Issue - meetings

To receive and consider the Council’s Annual Report on Overview and Scrutiny in 2018/19.

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor John Walker, presented Scrutiny Reporting Back, a summary of the work of the Committee in 2018/19.

The Chair thanked Members and Officers for their contributions to the work of the Committee.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Martin Boardman, queried the prosecutions undertaken by the Enforcement Team.  The Executive Member (Public Protection) Councillor Alistair Morwood explained that enforcement action has increased since the creation of the new Enforcement Team.  It was noted that with offenses such as dog fouling and fly tipping it is difficult to catch people in the act. 

The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor John Walker proposed and the Vice-Chair, Councillor Roy Lees seconded the Decision – that the report be noted.

To receive and consider the Council’s Annual Report on Overview and Scrutiny in 2018/19.

The report will be presented to Council in September.

Members received the annual report that summarised the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Performance Panel and the task groups which had taken place in 2018/19.

One task group established by the committee undertook a review on the topic of Quality of Housing provided by Social Landlords.

The Committee continued to receive six-monthly monitoring reports following the Executive Cabinet’s response on the implementation of outcomes and measured success from past scrutiny reviews in relation to the Rollout of Superfast Broadband, Child Sexual Exploitation and the Adoption of Estates.

The Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel focused on the performance elements of scrutiny and considered all monitoring information. Each Directorate was scrutinised in turn.

In line with the Crime and disorder scrutiny, the Committee invited Chief Inspector Gary Crowe to outline recent changes to the Neighbourhood Policing model and answer any questions from Members. It was recognised that resources were stretched and the police were becoming involved in cases outside of crime. Roughly 20% of resources were spent on crime and 80% on vulnerable people who slipped through the cracks of other services. This meant that emergency response had overflowed into neighbourhood policing and subsequently, the Assistant Chief Constable commissioned a review. There were no savings arising from the review, just the realignment of resources.

In addition to challenging the Executive Members through the Performance Panel, the Committee worked together positively with the Executive Leader and the Executive Cabinet in scrutinising their proposals.

Other topics considered included the Youth Zone, review of the Absence Policy, Impact of Garden Waste Charging, Review of communications with Councillors, Update on Mobilisation for the New Waste and Recycling Collection Contract, Approach to dealing with Unauthorised Encampments on Land not owned by Gypsy Travellers, and an update on the Lancashire County Council Health Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair highlighted how much work had been undertaken over the last year and thanked Members and Officers involved for all their work.

Decision: That the annual report be noted and forwarded to the next Council meeting on 17 September as required in the Council’s constitution.