Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Arnold, Clark, Mrs Hopkinson and Raper.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee held on the 14 April 2011 were presented.

            Resolved

            That the minutes of the meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee            held on the 14 April 2011 be approved and signed by the Chairman as         a correct record.

To receive notice of any urgent business which the Chairman considers should be dealt with at the meeting as a matter of urgency by virtue of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Chairman reported that there was one item of urgent business to be considered at the meeting. The item to be considered was the time of future meetings

Members to indicate whether they will be declaring any interests under the Code of Conduct.

Members making a declaration of interest at a meeting of a Committee or Council are required to disclose the existence and nature of that interest.  This requirement is not discharged by merely declaring a personal interest without further explanation.

There were no declarations of interest received.

Mr Lince from Deloittes presented a report on the 2011 Audit Planning Report.

The Chairman reported that a special meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will take place on Monday 26 September in order to consider the final audited accounts ahead of the meeting of Policy and Resources scheduled for 29 September, which would be considering the final accounts.

            Resolved

            That the report be received.

The Head of Economy and Housing presented the service risk register for those services within his area.

            Resolved

            That the report be received.

The Corporate Director (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) the Annual Internal Audit Report for 2010/11 from the North Yorkshire Audit Partnership for approval.

The report detailed at annex A, summarised the work done by Internal Audit covering the year to the 31 March 2011, it also provided an assurance statement for the financial system of the council based on the work undertaken to date and past experience.

The review provided an overall opinion and assurance was given that all circumstances pertaining to the Internal Control System in Ryedale District Council during 2010/11 was considered as working to standard.

            Resolved

            That the report be received.

The Corporate Director (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) to enable Members to critically review the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) as required under the accounts and audit regulations 2011.

The completion of an AGS and its review by “the relevant body” was a mandatory requirement including examination by the audit committee.  In Ryedale final approval prior to signature by the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council was the responsibility of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

Unfortunately due to technical difficulties during agenda production, part of the report had been omitted from the agenda, and therefore the Annual Governance Statement could not be approved at this point, but will be included with the audited accounts and presented to the meeting in September.

            Resolved

            That the review of AGS and its associated Action Plan for inclusion in             the statement of accounts be deferred until the meeting of the        Overview & Scrutiny Committee when it considers the audited final   accounts in September.

The Head of Transformation submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to present the committee with the content of the Councils Annual Report of delivery against its priorities.

Members were reminded that the Council had adopted the following priorities in the Council Plan 2009-13.

·        Aim 1: To meet housing needs

·        Aim 2 :To create the conditions for economic success

·        Aim 3: To have a high quality clean and sustainable environment

·        Aim 4: To have safe and clean communities

·        Aim 5: To transform the Council

The report then gave details of the challenges for 2011/12.

            Resolved

            That the report be received and the challenges noted.

The Corporate Director (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to provide Members with a draft rota for attendance to observe at policy committee meetings and to agree guidance to assist this process.

One of the four key legislative roles of the Committee was holding the Council’s decision makers to account.  In Ryedale’s case this meant examining the policy committee minutes, forward plans in detail and using call in or other mechanisms to comment on or intervene in the decision making process.  In order to be effective in this it has previously been agreed that Members of the Committee would take it in turns to attend both the Policy & Resources Committee and the Commissioning Board for the purposes of observation.

Draft guidance, a checklist and a draft rota were appended to the report.

            Resolved

            That the draft rota for attendance and the accompanying checklist be   agreed and incorporated within the Council’s Scrutiny Handbook.

The Customer Services & Benefits Manager submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to inform Members of the numbers and types of complaints received under the Council’s Complaint procedure for the period January to March 2011.

The report included complaints monitored under individual service complaints systems and a summary of Customer Feedback to Community Leisure Ltd (CLL) for the period January to March 2011 together with the action taken where appropriate.

The Customer Comments Feedback for the ‘Lifestyles’ facility showed a nil return, and Members asked if these results could be confirmed.  The Head of Transformation advised that she would look into this information and advise Members of her findings by e-mail.

            Resolved

            That the report be noted.

The Head of Transformation provided an update on the complaints made about Ryedale District Council which had been referred to the Local Government Ombudsman during 2010/11, (Appended to the agenda papers was a copy of the report to the Chief Executive by the Local Government Ombudsman on their Annual Review, including details of the individual complaints).

During the period seven enquires and complaints had been received in relation to Ryedale District Council, and three of these had been referred for investigation. The findings had been ‘No maladministration’ in one case, and ‘Outside Jurisdiction’ for the other two complaints.

            Resolved

            That the information be noted.

The Head of Transformation submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to inform Members of the progress made in implementing the recommendations of Scrutiny Reviews which had been agreed by this committee during the previous term of the Council.

The reviews included:

·        Sickness Absence 2009/10

·        Review of Car Parks 2008

·        Review of Waste Management 2008

·        Review of Complaints System 2007

Resolved

            That the progress be noted.

The Head of Transformation submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to present the progress achieved to date with the scrutiny reviews currently being undertaken, and to open the discussion on the next topic for review.

Although both current reviews were nearing completion, some further meetings would be held, and Members were asked if they would like to be appointed to either of the existing scrutiny review groups. The date of the next meetings would be Post Offices Review Group at 6.30 pm on the 21 July 2011, and Healthy Weights Review Group at 7.30pm on the 21 July 2011.

In addition Members were asked to consider topics for future scrutiny reviews, and it was suggested that Renewable Energy and the Grant System would make excellent topics.

            Resolved

a.    That Councillor Mrs Shields, Cussons, Hawkins and Wainwright be appointed to the Healthy Weight Scrutiny Review Group.

b.    The Councillor Mrs Shields, Cussons, Wainwright, Windress and Hawkins be appointed the Post Offices Scrutiny Review Group.

c.    That those Members absent from this meeting be given the opportunity to join either review group.

d.    That scoping reports on both suggestions for future scrutiny reviews be brought to a future meeting.

The Corporate Director (s151) submitted a report (previously circulated) in order to report on treasury management activities for the financial year 2010/11 in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management (the code).

The report gave an update and further details on the following areas of treasury management.

·        Treasury position as at 31 March 2011

·        The Strategy for 2010/11

·        The Economy and Interest Rates

·        Compliance with Treasury Limits

·        Investment Rates in 2010/11

·        Investment Outturn for 2010/11

Resolved

a.    That the annual treasury report for 2010/11 be noted.

b.    That the actual 2010/11 prudential and treasury indicators in the report be approved.

Commissioning Board held on 2 June 2011.

Policy and Resources Committee held on 23 June 2011.

Decision Lists from the following Committees were submitted:

Commissioning Board held on the 2 June 2011

Policy and Resources held on the 23 June 2011

Councillor Woodward referred to the minutes of the Commissioning Board held on the 2 June 2011, relating to the Impact of Housing Benefit Changes.  It had been resolved at (ii) that “Officers monitor the local impact of Benefit reforms and that further officer reports are presented to the Commissioning Board on the implications and any further changes.”  Councillor Woodward requested that a further report on the local impact of housing benefit changes be brought to the next meeting of the Commission Board, due to the importance of the issue.

The Head of Transformation advised that she would speak with the officers involved, regarding this request.

            Resolved

            That the list of decisions of the Commissioning Board held on the 2     June 2011 and the Policy and Resources Committee held on the 23        June 2011 be received.

The Chairman sought Member’s view on the merits of changing the start for meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee from 6.30pm to 6.00pm.

Following some discussion, a vote was taken.

            Resolved

            That the start time for meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny     Committee be revised, and future meetings commence at 6.00pm.