Agenda and minutes

No apologies were received.

Members of the Committee are reminded of their responsibility to declare any personal interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct.  If the personal interest is a prejudicial interest, then the individual Member should not participate in a discussion on the matter and must withdraw from the room and not seek to influence a decision on the matter.

No Members declared any interests in relation to matters under consideration at the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 19 October 2006 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 19 October 2006 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Business Plan Monitoring Statements for the services provided by the following Directorates, which fall within the responsibilities of this Panel, will follow:

Leisure and Culture

Housing Services

Development and Regeneration

Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment

The Panel received the second quarter Business Plan Monitoring Statements for the under mentioned Directorates whose service and functions all fall within the remit and area of responsibility of the Panel.

Leisure and Culture

Housing Services

Development and Regeneration

Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment

The Panel received the Business Plan for the Leisure and Cultural Services Directorate.  The Director informed the Panel that the only area of his service that had not reached the performance target was that of the number of visits by pupils in organised groups to Astley Hall.  An action plan had been formulated with correct action to be undertaken.

The Panel received the Business Plan for the Housing Services Directorate with a representative informing Members that all areas of the service that required performance indicators had achieved above target performance indicators.

The Director of Development and Regeneration presented the Panel with the Business Plan for her Directorate.

The Panel had previously received notification that the percentage of major planning applications processed on time which had resulted in target dates not being achieved but these were now on track and were now improving.

Members raised issues on Section 106 agreements with a corporate working group established to manage developer contribution and a comprehensive S106 register would be available and would shortly be published on the web.

The Panel received the Business Plan relating to the Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment Directorate.  The Director indicated the performance variation for the number of missed collections per 100,000 collections of household waste had improved following several initiatives from the Council and some extra investment from the contractor.

RESOLVED – That the Business Plan Monitoring Statement be noted.

The Director of Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment will present a progress report on the Panel’s inquiry into Neighbourhood Working.

Attached is a copy of the initial report entitled ‘The Scope and Prospects of Neighbourhood Working in Chorley’ 

The Panel received the initial report entitled “The Scope and Prospects for Neighbourhood Working in Chorley” by the Partners in Charge, commissioned to act as consultants to the inquiry.

The report aimed to brief the inquiry on the scope of “Neighbourhood Working”, the various models and some practical examples, the potential costs and benefits and the elements of neighbourhood working that existed in Chorley.

At the end of each section of the report, there was a box with a number of key questions which the Inquiry should consider before it started.  Answers to these questions would help Councillors to focus on those lines of inquiry most likely to produce practical results for Chorley.

RESOLVED – 1)  That the initial report prepared by the consultant be noted.

2)  That a series of meeting dates be established for Members to meet with witnesses, the first meeting to be with the Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Director of Policy and Performance.

To receive the attached consultation document compiled by the Lancashire Care NHS Trust on their wish to become an NHS Foundation Trust.

As part of the application process the Trust is requested to consult with stakeholders.

The Councils comments to their proposals would be welcomed so that they can incorporate the views of stakeholders in their plans for the future.

Deadline for submissions is the 2 February 2007 and the Trust has expressed an interest in discussing their proposals.

Mr David Tomlinson from the Trust has been invited to address the meeting on this consultation.

The Panel welcomed Mr David Tomlinson from the Lancashire Care NHS Trust on their wish to become a NHS Foundation Trust.  He explained the plans and the improvements that the Trust would be carrying out to enable them to deliver even better mental health and substance misuse services to the people of Lancashire.

As part of the consultation process the Trust was requested to consult with stakeholders.  The Council’s comments on the proposals were welcomed so that they could incorporate the views in their plans for the future.

Members received notification on how the Trust would be governed and the number of governors which would make up the Council of Governors representing different groups.  Each group had been allocated a number of seats.  The governors would make sure that the views of the community were considered when the Board of Directors developed plans.

RESOLVED – That the Panel welcomes the proposals for the Lancashire Care NHS Trust on their wish to become a NHS Foundation Trust however the Panel requested that Chorley Borough Council receive a fair share of representation on the Council of Governors.

A copy of the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme for this Municipal Year with items relating to this Panel is enclosed

The Panel received the current Overview and Scrutiny Works Programme for 2006/07 Municipal Year and discussed the items relating to the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.