To receive information from the Director of Commissioning on potential future areas of scrutiny work. 

The Director of Commissioning presented information on potential future areas of scrutiny work using the learning from the recent Rapid Action Group [RAG] activities.  He drew attention to the key areas highlighted within the three year Business Plan and Financial Strategy as well as the appropriate application of the RAG learning.

Members considered key areas highlighted within the 2014/17 Financial Strategy programme of activities that may merit consideration for inclusion within the Committee’s work programme, as follows:

Regulatory and Business Support model [RaBSS]

Members noted the possibility of the existing RAG continuing its work but acknowledged that any new area of work could not be considered until the evaluation of the RAG process had been completed.

Review of Joint Use Leisure Facilities to identify how to best deliver on a local basis

It was noted that the local community was being encouraged to take greater responsibility in the running of joint use facilities.

Sports and Recreational Activities

It was noted that redesign would be centred within Community Action, Positive Activities, Outdoor Recreation and Sports Development and consideration would need to be given to the role scrutiny could play in the redesign.

Redesign of Outdoor Recreation Service

This included rights of way, parks and open spaces [for example, Severn Valley country park, the Meres at Ellesmere], the creation of Parish Path Partnerships.  Building community ownership was understood as key for the future together with the main agenda for the future being to encourage people to become more physically active.

Waste

New approaches to encourage customer behaviour change were to be developed with a view to increasing recycling and reducing waste growth.  Contract efficiencies within the existing Veolia contract would be sought.

Councillor Minnery, Chairman of the recent RAG looking at waste agreed that future work on this service area would be useful particularly the need to increase the rate of recycling and to convey the message to encourage customers to recycle. He stated that there was a genuine opportunity for efficiencies to be made and suggested future work could also focus on vehicle routing, the use of the incinerator to generate income and co-mingling of waste.

It was agreed that the focus of ongoing work in this area needed to be structured and appropriate and be guided by appropriate Officers from the service area.  The Director of Commissioning agreed to identify the best way forward for scrutiny to play a valuable role in the redesign of this area.

Customer Contact – Face to Face

This element included the redesign of the libraries service including Visitor Information Centres.  The redesign of Face to Face contact points to meet the demand for increased access in alternative methods of contact.

In response to a Member’s query, the Director of Commissioning suggested the following areas would offer scrutiny the best opportunity to be involved in the redesign process:

      i.        Face to Face redesign in libraries

    ii.        Waste – a) how to encourage more recycling and behaviour change in customers and b) ways to support Veolia in encouraging customers to recycle

   iii.        Redesign activities for young people – work in this area has started but is at consultation stage only.

The Chairman explained that the Committee’s remit would be changed in the near future to include highways and, once this change had been ratified by Council, the Committee could undertake some detailed scrutiny of the redesign of this area and include scrutiny of the Ringway contract.  Members agreed that this would be a valuable area for future scrutiny.

The Chairman drew attention to areas that could be taken forward by the Committee including:

·         Parish Paths Partnership – what is being done? Can this be rolled out further?  Help and support?

·         Face to Face hub – ways of library use being developed

·         Children’s play areas – how are these to be dealt with in future?

·         Drugs/rehabilitation/youth offending – valuable work being undertaken at Willowdene farm and also at Stoke on Tern with the establishment of a social company to undertake office cleaning.

·         Review of positive activity provision – Youth Boards – are they valuable?  How do young people feel about them?

Members agreed that items for future scrutiny needed to add value and properly evaluate the areas under scrutiny and should not be limited to an ‘ad hoc’ list of issues.  The Chairman commented that the Director of Commissioning had highlighted areas that would be beneficial and these areas should form the basis of the Committee’s Work Programme in the coming months.