Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules
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1. What will be the Number and Arrangements for Overview
and Scrutiny Committees?
The Council will have the Overview and
Scrutiny Committees set out in Article 6 and will appoint to them, as it
considers appropriate from time to time. Such Committees may
appoint Sub-Committees and Task Groups (Minute No. 568/5/04,
54/6/04 and 602/5/08). Overview and Scrutiny Task
Groups and Sub-Committees may be appointed for a fixed period,
on the expiry of which they shall cease to exist.
The Overview and Scrutiny
Committees appointed by the Council will perform all Overview and
Scrutiny functions on behalf of the Council. The number of
Members of each Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be set out in
the terms of reference as contained in Part
3 of this Constitution. Overview and Scrutiny Committees
and Sub-Committees may appoint co-optees.
Task Groups will comprise between five and
seven Members from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, selected on
the basis of their expertise in a particular area. The Task
Groups will be established for a specific purpose and will be
disbanded once the task has been completed. There is a
presumption that the Task Groups are 'open meetings' unless
discussing subjects that would not be open to the press and public
if being discussed in a Committee (exempt).
2. Who may Sit on Overview and Scrutiny
Committees?
All Councillors except Members of the
Executive may be Members of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. No
Member may, however, be involved in scrutinising a decision in
which s/he has been directly involved.
3. Co-optees
Each Overview and Scrutiny Committee or
Sub-Committee shall be entitled to recommend to Council the
appointment of a number of people as non-voting co-optees as it
considers appropriate. When acting as the Crime and
Disorder Committee additional non voting members may be co-opted to
serve on the Committee in accordance with the
Regulations.
4. Meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committees
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee will hold at least six
ordinary meetings in each year and shall carry out its
function as the Crime and Disorder Committee at no less than one
meeting in every 12 month period. In addition, extraordinary
meetings may be called from time to time as and when appropriate.
An Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting may be called by the
Chairman and two Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, or
by a minimum of five Members of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee. The Proper Officer may also call a meeting of an
Overview and Scrutiny Committee if s/he considers it necessary or
appropriate..
5. Quorum
The quorum for an Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall be
as set out in the Terms of Reference of the individual Committees
and Sub-Committees as appended to the General Procedure Rules
in Part 4 of this Constitution.
6. Who Chairs Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Meetings?
The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee shall be appointed by the Full Council at
its Annual Meeting as detailed in the General Procedure Rules.
7. Work Programme
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be
responsible for setting their own work programme and in doing so
they shall take into account the wishes of all Members on the
Committee.
8. Agenda Items
Any Member of an Overview and Scrutiny
Committee or Sub-Committee shall be entitled to give notice to the
Proper Officer that he wishes an item relevant to the functions of
the Committee or Sub-Committee to be included on the agenda for the
next available meeting of the Committee or Sub-Committee. On
receipt of such a request the Proper Officer will ensure that it is
included on the next available agenda.
Furthermore, Councillors are entitled to
give notice to the Proper Officer that they wish an item relating
to their Ward, which is relevant to the functions of the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee of which they are not a Member, to be
included on the Agenda for the next available Meeting of the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee as a Councillor Call for Action
(CCfA). On receipt of such a request the Chairman of the
Overview and Scrutiny and Proper Officer (Head of Legal and
Democratic Services) will determine whether to take the CCfA
forward. If it is agreed that the item is to be progressed
then the Proper Officer will ensure it is included on the next
available Agenda in accordance with the CCfA protocol. In
putting forward such a request the Councillor must have regard to
the CCfA protocol (Appendix A(i), attached to the Overview and
Scrutiny Procedure Rules) and government guidance. The
Councillor concerned will be able to make representation to the
Committee when it considers whether to take the item further.
If the matter is a Crime and Disorder issue, responsible
authorities (Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Members) must
be notified by the Proper Officer. (See Appendix
A(ii): Additional Procedure Rules of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee when acting as the Crime and Disorder Committee).
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall also
respond, as soon as their work programme permits, to requests from
the Council and if it considers it appropriate the Executive to
review particular areas of Council activity. Where they do so, the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall report their findings and any
recommendations back to the Executive and/or the Full Council. The
Full Council and/or the Executive shall consider the report of the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee within one month of receiving
it.
9. Policy Review and Development
(a) The role of the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee in relation to the development of the Council’s
Budget and Policy Framework is set out in detail in the Budget and
Policy Framework Procedure Rules in Part 4 of this Constitution.
(b) In relation to the development of the
Council’s approach to other matters not forming part of its policy
and budget framework, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee or
Sub-Committees may make proposals to the Executive for developments
in so far as they relate to matters within their terms of
reference.
(c) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee
may hold enquiries and investigate the available options for future
direction in policy development and may appoint advisers and
assessors to assist them in this process. They may go on site
visits, conduct public surveys, hold public meetings, commission
research and do all other things that they reasonably consider
necessary to inform their deliberations. They may ask witnesses to
attend to address them on any matter under consideration and may
pay to any advisers, assessors and witnesses a reasonable fee and
expenses for doing so.
10. Reports from Overview and
Scrutiny Committees
(a) Once it has formed recommendations on
proposals for development, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will
prepare a formal report and submit it to the Proper Officer for
consideration by the Executive (if the proposals are consistent
with the existing budgetary and Policy Framework), or to the
Council as appropriate (eg if the recommendation would require a
departure from or a change to the agreed Budget and Policy
Framework).
(b) If an Overview and Scrutiny Committee
cannot agree on one single final report to the Council or Executive
as appropriate, then up to one minority report may be prepared and
submitted for consideration by the Council or Executive with the
majority report.
(c) The Council or Executive shall
consider the report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee within
one month of it being submitted to the Proper Officer.
11. Making Sure that Overview
and Scrutiny Reports are Considered by the
Executive
(a) Once an Overview and Scrutiny
Committee has completed its deliberations on any matter it will
forward a copy of its final report to the Proper Officer who will
allocate it to either or both the Executive and the Council for
consideration, according to whether the contents of the report
would have implications for the Council’s Budget and Policy
Framework. If the Proper Officer refers the matter to
Council, he will also serve a copy on the Leader with notice that
the matter is to be referred to Council. From the date of
receipt of the report by the Leader, the Executive will have four
weeks in which to respond to the Overview and Scrutiny report, and
the Council shall not consider it within that period unless not to
do so, (and the Executive's response is available earlier) would
adversely affect the Council's budget setting timetable. When
convened five clear days notice of the Extraordinary Meeting of the
Council will be given pursuant to Rule 6 of the General Procedure
Rules. When the Council does meet to consider any referral
from an Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a matter which would
impact on the Budget and Policy Framework, it shall also consider
the response of the Executive to the Overview and Scrutiny
proposals.
(b) Where an Overview and Scrutiny
Committee or Sub-Committee prepares a report for consideration by
the Executive in relation to a matter where the Leader or Council
has delegated decision making power to another individual Member of
the Executive, then the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit
a copy of their report to that individual for consideration.
At the time of doing so, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall
serve a copy on the Proper Officer and the Leader. If the
Member with delegated decision making power does not accept the
recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee then s/he
must refer the matter to the next available meeting of the
Executive for debate before exercising his decision making power
and responding to the report in writing to the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee. The Executive Member to whom the decision
making power has been delegated will respond to the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee within four weeks of receiving it. A copy
of his written response to it shall be sent to the Proper Officer
and the Executive Member will attend a future meeting of the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee to respond.
(c) Reports may be submitted by an
Overview and Scrutiny Committee to the Executive under this section
as necessary.
(d) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee
will in any event have access to the Executive’s Forward Plan and
timetable for decisions and intentions for consultation. Even
where an item is not the subject of detailed proposals from an
Overview and Scrutiny Committee following consideration of possible
policy/service developments, the committee will at least be able to
respond in the course of the Executive’s consultation process in
relation to any key decision.
12. Rights of Overview and Scrutiny Committee Members to
Documents
(a) In addition to their rights
as Councillors, Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee have
the additional right to documents, and to notice of meetings as set
out in the Access to Information Procedure Rules in
Part 4 of this Constitution.
(b) Nothing in this paragraph
prevents more detailed liaison between the Executive and the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee as appropriate depending on the
particular matter under consideration.
13. Members and Officers Giving Account
(a) Any Overview and Scrutiny Committee
or Sub-Committee may scrutinise and review decisions made or
actions taken in connection with the discharge of any Council
functions. As well as reviewing documentation, in fulfilling
the scrutiny role, it may require any Member of the Executive, the
Head of Paid Service, Head of Service or other members of staff on
Ashford Management Grade 8 or above to attend before it to explain
in relation to matters within their remit.
(i) any particular decision or series of decisions;
(ii) the extent to which the actions taken implement Council
policy; and/or
(iii) their performance.
and it is the duty of those persons to attend
if so required.
(b) Where any Member or Officer is
required to attend an Overview and Scrutiny Committee under this
provision, the chairman of that Committee will inform the Proper
Officer. The Proper Officer shall inform the Member or
Officer in writing giving at least five working days notice of the
meeting at which s/he is required to attend. The notice will
state the nature of the item on which he is required to attend to
give account and whether any papers are required to be produced for
the Committee. Where the account to be given to the Committee
will require the production of a report, then the Member or Officer
concerned will be given sufficient notice to allow for preparation
of that documentation.
(c) Where, in exceptional circumstances,
the Member or Officer is unable to attend on the required date,
then the Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall, in consultation
with the Member or Officer arrange an alternative date for
attendance, to take place within a maximum of twenty one days from
the date of the original request.
NB: Council employees
below Management Grade 8, may be invited to attend but may not be
required to attend.
14. Attendance by
Others
An Overview and Scrutiny Committee may invite
people other than those people referred to in paragraph 13 above to
address it, discuss issues of local concern and/or answer
questions. It may for example wish to hear from residents,
stakeholders and Members and Officers in other parts of the public
sector and shall invite such people to attend. Attendance is
entirely optional.
15. Call-In
(a) When a decision is made by the
Executive or an individual Member of the Executive or a Committee
of the Executive, or a key decision is made by an Officer with
delegated authority from the Executive, or an Area Committee or
under Joint Arrangements, the decision shall be published and shall
be available at the main offices of the Council in hard copy and on
the website normally within 3 working days of being made.
(b) That notice will bear the date on
which it is published and will specify that the decision will come
into force, and may then be implemented, on the expiry of five
working days after the publication of the decision, unless an
Overview and Scrutiny Committee objects to it and calls it in.
(c) During that period, the Proper
Officer shall call-in a decision for scrutiny by the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee if so requested by the Chairman of that
Committee and two other Members or any five Members of the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee, and shall then notify the decision-taker of
the call-in. He shall call a meeting of the appropriate
Overview and Scrutiny Committee on such date as he may determine,
where possible after consultation with the Chairman of that
Committee, and in any case within 5 days of the decision to
call-in. Five clear working days notice of the meeting must
be given.
(d) If, having considered the decision,
the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is still concerned about it,
then it may refer it back to the decision making person or body for
reconsideration, setting out in writing the nature of its concerns
or refer the matter to Full Council. If referred to the
decision maker they shall then reconsider within a further five
working days, amending the decision or not, before adopting a final
decision (which shall not be subject to call-in).
(e) If following an objection to the
Executive decision, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee does not
meet in the period set out above, or does meet but does not refer
the matter back to the decision making person or body, the decision
shall take effect on the date of the Overview and Scrutiny meeting
or at the expiry of that further five working day period from the
decision to call in the matter.
(f) If the matter is referred to Full
Council and the Council does not object to a decision which has
been made, then no further action is necessary and the decision
will be effective in accordance with the provision below. If the
Council does object, however, it has no locus to make decisions in
respect of an Executive decision unless it is contrary to the
Policy Framework, or contrary to or not wholly consistent with the
budget. Unless that is the case, the Council will refer any
decision to which it objects back to the decision making person or
body, together with the Council’s views on the decision. That
decision making body or person shall choose whether to amend the
decision or not before reaching a final decision and implementing
it. Where the decision was taken by the Executive as a whole
or a Committee of it, a meeting of the Executive or the Executive
Committee as the case may be will be convened to reconsider the
original decision within five working days of the Council
request. Where the decision was made by an individual, the
individual will reconsider within five working days of the Council
request.
(g) If the Council does not meet, or if
it does but does not refer the decision back to the decision making
body or person, the decision will become effective on the date of
the Council meeting or expiry of the period in which the Council
meeting should have been held, whichever is the earlier.
(h) Where an Executive decision has been
taken by an Area Committee, then the right of call-in shall extend
to a group of at least half the total number of voting Members of
another Area Committee if they are of the opinion that the
decision, made but not implemented, will have an adverse effect on
the area to which their Committee relates. In such cases,
those Members may request the Proper Officer to call-in the
decision. He shall call a meeting of the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee on such a date as he may determine, where
possible after consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, and
in any case within five days of the decision to call-in. All
other provisions relating to call-in shall apply as if the call-in
had been exercised by Members of the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee.
Exceptions
(i) The Council has not adopted a
procedure to avoid abuse of the ‘call-in system’ but will monitor
its operation with a view to adopting a control procedure if the
call-in provision is abused to the extent that it prevents the
effective operation of the Executive.
(j) The call-in procedure set out above
shall not apply where the decision being taken by the Executive is
urgent. A decision will be urgent if any delay likely to be
caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the
Council’s or the public’s interest. The record of the
decision, and notice by which it is made public shall state whether
in the opinion of the decision making person or body, the decision
is an urgent one, and therefore not subject to call-in. The
Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee must agree both
that the decision proposed is reasonable in all the circumstances
and to it being treated as a matter of urgency. In the
absence of the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the
Mayor will be asked if s/he considers the decision urgent. In
the absence of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor’s consent shall be
required. In the absence of both, the Proper Officer or his
nominee’s consent shall be required, and in the absence of the
Overview and Scrutiny Chairman, his nominee’s consent shall be
required. Decisions taken as a matter of urgency must be
reported to the next available meeting of the Council, together
with the reasons for urgency.
(k) The operation of the provisions
relating to call-in and urgency shall be monitored annually, and a
report submitted to Council with proposals for review if
necessary.
16. The Party Whip
The Party Whip is defined as follows:
“Any instruction given by or on behalf
of a political group to any Councillor who is a Member of that
Group as to how that Councillor shall speak or vote on any matter
before the Council or any Committee or Sub-Committee, or the
application or threat to apply any sanction by the Group in respect
of that Councillor should s/he speak or vote in any particular
manner”.
When considering any matter in respect of
which a Member of an Overview and Scrutiny Committee is subject to
a party whip, the Member must declare the existence of the whip,
and the nature of it before the commencement of the committee’s
deliberations on the matter. The declaration, and the detail
of the whipping arrangements, shall be recorded in the minutes of
the meeting.
17. Procedure at Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Meetings
(a) Overview and Scrutiny Committees and
Sub-Committees shall consider the following business:
(i) Minutes of the last meeting;
(ii) Declarations of Interest (including whipping
declarations);
(iii) Consideration of any matter referred to the Committee
for a decision in relation to call-in of a decision made by
the Executive;
(iv) Responses of the Executive to reports of the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee; and
(v) The business otherwise set out on the agenda for the
meeting.
(b) Where the Overview and Scrutiny
Committee conducts investigations (eg with a view to policy
development) the Committee may ask people to attend to give
evidence. Such meetings are to be conducted in accordance
with the following principles:
(i) the investigation be conducted fairly and all Members of
the Committee be given the opportunity to ask questions
of attendees, and to
contribute and speak;
(ii) those assisting the committee by giving evidence be
treated with respect and courtesy; and
(iii) the investigation be conducted so as to maximise the
efficiency of the investigation or analysis.
(c) Following any investigation or
review, the Committee or Sub-Committee shall prepare a report, for
submission to the Executive and/or the Council as appropriate, and
shall make its report and findings public.
18. Matters Within the Remit of More than One Overview
and Scrutiny Committee
(a) If the Council constitutes more than
one Overview and Scrutiny Committee the following paragraph details
how matters falling within the remit of more than one Committee
should be dealt with.
(b) Where an Overview and Scrutiny
Committee conducts a review or scrutinises a matter which also
falls (whether in whole or in part) within the remit of another
Overview and Scrutiny Committee, before submitting its findings to
the Executive and/or the Council for consideration, the report of
the reviewing Overview and Scrutiny Committee shall be submitted to
the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees for comment. That
Committee’s comments shall be incorporated into the report which is
then referred back to the other Overview and Scrutiny Committee for
consideration.
Appendix A(i)
Councillor Call for Action
Protocol
1. Councillor Call for Action seeks to
strengthen the role of the Ward Councillor encouraging them to
resolve local problems on behalf of residents. The Act allows
Ward Councillors to place CCfAs onto Scrutiny Agendas for
resolution and action. The legislation introduced under the
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 extends
the power of Overview and Scrutiny in two ways:
1. so that any Member
of the Council can refer a local government matter to the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee;
and
2. that matters which
can be referred include matters which the Council and its partners
are delivering through the
Local Area Agreement and
“local crime and disorder” matters.
2. The Improvement and Development Agency
(IdeA) have issued some best practice guidance on the CCfA and a
copy of the guidance document is available at http://www.idea.gov.uk/.
3. The Home Office has recently issued
guidance for the Scrutiny of Crime and Disorder Matters (England)
and this is available at the Centre for Public Scrutiny http://www.cfps.org.uk/. The
newly issued Regulations and Home Office guidance now confirms that
“The regulations leave the frequency of meetings to local
discretion, subject to the minimum requirement of once a year”.
4. Matters that are excluded from CCfA
include:-
- Any matter that is vexatious or
discriminatory.
- Individual complaints and matters that
are/have been through the Council’s complaints procedure.
- Any matter that is the subject of an
Ombudsman complaint.
- Matters that have recently been examined by
Overview and Scrutiny.
- Any matter that relates to regulatory
decisions, eg. planning or licensing, that have their own statutory
appeals process, or for Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates.
- Any matter that a Ward Councillor has not
been given the opportunity to deal with or which a Ward Councillor
has not investigated thoroughly, exhausting all possible means to
remedy the concern.
CCfA Process
5. In accordance with national best
practice guidance, Overview and Scrutiny should be the last stop
for a CCfA. The Ward Member(s) will be expected to have done
everything within their power to remedy the concern before
referring the matter to Overview and Scrutiny. When a matter
is referred to Overview and Scrutiny it will be up to the Overview
and Scrutiny Chairman and Proper Officer to decide if the matter
should be taken forward by Scrutiny. This process will filter
requests to ensure that the matter is appropriate for a CCfA ie. to
determine that the matter is a local government matter and is not
excluded under paragraph 4 above.
Local Government Matter –
under section 21A, a CCfA needs to relate to a “local government
matter”. This could be interpreted narrowly, to mean only
those issues under the direct control of the authority.
However to give full effect to CCfA the interpretation of “local
government matter” needs to be broader. This includes issues
relating to the Council’s partners, in line with the area focus of
Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA), and the fact that an
authority’s duties increasingly impact on other organisations, and
involve partners within and outside the Local Strategic Partnership
(LSP).
6. If the CCfA relates to a Crime and
Disorder matter then this must also be referred to the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee as the meeting responsible for Crime and
Disorder Issues.
Referral to Scrutiny
7. The Overview and Scrutiny Chairman and
the Proper Officer (the Head of Legal and Democratic Services) will
determine whether or not the CCfA request should be accepted and
forwarded to scrutiny.
8. If the Overview and Scrutiny Chairman
and Proper Officer decide that the CCfA should not be formally
considered at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Ward Member
will normally be notified of the decision and reasons, in writing,
within five working days of that decision. For Crime and
Disorder CCfAs responsible partners must also be notified (Crime
and Disorder Reduction Partnership Members).
9. If the CCfA is accepted, then the
relevant Portfolio Holders, Officers and partners will be notified
by the Chairman.
10. Ward Member – CCfA Protocol
- Local concern/issue/request for action
identified by Ward Member.
- If issue is within a two Member Ward,
co-ordinate with other Ward Member to agree course of action.
- Try to resolve the problem by raising the
issue informally or formally with Officers from the relevant
Council service, County or Parish Councillors, Local Partners
(Police, PCT etc.) or the relevant Portfolio Holder.
- If the problem persists and remains
unresolved and you, as Ward Member, feel that you have done
everything within your power to resolve the problem with the aid of
other agencies/partnerships, then the CCfA request form (available
from the Proper Officer) should be completed and forwarded to the
Proper Officer (Head of Legal and Democratic Services) for
action. Members will also be provided with the Check Lists
and Case Studies to help them complete the form.
- Overview and Scrutiny Committee either:
1. Rejects the CCfA and notifies the Ward Member who then
notifies the parties who raised the issue.
2. Accepts the CCfA and arranges to consider it. Once
the response has been decided the Ward Member and
partners, as appropriate, will be informed.
11. Overview and Scrutiny
Committee – CCfA Protocol
Once the CCfA has been accepted by the
Chairman and Proper Officer, it will be put on the Agenda of the
next available Overview and Scrutiny meeting unless it is deemed
necessary to have a special meeting.
At the first meeting, the Ward Member would be
invited to attend the meeting and, at the Chairman’s discretion,
make a short representation to the Committee for them to decide if
they wanted to take it further. The duration of such a
presentation would be up to the Chairman but should normally be
limited to about five minutes.
If accepted, then at a subsequent meeting it
will be necessary to decide about:- Witnesses, Notifying and
inviting Partners, Evidence required, Key questions, Timescales and
the Aims and Objectives for the meeting.
Having considered the CCfA matter, the
Committee will have to decide either:
- To take no action.
- To make recommendations and to refer the
matter to the Executive/ Council/Partner Organisations.
- To carry out a full scrutiny
investigation.
Any report and/or recommendations arising from
the consideration of the CCfA matter will be made available and
sent to all agencies involved with the CCfA within five working
days of the meeting. For Crime and Disorder matters reports
and recommendations will be sent to the responsible authorities as
listed in the Police and Justice Act 2006.
Appendix A(ii)
Additional Procedure Rules for the
Overview and Scrutiny Committee when acting as the Crime and
Disorder Committee:
1. Responding to requests
Community Safety partners are required to
provide information requested of them by the Crime and Disorder
Committee and to provide that information within a reasonable
time.
2. Attending Committee meetings
Representatives of Community Safety partners
may be required to attend Crime and Disorder Committee meetings to
give evidence or answer questions.
3. Reports and Recommendations
If the Committee draft a report or
recommendations which have an impact on Community Safety
Issues:-
- Copies of the report/recommendations should
be sent to such responsible authorities/co-operating bodies as are
affected by the report/ recommendations.
- The relevant body shall submit a response
within 28 days from the date the report is submitted (or as soon as
possible thereafter).
- Following receipt of the response, the
Committee will need to agree with the relevant partner(s) how
progress in implementing the recommendations will be
monitored.
Apendix B(i)
Councillor Call for Action (CCfA)
Request to the Chairman of Overview
and Scrutiny
From:
Councillor
.............................................................................
Ward:
Contact details: Telephone
Mobile
Email
|
Subject |
|
|
Details
Please describe, as fully as possible, what
the issue is and what has prompted you to raise the topic.
|
|
| Action taken to date
Please explain what steps have already been
taken to try and resolve this issue.
|
|
| Any other relevant
information.
Please provide any other information that the
committee may find helpful.
If you are enclosing any documents in support
of the issues e.g. giving details of its impact, steps taken,
responses received etc.; please list the documents here.
|
|
When completing this form please refer
to the attached ‘Check Lists’ and ‘Case Studies’.
Please return the completed form to Julia
Vink, Senior Scrutiny Officer or Keith Fearon, Member Services and
Scrutiny Manager
Appendix B(ii)
Councillor Call for Action
Check Lists
Using best practice and experience from the
first councils to operate a CCfA, the following check lists have
been devised in order to help Ward Members, O&S Chairman and
the Proper Officer decide if an issues is appropriate for a
CCfA.
Initial Issues
1. Is the concern an
individual complaint?
CCfA is not appropriate for individual
complaints, these should be directed to the Council’s formal
complaints procedure.
2. Is the concern related
to individual regulatory decisions (e.g. planning, licensing) or to
council tax and non domestic rates?
CCfA is not appropriate for dealing with these
concerns as they are subject to their own statutory appeals
process.
3. Are the concerns to do
with the quality of public services provision at local
level?
CCfA is not restricted to concerns relating to
council services, it can also be used in relation to other public
services and service areas e.g. concerns about community safety,
anti-social behaviour, issues relating to local schools or health
services.
Local Community Concerns
1. Is the focus of concerns
on a neighbourhood or locality issue?
CCfA focuses on neighbourhood or locality
issues – where Ward Councillors can help resolve issues of concern
in their wards. If the concern is more general e.g. about
policy across Ashford Borough, then this can be suggested as a
topic to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the usual way.
2. Is the issue a genuine
local concern?
You must be sure that the concern is not just
an individual’s “hobby horse”. The views of other members of
the community will help to make this clear.
Championing a Request
1. Would an apology,
explanation or assurance about a problem be
sufficient?
Some community concerns can be satisfied by an
apology, explanation or an assurance that the problem will not be
repeated and do not require service change or scrutiny review.
2. Resolving an
Issue
Once you have agreed to champion a CCfA there
are a number of ways in which you may try to resolve the problem
including:
- Discussing the issue informally or formally
with Officers from the relevant Council service/local partners such
as Police, PCT, KCC, Parish Councillors.
- Discussing the issue with the relevant
Portfolio Holder.
Referring to Scrutiny
Checklist
If the issue is persistent and unresolved by
Ward Councillor(s) i.e. you feel that:
- You have done everything within your power to
remedy a community concern.
- You have tried to resolve the problem(s) with
the aid of other agencies/partnerships but have been unsuccessful
in finding an adequate solution.
Then, as a last resort, you are able to refer
the matter to Scrutiny using the CCfA request form (Appendix
1).
Appendix B(iii)
Councillor Call for
Action
Case Studies
There are examples of different scenarios in
the IDeA best practice guidance document http://www.idea.gov.uk/ and the
following have been adapted from some examples from Kirklees
Council and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.
Use of Case studies helps to show how the CCfA
process may work in practice and may help you decide whether or not
an issue is potentially a CCfA.
Case 1: Mr
B writes to you. He is writing on behalf of himself and other
local residents who want problems at the recreation ground to be
sorted out. Local residents have made numerous petitions and
complaints, have raised the matter with local councillors and the
area committee but the problem remains.
The shelter at the recreation ground is being
used by teenagers for drinking, sex and drugs. Mr B has had
mud and eggs, and recently, bricks thrown at his window, causing
damage and making him anxious about his safety. The behaviour
seems to happen after youths have spent the night at the shelter
drinking and doing drugs.
The police know of the problem but do not
patrol the area because they “do not have the manpower”.
Mr B is a widower and pensioner, lives on his
own and is finding this too much to cope with. He would like
to know what can be done especially as the children will break up
from school soon and he fears the situation will only get
worse.
Using the checklists:-
Initial Issues
1. Is the concern an individual
issue?
Scrutiny is not appropriate for individual
complaints but Mr B’s concerns are clearly the views of the
community and local residents.
2. Do the concerns relate to
regulatory decisions (e.g. planning, licensing) or to council/non
domestic rates?
Mr B’s concerns are not to do with any of
these, if they were then Scrutiny would not be appropriate.
3. Are the concerns to do with the
quality of public service provision at local level?
These concerns include problems with the use
of the recreation ground, anti-social behaviour and the lack of
police presence in the community.
As Ward Councillor you have to decide if the
concern raised is a genuine community concern – once you have
decided it is you can either reject the request and direct the
complainant to more appropriate mechanisms for dealing with the
problem, or agree to champion the request and try to resolve the
issue.
By using the Genuine Concern checklist it can
be assessed whether Mr B’s concerns merit further assistance for a
CCfA.
Genuine Local Community
Concern
1. Is the focus of the concern a
neighbourhood or locality issue?
From the information provided it is clear that
this is a neighbourhood/locality issue.
2. Is the issue a genuine local
concern?
The issues appear to be of genuine local
concern – underage drinking, drug taking, anti social behaviour and
lack of police presence. However, the views of other
community members will help clarify if this is correct or if it is
an individual’s “hobby horse”.
Agreeing to champion a
request.
Ward Councillors have to decide whether or not
to champion a request. If the request is championed then you
will take on the issue for your constituents and will try to
resolve it using various means, including:- liaising with council
services, the cabinet, other agencies/partners.
Championing a Request
1. An apology, explanation or
assurance about a particular problem is not enough to satisfy
community concern.
In this case neither apology nor explanation
nor assurance would be sufficient.
2. Resolving an issue.
There are several issues here so a variety of
agencies/council services/other external organisations may need to
be contacted to find ways of resolving the concerns, such as:-
Police, Neighbourhood Wardens, Environmental Services, Cultural and
Project Services, local parish councillors, Kent Youth Service,
Portfolio Holder for Cultural Services, Portfolio Holder for
Environmental Services.
If, after contacting and liaising with all
these people, the issue remains unresolved then you will be able to
refer the potential CCfA to Scrutiny.
Case 2: One
of your constituents, Mr D, contacts you to complain that their
neighbour is noisy and acting in an anti social fashion.
This would appear to be an individual
complaint which could be resolved by directing Mr D to contact
Environmental Services about the noise and the Police (Community
Safety Unit) about the anti social behaviour.
Case 3: One
of your constituents complains that their street is not cleaned
regularly and there is a growing litter problem.
Refer this constituent to the Council’s
complaints system.
Next - Appendix 1 - Kent Association Of Local
Authorities Protocol For Overview And Scrutiny Inter-Authority
Co-Operation
This webpage was updated on
9/29/2010