Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest nor of any party whip.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 2nd April 2013 be approved as a true and correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chair.

To receive a presentation on the subject of Healthwatch Worcestershire.

(Presentation to follow)

Members welcomed Peter Pinfield, Chairman, and Simon Adams, Chief Operating Officer, from Healthwatch Worcestershire. They had been invited by the Committee to deliver presentations on the subject of the new body and the implications for the Borough. (Attached at Appendix A and Appendix B).

Their presentations included the following main points:

·                Healthwatch Worcestershire had been established to act as the independent champion for all consumers of publicly funded health and social care services in the county. 

·                The new body had been operating for approximately eight weeks, therefore many of its systems and processes were still being established.

·                District authorities had an important role to play in ensuring that the concerns of all local residents regarding health and social care were not only heard, but appropriately acted upon. This included addressing the concerns of children and young people.

·                It was the intention of Healthwatch Worcestershire to resolve all matters locally, although it would be able to refer matters upwards to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) if necessary.

·                Healthwatch Worcestershire was looking to recruit a number of volunteers who could help support the work of its four paid staff members.

·                It was essential for Healthwatch Worcestershire to become and to be seen as truly independent. Additional values of the body included: being transparent; balanced and fair; and working in partnership with others.

·                Healthwatch Worcestershire was very keen to work in partnership with the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in the county on specific projects.

Following the presentations, Members discussed Healthwatch Worcestershire in further detail. In particular, there was some concern that Redditch did not appear to be represented geographically by any single Board member. However, the Committee heard that Healthwatch Worcestershire was looking to recruit a number of non-executive directors through local media and the free press, ideally from geographical areas that were not currently represented on the Board.   

Members were advised that Healthwatch Worcestershire was not responsible for handling individual complaints about quality of care.  However, Healthwatch Worcestershire could refer complaints onto the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service.

Healthwatch Worcestershire was familiar with the health inequalities that had been identified as a specific problem impacting on Redditch in the 2010 Comprehensive Area Assessment.  The Healthwatch Worcestshire team were also aware that residents living in areas of highest need, such as Winyates, might have specific health needs.  Members were advised that Healthwatch Worcestershire was aiming to work with partner organisations to address these issues.

The Committee was advised that they could support Healthwatch Worcestershire.  In particular, Members were asked to share their ‘soft intelligence’ of local communities so that Healthwatch Worcestershire could obtain an accurate picture of what health and social care issues needed to be addressed in each area.

Members strongly encouraged Healthwatch Worcestershire to work with minority groups and communities to address their needs. There was some concern that these groups were currently not engaged effectively over health and social care issues.

It was clarified that Healthwatch Worcestershire was not responsible for the joint service review of acute services in Worcestershire.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To monitor the implementation of recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee during the year.

(Report attached).

Members received a monitoring report on action that had been taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations that were approved during 2012/13. During this period the Committee had made a total of 73 recommendations, of which 58 had been approved by the Executive Committee. 9 were rejected, while 6 recommendations were pending a final decision from the Executive Committee or outside partners.

The Chair suggested that the Committee change its approach for monitoring the implementation of its approved recommendations. It was proposed that completed actions be published on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s section of the Council website to help publicise how it had made a difference. Members would then focus on all outstanding actions, and receive update reports on these on a quarterly basis to help ensure that approved recommendations were acted upon.

RESOLVED that

1)        the Committee receive quarterly update reports on approved Overview and Scrutiny recommendations that remain outstanding.

2)        the report be noted.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 9th April 2013 and the latest edition of the Executive Committee Work Programme be noted.

Members were advised that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme Planning event would be taking place on Wednesday 12th June 2013.  All Councillors had been invited to attend this training session.

RESOLVED that

the Committee’s Work Programme be noted.

To agree membership of the following Task Groups:

a)        Housing Density Task Group

Members are invited to nominate a member to sit on the Housing Density Task Group where there is currently a vacancy.

b)        Joint Worcestershire Regulatory Services Task Group

Members are invited to nominate two members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to serve as a lead representative and substitute representative respectively on behalf of the Council on this review.

(Oral report)

The Committee considered appointments to the following task groups:

a)    Housing Density Task Group

Members heard that Councillor Brandon Clayton’s recent appointment onto the Executive Committee required him to resign his membership of the task group as he was no longer a non-executive member. The Committee therefore sought nominations to fill the vacancy.

b)    Joint Worcestershire Regulatory Services Task Group

Members were briefly reminded that the Committee had agreed to participate in this upcoming review at its previous meeting on 2nd April 2013. According to the approved terms of reference of the review, each participating district authority was required to appoint a lead member and a named substitute, of which either position would need to be filled by either the Chair or Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  In both cases the appointments also needed to be members of the Committee.

RESOLVED that

1)        Councillor Carole Gandy be appointed onto the Housing Density Review Group;

2)        Councillor Alan Mason be appointed onto the Joint Worcestershire Regulatory Services Task Group as the Committee’s Lead Member, with Councillor Gay Hopkins being appointed as his named substitute.

To consider progress to date on the current reviews against the terms set by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The current reviews in progress are:

·                Housing Density – Chair, Councillor David Bush.

(Oral reports)

The Committee received the following reports in relation to the following review:

Housing Density Targets – Chair, Councillor David Bush

Councillor Bush explained that the review was moving into its final stages. The Group was looking to present its final report at the next Committee meeting on 2nd July 2013.

RESOLVED that

the report be noted.

Councillor Witherspoon, the Committee’s representative on the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), gave a verbal update from the most recent of the HOSC on 24th April 2013.

In particular, Members heard that the HOSC received an update report on the relocation of West Midlands Ambulance Service hubs in the county. Councillor Witherspoon commented that it was very pleasing that three hubs had been retained in Redditch.

Elsewhere, the HOSC received updates on the suspended NHS 111 service; and on the Joint Services Review. 

RESOLVED that

the report be noted.

The Chair of the Redditch Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel, Councillor Andrew Brazier, delivered an overview of his report from the most recent Panel meeting on 10th April 2013.

Councillor Brazier proposed that the Council’s current arrangements for crime and disorder scrutiny should be reviewed. He suggested that the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel had struggled to make a real impact since its creation in 2010, especially as it was difficult to expect the relevant five members of the Panel to develop genuine expertise on this form of scrutiny based on only four meetings within each municipal year. He proposed that the Committee should therefore consider a report on the matter at its next meeting to determine how best to proceed with crime and disorder scrutiny in Redditch.

RESOLVED that

1)        the Committee receive a report at its next meeting on 2nd July 2013 on how crime and disorder scrutiny could be best undertaken in Redditch; and

2)        the report be noted.