Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Watford

Contact: Sandra Hancock  Email: legalanddemocratic@watford.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

65.

Apologies for Absence/Committee Membership

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Martins.

 

No apologies were received from Councillor Grimston.

66.

Disclosure of interests (if any)

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interests.

67.

Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2017 to be submitted and signed.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2017 were submitted and signed.

68.

Watford 2020 update pdf icon PDF 115 KB

The scrutiny committee is asked to review and note the update.

Minutes:

The scrutiny committee received an update from the Watford 2020 Programme Manager which provided the latest progress on the programme.  He informed the scrutiny committee that an additional tranche had been added to the programme.  It related to the council ‘Working for the Future’. 

 

It was noted that the form of team charters, which formed part of the Flexible Working Transition project, was currently unknown, as this was a new area that had not yet been started. This project would be scoped in the upcoming months but would require the completion of other projects in the tranche prior to commencement.

 

Councillor Williams referred to the staff briefing on 24 January and asked whether this was something that councillors could be invited to attend.

 

The Watford 2020 Programme Manager explained that it was an engagement event rather than a briefing.  It was an opportunity to inform staff about the programme’s supporting strategies.  He would contact the relevant organisers and ask whether the invitation could be extended to councillors.  He assured the scrutiny committee that the team would continue to arrange all-councillor briefings and provide updates to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

In response to a question about a breakdown of the expected savings, the Watford 2020 Programme Manager advised that the service innovation work carried out alongside all services within the organisation had looked to identify potential savings and commercial opportunities through different ways of working.  The team was currently working through the results.  The team was reasonably confident that they would reach the target, but there was still work to be done and a business case put together. It was also important to note that the service innovations were driven by the vision for the council to be customer-focused and digitally enabled.

 

The Chair thanked the Watford 2020 Programme Manager for attending the meeting and providing the update.

 

RESOLVED –

 

that the Watford 2020 update be noted.

69.

Executive Decision Progress Report pdf icon PDF 96 KB

The scrutiny committee is asked to review the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report and consider whether any further information is required.

 

Minutes:

The Scrutiny Committee received the latest edition of the Executive Decision Progress Report for 2017/18. 

 

RESOLVED –

 

that the updated report be noted.

70.

Hertfordshire County Council's Health Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Hastrick, the Council’s appointed representative to the County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee to provide an update.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Hastrick provided an update on the county council’s Health Scrutiny Committee.  The scrutiny committee had met in December and had spoken to various health organisations about their projected plans.  She had attended a further meeting earlier that day at County Hall.  It had been agreed that the Health Scrutiny Committee would scrutinise the local Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Health and Well-being Board.  The scrutiny committee had received a presentation from West Herts Hospitals Trust following it being taken out of special measures.  It was agreed that the minutes would be circulated to the scrutiny committee as soon as they were available.

71.

Tackling Loneliness Task Group - Final report pdf icon PDF 57 KB

The scrutiny committee is asked to review the report prior to its presentation to Cabinet.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Mauthoor, the task group’s chair, presented the task group’s final report.  She highlighted the recommendations that the task group had agreed to include.  She encouraged all councillors to be mindful of this issue when considering applications for their Neighbourhood Locality Fund, possibly arranging a ‘Big Lunch’ within the community.

 

It was noted that since the task group had started the issue of tackling loneliness had become more prominent.  Councillor Mauthoor advised that the Prime Minister had recently appointed Tracey Crouch MP to the role of Minister for Loneliness. 

 

RESOLVED –

 

that the Tackling Loneliness Task Group’s final report be agreed and forwarded to Cabinet.

72.

Budget Panel

Since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Budget Panel has met on the following occasions –

 

·             28 November 2017

·             16 January 2018

 

The minutes are available on the council’s website.

 

The Chair of Budget Panel to provide an update to the scrutiny committee.

Minutes:

It was noted that Budget Panel had met on 28 November 2017 and 16 January 2018.  The most recent meeting had reviewed the draft budget and made comments and recommendations for consideration by Cabinet.

73.

Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel

Since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel met on the following occasions –

 

·             6 December 2017

·             8 January 2018

 

The minutes are available on the council’s website.

 

The Chair of Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel to provide an update to the scrutiny committee.

Minutes:

Councillor Williams, chair of Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel, informed the scrutiny committee that the panel had met on 6 December 2017 and 8 January 2018.  The December meeting had the latest position with ICT and the Quarter 2 performance report for 2017/18.  The scrutiny panel had a good discussion.  On 8 January the scrutiny panel had a presentation about Veolia and the parks and open spaces section.  It had been very informative and a good discussion had taken place.

 

Councillor Williams added that he had suggested the scrutiny panel could scrutinise Citiparks who ran some of the Town Centre car parks.  However the Head of Democracy and Governance had advised that it was not an outsourced service and therefore not relevant to the Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel.  He had discussed the proposal with the Chair and a meeting would be arranged with the Head of Democracy and Governance to discuss it further.

 

The Chair acknowledged Councillor Williams’ comments and agreed that it was an area that could be scrutinised, whichever scrutiny committee was relevant.

74.

Community Safety Partnership Task Group

Since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Community Safety Task Group has not met.

 

The minutes for previous meetings are available on the council’s website.

Minutes:

It was noted that Community Safety Partnership Task Group had not met since the last Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

75.

Dates of Next Meetings

·             Thursday 8 February 2018 (For call-in only)

·             Thursday 8 March 2018

·             Thursday 22 March 2018 (for call-in only)

Minutes:

·             Thursday 8 February 2018 (for call-in only)

·             Thursday 8 March 2018

·             Thursday 22 March 2018 (for call-in only)

 

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