Minutes of the North West Scrutiny Support Officers’ Network

Friday, 19 March 2010

Tameside MBC

Present:

Blackpool - Steve Sienkiewicz (Chair), Laura Latham and Mark Towers
Burnley - Eric Dickinson
Bury - Alice Rea
Cheshire East - Katie Smith, Paul Jones, Callum Jones
Halton - Alex Villiers
Knowsely - Hannah Easby
Manchester - Carolyn Whewell, Eleanor Fort
Rochdale - Peter Bennett
Salford - Peter Kidd
Stockport - Steven Callender, Nicola Ward and David Tomlinson
Tameside - Gina Murphy, Muna Clough, Howard Boots, Alison Davies, Nicola Hine and James Smith
Trafford - Helen Mitchell and Samuel Martin
Warrington - Helen Stanley
Wirral - Carole Roberts
Wyre - Sharon Marsh

Apologies:

Bolton - Sabeena Wootton
CfPS / IDeA - Su Turner
CfPS - Avril Davies
Cheshire East - Mark Nedderman
Chorley - Ruth Rimmington and Dianne Scambler
Cheshire East - Denise French
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service - Naazlin Somani
Lancaster - Stephen Metcalfe and Liz Bateson
Liverpool - Joan Leonard
Oldham - Sewa Singh and Matthew Drogan
Pendle - Kath Haydock
Rossendale - Patricia Couch
St Helens - Caroline Barlow
Sefton - Debbie Campbell, Ruth Harrison, Ian Barton and Ruth Appleby
Warrington - Julian Joinson and Julia Sykes
West Lancashire - Jacky Denning
Wirral - Alan Veitch
Wyre - Peter Foulsham

1. Notes of the Last Meeting

The notes of the previous meeting of the network, held on 13th November 2009 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

2. City Region Scrutiny - AGMA

Steve Callender, with Nicola Ward, both from Stockport MBC gave a presentation on AGMA Scrutiny (slides attached) 109.4 KB . The presentation covered:

• The current approach to sub-regional governance
• AGMA Scrutiny Pool – purpose and functions
• The current picture
• The future of AGMA and AGMA Scrutiny

Stockport is the lead authority for AGMA Scrutiny. AGMA Scrutiny exists to achieve greater public accountability over decisions made and services delivered for the whole of Greater Manchester

AGMA Scrutiny are keen for their work to complement local authority scrutiny work, rather than duplicate it. They want to share their learning with local authorities by:

• Sharing work programmes
• Greater awareness of work at a sub-regional level
• Role of the AGMA Scrutiny member within the local authority

It is still early days for AGMA Scrutiny and in order to raise their profile, they are willing to visit authorities on an individual basis.

The presentation was followed with a question and answer session.

Further information, including agendas, minutes and work programmes of the Scrutiny Pool could be found on www.agma.gov.uk.

The Chair thanked Steve Callender and Nicola Ward for a very informative presentation.

3. Joint Roles of Scrutiny and Democratic Services and ADSO

Mark Towers and Laura Latham from Blackpool Council gave a presentation on the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) (slides attached) 374.35 KB .

The Association was formally launched at its first national conference held on 14th October 2009. ADSO is a national body, which represents all members who work or have worked within the Democratic Service, within Local Authorities, Joint Authorities, Employers Organisations and Parish and Town Councils.

Two new qualifications had been developed:

• Knowledge Award (with a mandatory scrutiny module)
• Certificate in Democratic Practice (with an optional scrutiny module)

Both qualifications were nationally recognised within the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and awarded by Open University awarding body.

A Professional Diploma is to be launched in November, for learners who are experienced Democratic Services Officers who possess knowledge of the main democratic functions.

The National CfPS Forum would be considering an item on ADSO at its meeting on 23rd March 2010 and any feedback from the Network would be incorporated into this.

The presentation was followed with a question and answer session.

The Chair thanked Mark Towers and Laura Latham for their presentation.

4. Councillor Call for Action (CCFA)

None of the authorities present at the meeting had received a CCfA to date. The Chair was keen to keep this item on the agenda and felt it would be beneficial to email the Network to see if anyone had had any practical experience dealing with a CCfA, and who would be willing to feedback at a future Network meeting.

5. Items for Future Agendas

Helen Stanley from Warrington suggested an item on Health Inequalities. She was keen to hear about any effective scrutiny undertaken by each Authority. The Chair mentioned that Blackpool were undertaking a review of minimum pricing of alcohol and that he would be prepared to report back at a future meeting when the review was complete.

6. Any Other Business

Statutory Scrutiny Officer Role

Under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, there was a requirement to designate an officer as ‘Scrutiny Officer’ with effect from 1st April 2010. Following a brief discussion with those present at the meeting, it appeared some authorities had the nominated officer at strategic level and others had it at practitioner level.

Reference was made to a thread on the CfPS forum (http://www.cfps.org.uk/scrutiny-exchange/forum/ ) that discussed this issue, which authorities may find informative.

National Forum

The Chair informed the meeting that Ed Hammond (Centre for Public Scrutiny) was still looking to receive nominations for the Good Scrutiny Awards.

7. Arrangements for the Next Meeting

The proposed dates for the forthcoming meetings were noted. The Chair offered to host the November 2010 meeting at Blackpool. There were no offers to host the July 2010 meeting. An email would be sent to the Network to see if any authority could accommodate the next meeting on 16th July 2010.