Agenda item

To consider feedback from the Overview and Scrutiny Training session on Monday 14th May 2012 and to determine whether to further investigate any suggested items for scrutiny.

(Report to follow).

The Committee considered a number of potential scrutiny reviews that had initially been suggested at the Overview and Scrutiny Training session on Monday 14th May 2012. The Chair welcomed all of the suggestions yet explained that it would be impossible to accept all of the proposals for scrutiny reviews. It was therefore suggested that the Committee focus on reviewing issues that clearly fell within the Council’s remit. Members were also keen to avoid undertaking reviews that had recently been scrutinised. It was the Chair’s clear intention that no scrutiny review would take longer than six months to complete. 

Of the 17 topics identified as possible scrutiny reviews, three were shortlisted as being appropriate for either a short-sharp or task and finish review.  The initial proposers were invited to complete a scoping document outlining the terms of reference for the review to be considered by the Committee at a forthcoming meeting. The shortlist included the following topics:

·              Arts Centre – to identify whether there is a suitable venue in Redditch       that could be utilised as an Arts Centre.

·              Management of Redditch Trees – to focus on ongoing maintenance requirements for trees in Redditch and the Council’s criteria for felling trees.

·              Regeneration in the Town Centre – to focus on actions that could be taken to re-use and reclassify property and land in the town centre, including Council properties, to regenerate the town centre.

For a number of topic areas that were not shortlisted, it was agreed that relevant Officers would be invited to provide the Committee with further information to enable Members to consider whether the topic warranted further scrutiny, potentially as part of a scrutiny review. These issues included: dog fouling in Redditch; taxi vehicles’ road worthiness; proposed plans for advertising on the roundabouts located in Redditch; and on current policy for sales of vehicles on grass verges.

In addition, Members requested a monitoring update report outlining the impact of recommendations made by a Scrutiny Group that reviewed ASB (completed in 2006), and proposed that the annual update report on civil parking to include information about work that could be undertaken to help residents living in areas outside the enforcement zone.

RESOLVED that:

1)           relevant Members and Officers meet to develop scoping documents for the proposed reviews for consideration at forthcoming meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

2)           Officers to arrange to deliver a monitoring update report on the impact of the ASB review recommendations during the year;

3)           Officers to arrange to deliver a presentation on the subject of the dog fouling campaign and the impact that this campaign has had locally;

4)           Officers to arrange to deliver a report on parking enforcement at a forthcoming date of the Committee;

5)           Officers to arrange to deliver a presentation on the subject of taxi vehicles’ road worthiness and potential requirements for further work which could be facilitated by scrutiny;

6)           Officers to arrange to deliver a presentation on the proposed uses for roundabouts in Redditch;

7)           Officers to arrange to deliver a presentation on the subject of the sale of vehicles on grass verges; and

8)           the report be noted.