Agenda and draft minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Group held on 2nd July 2018.

The minutes of the meeting of the Group held on 2nd July 2018 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

The following disclosures were made:

Councillor Fryer in respect of item 06A declared a personal interest as a County Councillor.

Councillor Fryer in respect of item 06B declared a personal interest as the Chair of the Outwoods Management Committee.

No declarations were made.

No questions were submitted.

No questions were submitted.

A report of the Chief Executive to seek Cabinet’s agreement to the Council working with other local authorities in Leicestershire to review the current model of local government for Leicestershire will be considered for pre-decision scrutiny. This is in order to make recommendations to the Cabinet as appropriate.

A report of the Chief Executive was considered (item 06A on the agenda filed with these minutes).

          The Chief Executive attended the meeting to assist with consideration of the item and gave the following responses to issues raised:

(i)         The Group was advised that the report set out the position stated by District Council Leaders across Leicestershire, the decision made by the Leicestershire County Council Cabinet and the Leader’s response, and set out various guidance from central ministers regarding local government restructuring.

            RESOLVED that the Cabinet be informed that the Group supports the recommendations as set out in the report of the Chief Executive.

Reason

Having considered the report and asked questions of the Chief Executive on the matter, the Group concluded that it would be appropriate for the Cabinet to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

To enable the Group to consider any further Cabinet items added to the agenda for 16th August 2018.

A report of the Head of Neighbourhood Services and the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces was considered to seekagreementforcapitalfundingto improvesafety and securedaccess at openspacesownedbythe BoroughCouncil. (item 06B on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Lead Member for Performance of Major Contract and the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces attended the meeting to assist with consideration of the item and gave the following responses to issues raised:

(i)         The procurement process had been completed so there was already a contractor in place ready to carry out the work required.

(ii)        There was a small budget available to deal with minor repairs but not enough to cover the amount of work required for all the open space locations. The work was deemed necessary given the recent problems with some areas which is why additional funding was being requested.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet be informed that the Group supports the recommendations as set out in the report of the Head of Neighbourhood Services and the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces.

Reason

Having considered the report and asked questions of the Lead Member for Performance of Major Contracts and the Head of Cleansing and Open Spaces on the matter, the Group concluded that it would be appropriate for the Cabinet to approve the recommendations set out in the report.

A report of the Cabinet setting out its responses to recommendations of the Group on pre-decision scrutiny items.

A report of the Cabinet was considered setting out its responses to the recommendations of the Group on pre-decision scrutiny items (item 7 on the agenda filed with these minutes).    

RESOLVED that the Cabinet’s responses to the Group’s recommendations be noted.

Reason

The Group was satisfied that it added value where appropriate and welcomed the Cabinet’s consideration of the Group’s views and recommendations as part of its decision making process.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support setting out the list of forthcoming Executive Key Decisions and the Group’s Work Programme for consideration, in order to identify items for future scrutiny.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support was considered, to enable the Group to consider its work programme and forthcoming Key Decisions and decisions to be taken in private by the Cabinet in order to schedule items for pre-decision scrutiny and to provide an opportunity for members of the Group to raise suggestions on issues for scrutiny (in addition to pre-decision scrutiny) which fell within the Group’s remit, for scheduling by Scrutiny Management Board (item 8 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Group considered the report (and further information on the forthcoming Key Decisions and decisions to be taken in private by the Cabinet provided by the Chief Executive at this meeting) but decided not to add any items to their work programme at present.

RESOLVED that the Group’s current work programme be noted and updated following this meeting, in accordance with the decisions taken during consideration of this item and at this meeting and any items of pre-decision scrutiny that require changing due to their reprogramming by the Cabinet.

Reason

To ensure effective and timely scrutiny, either to provide Cabinet with advice prior to it taking a decision or to ensure that the Council and external public service providers and partners were operating effectively for the benefit of the Borough.