Venue: Committee Room A, South Walks House, South Walks Road, Dorchester, DT1 1EE
Contact: Lindsey Watson 01305 252209 - Email: lindsey.watson@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations
of interest. Minutes: Councillor
Mark Roberts declared an interest as a provider of adult services to the local
authority. |
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Welcome from Chairman Minutes: The
Chairman welcomed all present to the meeting and everyone introduced
themselves. The
Executive Director for Children and the Executive Director for Adults both
attended the meeting and provided an overview of their areas. They noted the challenges faced by both
service areas and welcomed the involvement of the committee in reviewing the
services. The links to the health area
was also recognised. A point
was raised with regard to the involvement of the committee in the area of mental
health and it was recognised that this should be linked into the committee’s
work programme moving forward. |
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Overview and Scrutiny Committees - Terms of Reference PDF 63 KB To note the Overview and
Scrutiny Committees’ Terms of Reference, as set out in the Dorset Council
Constitution (Part 1, Article 7 – Overview and Scrutiny Committees). Minutes: Members
noted the Overview and Scrutiny Committees’ Terms of Reference, as set out in
the Dorset Council Constitution (Part 1, Article 7 – Overview and Scrutiny
Committees). Members
considered the Terms of Reference document and during discussion the following
points were raised: ·
It was noted that in relation to the exercise of overview and scrutiny
functions relating to education matters, the membership of the People Scrutiny
Committee was required to include four co-opted members representing particular
diocese and parent governors in addition to the 10 councillors. The committee discussed where the additional
persons could be drawn from and how they were chosen? In response, the Scrutiny Officer confirmed
that further information would be sought to clarify the process and that
information would be provided to councillors ·
Councillors noted that 7.1 (g) (iii) (Role/Terms of Reference) stated
that “people” shall be solely responsible for the performance of overview and
scrutiny functions relating to education matters. A comment was made that the phrasing of this
section could leave the impression that the committee would only be looking at
education issues, which was not the case.
The wording was contained to indicate that the People Scrutiny Committee
was the only committee to review education issues. Differing views were expressed but there was
an overall view that this wording should be reviewed in order to make the
position clear to anyone reading the terms of reference. It was noted that there was to be a review of
the Constitution and that the minute of the discussion could be carried forward
to this in order to represent the view of the committee ·
The use of committee pre-meetings in preparation for particular meetings
was discussed and a concern raised with regard to the public perception of this
and the need to ensure the committee was making the best use of its time. The Chairman noted that a pre-meeting could
be useful in advance of particular agenda items in order to plan questioning
and suggested that the committee tried it out as a method and reviewed its
usefulness. It was agreed that the issue
should be considered further at the committee’s work programme session to
follow the meeting. |
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Public Participation To receive questions or
statements on the business of the committee from town and parish councils and
members of the public. Minutes: There were no representations
from town or parish councils or from members of the public. |
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Urgent items To consider any items of
business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be
urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The
reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes. Minutes: There were no urgent items. |
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People Scrutiny Committee Work Programme Following this meeting of the People Scrutiny
Committee, a member development session will be held on developing the future
work programme of the committee. The session will be facilitated by Ann
Reeder of Frontline Consulting. Minutes: The
Scrutiny Officer noted that there would be a session for councillors to discuss
the committee’s work programme after the meeting. In addition to the dates scheduled in the
Calendar of Meetings, an additional meeting of the committee would be held on 10
September 2019. Councillors
considered the work programme for the committee and during discussion, the
following points were raised: ·
A number of potential items had been brought forward from the scrutiny
committees of the former sovereign councils and these would be considered by
the Dorset Council scrutiny committees for inclusion in their work programmes
moving forward ·
A review of the Emergency Assistance Fund was suggested as a potential
review for the committee ·
A point was noted that the committee needed to be a critical friend when
reviewing areas and that officers and councillors were working together for the
benefit of residents ·
Reference was made to the role of all councillors as corporate parents
and whether there was any cross over of work that needed to be undertaken by
the committee? Possible areas for review
could be a look at how the Council was meeting its targets for education health
and care plans and the transition of young people into adult social care ·
In response to a question as to how items were submitted to the work
programme, the Scrutiny Officer noted that a pro-forma was available for
councillors and members of the public to complete if they wished an item to be
considered by the committee. In the future
it was hoped to develop an area on the Council’s website for the scrutiny
function ·
The work programme would be developed with the committee and brought to
the meeting in September ·
The committee would need to prioritise items for inclusion on the work
programme ·
Items on the Cabinet Forward Plan could be reviewed by the committee
before a decision was taken by Cabinet ·
A point was made that the committee should be looking at Adult Social
Care – Direct Payments, which was to be considered by Cabinet on 1 October 2019 |
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Cabinet Forward Plan PDF 166 KB To review the Cabinet Forward
Plan. Minutes: This was noted during the
previous agenda item. |
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Exempt Business To move the exclusion of
the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely
disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule
12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will
be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered. There is no exempt
business. Minutes: There was no exempt business. |