18 Dec 2002

Report: "Continuity or Change? Officers and New Council Constitutions"

This report has been published today by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Among its findings is that:

By comparison with the increasing closeness between executive members and senior officers, there has been a corresponding decline in the amount of contact that senior officers have with non-executive members.

The report's first recommendation is that:

That further work is undertaken on the tensions faced by the unitary officer structure as a result of the new council constitutions, including the implications for officers working principally for the executive ... and for overview and scrutiny.

17 Dec 2002

Interim Head of Scrutiny and Performance Management

Stan Felstead has joined the County Council in this capacity for the period 16 December 2002 – 4 April 2003.

21 Nov 2002

Updates to these pages

The buttons on the lefthand side of the screen now include one labelled "knowledge." This leads to sources of local regional and national background information for overview/scrutiny work including guidelines to prevent lines of inquiry being deflected.

18 Nov 2002

Health scrutiny: response to consultation

The County Council has responded to the Department of Health's "Listening Exercise" on draft regulations for the overview and scrutiny of health services.

Click here to read Devon's response.

7 Nov 2002

Co-option of non-councillors with voting rights

In its report on the Draft Local Government Bill, the Commons Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions described as "unnecessary and undemocratic" a proposed power for local authorities to co-opt persons on to overview and scrutiny committees with full voting rights.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has  responded:

Clause 113 is permissive, rather than prescriptive. Non-councillors will only be given votes where elected councillors decide it is appropriate. Councils will be required to publicise their schemes for the grant of voting rights. This transparency will make them accountable to local voters.

The clause is part of our general drive to allow councils greater flexibility to serve their communities and is consistent with the Committee’s wish to reduce the amount of Government prescription on the work of local authorities.

Co-optees currently make a significant contribution to effective scrutiny through specialist knowledge or a role in the community. Therefore it is appropriate for co-optees to be able to shape the conclusions of overview and scrutiny committees through voting, if the elected councillors decide that this should happen.

Bringing non-councillors into full roles on overview and scrutiny committees will allow for greater partnership between local government and stakeholders.

Co-optees can bring in a mix of ideas and can provide a valuable link between the council and voluntary organisations or other bodies working in related fields which might otherwise be lost due to the move to most decisions being made by council executive.

4 Nov 2002

Parliament broadcast live on the internet

1 Nov 2002

Support for Overview & Scrutiny

This site's page on officer support for Overview/Scrutiny in Devon has been updated to reflect new appointments of staff .

9 Oct 2002

DoH Draft Regulations for Health Overview & Scrutiny

The long-awaited consultation document was published yesterday. The draft will be the subject of a six-week "listening exercise" with a deadline for responses of 18 November 2002.

The draft regulations cover such issues as: matters to be reviewed and scrutinised; consultation of communities by NHS bodies; information to be provided by NHS bodies; joint committees; delegated scrutiny and co-option. Views are invited on a number of questions.

Organisations and individuals with an interest in these issues are invited to submit their responses to:

Overview and Scrutiny Listening Exercise
Department of Health
Room 608
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London SW1A 2NS

Email: mbhealthscrutinyconsultation@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Anyone responding is asked to provide the following information:

• name;
• job/professional role and organisation (if applicable);
• comments on the document.

7 Oct 2002

Head of Scrutiny and Performance Management

This post has now been advertised and further details can be found on the County Council's First Stop for Jobs web pages.

1 Oct 2002

Training for Health Scrutiny: DoH Initiatives

The Senior Policy Manager at the Department of Health has given details of initiatives that are underway to provide training for Councillors involved in scrutinising health.

25 Sept 2002

Overview and Scrutiny: Government report

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has today published a 121-page report entitled "The Development of Overview and Scrutiny in Local Government."

The report suggests that the conditions for effective scrutiny are as follows:

• Member leadership and engagement;
• Responsive executive (or policy committees in alternative arrangements);
• Genuine non-partisan working;
• Effective direct officer support and management of scrutiny processes;
• Supportive senior officer culture;
• High level of awareness and understanding of overview and scrutiny.

The report further suggests that "however excellent an authority is in terms of its processes, ‘successful’ overview and scrutiny has to involve tangible and substantive outcomes" and that committees must be able to demonstrate that they have achieved the aims and objectives for scrutiny and therefore have:

• Held the executive (or relevant policy committee) to account;
• Supported the development of effective policies and initiatives which have a beneficial impact on the community;
• Contributed significantly to continuous improvement in services through best value;
• Positively impacted on the work and outcomes of external agencies.

The report does however concede that "demonstrating this ‘added value’ can be problematic since measuring ‘influence’ is not always a simple task."

Click on the following link to download the full report.

12 Sept 2002

How the Local Government Act 2000 is working

The House of Commons Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions today published its report. The Committee's overall conclusion is that:

A great deal of time, money and effort has gone into changing the political management arrangements of local authorities with apparently little change to the overall quality and credibility of local government. The Government's stated intention at the time of the Act — to restore the self-confidence of local government — has been lost in the focus on internal change.

Click on the following links to see:

• the Select Committee's conclusions on overview and scrutiny;
• the Select Committee's conclusions on all the topics examined;
• the full report.

4 Sept 2002

Arrangements for appointment of Head of Scrutiny

At yesterday's Executive, the Chairman decided that the meeting should consider this item as a matter of urgency in view of the need to proceed as soon as possible with arrangements for the appointment of a new Head of Scrutiny and Performance Management.

It was RESOLVED

(a) that, in accordance with the Officer Employment Rules contained in the Council's Constitution, an Appointments Committee comprising the four Political Group Leaders be convened for the appointment of the Head of Scrutiny and Performance Management; and

(b) that members, who are Chairmen or Vice-Chairmen of the three County Council Overview/Scrutiny Committees, be fully involved in this process.

28 Aug 2002

Co-option of non-councillors with voting rights

The latest advice of the Democracy and Leadership Division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is that:

The legislation allowing authorities to grant voting rights to co-optees is intended for inclusion in the forthcoming Local Government Bill. Subject to Ministerial and Parliamentary approval, we hope to lay that Bill in November.

20 Aug 2002

Local Government White Paper Implementation Plan

Today, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) published a progress report on the implementation of the White Paper, as at 15 August. This includes "milestones" for the implementation of various points in the White Paper. Among these is the following:

Legislate for voting non-councillor members to be co-opted on overview & scrutiny committees.

No date is given for this at present.

24 July 2002

The Draft Local Government Bill

The House of Commons Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions published its report on the Draft Local Government Bill.

Clause 113 would give local authorities the power to allow co-opted members of overview and scrutiny committees to vote at meetings of those committees. The Select Committee reported as follows:

We heard from the County Councils Network (CCN) that this "may be regarded as a step away from the democratic principles of elected local government representation. The CCN is concerned at the potential precedent this may set."

We believe that Clause 113 is unnecessary and undemocratic

Consultation on the Draft Bill closes on 23 August.

11 July 2002

How the Local Government Act 2000 is working

The House of Commons Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions published on its web pages the transcripts of a series of hearings on this question which took place during May. Among the topics addressed were the effectiveness of Overview and Scrutiny and the role of non-executive councillors.

Local Government Minister, Nick Raynsford MP told the Select Committee:

My own view is that it is far too soon to make an overall assessment of the benefits [of the Act] ... There is a specific research programme which has been set in train ... but, of course, I meet councillors and local government officials on a daily basis and have informal conversations about lots of things, including the way in which aspects of the Local Government Act 2000 are operating ... it is too soon for the formal evaluation, which has only just been set up, but I do on a daily basis talk to councillors and council officers and members of the public, and I have to say the evidence I am getting from those conversations is mixed ... I think it is too soon to reach a formal judgement but I certainly would not say that the new arrangements were not working.

The Select Committee's report has not yet been published.

11 July 2002

New powers to co-opt scrutiny members?

From Nick Raynsford MP's questioning by the Commons Select Committee (see above):

(Mr Cummings) How can independent voices be brought in to ensure that overview and scrutiny is well-advised?

(Mr Raynsford) As I said in response to an earlier question, we are actually intending to legislate to give powers for local authorities to bring in independent members to scrutiny committees with full voting rights if they so wish. We believe it is up to the local authority to decide what is the right balance and where the expertise is required to strengthen the capability of their overview and scrutiny committees.

... (Mr Cummings) The reason Select Committees work is because we have access to the funds to allow us to bring in outside advisers, experts in their fields. Are we expecting a second or a third degree of service for local authorities?

(Mr Raynsford) No, I am not. I am saying that in some cases that expertise may be available either free of charge or at very reasonable cost.

(Mr Cummings) Do you have such a list of people who would be willing to queue up and offer their services?

(Mr Raynsford) No, because it varies enormously from area to area, but there are people who are public-spirited and who have got an understanding of the law in many areas who would be willing to give their expertise if requested to do so, in the public interest...

25 June 2002

Overview and Scrutiny of the NHS

The Department of Health has announced that in the autumn of 2002 it plans to hold a four-week "listening exercise" on the draft regulations to be published at that time. These regulations, promised in the 2001 Act, should cover all the important detail which the County Council will need to devise appropriate scrutiny arrangements: the extent of our powers, co-option, joint working, delegation and the date on which the powers become operative.

23 May 2002

New Overview/Scrutiny Committee appointed

Recent legislation has given County and Unitary Councils the power to scrutinise health services. It is expected that this power will come into effect on 1 January 2003.

In preparation for this new role, Devon has appointed a six-member Health Service Overview/Scrutiny Committee. Its remit is:

"To discharge the Council's functions concerning scrutiny of the National Health Service."

8 Feb 2002

"Byers to Extend Local Scrutiny Role"

In the Local Government Chronicle for 8 February 2002, Political Correspondent, Varya Shaw, reported that...

The Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, is reported to have told a private workshop at the Labour Party's local government conference that local authorities' new role of health scrutiny should also be extended to transport. The Local Government Chronicle reports him as saying:

"I want to get local government involved with health. I want to get it involved with transport and make recommendations to me. I think that’s a great role that councillors can play, it’s the way I hope local government will go."

He raised the same idea at a Local Government Information Unit fringe event and told the Local Government Chronicle that he had no formal structure in mind but was seeking to illustrate how he pictured the new role of Local Government.