PERFORMANCE AND OVERVIEW COMMITTEE

COMMUNITY

RECORD OF MEETING HELD ON 30^TH MAY 2007

 

Present:

Councillor J Lewis; Chair

Councillors D N Bebbington, J D Bratherton, D H D Charlesworth, S Conquest, C Goff,

M Grant, G Griffiths, R Jones, M A Martin and S J S Mottram

 

In Attendance:

Carol Jones              Democratic Services Committee Officer

Lisa Carr                    Policy and Performance Officer

Annette Potts            Head of Environmental Health (for Record No. 5.1 only)

 

Also in Attendance:

Alan White                Chair – Mid-Cheshire Hospitals Trust

Paul Buckley             Deputy Director of Operations – Mid-Cheshire Hospitals Trust

 

Non-Committee Members in attendance: (for whole or part of the meeting)

Councillor R Westwood      Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods

Councillor S W Hogben    

 

1          DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No Member made any declaration of interest in any item of business on the agenda at this point in the meeting.

 

2          RECORD OF MEETING

AGREED:  That the Record of the Meeting held on 4^th April 2007 be approved as correct.

 

3          WHIPPING DECLARATIONS

In accordance with Paragraph 18 of the Performance and Overview Procedure Rules, Members were invited to declare in respect of items where the whip had been applied.  No such declarations were made.

 

4          MID-CHESHIRE HOSPITALS TRUST – FOUNDATION TRUST

Alan White and Paul Buckley, from Mid-Cheshire Hospitals Trust were in attendance for this item and made a presentation on the Trust’s proposed application for Foundation status.

The presentation covered the following areas –

Ø       Consultation

Ø       Strategic direction for MCHT

Ø       Outline of a Foundation Trust (a local hospital which was fully integrated with the NHS but accountable to local people)

Ø       Differences between Foundation and Trust status

Ø       Governance arrangements

Ø       Members:      Three classes proposed –

                              Public (for residents of the three boroughs)

                              Patients and carers

                              Staff and volunteers

Ø        Role of Members

Ø        Role of Governors

Ø        Board of Governors (30 comprising 9 public constituency, 6 patient and carers, 7 staff and volunteers and 8 appointed by the Trust’s partners)

Ø        Board of Directors

Ø        Key “Milestones”

           -     23^rd April 2007          Commencement of 12-week consultation

           -     June-July 2007          Historic due diligence

           -     July 2007                  Deadline for submission of Foundation Trust

                                                 Application

           -     August 2007              Review by Monitor

           -     October 2007             Set up “shadow” Foundation Trust

           -     November 2007          Monitor Board interviews to Trust Board of

                                                 Directors

            -    December 2007         Decision on application

           -     January 2008             Launch of  NHS Foundation Trust

Members of the Committee were able to ask questions by way of clarification and these were responded to by Mr White and Mr Buckley, as appropriate, following which, they were both thanked for their presentation and withdrew from the meeting.

 

5          BOARD BUSINESS

5.1             Board Meeting – 31^st May 2007

The Committee was invited to comment on reports to be considered by the Board on 31^st May 2007.

    Smoke-Free Legislation (Report 9)

Annette Potts (Head of Environmental Health) was in attendance for discussion of this item.

AGREED:  That the recommendation to Council be supported.

(Note:  In accordance with Procedure Rule No. 18(2) Councillor Griffiths requested that his abstention from voting on this item be recorded.)

    Designated Public Places Order (DPPOs) (“Alcohol Exclusion Zones”) (Report 5)

Members discussed the report of the Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities which proposed the referral to Full Council of evidence presented in respect of the extent of any Designation Orders under the provisions of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.  

On 1^st November 2006 Full Council had approved the procedural framework for the making of Designated Public Place Orders (DPPO) and had delegated the power to make such Orders to the Licensing & Regulatory Committee.  Following a request from the Police to institute a wider “ban” than initially identified, the issue was being reconsidered and the report proposed a recommendation to Full Council.

Comments were made as follows, but were not, necessarily, the views of the whole Committee  -

-- There was an unrealistic expectation about DPPOs, many people believing that they constituted a ban on drinking alcohol in specific areas, whereas the offence was to continue to drink alcohol after being requested by a Police Officer to cease drinking or surrender that alcohol.

-- The original areas which had been identified in November 2006 were satisfactory for the purposes of this legislation and should have been implemented.

-- A ward-wide “ban” was likely to be as ineffective as a “blanket ban”.  Whilst there were pockets of anti-social drinking in certain wards, it would be unreasonable to designate a whole ward for such Orders.

-- The Orders could only operate effectively if the Police were able to enforce them and the more extensive the areas, the less likely they would be able to be enforced.  

AGREED: That the following be submitted to the Board as the Committee’s comments on the report -         

(a)    That the Board be urged to refer the matter to Full Council;

(b)    That the Board request the views of the Police on the effectiveness of DPPOs; and

(c)    That the Police be asked to identify the areas which they would be willing to enforce.

(Note:  In accordance with Procedure Rule No. 26(2) Councillors R Westwood and S W Hogben spoke on this item with the permission of the Committee.)

    Best Value Performance Indicators – Out-turn 2006/2007 (Report 8)

The Committee supported the proposals, and also discussed the indicators which fell within its remit.

The Policy and Performance Officer reported on an announcement by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) that nine national BVPIs had been deleted, with effect from 1^st April 2007, on the basis that they no longer provided useful information, or in response to recent reports released from the “Lifting the Burdens Task Force” commissioned by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities.  Those deleted were noted –

BV 17b	Percentage of economically active population from ethnic minority communities
BV 183 (a)	Length of stay in temporary accommodation
BV 203	Change in number of families in temporary accommodation
BV 214	Repeat homelessness
BV 219 (a) and (c)	Total number of conservation areas and percentage of conservation area plans published
BV 76a	The number of housing benefit claimants in the local authority visited per 100,000 caseload
BV 200 (c)	Plan making

Some concern was expressed at the deletion of these BVPIs. The Committee was informed that those considered to be of importance could be retained as local performance indicators.

The Policy and Performance Officer undertook to provide information to the next meeting of the Committee in respect of the three housing indicators which had been deleted.  She also undertook to provide information for the previous 3-years on the community safety indicators (BVPIs 126 and 128a).

5.2       Exclusion of Press and Public

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item pursuant to Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act.

5.3       Request to Waive Regulations as to Contracts – Homelessness Contract (Paragraph 3)

(Note:  At this point in the meeting, Councillor R Westwood declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the item, on the basis that he was a Member of the Wulvern Housing Board, and withdrew from the meeting.)

The Committee accepted the recommendation in the report.

5.4       Re-admittance of Press and Public

RESOLVED:  That the press and public be re-admitted to the meeting.

5.5       Wulvern Housing – Governance Review (Report 12)

(Note:  Councillor R Westwood re-joined the meeting during discussion of this item.)

The Housing Corporation had recommended that Wulvern Housing reduce its Board from 15 to 12 members and the Borough Council was being consulted on the proposal.  Members of the Committee objected to the proposed reduction in representation, and AGREED that the following comments be submitted to the Board.

(a)    That the Board be urged to support retention of the current balance of equal representation of local authority, tenant and independent Members on the Wulvern Board; and

(b)    That the Committee did not support the principle of membership of the Wulvern Board being limited to Members of this Council’s Board.

(Note:  In accordance with Procedure Rule No. 26(2), Councillors S W Hogben and R Westwood spoke on this item with the permission of the Committee.)

5.6       Provisional List of Board Items

The Committee noted the Board’s Forward Plan for June, July and September 2007.

5.7       Responses/Referrals from the Board or Council

It was noted that there were no responses or referrals from the Board or Council on this occasion.

 

6          WORK PROGRAMME

The Committee was invited to review its work programme.  The following two topics had been agreed for review during 2007/2008.

6.1             Cheshire County Council – Social Care

Councillor Conquest had requested this review, which had been supported by the Committee;  he reiterated that he would like it to be conducted by way of witness-evidence.

He undertook to issue an invitation to a representative of Cheshire Carers Trust to attend the next meeting.  It was agreed that the appropriate Cheshire County Council Officer be invited to attend also, to offer the County Council’s perspective on the non-residential charging policy.

AGREED:

(a) That this review be deferred to the next meeting;

(b) That a representative from Cheshire Carers Trust, and an Officer from Cheshire County Council, be invited to attend the meeting.

6.2       Police Service Review

In the absence of the Assistant Chief Executive, it was AGREED that this item be deferred to the next meeting.  Comment was made that it may be an appropriate topic for review by a small working group which could meet on a quarterly basis with an appropriate Senior Police Officer.

6.3       Other Potential Reviews

The Committee considered the A-Z of Portfolios and Performance and Overview Responsibilities for 2007/2008 and was invited to consider other topics for review.  A copy of a Scrutiny Form was attached and Members were reminded that this should be completed by any Member requesting a review and should define the scope of it, identify perceived reasons for the review, the way in which should be conducted, together with the intended outcome.

Councillor Griffiths suggested Neighbourhood renewal from the perspective of physical provision in an area, and how the Borough Council ensured that older parts of specific areas were retained as viable parts of the appropriate community.    Councillor Griffiths agreed to complete a scrutiny form for submission to the next meeting, for consideration.

The following were also suggested –

Grants Allocation:      The way in which grants were allocated and

                                   whether there was any imbalance in their

                                   distribution.

Leisure Charge Increases:          The impact on take-up of leisure facilities.

 

7          NEXT MEETING

7.1       Date:    18^th July 2007

7.2       Agenda items in addition to those agreed above –

(a)       Annual report on air quality monitoring

(b)       Educational attainment

 

……….……………….………….  Chair