Consultation with Scrutiny Panel Members

May 2009

Introduction

This is the fifth customer survey carried out by the Scrutiny Support Unit with the Scrutiny Panel Members (including co-opted and advisory group members). We have changed the format of the questionnaire to reflect the continued development of Scrutiny in Tameside, however, we have retained key questions to measure progress over time.

Methodology

The questionnaire was posted to Panel Members with a pre-paid envelope and was also sent via email. Members were given approximately five weeks to respond. A total of 43 questionnaires were distributed and 35 were returned completed (81% return). This is an 8% increase on the forms returned in the last survey carried out in 2007.

Survey Contents

The questionnaire covered the following areas:

• Importance of being a Scrutiny Panel Member
• Understanding Scrutiny and the role of the Scrutiny Panel Members
• Value added to services under review and the contribution of Scrutiny Panel Members
• Panel Member involvement with Scrutiny
• Satisfaction with services provided by the Scrutiny Support Unit and overall performance of the Unit

Findings

How important to you is your role as a Scrutiny Panel Member?

91% of respondents reported that Scrutiny was ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to them.

This year significantly more Panel Members reported that their role was ‘very important’ compared to the last survey in 2007.

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How well do you understand the role of Scrutiny and how well do you feel you understand your role as a member of a Scrutiny Panel?

This year, 9 of the 35 Panel Members that responded to the survey are new to Scrutiny. Half of those who partly understood scrutiny had been involved for less than 1 year. All of those who partly understood their role in Scrutiny had been involved for less than 1 year.

Over 80% of respondents reported that they had a full understanding of Scrutiny (83%) and of their role as a Scrutiny Panel Member (89%). This is a significant increase on the 2007 survey where only 75% had a full understanding of Scrutiny and 78% understood their role as a Scrutiny Member.

Scrutiny Panel Members were asked what they least and most enjoyed about their role. A few respondents gave areas that they would like to see improved, including:

• Increase engagement from all Scrutiny Panel Members
• Increase the number of recommendations implemented by the Executive
• Changes in Panel meeting times

Considerably more respondents shared what they most enjoy about being involved in Scrutiny, their comments included:

• Having an opportunity to make recommendations and influence service improvement
• Gaining an increased understanding of how the council operate
• Actively participating in discussions and reviews
• Meeting officers and partner organisations and gaining an insight into their areas of work

How involved do you feel you are in Scrutiny?

Significantly more respondents feel they are involved in Scrutiny this year than in 2007. We would like to see respondents rating their involvement with Scrutiny at level 4 or above. This year only 4 respondents have rated below this score.

How Scrutiny adds value to the services it reviews and how Panel Members contribute to adding value

91% of Panel Members feel that Scrutiny adds value to the services it reviews. Panel Members have a more positive view of their own contribution compared to the last survey. In 2007, only 87% felt they helped make a difference, compared with 97% this year, an increase of 10%.

How do you feel the Scrutiny Support Unit is providing appropriate and effective support?

Feedback from Panel Members indicates that the aims of the Scrutiny Support Unit are being achieved and the mechanisms put in place by the Unit are meeting the needs of Panel Members. The aim for future years would be to increase the proportion of members indicating they ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ with each of these elements.

Would you like more support, advice or development in your role as a Scrutiny Panel Member?

Panel members identified a number of areas for Scrutiny Member development, these included:

• An induction programme for new Scrutiny Panel Members
• Regular updates on Scrutiny, including national and regional changes and information
• Opportunities for training and skills development as required

Overall, how would you rate the services provided by the Scrutiny Support Unit?

100% of respondents said the services we provide were either ‘good’ or ‘very good’. This is an increase on the 2007 survey, where 6% of Members rated us as ‘fair’.

Some of the comments received this year:

“Provide first class support for scrutiny members.”

“I think the scrutiny support officers do a brilliant job. They give good presentations and seem to be very thorough with their research on each subject. Without the officers dedication the scrutiny panels could not work satisfactorily.”

“The Unit goes out of it's way to ensure everyone is involved and contributing to the process.”

“Scrutiny is an interesting part of being a councillor and a great way to gain detailed knowledge of how various parts of the council work.”

Perceptions of Panel Members:

Listed below are some of the additional comments shared by Panel Members:

What I most enjoy about the role:

• Most of it, depending on what is being scrutinised
• I enjoy most of it
• Given the opportunity to participate and contribute my own expertise to topics
• I enjoy my role as it helps me to learn a lot about what is happening in Tameside
• I enjoy learning about the council and how we operate
• Being able to use my experience for the good purpose of the local community
• I enjoy having an input and being involved and seeing a positive output
• I enjoy the freedom of choice with excellent research
• Gaining an insight and understanding of a large system
• I enjoy meeting and helping people and getting to know their outlook
• Meeting people
• Interacting with panel and stakeholders is the most enjoyable part of the role
• I find all meetings interesting and varied
• I enjoy everything about scrutiny and the part I play in it.
• Face to face discussions
• Most enjoy contributing to reviews.
• Looking deeper into services
• Discussions in a very cordial atmosphere
• I enjoy debates about issues but feel that when we have officers in, some of their answers skate over the issues.
• Enjoy learning about different areas of the Council's work.
• The opportunity to review services and make significant changes for improvement
• I enjoy all of it.

What I least enjoy about the role:

• Frustration when recommendations receive no action
• Daytime meetings are very hard for working Councillors.
• The time we have the meetings
• Least enjoy… well not much really! Enjoy all!
• There is northing I don't enjoy

Conclusions and Recommendations

The majority of Panel Members continue to enjoy their role as a Scrutiny Panel Member and are very satisfied with the support provided by the Unit. Any slight decline in certain areas this year may be due to the number of new Panel Members with lower levels of understanding and awareness (9 Scrutiny Panel Members have less than 1 year’s experience in their Scrutiny role), and the improved response rate that we had with this year’s survey (35 responses out of 43 were received, compared with 32 out of 44 in 2007).

The Scrutiny Support Unit continually seeks to improve its delivery of services and will work to address the needs of the Panel Members, taking on board the results of this survey.