Present at the meeting
- Councillor Mrs S Loudon (Chairman)
- Councillor M Aldred (Vice Chairman)
- Councillor N D Ash
- Councillor G M Bretherton
- Councillor Mrs B Bourne
- Councillor R J Derricutt
- Councillor P R Franzen
- Councillor Mrs J Hurst
- Councillor M Klieve
- Councillor J Moodie
- Councillor C Rigby
- Councillor P A Tushingham
- Councillor Mrs M Whiteside
- Councillor N R Whittingham
- Councillor G Wilkes
- Councillor R Winkworth
Co-opted Members
84 Apologies for absence: Councillors R T Splaine (Vice Chairman), Mrs J S Birch, H L Cadman, M A Dewhurst, I A Franzen, P Thompson and F B Walker and Mr D Barber and Rev R Buckley.
85 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 3 December 2007 were approved as a correct record.
Items not subject to confirmation by the Council:
86 Whipping declarations: The Deputy Director of Legal and Property Services reminded the Committee that government guidance expected Members of Overview and Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.
There were no declarations made.
87 Questions (if any) on the business of the Cabinet: There were none.
88 Joint Commissioning (Single Commissioning Agency): The Committee considered a report on proposals to establish a Single Commissioning Agency (SCA) with Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust to commission jointly functions currently associated with adult health and social care provision to the benefit of patients and individual service users. Statutory responsibilities would remain with the local authority and the NHS as at the moment.
Members asked a number of detailed questions on the report and received appropriate responses where available. The Health Select Committee would be monitoring the progress.
The Cabinet had considered the report at minute 228.
Resolved: The Committee:
- concurs with the decision of Cabinet; and
- requests the Director of Adult Services to report back to this Committee in twelve months time on the progress of the Single Commissioning Agency.
89 Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) annual performance assessment 2006/07: The Committee considered a report on the outcome of the annual performance assessment of the Council’s adult social services, which gave an overall assessment of ‘good outcomes,’ with a promising capacity for improvement, the equivalent of a 3 star CPA rating.
The report set out the high level messages about areas of good performance, areas of improvement over the last year, areas which were priorities for improvement and where appropriate, identified any follow up action that the CSCI would take.
Members asked a number of detailed questions on the report and received appropriate responses where available.
The Cabinet had considered the report at minute 247.
Resolved: The Committee:
- notes the report;
- requests the Director of Adult Services to report back to this Committee giving a brief summary of responses to the questions raised by Members of the Committee; and
- requests the Director of Adult Services to report back to this Committee, the minutes of the Safeguarding Board for Adults as is the case with the Wigan Safeguarding Children Board minutes.
90 Outcomes of the annual performance assessment: The Committee considered a report on the outcome of the annual performance assessment by Ofsted of the Council’s services for children and young people, which gave an overall grade of three (good).
Members asked a number of detailed questions on the report and received appropriate responses where available. Particular concern was expressed at the issues around teenage pregnancy. The Assistant Chief Executive drew Members’ attention to the statistics referred to in the report on Select Committee reviews later on the agenda. A Member asked how successful the Children and Young People’s Services Department was at measuring those children not in education, employment or training (NEETs).
The Cabinet had considered the report at minute 249.
Resolved: The Committee:
- notes the report;
- requests the Director of Children and Young People’s Services to submit the most recent figures for teenage pregnancies to Members of this Committee; and
- requests the Director of Children and Young People’s Services to submit an explanation of the targets and the success of NEETs to Members of this Committee.
91 Wigan Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB): The Committee considered the minutes of the proceedings of the meetings of the Board held on 24 April, 4 June, 30 July and September 2007.
Members asked a number of questions on the report in relation to absences of Board Members and the procedure if a child was bullied at school and received appropriate responses where available.
The Cabinet had considered the minutes at minute 249.
Resolved: The Committee accepts the minutes now submitted.
92 Support Services Review: Resolved: The Committee agrees to defer this item for presentation at the next meeting.
93 Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA): The Committee considered a briefing note and were given a presentation on the Comprehensive Area Assessment which was the new joint assessment framework for local services from 2009. Members considered the following three questions:-
- Generally what are your feelings about the proposals?
- How should the Audit Commission ensure that performance information and reporting published is relevant and accessible to councils and their partners, local people and central government?
- Will the approach described be an effective and efficient way of working with Councils and their partners to deliver CAA?
Members asked a number of additional detailed questions on the report and received appropriate responses where available.
Resolved: The Committee:
- notes the report;
- requests the Policy Officer to submit the responses to the questions posed to Members of this Committee; and
- requests the Policy Officer to submit the results of the ‘place based survey’ to Members of this Committee.
94 Forward plan for February to May 2008: The Assistant Chief Executive reported that, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000, the Executive Leader was required to publish a forward plan of key decisions that the Council expected to make in the following four months. Each plan would be submitted to this Committee for comment at least fourteen days before its publication. The Committee considered the Plan that was to be published in February 2008.
Members of the Committee expressed concern at the lack of content in the forward plan.
Resolved: The Committee notes the report and requests the Deputy Director of Legal and Property Services and Service Director (Borough Solicitor) to write to all Chief Officers expressing its displeasure at the lack of content within the forward plan and asking them to submit their items for the period 1 February to end of March 2008 and requesting their attendance at the meeting on 31 March 2008 to explain those key decisions taken between 1 February and 31 March 2008 not currently included in the Plan.
95 Select Committee reviews – progress report: The Committee considered a report on the progress made in respect of continuous, ongoing and previous reviews undertaken by the Select Committees.
Members expressed concerns that in some cases actions had not been taken in respect of past reviews following the hard work of Members of this Committee as part of those Select Committees. These included certain recommendations from the invasive weeds, traffic calming and utilities reviews.
A Member also suggested that ‘good news’ items should be given more publicity i.e. Rainer Intensive Mediation being a positive impact with 83% of service users not re-offending following on from support received.
Resolved: The Committee notes:
- the report and welcomes the continuing progress on implementing recommendations;
- invites the Director of Environmental Services to attend the next meeting of this Committee to update Members on the outcomes in relation to the invasive weeds, traffic calming and utilities Select Committee reviews; and
- suggests that Members may wish to submit further concerns on past reviews to the Deputy Chief Executive for consideration at future meetings of this Committee.
96 Select Committee No 1 minutes – 10 December 2007: The minutes of the meeting of Select Committee No 1 (Townships) held on 10 December 2007 were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted as referred to below:
Overview and Scrutiny Committee Select Committee No 1 – Townships 10 December 2007
Present at the Meeting:
- Councillor Mrs J S Birch (Chairman)
- Councillor Mrs B Bourne
- Councillor Mrs S Loudon
96.1 Apologies for absence: Councillors P A Tushingham, H L Cadman, M Klieve and R T Splaine.
96.2 Urgent business: None
96.3 Minutes of last meeting: The minutes of the meeting of this Select Committee held on 26 November 2007 were approved as a correct record.
96.4 Discussion with Township Managers and Township Co-ordinators: The Select Committee prepared and shared a series of key questions with the witnesses prior to the meeting. During the meeting the discussion was framed around these questions. Key issues raised:
- The Township Programme has made a significant difference to certain parts of the community.
- Works best when people are ready and willing to be involved and share their knowledge and experience.
- Forums have created a place where conversations happen that wouldn’t otherwise take place.
- Takes time to get it right; different organisations bring different agenda’s.
Some partners are not fully engaged in the process with particular difficulty gaining regular commitment from the Primary Care Trust.
- We need to be clearer on people’s roles and what is expected of them / what they should offer; this applies to community members, elected members and officers.
- Townships should be the strategic hub for that area and should influence organisational and partnership wide plans and priorities including the Local Area Agreement.
- We need to understand and influence the links to the developing Partners and Community Together (PACT).
- Focus tends to be on cleaner, greener, safer agenda; can be difficult to widen generally to other areas such as economy and health; but we have had some successes.
- Personalities play a big part in the success or otherwise of the programme.
- Amount of resource is a barrier to success, but we need to consider the best use of these resources.
- Townships should be about involvement and participation.
- We need to make sure we keep the people with the ‘good ideas’ and ensure that community involvement in ‘getting things done’ is maintained and developed.
Resolved: The Select Committee thanks the Township Managers for attending.
96.5 Forward plan for future meetings: Resolved: The Select Committee agrees that an informal meeting would be held in the PPI meeting room on the third floor of Wigan Town Hall at 2.30 p m on 9 January 2008. Due to time constraints, the Select Committee were unable to discuss and share its thoughts and understanding of the discussion. The informal meeting will be used for that purpose. Township Managers will provide a summary of successful initiatives. The next formal meeting will take place at 6pm on 6 February 2008.
Chairman
97 Select Committee No 2 minutes – 19 November 2007: The minutes of the meeting of Select Committee No 2 (Reputation Management) held on 19 November 2007 were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted as referred to below:
Overview and Scrutiny Committee Select Committee No 2 – Reputation Management 19 November 2007
Present at the Meeting:
- Councillor F B Walker (Chairman)
- Councillor N D Ash
- Councillor J Moodie
- Cllr P Thompson
97.1 Apologies for absence: None.
97.2 Minutes of last meeting: Resolved: The minutes of the meetings of this Select Committee held on 10 October and 1 November 2007 were agreed as correct records.
97.3 Action Plan for Reputation Management Review: Resolved: The Select Committee considered the progress made against the actions required for the meeting. Each action was discussed in depth by the Select Committee under separate agenda items.
97.4 Discussion about key elements of the MORI survey, which impact on reputation management: Resolved: The Select Committee discussed in depth the findings of the MORI survey in relation to reputation and requested that key personnel be contacted regarding the three most relevant areas within the survey.
97.5 Review of the “One logo – One Identity” guidance: Resolved: The Select Committee made a couple of suggestions regarding the guidance, which would be fed back to the relevant persons.
97.6 Location of sites for new signs: Resolved: The Select Committee requested that further work be carried out before a decision on the location of the two sites was agreed.
97.7 Time and date of next meeting: Resolved: The next meeting of this Select Committee will take place on Monday 10 December 2007 at 6:15 pm in one of the committee rooms at Wigan Town Hall.
Chairman
98 Select Committee No 2 minutes – 10 December 2007: The minutes of the meeting of Select Committee No 2 (Reputation Management) held on 10 December 2007 were submitted for information.
Resolved: The Committee notes the minutes now submitted as referred to below:
Overview and Scrutiny Committee Select Committee No 2 – Reputation Management 10 December 2007
Present at the Meeting
- Councillor F B Walker (Chairman)
- Councillor N D Ash
98.1 Apologies for absence: Councillors P Thompson and G Wilkes.
98.2 Minutes of last meeting: Resolved: The minutes of the meeting of this Select Committee held on 19 November 2007 were agreed as a correct record.
98.3 Review of action plan time frame for Reputation Management Review: The Select Committee considered how each of the objectives within the action plan had been addressed and how the Select Committee was performing against the timeframe set. The Select Committee identified what areas would require additional focus at the next meeting.
Resolved the report be noted:
98.4 Progress of signage sites: Resolved: The Select Committee agreed that the location of the signage sites should be Warrington Road, Goose Green and Liverpool Road, Ashton in Makerfield.
98.5 Interview with Neighbourhood Services Division Assistant Director, Community Safety: Resolved: The Select Committee thanked the Neighbourhood Services Division Assistant Director, Community Safety for her report.
98.6 Time and date of next meeting: Resolved: The next meeting of this Select Committee will take place on Wednesday 16 January 2008 at 6.15 p.m. in Committee Room B at Wigan Town Hall.
Chairman
99 Select Committee No 3 (Transport) minutes: There are no minutes to report.
100. Select Committee No 4 (Health) minutes - 10 December 2007: Resolved: (1) To note the cancellation of the meeting scheduled to have been held on 13 December 2007.
(2) The Committee notes the minutes now submitted as referred to below:
Overview and Scrutiny Committee Select Committee No 4 - Health 10 January 2008
Present at the meeting:
- Councillor G M Bretherton (Chair)
- Councillor C Rigby
- Councillor M W Winstanley
- Councillor Mrs J Hurst
- Councillor N R Whittingham
100.1 Apologies for absence: Councillors R J Derricutt, I A Franzen, Mrs S Loudon and R Winkworth.
100.2 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Select Committee held on 15 November 2007 were approved as a correct record.
100.3 External Support for Commissioners (FESC): A presentation was given by Mick Dolan and Alan Stephenson from the Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust (PCT) on the External Support for Commissioners Framework.
The presentation gave an overview of the External Support for Commissioners Framework and the proposals by the PCT to become a pilot for the Framework. There was a question and answer session. Mick Dolan told the Select Committee that the PCT would provide a written briefing by February 2008.
Resolved: (1) The Select Committee thanked Mick Dolan and Alan Stephenson for the presentation.
(2) The Select Committee resolved that D Taylor would contact the PCT to ask for updates on the External Support for Commissioners Framework.
100.4 Update on topic: D Taylor gave an update on the health inequalities topic. She had met with the PCT, who had raised concerns about the questionnaire and had suggested a full training day for all Elected Members on the health issues facing the Borough.
D Taylor asked the Select Committee for their views on this, to take back to the PCT.
Resolved: (1) The Select Committee thanked D Taylor for this update.
(2) The Select Committee agreed to give D Taylor their agreement to the above session.
100.5 General updates: Councillor G M Bretherton gave an update on the launch in December 2007 of the Joint Public Health Strategy.
Resolved: The Select Committee thanked Councillor G M Bretherton for this update.
100.6 Any other business - (a) Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust, Foundation Trust application, consultation: There was a discussion about the Trust’s application and D Taylor went through the Select Committees response to the consultation.
Resolved: (1) The Select Committee agreed the response and thanked D Taylor for collating this response.
(2) The Select Committee asked D Taylor to contact Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust for an update about the Foundation Trust application.
(b) Wrightington Hospital: The Select Committee raised the issue of the closure of Wrightington Hospital.
Resolved: The Select Committee asked D Taylor to contact Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust about the closure of Wrightington Hospital.
(c) Audiology: The Select Committee requested an update on progress from the Audiology review.
Resolved: The Select Committee asked D Taylor to contact Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust for an update on Audiology.
(d) General: There was a general discussion about updates from Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust.
Resolved: The Select Committee asked D Taylor to contact Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust to ask for regular updates.
100.7 Date and time of next meeting: Resolved: The next meeting be held on 21 February 2008 at 6.00 pm.
Chairman
101 Dates and times of meetings 2008/09: Resolved: The Committee agrees to defer this item to the next meeting.
102. Mr Adrian Hardy: The Chairman reported that this would be the last meeting of this Committee to be attended by Mr Adrian Hardy prior to his retirement on 30 January 2008. She welcomed Mrs Sue Johnson, Deputy Chief Executive, who would be attending future meetings.
Resolved: The Committee thanks Mr Hardy for the work undertaken in relation to this Committee and the Select Committees over the last few years and extends to him best wishes for a long and happy retirement.
Chairman
