Issue - meetings
Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Meeting: 08/07/2019 - Council (Item 14)
14 Report from Chairs of Scrutiny Committees PDF 79 KB
To receive reports from the Chairs of the Council’s Scrutiny Committees in accordance with Standing Order 36. The reports have been attached as follows:
11.1 Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee
11.2 Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee
Members are asked to note that this session will include an opportunity (within the time available) for non-Cabinet members to ask questions of relevant Scrutiny Chair’s in relation to the remits of their Committees.
Additional documents:
- 11.1a - Appendix 1 - Chair's Report Community Wellbeing Scrutiny - 8 July 19, item 14 PDF 58 KB
- 11.1b - Appendix 2 - Chair's Report Community Wellbeing Scrutiny - 8 July 19, item 14 PDF 40 KB
- 11.2 Chair's Report RPR Scrutiny Chairs - 8 July 19, item 14 PDF 75 KB
- 11.2a - Appendix 1 - Chair's Report RPR Scrutiny Chairs - 8 July 19, item 14 PDF 83 KB
- Webcast for Report from Chairs of Scrutiny Committees
Decision:
NOTED the update reports provided by the Chairs of the Community and Wellbeing and Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committees.
Responses were also provided by the relevant Scrutiny Chairs on the following additional questions raised during the open session of this part of the meeting:
· Councillor Nerva regarding the approach towards future scrutiny of the police following introduction of the tri borough command structure.
· Councillor Dar on the prospect of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) being encouraged to oppose the proposed closure by Barnet CCG of a GP practice on the border of Cricklewood, which would also impact on Brent residents.
· Councillor Choudry seeking further details on the approach being developed in relation to scrutiny of the 2019/20 – 2020/21 budget.
· Councillor Gill regarding the process for scrutinising the proposals to alter the present opening hours for the Urgent Care Centre based at Central Middlesex Hospital.
· Councillor S.Choudhary expressing concern that targets in relation to child immunisation were not being met and what action could be taken in following up the scrutiny review on this issue.
· Councillor Kansagra on the response provided regarding plans to replace the Council’s fleet of diesel vehicles and whether the fleet would be subject to the same surcharges as introduced for diesel vehicles within CPZs.
· Councillor Gbajumo seeking further details on the introduction of a scrutiny recommendation and data request tracker.
Minutes:
Before being presented with the updates from each Scrutiny Chair, the Mayor reminded Members that as part of the changes agreed to the Constitution in February 2019 the time set aside for this item was now 12 minutes, with each Chair having up to three minutes in which to highlight any significant issues arising from the work of their Committees. Once these updates had been provided, the remaining time available would then be opened up for any other non-Cabinet members to question (without the need for advance notice) the Scrutiny Chairs on matters relating to the work of their Committees.
The following updates were provided by each of the Scrutiny Chairs:
14.1 Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee
Councillor Ketan Sheth introduced the update report from his Committee, highlighting the following issues:
· The current focus on the significant changes impacting on local health services, with the Committee due to review a proposal from Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to alter the present opening hours for the Urgent Care Centre based at Central Middlesex Hospital. When the A&E units at Central Middlesex and Hammersmith Hospitals had been closed, as part of the Shaping a Healthier future (SaHF) initiative, an assurance had been provided that the Urgent Care Centre at Central Middlesex would be available to treat residents with minor illnesses and injuries on a 24/7 basis. Brent CCG were now proposing that due to its limited use in the early hours the Unit should be closed from midnight to 8am in order to better utilise available resources. As a result, the Scrutiny Committee would be seeking assurances in relation to communication with residents regarding the proposed changes, alternative measures to be established for those requiring treatment outside of any revised opening hours; the impact on patient safety and whether it would be possible to reverse any reduction in hours to cope with additional seasonal demand and what the likely impact would be on Northwick Park A&E and Urgent Care Centre should the proposed change go ahead.
· In addition, he advised that the Committee would be closely monitoring the proposed merger of the eight separate CCGs across North West London into one single body as part of implementation of the new NHS Long Term Plan and Integrated Care System. As a member of the North West London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Sheth advised that he had recently been able to question the Chief Officer of the North West London Collaboration of CCGs on the proposal and timescales involved. Whilst it was recognised that the merger was still to be agreed by NHS England, Councillor Sheth had been keen to stress the need to avoid rushing into any arrangement given the huge scale of the change proposed, which would not only impact on over 2.2 million residents but also involve significant financial, governance and accountability issues needing to be resolved. Whilst the NHS appeared keen to complete the merger process by 2020 he advised the Committee were also keen to ... view the full minutes text for item 14