From Councillor Acomb:
“Would the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee please update Members on the work of that Committee?”
From Councillor Acomb:
“Would the Chairman of the Commissioning Board please update Members on the work of that Board?”
From Councillor Clark:
To the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny.
“What are his views on the relationship between RDC decision making processes and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee?”
Minutes:
Councillor Acomb submitted the following question:
“Would the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee please update Members on the work of that Committee?”
The Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Wainwright replied:
“At our first meeting on the 7th of July the first part of the meeting was work involving our Audit role and the draft Annual Governance statement with Alastair Lince from Deloitte’s in attendance. Their final visit will start on 25th July and last 4-5 weeks.
There will be an additional meeting of the Committee on Monday September 26th to discuss the final report before its presentation at P & R on September 29th. Alastair Lince will also be attending this meeting.
In the second part we discussed past Scrutiny reviews and the progress of present Scrutiny reviews. It is anticipated that the report on the first phase of the Healthy Weight review will be presented in November. The review on the Impact of Post Office closures will completed before March 2012.
Suggestions were then invited for the next review and two subjects were put forward by members of the Committee.
They are;
· Renewable energy, how can we manage the potential of renewable energy in Ryedale whilst managing its impact on the countryside? And
· Ryedale’s allocation of grants.
There is an expectation that the voluntary and community sector will deliver a greater proportion of services. How can we ensure that we are funding the right organisation to deliver the right services to the right people and, at the same time obtaining value for money?
These two subjects are now with officers for scoping work to be completed.
Cllr Raper and I, with the Head of Transformation, attended a Regional Scrutiny network event in Rotherham when the topic was Self Regulation which also covered audit and inspection. Over 60 members and officers attended this informative event.”
Councillor Acomb submitted the following question:
“Would the Chairman of the Commissioning Board please update Members on the work of that Board?”
The Chairman of the Commissioning Board, Councillor Mrs Cowling replied that a written update would be emailed to all Members.
Councillor Clark submitted the following question:
To the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny.
“What are his views on the relationship between RDC decision making processes and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee?”
The Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Wainwright replied:
“The Overview and Scrutiny Committee have the role within the Council’s decision making process to question and challenge any decision before it is implemented.
We have the important role of holding the Council, the Policy Committees, their Chairmen, the Leader of the Council and Officers to account.
We attend the Policy Committees as observers, examine their agendas and minutes and have the “call in” procedure if necessary.
The Committee also provides valuable information and recommendations from their Scrutiny reviews to assist the Policy Committees in their decisions.
I believe that the impartiality of the Committee is paramount and therefore believe that the Members of Policy Committees attending the Scrutiny Committee as substitutes would be placed in an unenviable position if any Council decision were to be challenged.
Lastly, the Committee has another important role which is to protect the interests of our Community and its Residents.”
Councillor Clark then submiited the following supplementary question:
“Which policies did the Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny hold to account at the last meeting of Overview and Scrutiny?”
The Chairman of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Wainwright replied:
“No policies were held to account at the last meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.”