Appendix 1 - Kent Association Of Local Authorities Protocol For Overview And Scrutiny Inter-Authority Co-Operation
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Aim of the Protocol
5A.1 To ensure the Overview and Scrutiny Committees of all
Kent local authorities can review issues of community interest
effectively and with efficient use of all local authority staff
resources.
Principles
5A.2 All authorities should be supported in considering
issues of community well being wider than the responsibilities of
their councils.
5A.3 Authorities should work together to maximise the
exchange of information and views, minimise bureaucracy and make
best use of the time of Members and Officers of local and other
authorities.
Procedures
5A.4 Authorities should seek to exchange information on
programmes and results of reviews.
5A.5 If an Overview and Scrutiny Committee wishes to
review an issue in which another authority has a statutory role or
in which evidence from the Officers of another authority would be
helpful, it should consult with that authority about:
- the purpose of the review
- the areas of interest to the other authority
- the input that can be given by Members or officers of the other
authority.
5A.6 Consideration should be given to whether the issue is more
appropriately discussed in another forum, for example a joint
committee, or whether there is scope for joint action including the
co-opting of Members of the other Authority onto the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee for the purpose of the review.
5A.7 Where a proposal is subject to a
public consultation process, scrutiny is most helpful if conducted
as part of that process eg allowing any findings and
recommendations to be available in time to influence the final
decision.
5A.8 Subject to such prior consultation,
Authorities will seek to respond positively to requests for
information or for a Member or Officer to attend meetings of
Overview and Scrutiny Committees for information.
5A.9 While it is ultimately for each
Authority to decide who it considers the most appropriate person(s)
to speak on its behalf to an Overview and Scrutiny Committee,
consideration will be given to meeting specific requests.
5A.10 Dates and times of Member and
Officer attendance at Overview and Scrutiny meetings should be
agreed with them.
5A.11 Each Authority will nominate a
contact Officer for the operation of these procedures.
National Health Service Overview and Scrutiny
Protocol
5B.1 These protocols are agreed within a
context that assumes organisationally:
- The bringing into force of the Health and
Social Care Act 2001
- Compliance with the Overview and Scrutiny
of Health – Guidance issued in May 2003 and further guidance
issued in July 2003
- The continued existence at District/Borough
level of local Overview and Scrutiny Committees concerned with NHS
matters
- Recognition of those bodies established to
provide the Patients' Voice (currently Patients' Forums)
- The Committee and Patients' Forums will need
to set up clear lines of communication and information
exchange
- A constructive partnership approach, based on
mutual understanding between the Committee, the local authority
executive function and local NHS bodies
- The continued development of partnership
working, especially between Social Services and NHS bodies
5B.2 The protocols are based on the
principles that NHS Overview and Scrutiny should:
- Add value to existing processes
- Focus on supporting the improvement of health
and health services to Kent residents
- Consider a health issue, system or economy,
not just services provides
- Promote social, environmental and economic
well-being
- Address issues of health inequalities between
different groups, and working with NHS and other partners develop a
dialogue to achieve health improvement
- Include reviewing the local authorities'
contribution to the health of local people
- Demonstrate the local authorities' role of
community leadership
- Minimise the additional administrative
burdens on local authorities or NHS bodies
- Develop jointly between the local authorities
and the NHS bodies
- Operate at different levels within Kent
5B.3 Success factors for the protocols
are:
- Positive outcomes of Scrutiny – for example,
breaking logjams that prevent vulnerable people from accessing the
services they need, co-ordinating public consultation on health
issues across agencies, or attracting greater resources for public
health and the prevention of ill health
- Involvement of NHS bodies and other local
stakeholders in discussions about the purpose and scope of each
scrutiny in addition to finding solutions
- Progress made on difficult issues, securing
positive or sustainable improvement
- Issues tackled jointly across local
agencies.
Structures
5B.4 Overview
and Scrutiny structures will comprise:
Patients Forums
- Dialogue focused on service providers (Acute,
Primary Care, Mental Health and Ambulance Trusts).
District Council Overview and Scrutiny
Committees
To look at local service issues:-
- Local co-ordination (or joint committees) to
ensure cross-district issues dealt with jointly and involve KCC for
a strategic overview
- KCC to propose a framework for delegation of
issues to District/Borough level, where an issue is confined within
a single Primary Care Trust’s boundary
- Local KCC Members and Patients' Forum
representatives to have rights of participation
- Focused on Primary Care Trusts.
KCC Health Service Overview and
Scrutiny Committee
As a local authority with Social Services
responsibilities it will be important for KCC's Committee to look
at broad and wide-ranging issues that affect people's health and
wellbeing with District Council and Patients' Forum representatives
having rights of participation.
The Committee will:-
- undertake two or three major themed (topic)
reviews each year, plus reviews of service reconfiguration
proposals and cross-cutting themes (such as Drugs or
Transport). Reviews will be conducted by Select Committees
(ad hoc time limited Sub-Committees, including District Council and
Patients' Forum Members), reporting to the KCC Health Service
Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
- consider reference of service reconfiguration
proposals to the National Reconfiguration Panel.
- receive reports and presentations from the
NHS on topical health issues and initiatives.
- focus on the Strategic Health Authority
area.
Medway Overview and Scrutiny
Committee
To combine both levels of operation within the
Medway area but linked into the co-ordinated system.
Co-Ordination
5B.5 Overview and Scrutiny activity at
local and Kent level needs free exchange of information and
protocols for co-ordination of work and resolution of
conflicts. To facilitate this there will be:-
- a regular meeting of Committee Chairmen and
NHS representatives to agree a programme of work across the county
and Medway.
- a similar Officer Forum to support and advise
the Chairmen on the work programme and co-ordinate requests for NHS
Officers to provide papers, information or attend Committee
meetings, supported by day-to-day dialogue.
5B.6 The KCC Committee membership allows
for District Council and Patients' Forum membership:-
- a permanent representation of four
District/Borough Council Members one for each of the four Health
Economies in Kent and six representatives of Patient Forums.
- a right for the Chairmen of each
District/Borough Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee (or
another relevant Member) and a representative of each Patients'
Forum to attend and speak at the KCC Committee on a matter
particularly affecting that area.
- appointment of Members of relevant District
Overview and Scrutiny Committees and Patients' Forums to individual
topic reviews (agreed through the Chairmen's meeting).
5B.7 District Committees will allow local
KCC Members and Patients' Forum representatives to attend and speak
at the Committee
5B.8 KCC and Medway Council will
establish a joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee where issues
cross boundaries and patient flows warrant it. This principle
will also apply to neighbouring Strategic Health Authority areas
and the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in those areas.
Review Planning
5B.9 Overview and Scrutiny will include
briefings, seminars, reports, consultation and reviews, as well as
matters referred to the Committee by Patients' Forums. Each
review should be preceded by a Review Plan discussed within the
Officer Forum and agreed with the relevant NHS bodies. To
reach final agreement, issues may be considered in some detail at
the meeting of Chairmen and should then be considered by the
relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee after the NHS
representative has attended the Committee to express the NHS view
and answer Member questions.
(NB: Draft Review
Plans will involve the elected Members of the Local Authority
concerned.)
5B.10 The Review Plan should:-
- be drawn up with the involvement of the NHS,
beginning with a scoping meeting that includes lead NHS Manager(s)
and Clinician(s) as appropriate to assist the Committee in
accessing the information it needs and to enable appropriate terms
of reference to be set and to agree the general nature of the
expected outcome.
- set the terms of reference for the
review.
- an approximate timetable of meetings and a
reporting date.
- state the Officers supporting the review
within the local authority, the NHS and Patients' Forums and
estimate the time commitment required of them.
- state the main witnesses and information
sources expected to be involved.
Review Administration
5B.11 The arrangements for meetings of
Overview and Scrutiny Committees shall ensure that:-
- dates for witnesses to attend Committee
meetings are agreed with witnesses as far in advance as
possible.
- witnesses will be consulted about convenient
dates for them to attend, within the review timeframe
(NB: Clinicians
need at least six weeks notice in order to avoid compromising
patient care.)
- NHS Chief Executives and other local
authorities' Chief Executives arrange for appropriate Officers
chosen by them to attend to give evidence on the identified topics
(subject to any provision to be made in statutory
regulations).
- advance notice of two weeks should generally
be given of the areas to be covered in questioning in order for
appropriate briefing to be to hand.
- information is wherever possible distributed
to the Committee in writing before the witness attends.
Meeting Protocols
5B.12 All Overview and Scrutiny
Committees should incorporate in their Procedure Rules or otherwise
ensure that:-
- Committee Members should endeavour not to
request detailed information from Officers of the NHS or another
local authority at meetings of the Committee, unless they have
given prior notice through the Clerk. If, in the course of
question and answer at a meeting of the Committee, it becomes
apparent that further information would be useful, the Officer
being questioned may be required to submit it in writing to Members
of the Committee through the Clerk.
- in the course of questioning at meetings,
Officers of the NHS or another local authority may decline to give
information or respond to questions on the grounds that it is more
appropriate that the question be directed to a more senior Officer
or Member.
- Officers of the NHS or another local
authority may decline to answer questions in an open session of the
Committee on the grounds that the answer might disclose information
which would be exempt or confidential as defined in the Access to
Information Act 1985 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In that event, the Committee may resolve to exclude the media and
public in order that the question may be answered in private
session.
- Committees may not criticise or adversely
comment on any individual Officer of another local authority or of
an NHS body by name.
Reporting
5B.13 All local authorities should ensure
that:-
- a record is made of the main statements of
witnesses appearing before the Committee and agreed with those
witnesses prior to publication or use by the Committee.
Committee meetings may be electronically recorded.
- drafts of Committee reports and
recommendations be made available for comment by the relevant NHS
body (or local authority), allowing that body two weeks in which to
respond, if their operations might be commented on, and any adverse
comments or concerns reported to the Committee before the final
report is published. Responsibility for the report lies with
the Committee which produced the report.
- the Chief Executive of any NHS body and/or
the Chief Officer of any other local authority involved with the
review is given advance notice of the date of publication of the
report and consulted on the text of any accompanying press
release.
- Reports include an agreed timetable for any
NHS body and/or other local authority involved to publish a
response to the report's recommendations, once confirmed by the
appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Service Reconfigurations
5B.14 NHS bodies remain responsible for
public and other consultation on service reconfiguration
proposals.
5B.15 The intention to carry out a
consultation will be discussed in the Officer Forum.
5B.16 The KCC Health Service Overview and
Scrutiny Committee will consult District/Borough Councils and
Patients' Forums for the areas affected by each proposal on whether
to:-
- consider the matter at a full meeting of the
Committee.
- set up a KCC Select Committee to consider the
proposal.
- request a District/Borough Overview and
Scrutiny Committee to consider the proposal.
5B.17 If a Select Committee is
established or a District/Borough Overview and Scrutiny Committee
requested to carry out a review:-
- paragraphs 5B.9 – 5B.13 above shall apply to
its work programme and proceedings.
- the Review Plan shall as far as possible be
integrated with the NHS body's consultation programme.
- Consideration shall be given to:
-
including one or more Members of District/Borough Councils on the
Select Committee or KCC Members on the
District/Borough Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- including Patients' Forum members on the Committee
- other arrangements for ensuring all local authorities and
Patients' Forums may express their views and seek
information on the proposal
- the review report shall be submitted to the
KCC Health Service Overview and Scrutiny Committee who will
consider the recommendations together with any response by the NHS
body and decided whether to refer the proposal to the
Reconfiguration Panel.
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This webpage was updated on
9/29/2010