Agenda item

The Scrutiny Committee is asked to review the outstanding actions and questions from previous meetings.

The Scrutiny Committee received an update incorporating the outstanding actions and questions raised at previous meetings.  Responses were included within the document. 

Members considered the responses to each of the outstanding actions and questions. 

PI 22 – Performance Indicators for 2012/13

The Chair reminded Members to review the list of performance indicators presented at the last meeting and to inform the Partnerships and Performance Section Head or the Committee and Scrutiny Officer of any indicators they wanted included in this year's quarterly reports.

ACTION: Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members

WP 11 – Review on the long term impact to voluntary organisations whose funding had been cut

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer advised that she would liaise with the Head of Community Services regarding the timing of this review.

Councillor Martins suggested that the impact on the four organisations could be brought to the Voluntary and Community Sector Commissioning Framework Task Group in September.  The information might help feed into the Task Group's current review.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer

PSL 1 – Property Policy review

The Scrutiny Committee noted the Head of Legal and Property Services' response included within the update.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer informed Members that the officers from Property Services would be attending the Voluntary and Community Sector Commissioning Framework Task Group's meeting in August to explain about property and the voluntary sector.

HP 6 – Review of Hospital Parking Charges Task Group's Recommendations

The Scrutiny Committee was disappointed that there had been a lack of response to the Task Group's recommendations.  The Chair confirmed that, as the Chair of the original Task Group, she had not received a reply to the offer to meet with the Hospital's representatives.  Members considered there was a lack of accountability on the part of the hospital.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer informed the Scrutiny Committee that she would be writing to the Hospital to ask for feedback and if there were any progress on the Task Group's recommendations.  This information would be reported to the September meeting.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer

PR 1 – Services for the Deceased Task Group update

The Scrutiny Committee received an update from the Parks and Open Spaces Section Head.  Members noted the latest update and agreed that some of the recommendations had been fulfilled.  It was felt that other recommendations could be affected by the service being outsourced.  It was agreed that the outstanding recommendations would be reviewed again in February once further information about the future plans for the service were known.

Following a discussion about the extension of hours at the cemeteries, the Chair asked that the Parks and Open Spaces Section Head's report on the costing and available options be circulated to the Scrutiny Committee.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Officer

Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel

The Scrutiny Committee discussed the new Scrutiny Panel.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer advised that she would be writing to all those Members who had expressed an interest in taking part, as promised at the last meeting.  It was agreed that Members might need different skills when reviewing contracts.  Members felt that the Councillors taking part in the new Scrutiny Panel and Overview and Scrutiny Committee should receive training.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer responded that officers would try to identify suitable training options.  If the training were to be provided in-house it would be possible to open it up to all Councillors and not just those involved with the Scrutiny Panel and this Committee.

It was suggested that the Managing Director might be invited to the first meeting.  The Committee and Scrutiny Officer stated that she intended to contact the Managing Director to ask for his views about the type of work the Scrutiny Panel might undertake.

The Scrutiny Committee agreed that the Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel would plan its work.  Councillor Khan referred to the role of the ThreeRivers and Watford Shared Services Joint Committee.  The Joint Committee had reviewed the specifications for the proposed ICT outsource contract.  He felt the key role for scrutiny was to consider the expectations for outsourced services and the objectives.

RESOLVED –

1.      that the outstanding actions and questions' update be noted and amended according to the Scrutiny Committee's comments.

2.      that the Committee and Scrutiny Officer contacts the Head of Community Services to request information about the impact on the four organisations who did not receive funding in 2012/13, which is to be provided to the Voluntary and Community Sector Commissioning Framework Task Group.

3.      that the Committee and Scrutiny Officer writes to Watford General Hospital for an update on the Hospital Parking Charges Task Group's recommendations.