Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the code of conduct.

The Management Board will be asked to agree the minutes of the meetings held on 22 November and 14 December 2011.

Agreed the minutes of the meetings held on 22 November and 14 December 2011.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

The Board will consider a report by the independent advisor prepared following a series of training and observation events.

The Chair extended a warm welcome to Graham Russell, an Independent Advisor, who had been commissioned to deliver training to scrutiny members and to provide an objective overview following observation of scrutiny panel meetings.  Mr Russell presented his findings to the Board which included that –

• the building blocks for a sound scrutiny process were in place;
• too much work was being done through the formal business meetings of panels and the use of the task and finish process appeared limited;
• valuable information gained through the questioning of witnesses was lost due to there being no routine method of dissemination and a lack of any media management;
• better use could be made of opportunities to challenge the executive;
• there was little evidence of robust pre-decision scrutiny through monitoring of the Forward Plan which contained limited information about key decisions only and often left little or no opportunity for scrutiny involvement.

On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked Mr Russell for his attendance and the constructive advice contained within his report.

Agreed that -

The Board will consider the draft report arising from scrutiny of the budget priorities and corporate plan.

The Chair and Lead Officer presented for consideration the minutes and draft report arising from scrutiny of the Budget Priorities and Corporate Plan 2012.  Members welcomed the detail in the report and agreed that it accurately reflected the discussions which had taken place over the three-day period, subject to a few minor changes to some of the recommendations.  Concerns were raised about the level of the detail in the information that was presented as part of the budget scrutiny process and discussion took place on how things could be improved for next year. 

Agreed –

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will monitor progress on previous decisions.

The Board considered the schedule of decisions made and noted the latest position.

Members will be advised of any executive decisions that have been called in.

There were no call ins for consideration at this meeting.

To receive new items from the Forward Plan with a view to identifying items for scrutiny.

In considering the new additions to the Forward Plan, the Board again expressed its concern at the short timescales for determining some of the decisions.  Members also felt that the level of detail in some of the decisions was lacking.  

Agreed that -

To receive and consider recommendations from panels, Cabinet or Council.

The Board endorsed and agreed the following recommendations –

Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel

To consider proposals for task and finish groups submitted by the overview and scrutiny panels.

There were no project initiation documents for consideration at this meeting.

To receive for consideration any Task and Finish Group reports or updates on those currently in progress.

Councillor McDonald reported that the Safeguarding Adults review was progressing slowly with a number of witnesses still to be heard.  She raised concerns that the progress had been slow due to a lack of officer resource but the Board was assured by the Lead Officer that this was not the case.

With reference to minute 73, Councillor Nicholson sought approval to co-opt representatives and to expand the scope of the project initiation document.

Agreed that, with regard to the Youth Unemployment in Plymouth Task and Finish Group –

To consider and approve work programmes for each of the Panels, to include a progress update from each of the Chairs.

The work programmes of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and scrutiny panels were considered and agreed as submitted, subject to removal of the following task and finish items –

• Driving Speeds on the Hoe item from the Growth and Prosperity Work Programme;
• Social Media from the Customers and Communities Work Programme.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) … of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.