SUMMARY/PURPOSE

1. To consider the implications for the Scrutiny Committee arising from the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill (‘the Bill’), and to amend the Constitution – specifically the Scrutiny Committee’s terms of reference - so as to be ready for the implementation of the Bill.

2. To consider the provisions of the Police and Justice Act 2006 in relation to the scrutiny of crime and disorder matters, and to make necessary amendments to the Constitution.

BACKGROUND

3. Overview & Scrutiny Committees were introduced by section 21 of the Local Government Act 2000 as a means for the council and ordinary councillors to watch over the authority’s Executive and make sure that it was not exceeding its powers, and to ensure that the Executive was achieving best value in managing the authority’s functions.

4. Through the introduction of the Bill, the Government proposes to re-shape Overview & Scrutiny Committees as a means for the public to have an influence over a local authority’s decision making, and to extend the remit of the Committees to enable them to consider the actions of, and make recommendations to, a wider range of partner authorities.

5. The Bill introduces a mechanism whereby a member of the council may refer a matter to the Scrutiny Committee. This was referred to as the ‘Community call for Action’ in ‘Strong and Prosperous Communities – the Local Government White Paper’. Matters which may be referred are limited in the Bill to ‘local government matters’ and must relate to the discharge of the authority’s functions, must affect all or part of the electoral area for which the particular member is elected and excludes anything related to crime and disorder.

6. The Bill is currently going through Parliament and is likely to gain Royal Assent in the autumn. Further amendments are being tabled and it is therefore not entirely clear what the final content will be. In addition, it is not yet known when the provisions will be implemented.

7. The Police and Justice Act 2006 introduces a requirement for local authorities to have a committee to scrutinise the way in which persons and bodies responsible for tackling crime and disorder discharge their functions.

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

8. Having robust scrutiny arrangements is important for CPA. This Council must be prepared for the introduction of the Bill, and the Police and Justice Act 2006, if it is to maintain its progress in this area.

CONSULTATION

9. Consultation has been exclusively internal.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

10. Changes to the terms of reference and to the work plan of the Scrutiny Committee will need to be dealt with within existing budgets for the Overview & Scrutiny function of the council.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

11. The Local Government Act 2000 sets out the requirement for a Scrutiny function to review or scrutinise decisions made, and to make reports or recommendations.

12. Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 provides for local authority scrutiny of crime and disorder matters. This part of the Act is not yet in force.

13. There are no legal implications relating to compliance or otherwise with the Bill as it is not yet enacted nor in force.

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

14. Not being prepared for the introduction of the Bill, or the Police and Justice Act 2006, could dilute the effectiveness and transparency of the Scrutiny Committee.

15. As any amendments to the workload of the Scrutiny Committee will need to be made within existing budgets for the wider Overview & Scrutiny function, this could take away resources from the Policy Commissions.

16. As the Bill has not yet been enacted, there is a risk that further amendments will be made to it. This could ultimately require the council to further amend its Constitution to be in line with statute, and for this reason the amendments to the Constitution are at this stage not comprehensive. In addition, there is of course as yet no duty on other agencies to assist with any scrutiny of their functions.

OPTIONS

17. To make the constitutional amendments as set out in the appendix to this report.

18. To make no amendments to the constitution.

RECOMMENDATIONS

19. That the constitution be amended as set out in the Appendix to this report.

APPENDICES

20. Appendix – Constitution Article 5 – Scrutiny Committee

Contact Point : Chris Mathews, Democratic Services Manager ( 823280 [email protected]

ALISON LOWTON

Interim Director of Legal and Democratic Services

COUNCILLOR ANDY SUTTON

Leader of the Council

APPENDIX

ARTICLE 5 - SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

Terms of Reference & Membership

15 members (19 when considering education matters), comprising:

i. A chair who is not a member of the majority political group;

ii. Two co-opted members appointed in accordance with Section 115 of the Local Government Act 2000;

iii. Twelve members of the council (including the Chairman of the committee), on a politically proportionate basis;

iv. One non-voting member to be nominated by Island Town or Parish Councils, representing a Town and Parish Council perspective;

v. When considering education matters:

a. Two voting (on education matters only) representatives from the faiths (one from the Church of England Diocese and one from the Roman Catholic Diocese); and

b. Two voting (on education matters only) parent governor representatives

vi. The Isle of Wight Youth MP will be entitled to attend any meeting of the Scrutiny Committee in a non-voting consultative capacity.

vii. The Isle of Wight Youth Council will be entitled to appoint two of their members (in a non-voting capacity) to be a point of consultation between the Committee and the Youth Council

No Cabinet Member, Commissioner or Cabinet Secretary will be a member of the Scrutiny Committee.

(1) To undertake the statutory functions of overview and scrutiny except insofar as they relate to health scrutiny, as this function is undertaken by one of the Policy Commissions.

(2) In order to prevent duplication of policy development and scrutiny, and unless exceptional circumstances dictate otherwise, no enquiry will be undertaken by the Scrutiny Committee where the proposed enquiry is the subject of an ongoing enquiry by one of the Policy Commissions; has been the subject of such an enquiry completed within the last 6 months, or will be the subject of such an enquiry planned to commence within the next 3 months.

(3) To undertake enquiries into the budget and policy framework of the Council, exclusively at a political and strategic level.

(4) To adopt and deliver a work programme which reflects the priorities of the administration, corporate strategic objectives and the priorities of scrutiny members and the communities they serve.

(5) To play the leading role in the development of and challenge to an annual revenue budget.

(6) To play a leading role in the development of and challenge to the Policy Framework.

(7) To maintain and operate a system of call-in as a safety net in the event of a Cabinet decision which proves unexpectedly controversial.

(8) Enquiries will be time limited, to published terms of reference and lead to recommendations which are directed to named individuals and are clear, measurable, achievable, resourced, time bound and based on evidence received.

(9) To develop and implement a procedure for individual councillors to raise issues with the Scrutiny Committee, in accordance with the spirit of the provisions currently contained in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill.

(10) To include in its work programme the scrutiny of partner authorities, as defined in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill.

(11) To periodically sit as the ‘Crime and Disorder Committee’ and to discharge the Council’s duties under section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 when this is enacted

Quorum

Quorum will be one-quarter of the voting membership. In the absence of both the Chair and Vice Chair the Committee will elect a chair for that meeting.

Agenda

The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee in consultation with the Proper Officer will agree an agenda for each meeting. There will be a presumption that no agenda will require more than two hours to complete.

Meetings

Meetings will be held at 6.00 pm on weekday evenings, other than in exceptional circumstances when the timing must, with the agreement of the Chairman/Commissioner and the Leader of the Council, be varied to ensure a quorum or to suit the needs of members of the public or stakeholders attending the meeting. The reason for any variation in timing will be set out on the face of the agenda.

Any member of the Committee may place an item on the agenda by giving notice to the Proper Officer in sufficient time to allow consultation with the Chairman.

Call-in

Any 4 members of the Scrutiny Committee (including the voting co-opted members and the education co-optees on education matters) may sign a call-in notice in relation to any decision by the Cabinet member or an officer exercising a delegation from the Leader of the Council. On receipt of a call-in notice the Proper Officer will:

· Stop implementation of the decision.

· Call a meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, to meet within seven working days

When considering a call-in notice the Committee may:

(i) Endorse the decision.

(ii) Refer the decision back to the decision-maker with recommendations.

(iii) Refer the decision to another body, with recommendations.

(iv) Add an enquiry to its own work programme

(v) If advice has been received that the decision is outside of the Budget and Policy Framework refer the advice to Full Council with a recommendation that the Budget or Policy Framework be amended.

Only in (v) is implementation of the decision prevented after the meeting of the Committee has disposed of the call-in.

Attendance and Speaking at the Scrutiny Committee

· Unless the law requires or allows otherwise meetings of the Committee will be in public.

· The Chairman has an obligation to enable members of the public, stakeholders and community representatives to make representations to the Committee in order to assist to agree a work programme and to undertake specific enquiries.

Reports

The Scrutiny Committee may take reports to the Cabinet, Cabinet Members, Policy Commissions or the Full Council.

Urgency

Decision makers may need to take decisions under the urgency provisions in the Access to Information Rules and/or the Budget and Policy Development Rules.

In such exceptional cases the Call-in arrangements may be abridged or disapplied if to do so is necessary to safeguard the interests of the Council or of the public. In any such case reasons for the disapplication will be given on the face of the report to the decision maker and by this means made available to the Scrutiny Committee Chair.

Task and Finish Groups

The Scrutiny Committee may establish working parties or other task and finish groups. These groups will be time limited, have clear terms of reference, may include members other than elected members and will not be committees or sub-committees under the law.

Voting

Any vote shall be by show of hands. A simple majority prevails and in the event of a tied vote the chairman has a casting vote.