interests and Substitutes

     

    There were none.

     

    30b Exclusion of Press and Public

     

    In accordance with section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it was considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of any items contained in the agenda, having regard to the nature of the business to be transacted and the nature of the proceedings and the likelihood as to whether, if members of the press and public were present, there would be disclosure to them of confidential or exempt information as defined in section 100I (1) of the said Act.

     

    RESOLVED: That the press and public be not excluded from the meeting.

     

31.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 76 KB

    Minutes:

    31.1 RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2008 be gareed and signed by the Chairman.

32.

CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

    Minutes:

    32.1 The Chairman said she would be asking for a reply to her letter to the Chief Executive regarding the independence of the City Inclusion Partnership following the OSC discussion at 15  July OSc meeting.

33.

PUBLIC QUESTIONS

    No public questions have been received.

     

    Minutes:

    There were none.

34.

LETTERS FROM COUNCILLORS

    No letters have been received.

     

    Minutes:

    There were none.

35.

NOTICES OF MOTION REFERRED FROM COUNCIL

    No Notices of Motion have been received.

     

    Minutes:

    There were none.

36.

DISCUSSION WITH CABINET MEMBER FOR CENTRAL SERVICES

    Minutes:

    36.1 The Chairman welcomed Councillor Fallon-Khan to the meeting, to give a broad overview of his policy areas and discuss the relationship between Scrutiny and the Executive.

    36.2 Councillor Fallon-Khan outlined his portfolio and said he was supportive of scrutiny as it was a positive development in open decision-making. He answered questions, including on:

    a)   Sustainability – suggesting that an e-module on sustainability be widely promoted as part of policy development in the area.

    b)   City News – stating that there would be a review later in the year.

    c)    Public Engagement – commenting that good communications with the public already included the Council’s website, City News, web-casting of meetings and opportunities for 1:1 contacts.

    d)   Dignity at Work Policy - officers advised the meeting that this would be published later in the year.

          e)  Staff Development– agreeing the importance of training and Personal             Development Plans.

               

    36.3 The Chairman thanked Councillor Ayas-Khan for his helpful replies and expressed the view that this was a positive development for the relationship between Scrutiny and the Executive.

     

37.

ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN AND CORPORATE PROPERTY STRATEGY 2008 - 2011 pdf icon PDF 79 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    37.1 The Assistant Director, Property and Design, introduced the report on the Asset Management Plan and Corporate Property Strategy 2008 – 2011. This would be presented to Cabinet for approval on 16 October.

    37.2 Members were pleased with the headline national performance indicator results as set out in table 5b. The Assistant Director answered a number of questions in detail. Further queries were raised for consideration as follows:

     

    37.3 Can the meaning be clarified in the final document, regarding the integrated approach and separate responsibilities? Also is there scope for  greater joined-up working between Departments  (Paragraph 3.5.2, bullets 1 and 2)

     

    37.4 Where can the Value For Money Process be viewed? (para 6.4)

     

    37.5 Can local cooperatives be given greater support to help regenerate local vacant shops?

     

    37.6 What plans are there for the Bevendean neighbourhood shops and can officer support be given to a recently-established resident working group? (para 3.3)

     

    37.7 Can the Community Land Trust process be investigated further? (para 4.3.4)

     

    37.8 Both the Chairman and Councillor Fallon-Khan complimented the officers on their work and the layout and content of the report.

     

    37.9 RESOLVED: That the above remarks as minuted from 37.3 to 37.7 are taken into consideration in finalising the report to cabinet.

     

38.

CORPORATE PROCUREMENT STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 84 KB

    Minutes:

    38.1 The Procurement Strategy Manager introduced the report on the revised Procurement Strategy.

     

    38.2 The Overview and Scrutiny Commission discussed the Corporate Procurement Strategy and was very supportive.

     

    38.3 The Members were pleased that a relatively high proportion of the Council’s money is being spent with local organisations.

     

    38.4 The Commission was also pleased with other measures being taken to support the local economy and voluntary sector and the commitment to the use of plain, jargon-free English in procurement documentation.

     

    38.5 Members expressed the view that social enterprises were a key feature of the Strategy.

     

    38.6 Some Members also felt that the procurement of PVC windows should be investigated in the context of environmental protection and sustainability.

     

    38.7 The meeting thanked the officers for a full and interesting report.

     

    38.8 RESOLVED:   That the above remarks as minuted from 37.3 to 37.7 are taken into consideration in finalising the report to Cabinet.

39.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMISSION WORK PLAN pdf icon PDF 73 KB

    Minutes:

    39.1 The Interim Head of Scrutiny outlined the Commission’s Work Plan.

     

    39.2 Councillor Fallon-Khan suggested three areas that the Commission may wish to consider for scrutiny as follows:

     

    1)     A review of public buildings for administrative purposes.

     

    2)     Membership development, in particular for newly-elected councillors and with regard to the new constitution.

     

    3)     Aspirations to reach the top quartile of top-performing Overview and Scrutiny functions.

     

    39.3 Cllr Elgood asked the meeting to feed back on progress on Scrutiny’s comments to Cabinet on Equalities and the Inclusive Council Policy.

     

    39.4 RESOLVED:

    1)     that the report be noted.

     

    2)     that the three suggested matters for possible scrutiny be added to the OSC work planning process.

     

    3)     That Cabinet be asked to consider the views of the Commission as part of the forthcoming Dignity at Work proposals.

     

40.

ITEMS TO GO FORWARD TO CABINET OR THE RELEVANT CABINET MEMBER MEETING

    To consider items to be submitted to the next available Cabinet or Cabinet Member.

41.

ITEMS TO GO FORWARD TO COUNCIL

 


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