To consider any scoping documents provided for possible Overview and Scrutiny review.
For this meeting the following proposed items for scrutiny are to be considered:
(Reports attached)
Minutes:
The Committee considered draft terms of reference for three proposed Task and Finish Reviews.
a) National Angling Museum – Proposed by Councillor Hunt
Councillor Hunt presented the scoping document for the proposed review of whether to establish a National Angling Museum in Redditch. He suggested that a National Angling Museum would provide the people of Redditch with a primary focus for promoting one of the key elements of the town’s heritage. He also noted that a National Angling Museum could attract more tourists into Redditch, and therefore could have a positive impact on the local economy.
Councillor Hunt proposed that the review would be undertaken in stages. The first stage of the review would focus on establishing the costs involved in developing and maintaining a National Angling Museum and the sources of funding that could be used to deliver this project. The aim of this stage would be to identify the feasibility of the project. Councillor Hunt explained that the second stage of the project, focusing on support within the Borough for a National Angling Museum and the types of information that could displayed within the museum, would only be launched if, during stage one, Members could demonstrate the feasibility of the project.
Officers explained that the Leisure Services Team was already
commited to working on a number of
projects. This impacted on Officer
capacity to support any such review
within Leisure Services at the present time.
Members suggested that, if the review was approved, it would be in the Council’s interests to book the website domain name for the British National Angling Museum at the earliest possible opportunity.
b) Neighbourhood Groups – Proposed by, Councillor Gandy
Councillor Gandy explained that she had proposed a review of the Council’s Neighbourhood Groups at a meeting of the Executive Committee. It was anticipated that this review would involve consultation with local residents. In particular, a Task and Finish Group would be commissioned to investigate current arrangements and how local consultation should be arranged to achieve value for money.
c) Overview and Scrutiny – Proposed by Councillor R King
Councillor King explained that he felt there were a number of weaknesses in the current Overview and Scrutiny structure and processes at Redditch Borough Council. In particular, Councillor King questioned the ability of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to hold the Executive adequately to account and expressed concerns about the current level of involvement of the full pool of scrutiny Members in the Overview and Scrutiny process. He also noted that more work could be undertaken to identify topics suitable for pre-scrutiny from analysis of the Council’s Forward Plan.
The Chair questioned whether a review of the Overview and Scrutiny structure could be undertaken as part of the Member Development process involving all Councillors. Furthermore it was noted that the involvement of the wider pool of Overview and Scrutiny Members in the process received consideration when Members were appointed to new Task and Finish Groups.
Officers suggested that an alternative might be for the Council’s Constitutional Review Working Party to undertake any review of Overview and Scrutiny. However, Members noted that a long-term review of Overview and Scrutiny could equally be undertaken by a Task and Finish Group, if that was the Committee’s wish.
The Chair commented that there was clearly a finite capacity within the Overview and Scrutiny Team at Redditch Borough Council and that this would impact on the timeframes involved in launching and completing any additional Task and Finish reviews. Members noted that there were other potential Reviews in the pipeline which might impact on the priority attached to the two reviews approved at this meeting.
RESOLVED that
1) a Task and Finish Group be established to undertake the National Angling Museum review;
2) a Task and Finish Group be established to undertake the Neighbourhood Groups review;
3) the proposed review of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny process be rejected as a Task and Finish Group exercise;
4) the Chairs of the two agreed reviews be appointed at the following meeting of the Committee; and
5) in view of the fact that there were other potential reviews in the pipeline, a decision as to when to launch each of these reviews be made at the following meeting of the Committee.