BACKGROUND
Article 6 of the Council’s Constitution requires Select Committees to report annually to the full Council and make recommendations for future work programmes and amended working methods if appropriate.
The work programme for the 2004/05 municipal year which the Committee agreed at its first meeting was:
- Directorate of Urban Environment, Equality and Diversity Report and Action Plan (Scrutiny).
- Erection of statues and monuments in public places and on Council owned land (Policy Development).
- Borough Festival evaluation (scrutiny).
- Key to Leisure (Options Plus) scheme implementation (scrutiny).
- Performance reports for services within Culture and Community Services Division including:
- Council Plan monitoring.
- National and Local performance indicators.
- Working group action plans (Public Hall and Playing Pitch Provision).
- CPA and RPA action plans.
- Implementation of committee recommendations.
- Development of the Cultural Strategy.
- Insurance arrangements for community groups using Council facilities (Scrutiny).
In agreeing this work programme the Committee chose to concentrate on a manageable number of issues, in order to properly scrutinise them effectively. In addition to its original work programme the Committee also considered:
- The decision to relocate the Borough’s archive service. This was done through the ‘Call in’ process.
- Options for the re-provision of Brierley Hill Leisure Centre following a request from the Cabinet. This involved an additional six meetings of the Committee being planned between October 2004 and May 2005.
- Scrutinised the approval process for events being held in borough parks.
- The 04/05 budget proposals.
- The draft scrutiny protocol for Select Committees.
- The draft protocol for relationships between Members and Officers of the Council.
Due to the considerable additional workload created by the Brierley Hill Leisure Centre, some of the work originally planned by the committee was not completed.
These items were:
- Project and site visits
- Performance reports
- Development of the Cultural Strategy
- Insurance arrangements for community groups using Council facilities
The following explains the approach and learning of the Committee during the year:
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
The Committee has continued its website and public participation. The website details the role of the Committee, its membership and workplan for meetings. It also gives the facility for people to e-mail comments. The site received 607 visits, between 1 st June 2004 and 31 March 2005 . Each Committee meeting has a public participation session at the start of the meeting and a protocol is in place regarding this. There was extensive public involvement in the meetings concerning Brierley Hill Leisure Centre.
There has been significant media coverage of the work of the Committee during the course of the year.
WORKING GROUPS
The Committee agreed to continue the working group looking at Public Halls.
CONCLUSIONS FOR 2004/05
Areas that we have identified for improvement next year are:
a) Tracking of recommendations. It was agreed to improve on this, the Assistant Director of Culture and Community Services would ensure a section will be included in all performance reports which details the concerns and recommendations expressed by the committee and provides evidence to support progress in these areas.
b) Examining performance management information to identify areas of concern which need further investigations.
c) Starting the work of the Committee off each year with site visits to help Members understand the many and varied services provided by the Culture and Community Services Division and how they contribute to delivery of Council plan priorities.
d) Improving the publicity of findings and recommendations through putting a clear summary of findings on the committee website.
Approaches that have been successful this year include:
a) Discussions between the Cabinet portfolio holder and the Committee Chairman (past and present) have been beneficial in identifying key issues which the committee could consider.
b) A third of the Committee were newly elected Members and this was an advantage for scrutiny as they were unfamiliar with the old committee system. The Members who attended the internal training session on the role and workings of Select Committees all found it beneficial.
c) Executive consultation with relevant groups, particularly over the Brierley Hill Leisure Centre when representatives of swimming and diving clubs were asked to contribute throughout committee meetings and not just in the public participation session.
Overall, we believe we have contributed effectively to the work of the council through our involvement in policy development and scrutiny and the publicity we have achieved.
OUTLINE WORK PROGRAMME FOR 2005/06
The Select Committee at its meeting on 12 th April 2005 agreed the following outline work programme for 2005/06 in addition to any scrutiny of decisions or emerging major issues:
- The role of Culture and Recreation in delivering Council Plan objectives.
- 2004/05 Performance (Scrutiny) – Including: Council Plan monitoring, local and national indicators, Service Continuous Improvement Plans, Culture and Recreation Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) & Regular Performance Assessment (RPA) Action Plan Progress, Urban Environment 04/05 Equality and Diversity Annual Report Action Plan, Implementation of Committee recommendations (Scrutiny).
- Options Plus Scheme Implementation (Scrutiny).
- Playing Pitch Strategy and Provision (Policy Scrutiny & Development).
- Insurance arrangements for community groups using Council Facilities (Scrutiny Development).
- Health and Safety issues in borough Parks and Nature Reserves (Scrutiny).
- Spending proposals for Himley Development Fund (Scrutiny).
- Budget proposals (Scrutiny).
