To submit the report of the Deputy Leader and Corporate Support Senior Manager.
Minutes:
The Deputy Leader
presented the report detailing two potential models deriving from the work of
the Sub-group, which had been set up by the Committee, and in which the
Council's scrutiny arrangements were examined following criticism by the Wales
Audit Office. It was noted that Model A was an amendment of the existing
arrangements and would consist of three scrutiny committees (Education and
Economy, Care, Communities), whilst corporate matters would be scrutinised by
the Audit Committee; and Model B, which would have one Principal Scrutiny
Committee but would conduct a greater number of investigations (up to eight at
any given time, compared with three under Model A).
Attention was drawn to the appendices, which contained a full
description of the models, an assessment of their advantages and disadvantages,
and their ability to address the weaknesses identified.
The Senior Corporate Support Officer highlighted the difference of
opinion among members of the Sub-group about the favoured model. The need to weigh
up the risks of both models was emphasised.
The Committee, as
the individuals responsible for governance, were asked: to recommend one of the
scrutiny models to the Full Council; to recommend amendments (a) to (f) in
paragraphs 9.1 to 9.5 in the report (whichever formal model was selected); and
request that the Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Senior Corporate
Support Officer, draft the necessary changes into the Constitution in order to
implement the recommended arrangements and recommend them to the Full Council.
Members were given an opportunity
to ask questions and offer their observations. During the discussion the following main points were highlighted:-
·
Model
B was favoured, since one committee would
allow for greater overview.
·
There was an
element of disconnect between the Cabinet and Scrutiny with some
matters being scrutinised that the Council had no influence upon. Need to be more specific in future.
·
Inconsistency in
the workload of the Scrutiny
Committee currently, and on occasion
some items were not followed up.
·
Identifying the interests and skills of individual
members was very important. The arrangement of distributing seats on scrutiny committees
in accordance with the political balance only led to the filling of empty seats.
·
The
investigations were more effective.
·
A member
of the Sub-group and was of
the opinion that change was necessary and that Model B with one Committee
would be an improvement and would ensure the scrutiny work programme
was kept in order and would
hold the Cabinet to account.
It would be necessary to tread carefully so that
the same people (members) were not part of the investigations.
·
Members needed
to take advantage of the available training.
·
A member
of the Sub-group and favoured Model A, considering that most of the Council's spending was in the fields of Education and Care. Felt that specific committees attached to these fields of work could consider issues in more depth. Would this
be possible with one committee?
In response to a member's question, the Senior Corporate Support Manager
stated that committees were restricted whilst scrutiny investigations were
informal meetings where matters that could not be discussed in public could be
discussed.
The Chief Executive stated that there were two matters that should be
considered:
1.
The point of view of Heads of Department - Whilst
Heads of Department accepted the need for scrutiny and the fact that it was
possible to make a difference as part of live democracy, there were too many
occasions where it was difficult to see the gains, with staff being taken away
from providing a service for the people of Gwynedd in order to write reports
and prepare for scrutiny.
2.
Model A - the danger
that the scrutiny work load would fall to Education and Adults, drawing more
resources from those fields to feed "scrutiny" rather than providing
services for residents.
RESOLVED:
(i) to recommend Model B to
the Full Council;
(ii) to recommend suggestions
(a) to (f) in paragraphs 9.1 to 9.5 in the report, whichever formal model is
chosen;
(iii) to ask that the
Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Senior Corporate Support Officer,
draft the necessary changes to the Constitution in order to implement the
recommended procedure and recommend them to the Full Council.
Supporting documents: